View from the Cab: My two friends

Let me take a moment to introduce you to my two best friends this time of year: the seed monitor and pickup truck.

Mr. SeedSense, as I like to call him, guides me up and down the rows of the field and makes sure that big thing behind the tractor called the planter is doing what it is supposed to. Think of it as your official supervisor on the job. The only difference is this supervisor is surrounded by a little green box and is very user-friendly since it is comprised of a touch screen.

The monitor will be the first to let me know when something goes wrong. This is great because it can prove that whatever went wrong wasn’t totally my fault (at least hopefully not). The device also gives you something to look at when you have no one to talk to while sitting in a tractor cab for several hours. Maybe they should invent games to play on this thing. On second thought, better scratch that one.

I know I have said it before in this very space, but I am always thankful to have a large pickup truck where I can put everything I need during the many weeks of planting. I practically live out of this thing from April through early June each year. You should see it now – car seats covered with extra pairs of pants while a short-sleeved polo shirt hangs on the hook above the door.

Trash seems to accumulate pretty quickly on the floor, whether it is an empty water bottle or fast food wrapper. That large tool box in the truck bed comes in handy for making piles of dirty clothes or storing an extra pair of work boots. My armrest has been known to contain deodorant along with extra sheets of paper and a few pens.

All I am missing in the truck is a coffee maker, flat screen television and pillow top mattress. Give me these items and I probably can stay in there until June.

How about that wind last week? The countryside was practically covered in dust from 40 plus mile an hour wind gusts. I heard they even had to close part of an interstate in the southern part of the state because visibility was so low. Despite the wind and dust, we kept chugging along with soybean planting last week.

(The View from the Cab blog is powered each week by Petersen Motors of Fairbury)