So after our huge rain last weekend, my dad had some damage to the levees in his rice field. He called and asked DT to help him drive the tractor and while he ran the back-hoe which is attached to the back of the tractor. I thought this would be a great opportunity for the boys to ride a tractor. My mom, my niece Sam me, and the boys all headed out to the farm. My Dad farms about 22o acres of conventional rice, and 70 acres organic rice.
My dad is driving his Case 970 92 horsepower diesel tractor circa 1977 with the back-hoe on back and Sam was quick to jump on with Poppy.
DT with the boys posing in front of my ride. Look how excited they are to see the tractor
So they all piled on the tractor
and drove around for a bit
And little W even got to steer, see he’s a natural. Oh no I better beware, we could have some 5th generation rice farmer’s here.
They really did enjoy the tractor and love making tractor vroom and bubble noises. It’s a boy thing.
These are some pictures of the levees, see the disturbed dirt patches, that where the repairs were made after all the rain washed holes in them.
The orange levee plastics are used to open and close the flow of water, the plastic keeps the flow of water moving freely. Rice farmers use water canals and pumps to irrigate their fields and some fields need more water then other so the plastics and levee em basically keeps the water where my dad wants it.
Here is a closer view of the rice, planted about 4 weeks ago. This is conventional rice hybrid called XL745 they plant about 35lbs per acre, while with the organic called presidio, they plant about 115 lbs per acre, the increase due to the competition with weeds and grass, since no herbicides are used. Dad hasn’t planted his organic yet because of the large amounts of rain we’ve been having, but he uses chicken litter for fertilizing the soil, and then he will use garlic spray for keeping the bugs away.
Great pics, thanks for sharing. I’ve only thought about eating rice before. I’ve never seen pictures of it being planted.
Great photos!
Great pictures! Thanks for hosting!
~Liz
That is pretty darn cool. I just know they both loved it!
Wow, looks like fun, my boys would love to ride on a tractor!
Toni
It looks like they all had a blast!
I don’t live too far from Rice country in Texas with all of their rice fields, but honestly my favorite part is when the geese migrate south those fields are full of birds! Great pictures
My grandfather had a dairy farm and when I was a kid, I LOVED to ride on the tractor!!! Those are great pictures.
My son loves riding on the tractor with grandpa too! Great photos!
Beautiful photos! Thank you for sharing all that information about rice farming. It looks like the kids had a great time on the tractor with their grandpa.
You truly have a lovely family. It is nice how everyone pitches in to help each other and makes the kids part of the action. You should be proud!
Heh heh heh, how cute!
I live in a very crop heavy state and I have never seen a rice farm. Too cool. Thanks.
It reminds me of Viet Nam. They grew a lot of rice. They used oxen instead of tractors.
Your kids are adorable.
Wow that is so cool, I didn’t know much about rice. It’s so cool to see all those pictures! It looks like so much and a LOT of hard work. What a beautiful family 🙂
That is interesting! My husband loves rice. I like it flavored. 🙂
I never thought about it growing in America. Sounds dumb when I right it, but I usually think of India or China.
CUTE!!!
I love rice and anything to do with it. What a great post! I don’t know of any kid that wouldn’t want to be in that tractor. Great pictures of your family!
Great Picture — Looks like they had a wonderful time.
Oh, the twins are just so cute!
My husband works for Monsanto, and used to work on the rice crop. I’ve heard lots about rice from him, but I’ve never seen in growing! I hope your dad has a bumper crop!
That was really interesting, I feel like I learned a lot about rice farming.
That is so cool. I have never seen the planting stage of the rice farms. Looks like yall had a great trip out there.
Very cool pictures. I’ve never seen rice farming, other then a picture here and there of a rice paddy. That picture of the boys looking at the tractor is too precious!! What cute little cheeks they have. 🙂
Hey, neat to hear that someone who farms organic for a living really does use the garlic spray! I tried one of those last year for our lawn and my garden… I couldn’t swear it helped, but I don’t think I was consistent enough – I only sprayed it once, I probably should’ve reapplied to get the full effect.
Sorry I am late getting around to visit… I hope you had a Happy Outdoor Wednesday….and that you will participate again soon! Thanks for sharing your photos.~ Susan