This year my neighbour agreed to farm my arable land which is 14% (45 acres) of our two quarters.  As soon as the snow was gone they got right at it.  First order of business was rock picking, nobody's favourite activity.  One particular nuisance rock in the west pasture had thwarted our efforts to remove it for several years, so we made it a priority.  Not knowing the actual size of this implement wrecker I had tried unsuccessfully on several occasions to dig it out using both the bucket and backhoe on my little Kubota.  My efforts were futile so the boy's brought in the big guns.  After a lot of digging and effort they finally got it out.  The John Deere couldn't lift it so they ended up rolling it into the bush.

After a lot of preparation they seeded all 45 acres in oats.  The crop got a slow start due to a lack of rain early in the season but the rain did eventually fall and the oats did well.  However, the biggest downside to planting crops in heavily wooded areas is the damage done by feeding wildlife.  Our crop damage was extensive but we were able to make a claim for it and recovered a bit of the cost of putting it in.

One little project I had been planning was building a set of steps on the fresh water tank so Lee had a stable platform to stand on when she holds the 2" hose in the fill hole on the top of the tank.

  
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Health-wise, I wasn't at my best in 2024. However, I did manage to cobble together an elevated stand which has been in my job jar for a few years now. The stand design is based on one I found during a search online and I revised the design to work with what I had on hand. The floor of the shack on top is 14' off the ground with an interim platform at 7'. I designed it this way so there wouldn't be a 14' straight ladder climb. All-in-all, the build went well resulting in a solid elevated stand with a trapdoor to access the blind itself and 3 shooting windows. The blind is also equipped with a comfortable swivel chair.

    
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Successful hunts this year. During our annual October hunt, we were successful in taking a nice bull elk in the finger fields. This was the first elk harvested on the farm. My neighbour was also successful, taking a very nice whitetail south of us towards Bluesky and a bull elk a couple of miles east of the farm.

Hunting opportunities are starting to look encouraging on the homestead as our efforts in creating a good environment for the wild animal population are starting to pay off. 

    
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