McCormick on the run!

[Grandpadave52]

12 hours ago, Gene Howe said:

Wonder what they use today?

 

44 minutes ago, clhyer said:

Around here, in peach orchards, they use a regular utility type tractor.  Cultural practices and economics would probably be the biggest factors in the change.

 

44 minutes ago, clhyer said:

The economics come in to play as the orchard model would be a limited run, a bit more expensive - and a limited resell market, meaning less value.  Utility tractors are "cheap", popular and remain in constant demand - new or used.

Gene, Cal pretty much nailed it...modern practices and equipment, like the tree shaker, sprayers, herbicides, insecticides and so on have vastly changed agricultural production regardless of the crop. Deere & Company does make a low profile model(s) which differs from an actual utility tractor. I suppose if shielding is required or needed like in days of old, aftermarket specialty companies would provide "generic" fabrications and then bracketing to install on various makes. 

 

Deere low profile, https://www.deere.com/en/tractors/specialty-tractors/5100ml/

 

[Cal]

Gene, nut trees are quite different from fruit trees when it comes to economic life.  Many of the orchards in this area are in the 80-100+ year range and still very productive.  And large.  No way that M&E shown in your video would work on them!  

My understanding is that about 20 years ago there were a lot of pecans being planted "out west".  Less humidity and rain = less chemicals and input cost; however, pecans came out of the swamps and like a lot of water so "out west" farmers would have to spend more money on irrigation.  This last factor may figure into a shorter economic life for them out west?  I don't know the answer to that one.  I would think as long as they were kept watered they would keep on keepin' on way past our "economic life".

 

Contrast that with peaches.  In this area the economic life of a peach orchard is in the 13-15 year range.

Cal

[Gene Howe]

16 minutes ago, clhyer said:

Many of the orchards in this area are in the 80-100+ year range and still very productive.

I'll bet those would yield some nice boards.

 

[John Morris]

On ‎9‎/‎20‎/‎2017 at 1:05 PM, Stick486 said:

cool ride...

wonder if that's the original owner...

I am not sure Stick, we are heading back to the area for more work, if I see him I'll ask.

[John Morris]

On ‎9‎/‎20‎/‎2017 at 6:22 PM, clhyer said:

What sort of orchards do you have there?

@clhyer, we are a citrus valley.

Actually Riverside CA flourished on the citrus industry, if interested see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Riverside,_California and scroll down to "Citrus".

You can imagine our garage sales and antique shops are full of beautiful prints and graphics of citrus crate label collections and crates.

 

Example:

[John Morris]

On ‎9‎/‎20‎/‎2017 at 6:33 PM, Grandpadave52 said:

COOL picture John!! Thanks for snapping, sharing and taking me back down memory lane

You bet Dave! And thanks for sharing in your wonderful reply!

If you look closely at the picture I provided, it indeed does display the word "GROVE" below the McCormick lettering. Thanks for bringing that to my attention. There is also a "O-4" or "D-4" at the front side.

[John Morris]

Here is an aerial image of the area I was in when I snapped that picture. This is Hemet CA, I live just a couple miles up the road in San Jacinto. This is a Grapefruit orchard. Our region is still a booming citrus area. I have surveyed this area extensively.

[John Morris]

16 hours ago, Gene Howe said:

Here's how pecans are harvested out here.

That is insanely cool!

[John Morris]

1 hour ago, clhyer said:

My understanding is that about 20 years ago there were a lot of pecans being planted "out west".  Less humidity and rain = less chemicals and input cost; however, pecans came out of the swamps and like a lot of water so "out west" farmers would have to spend more money on irrigation.

Pecan farmers were the media's whipping post out here in California during the height of our drought the last few years, reportedly they consumed about 10 percent of our water while yielding very little beneficial crop for America, apparently our Pecan farmers here ship the pecans to the far east where they fetch a big huge penny per pound. Right or wrong, they were a target.

[Gene Howe]

10 minutes ago, John Morris said:

Here is an aerial image of the area I was in when I snapped that picture. This is Hemet CA, I live just a couple miles up the road in San Jacinto. This is a Grapefruit orchard. Our region is still a booming citrus area. I have surveyed this area extensively.

Talk about cool. That's some beautiful country, John.

[John Morris]

1 minute ago, Gene Howe said:

Talk about cool. That's some beautiful country, John.

Thanks for that Gene, you know living here, I take for granted the hills and orchards, and do forget often just how pretty it is, you are right, thanks.

[Gene Howe]

5 minutes ago, John Morris said:

Pecan farmers were the media's whipping post out here in California during the height of our drought the last few years, reportedly they consumed about 10 percent of our water while yielding very little beneficial crop for America, apparently our Pecan farmers here ship the pecans to the far east where they fetch a big huge penny per pound. Right or wrong, they were a target.

You woulda thought golf courses shoulda shared the pain. 

As to pecan prices, at the grower's little shop, shelled pecans are around $3.50 a lb. for whole meats. That's for a 5# bag. That was a year ago. 

When you're eating pecan pie, you don't think about the price.

[John Morris]

3 minutes ago, Gene Howe said:

You woulda thought golf courses shoulda shared the pain. 

As to pecan prices, at the grower's little shop, shelled pecans are around $3.50 a lb. for whole meats. That's for a 5# bag. That was a year ago. 

When you're eating pecan pie, you don't think about the price.

For sure, Asias demand on the wonderful tasty nut has driven our own prices up. It's a great thing though, anytime our farmers can reap the benefits of trade is a great thing, IMHO. I want our farmers to succeed.

[John Morris]

A little blurb of interest for ya Gene:

 

Quote

Before 2002, US production was predominantly for domestic consumption. Between then and 2009, China became a major consumer. In 2009, US pecan exports to China rose by over 650% from 1,698m lbs in 2002 to 12,814m lbs in 2009, and exports remain around that level today. The Chinese demand was driven by a shift to a more health-conscious diet and the rise of the Chinese middle class. Pecan popularity has continued to grow ever since.

Read more at http://spendmatters.com/2014/01/20/demand-china-driving-pecan-prices-pie-high/

I could of sworn I heard somewhere, Pecans are about 60 bucks a pound in China, can that be?

[Gene Howe]

Wow. Our pies may be a bit more precious, this year. 

If Chinese consumers are willing and able to pay $60 a lb., what's that tell ya?

But, you're right. It's great for the US growers.

[Chips N Dust]

1 hour ago, John Morris said:

@clhyer, we are a citrus valley.

Actually Riverside CA flourished on the citrus industry, if interested see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Riverside,_California and scroll down to "Citrus".

You can imagine our garage sales and antique shops are full of beautiful prints and graphics of citrus crate label collections and crates.

 

Example:

 

John, Do you guys still have the smudge pots to keep the plants from freezing? We still have some around our pear orchards, but they are getting slowly phased out.

[John Morris]

56 minutes ago, Chips N Dust said:

John, Do you guys still have the smudge pots to keep the plants from freezing? We still have some around our pear orchards, but they are getting slowly phased out.

You can see them from the road Kelly, they are not in use though due to California air quality standards. I think the farmers keep them around for memories and keepsakes. They are popular for backyards around here though. Speaking of California air quality standards we are also trying to trap cow farts to keep global warming from spiraling out of control, no kidding. Here http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-cow-gas-20161129-story.html

Aww, our wonderful California Gov. Jerry Brown.

We have some friends who are dairy farmers, regulations are killing them.

 

Another:

http://nypost.com/2016/09/21/it-will-soon-be-illegal-for-cows-to-fart-in-california/

[Gene Howe]

45 minutes ago, John Morris said:

You can see them from the road Kelly, they are not in use though due to California air quality standards. I think the farmers keep them around for memories and keepsakes. They are popular for backyards around here though. Speaking of California air quality standards we are also trying to trap cow farts to keep global warming from spiraling out of control, no kidding. Here http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-cow-gas-20161129-story.html

Aww, our wonderful California Gov. Jerry Brown.

We have some friends who are dairy farmers, regulations are killing them.

 

Another:

http://nypost.com/2016/09/21/it-will-soon-be-illegal-for-cows-to-fart-in-california/

You'd be amazed...well, maybe not... at the number of dairy farms that have relocated from CA to AZ. Huge operations. We're glad to have them. Farts and all.

[Cal]

4 hours ago, Gene Howe said:

I'll bet those would yield some nice boards.

 

 

Actually, no, Gene (or maybe yes).  Trees that old were planted when M&E was much smaller and lighter.  Back then the practice would be to cut the central leader out to make the tree bush out, and then prune to several outbranching limbs.  It makes for a beautiful tree, but the trunk length is generally short.  You might yield one log in the 8' range.  With much smaller equipment, each of these massive limbs would be shook individually.  One tree might have to be shook up to 6 times, with the added time to move the shaker around the tree to do it.  You can imagine the time savings to have a large shaker and a tree with a central leader.  Even with the newer M&E that older tree requires the shaker to make multiple "grabs" of the limbs, they just do not have to reposition the shaker so many times since they now have hydraulic arms and such.  I will try to get out for a couple pictures this fall.

 

3 hours ago, John Morris said:

@clhyer, we are a citrus valley.

Actually Riverside CA flourished on the citrus industry, if interested see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Riverside,_California and scroll down to "Citrus".

You can imagine our garage sales and antique shops are full of beautiful prints and graphics of citrus crate label collections and crates.

 

Example:

 

That is beautiful artwork John, and humongous orchards around you!  Thanks for sharing the pics and info.

 

50 minutes ago, Gene Howe said:

You'd be amazed...well, maybe not... at the number of dairy farms that have relocated from CA to AZ. Huge operations. We're glad to have them. Farts and all.

 

Those are some "BIG" dairies too Gene.  My BIL just moved here from Phoenix.  He was a licensed electrician and specialized in wiring up those dairies.  All that computerized equipment used today is quite mind blowing if you have not kept up with the industry.  In this area even a lot of our Mennonite dairies have computerized feeding systems now.

Cal

[Gene Howe]

26 minutes ago, clhyer said:

 

Actually, no, Gene (or maybe yes).  Trees that old were planted when M&E was much smaller and lighter.  Back then the practice would be to cut the central leader out to make the tree bush out, and then prune to several outbranching limbs.  It makes for a beautiful tree, but the trunk length is generally short.  You might yield one log in the 8' range.  With much smaller equipment, each of these massive limbs would be shook individually.  One tree might have to be shook up to 6 times, with the added time to move the shaker around the tree to do it.  You can imagine the time savings to have a large shaker and a tree with a central leader.  Even with the newer M&E that older tree requires the shaker to make multiple "grabs" of the limbs, they just do not have to reposition the shaker so many times since they now have hydraulic arms and such.  I will try to get out for a couple pictures this fall.

 

 

That is beautiful artwork John, and humongous orchards around you!  Thanks for sharing the pics and info.

 

 

Those are some "BIG" dairies too Gene.  My BIL just moved here from Phoenix.  He was a licensed electrician and specialized in wiring up those dairies.  All that computerized equipment used today is quite mind blowing if you have not kept up with the industry.  In this area even a lot of our Mennonite dairies have computerized feeding systems now.

Cal

Yeah, some of those operations are enormous. A far cry from the 24 cows we milked (by hand) when I was a kid. 

On a side note, as a Speech and Language pathologist, I had the opportunity to meet and talk with Temple Grandin, a lady with Aspberger's syndrome. She consults with dairy farms, sheep, swine and equine concerns, on the best way to design enclosures to "maximize the animals' utility", as she puts it. We met in Phoenix and she had 5 dairy farm consultations lined up that week.