Greetings from the Vinje Farm!
We're new to this blogging business but we thought it was time to start keeping our family and friends up to date with the happenings at the V.F.
The main purpose of writing this blog is to keep the Vinje family informed and up to speed, so to speak with how the farm is operating.
V.F. was started by Nick with the blessings of his family, especially Grandma Donna Vinje. While raising her 4 boys, Donna was no stranger to the farming life and wasn't sad when her own boys went off to college and then settled in places other than Gardner, or even the midwest.
In the early days of farming, Nick attended nearly every auction sale in tri-state area, and did his best to "wheel & deal" to get the farm up and running.
Over the past 13 years the Vinje Farm has grown from just a few hundred acres to nearly 1700 acres. Most of this land is rented through the Vinje Bros. Partnership which was established by John, Wayne, Steve, and David Vinje. Nick was also able to aquire a few hundred acres from relatives on Dave's side of the family.
The season of 2011 started out late as the fields never seemed to dry up and the rain never seemed to stop coming.
While many neighbors were forced to leave their fields sit empty, we were able to plant all of our ground. Just over 580 acres was seeded to wheat, about 1000 acres to soybeans and the last 160 was planted to corn.
The wheat harvest this August went extremely smooth with good weather and almost zero equipment breakdowns. However yields were low, probably the lowest in recent memory but as we've learned in the past....we cannot dwell on one crop alone....we must push forward and get ready for bean and corn harvest.
On a side note, Bill Vinje was able to come and help as he has in many years past. Along with Bill came Max & Toby, two great little boys. Max loved being on the farm and enjoyed riding with his dad in the combine and tractor. Jack and Owen were in heaven with their little cousins and we were all sorry to see them head back to D.C.
That's it for now!
