Thursday, June 3, 2010

Thunder

I hear thunder rolling in the distance "in them thar hills." Someone is getting another shower. Thunder is music when you need rain and troubling noise with a powerful storm or flooded lands. You can find them all in this country today.

We have had just over 4 inches here since the first of May but it just kept coming, enough to really challenge planting and crop growing. Just west, they had more and 10-30 miles east of us they received much more. Some people had over 8 inches where we got four.

The picture is my best piece of corn but you can see the big hole in it near the creek. The water rushes into the tile and blows up in the air there. Another project for this fall is in the making and the list grows longer each day.

We have grown our farm business considerably since 2004 and so have many other people. "According to an analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the number of self-employed Americans rose to 8.9 million last December, up from 8.7 million a year earlier. Self-employment among those 55 to 64 rose to nearly two million, 5 percent higher than in 2008.

Among people over 65, the ranks of the self-employed swelled 29 percent. Many older people who had expected to retire discovered their 401(k)’s had shrunk and their homes were worthless. So they became “entrepreneurs,” too.

Maybe this is a good thing. A deep recession can be the mother of invention.

These Americans are now liberated from the bureaucratic straitjackets they thought they had to wear. They can now fulfill their creative dreams and find their inner entrepreneurs. All they needed was a good kick in the pants."

The last two years has sure been a kick in the pants. People who strive have been creative while others wait for more handouts. I am on the striving part of the equation.

My motivation has been my love for farming but it has to pay for itself. This operation is way beyond a hobby. Marketing my products has been my number one challenge just as it is for all entrepreneurs.

I am curious what have you changed in the past two years?

Ed

2 comments:

  1. Um, I sell chicken feed on craigslist... I meet some pretty strange folks who keep chickens in their back yard... Once came home to 22 dozen eggs in the laundry room... I may not become part of the super rich doing this but I do end up eating a lot of eggs.

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  2. We have them around here. I never understood the fascination with chickens...

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