Where did August go? It sure was a hot one. Worst thing for farmers was it didn't rain, either. I think we are down around 4 inches for the year and it started to happen after planting.
A year ago I think we were almost to Alaska. I think this is British Columbia but don't hold me to it. It seems like a long time ago. Where did the year go too? Is that part of this aging thing?
September will be busy. The whole fall will be busy and then it is winter. That doesn't seem possible but it is. Lots of field days are coming up and Farm Science Review and all sorts of fun stuff. But soon someone will start shelling corn and the country side will be firing up combines. It isn't that far away.
I found a new doctor to look at my left arm. I haven't been able to bend the finger next to my little finger all summer. It feels like a claw. The joint hurts all the time and if you hit it or stub it, wow that could bring you to your knees.
It all started 6 years ago when I went crazy and planted too much sweet corn. I have never picked that much in my life. Pickup load after pickup load of corn. How in the world did dad and grandpa raise 100 acres by hand every year? My generation is weak, we couldn't do it if our life depended on it.
On top of that all that firewood we burn here is hard on it. Cord after cord. The old body can't take it anymore. We have a new heat pump and all I have to do is bury a thousand gallon propane tank in the side yard and no more wood. If I did that, I probably have enough in the barn to last for years.
I went to therapy and wore a brace around my left elbow and got it half way straightened out. Now it has declined again after opening all of those seed bags this spring. Oh well, such is life. I am sure you have your problems, too.
Today there is two field days. It is fun to talk with other farmers and look at new products and enjoy a free meal. It's free until you buy something, then suddenly it costs thousands of dollars.
I like to kid the guys in a John Deere or Pioneer hat. That's a sharp hundred thousand dollar hat you have there!
Ed
OK, the last two days blogger won't let me double space between paragraphs again. I definitely need a blogger class. I hate things all jammed together.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's you that needs the class; I think it's Blogger! It messes up on me sometimes and makes me do the jump through the hoop thing to comment on my own blog.
ReplyDeleteEd, I wish I could say that we were short of rain too but its the exact opposite. In nearly 40 years of farming I can't remember a year with so much excess rain. The fields that did get seeded have produced some fairly decent crops but we can hardly get into the fields to harvest them. All I have done so far is swath some canola and was lucky to only get stuck once in the mud. Combining is going to be a real picnic. The ruts the combines made last week are now filled with water from the recent rains. More in the forecast too.
ReplyDeleteI can't beleive the unplanted acres in South Dakota, one million? and Canada, at least that many? I think we can thank our markets at your loss, it was just a totally unexpected year. Gorges, I can't figure the dang system out.
ReplyDelete