Man Gives Away $1000 A Day

CBS Sunday Morning had a piece on that showed a 39 year old billionaire who is giving $1000 a day away for start up of projects he thinks will help mankind.

"The concept is simple: He and his team make $1,000 grants to individual change-makers who have an idea on how to make their community and their world a better place. It’s not intended for large organizations like many grants; it’s designed for people like you and me who just need a little seed money to start something wonderful. By doing so, Nessel feels more in sync with his desire to impact the world, he says:

I didn’t want to be greedy and focus on creating more wealth through my business. Instead, I wanted to feel more connected to others and be able to sponsor their great work.

At the end of this year, Nessel will have given away $365,000 to 365 individuals. One thousand dollars may not seem like it will make that much of a difference, some people wonder, but according to Nessel, it does:

When I tell people about this idea, the response is ‘Wow, that’s really different and really cool, but what can anyone do for $1,000?’ A lot of people think that amount is insufficient, but once I explain how far $1,000 will go and what can be done with that seed money, people get it and really feel that connection.

Projects that are funded through The Pollination Project include:

– compassion towards all life (people, planet, animals)
– environmental sustainability
– justice in all of its forms
– community health and wellness
– putting consciousness into action
– social change-oriented arts and culture

I can think of many projects I have seen that could use that kind of start up money to get them going.  Most of mine have to do about farming or agricultural innovation but I know of many who could use this man's help.

Ed

My Goodness!

I never check my page views very often.  I am shocked!

Pageviews yesterday

4,385

Pageviews last month

121,179

Pageviews all time history

781,861   We are approaching one million page views!

Why do people come to my page?  I post links to Facebook and Twitter most times but the people just keep coming.

Why is that?  I am humbled so many of you would take a look at my "retirement" project.  I enjoy writing but I enjoy learning even more.

Since I started today's blog, the page views have increased another 100,000 so we are snowballing now.

I will keep looking for things that may interest you and please keep forwarding me your ideas.  All of you give me the inkling to keep doing what I am doing write now and that is typing for you.

It's all out of my head and what is in my head I have heard somewhere.  I have been sharing other people's ideas and writing this year and not writing my own as much, maybe that's the reason.

I take credit for few ingenious ideas like accidentally leaving radish in the drill and then sowing wheat on top of it.  That worked out well and I am still using it.  I better give God credit since I was too lazy to clean the drill out and forgot about it.

I walked into church yesterday and just looked around for a moment and told God I feel safe in here.  It was a really good feeling.  I need to express those feelings in all of my affairs and you know, sometimes it's really hard to do?

God has taken my blunders and made something beautiful out of them.

Ed Winkle

Double Crop Soybean Tips

I found this article off Dave Rahe's blog in Illinois so I thought I would share my own tips.

1.  Have the drill loaded when the combine starts cutting.

2.  "Chase the combine" as much as possible.

3.  Kill every weed in the field with a burn down and add a residual herbicide.  Here that would be paraquat or Sharpen and with paraquat I add metribuzin and Sonic or Authority First.  Having good weed control in the wheat is going to help the double crop soybeans.

4.  If you take the straw off, know that you are sacrificing some yield.  Blowing the straw past the header width yet getting good seed to soil contact is a key for me.  With this year's heavy straw, it would help the soybeans if we could take the cut straw off the field.  It's a trade off either way this year in southern Ohio and most places I've visited.

5.  Don't be afraid to change varieties because of the year.  I can yield the most double crop soybeans by planting a 3.9 most years but this year a 3.5 or less might have less risk at frost.  They usually yield more soybeans but if Jack Frost nips the last buds, I usually get the highest yield.  I don't want to wait until the following calendar year to cut them but I have once in the last ten years.

6.  Increase your population for a quick canopy.  This year I am sowing 220,000 seeds per acre, at least that is my goal.  If they all come up I will have too much but if I sow 180k and only get 150k stand, I lose some yield planting this late.

It all sounds pretty easy and it is but the hardest part is chasing the combine and getting it sprayed between rains many years.

One friend's wheat tested 25% yesterday and Keyne's Milling had one load come in at 20% moisture so we are ready to start wheat harvest in southern Ohio, too.

My wheat tested 14% so we cut the first load.  I am going to practice what I am talking about today.

Ed Winkle

Western Cover Crops Thread

I really liked this answer to the question to why should I plant cover crops where it never rains enough?  The radish on my tailgate really improve my soil but will they in Kansas where it doesn't rain?

"As has been mentioned it will lessen evaporation. It will also lessen runoff so more moisture is captured from a rain.

First off, you have to establish what your goals are. Nitrogen fixation? Suppress weeds? Erosion reduction? Building organic matter? Then you can select when and what crops to plant to help achieve the goals. You have to truly believe and want to succeed with cover crops or else you might as well not bother. If you go in negative, you will never have any success.

You have to think more long term when attempting to build soils. Will I use a little extra moisture? Maybe, but how much is each pound of topsoil you save from erosion worth to you? How much is not having a face full of dirt ever time the breeze comes up worth to you? How much is an increase of 1% organic matter worth to you?

If you can or think you can grow dryland beans, then you have plenty of moisture to implement cover crops in your rotation. If it doesn't rain, nothing will grow anyway.

To me, trying to grow a cover crop between continuous wheat won't make much sense. However, between wheat and beans/corn would be a great time. Between corn and milo you could grow a nice crop of rye. Just have to be creative and experiment.

There is likely a bit of a cut in short term profitability, however that is the tradeoff for doing what you feel will benefit down the road.

Weeds are a trick if you are using a diverse mix. Get your crop growing good and it will choke out the weeds. If your weeds come up right along with the crop you can get into some trouble. That is where it is handy to have some cattle to go out and graze it off if you get some weeds coming. Like I said, experiment, see what works, etc.

As with anything, start small, see what works and what doesn't for you. Just some thoughts, worth what you paid for them probably. Good luck!

I thought that was a pretty good response in this thread!

Ed Winkle

Planting Date

I've always been "too crazy" about planting date.  Today's picture shows the difference in 3 days planting date!  The right was April 28 and the left was May 1.  The temperature and moisture after those planting dates is the best way I can describe how different these two corns are.  They are the same hybrid.

Planting dates are crucial today with the large planters most farmers are using.  I say a 24 row corn planter can make you a lot of money on the right and it can cost you a lot of money on the left side of this picture.  I am guessing there will be at least 20 bushels more corn on the right.

 

With this picture, the left side looks fine.  Visually, there are many yellow, stunted areas I can't find on the right side of this picture.

 

"

1. Long term research by universities and seed companies across the Corn Belt gives us a pretty good idea of planting date effects on relative yield potential. The recommended time for planting corn in northern Ohio is April 15 to May 10 and in southern Ohio, April 10 to May 10.

2. Delayed Planting Effects on Corn Yield: A “Historical ...

   corn.osu.edu/.../delayed-planting-effects-on-corn-yield-a-201chistorical2...
   

   
   

   • 
     

    

   May 5-10 is the best planting date for most Midwest states so that means I have to start before that to end up by May 5-10.

    

   I think planting date is more important than most farmers want to admit.  They are just happy to get their corn planted at all.

    

   In many locations this year, that didn't happen.

    

   Ed Winkle

Adapt N

Adapt-N, a new software program, analyzes corn crop dynamics, soil types, weather data and more to calculate a course of action for nitrogen use.

As Nick Meier evaluates practices he can implement to coax more yield from each bag of seed corn he plants, he is taking a closer look at the role nitrogen (N) plays in the process. Specifically, the northeast Iowa farmer, based near La Porte City, is fine-tuning how much N he uses and when he uses it, thanks to help from an online tool called Adapt-N.

The program, developed by a team of scientists at Cornell University, led by Harold van Es, provides farmers with real-time, site-specific N analysis. The tool takes into consideration individual corn crop dynamics, soil types, field management practices, and a combination of historical and up-to-the-moment weather data, to calculate a course of action for N use.

"You can run the tool daily, weekly or monthly, and it will continually provide a report and predict how much nitrogen you saved, how much you lost and how much your crop needs at any given time," says Steve Sibulkin, chief executive officer for Agronomic Technology Corp, which has licensed the cloud-based program.

The company commercially launched Adapt-N in 28 states this spring, following three years of in-field testing, 2011 through 2013, on approximately 100,000 acres in 12 states.

"N is a pretty elusive nutrient to pin down, as far as application rates, and this program is eliminating a lot of the guesswork in our management," notes Shannon Gomes, Meier’s agronomist and owner of Cedar Basin Crop Consulting, Decorah, Iowa.

Are any of you using it?  The data I saw in Iowa looked like it was worth it.  Most corn is way over applied on nitrogen and this could help a person learn while they are ratcheting their rates down.

Ed

Eastern Crop Tour

We just completed a 1200 mile trip through Pennsylvania to New York, back to southern Michigan, far eastern Indiana and down through corn country at Bryan, Ohio, south to home.  I don't remember any better crops in those areas since I have been scouting.  We have an excellent crop coming in this region.

The rain just never shuts off this year and everyone hopes it doesn't in August.  There is too much rain in many places but not enough to destroy the crop or lower expectations overall.  The market is expecting a big crop and I think they are going to get one.

We got back home and could not believe how much our garden grew in five short days.  Actually they were very long days for us but you get my drift.  We have sweet corn in tassle shooting ears, peas ready to pick and blooms on everything else.  It's been a great growing month.

I just downloaded 52 pictures from our jaunt and sent them to a few of you who converse with me regularly.  I will explain them over the next week and use some for pictures on this blog.  It was good to see family and friends in our quick journey.  It is difficult to keep up with all of you!

Yesterday we saw a new egg laying operation being built in Ohio that will house 7 million birds in 3 decks per building in 16 barns.  A conveyor will bring litter and eggs to the end of each building and the litter will go one direction and the eggs the other.  They will grind 13,000 bushels of corn per day so it will change economics in that county.

American agriculture is going strong in the U.S. and in our region.  It is the bright spot of our economy right now.

Ed Winkle

Resistance Fighters

I would love to be named a resistance fighter.  That's all I've seen to done since the first atrazine resistance was documented.  That job will never be done but it's never more important than right now,  Farmers hate to leave their RR programs or spend so much they can grow non GMO for the same cost.

"Syngenta is accepting applications through Sept. 15, 2014 for the Resistance Fighter of the Year Leadership Program at www.resistancefighter.com. In its sixth year, the program is open to dedicated advisors who are passionate about helping growers manage resistance.

This year’s program reflects a wider range of challenges on farmsacross the U.S. “In the past, the Resistance Fighter of the Year Leadership Program focused solely on herbicide resistance management – but we recognize that growers must also think about potential resistance to other pests as well,” said Melissa Lord, Syngenta Communications Lead. “This year, we’ve expanded the program to include those advisors who have made significant efforts to help growers manage resistance to fungicides, insecticides and nematicides as well.”

County Extension agents, consultants and other agronomists who have successfully implemented resistance management practices with producers in their area are encouraged to apply for this opportunity. Program applicants should have an in-depth understanding of one or more types of resistance and work proactively to ensure grower success by implementing good stewardship practices and reducing the impact of resistant weeds, insects, diseases and nematodes.

“As a county Extension agent, being recognized as an expert in weed resistance management has positively impacted my career,” said Jeremy Kichler, 2009 Resistance Fighter of the Year winner. “I would tell a peer interested in applying for the Resistance Fighter of the Year Leadership Program that it’s a great opportunity to travel, learn, and interact with and develop networking opportunities with other experts in the industry. It will give you a great opportunity to advance and enrich your career.”

Visit www.resistancefighter.com to recommend an advisor or apply for the program. Applications will be accepted until Sept. 15, 2014.

For more information about the Resistance Fighter of the Year Leadership Program and to learn more about past winners, visit www.resistancefighter.com."

Nominate someone.  Dr. Mark Loux at Ohio State is the first one who comes to mind for my nomination.

Resistance fighting will never end as long as "corn is grown and future farmers meet."

I offer you my picture of dead poa annua killed with paraquat that glyphosate would not touch.

Ed Winkle

Wonderful Story With A Sad Ending

This is a sad story with a good ending, well at least as good as we can appreciate.  Mother Angelica says "be thankful for your gifts from God and be willing to give them back with a smile.  You might shed a few tears first.

LAKEFIELD, Minn. – To a farmer there is no love, like the love for his land. True for Curt Chergosky, until love landed him.

"We were surprised," says Jim Nesseth, a longtime friend of the third generation farmer. "You know, Curt had never really dated anyone."

It was the talk of Lakefield, when pushing 50, one of Jackson County's most entrenched bachelor farmers fell for the newly-hired county 4-H coordinator.

Andrea Ruesch was a bubbly bundle of energy, still in her mid-30's, when she started her job in Jackson County.

As a member of the county fair board, Chergosky had plenty of opportunities to cross paths with Ruesch. As the months went on a spark was lit.

"Curt started coming into this office all the time - and we made fun of her so bad, but she didn't really get what was going on," laughs Brittany Koch, a former coworker at the Jackson County extension office.

Or maybe Ruesch just wasn't letting on. It soon became clear to everyone who knew her, Ruesch's heart was aflutter too.

"Very googly-eyeded," laughs Koch.

The secret was out. The bachelor farmer and the 4-H lady were an item.

"The whole community was so happy," says Nesseth, and not just for Chergosky.

"Andrea was finally going to maybe slow down a little bit and give some time for herself and raise a family."

Ruesch was a tireless advocate for her 4-H kids. Chergosky loved that about her.

"I mean she thought the world of those kids," he says. "She'd do anything for them."
When he popped the question after seven months, the venue was no surprise. "I asked her in the parking lot of the extension office," he laughs. "And she said 'yes.'

Chergosky, by then, had awakened to the notion a life he'd long ago written off, was unfolding before him.

The chores on his crop and beef farm went by in half the time, with his fiancé working beside him.
Chergosky would drive his chore tractor around the yard, with Ruesch standing behind him, talking. "Hitch sermons," he called them.

The pair talked about their future together and the names they would choose for the children they would raise.

When Christmas came, Chergosky gave Ruesch two cows and three calves, presenting her with the bill of sale.

"'Really, you gave me cattle?" Chergosky remembers Ruesch excitedly asking. "Then she started crying."

That sealed it. Nearly 50 years he had waited, only to find the perfect girl.

"Andrea was just the door that opened him up to a whole different life," says Nesseth.

Koch, took it a step further."She was his whole life."

And then life took the cruelest of turns.

Three months before their wedding, Chergosky and Ruesch were together weaning calves.

Not feeling well, Ruesch went into the house. When Chergosky joined her a short time later, she told him to call for an ambulance.

By the time Chergosky made it the hospital, the doctor was standing by the door. Ruesch had died.
The autopsy showed a pulmonary embolism, a blot clot in Ruesch's lungs.

The flowers she'd chosen for the wedding graced her casket. Her wedding ring graced her finger.
Jackson County was in disbelief.

Ruesch was buried in Lakefield on Christmas Eve day. "I'd never seen so many grown men cry in my life," said Chergosky, wiping away his own tears.

Chergosky had the couple's engagement picture fixed permanently to Ruesch's headstone. A 4-H emblem is engraved above her name and Chergosky's name is engraved next to hers.

Chergosky slipped on his wedding ring the day of the funeral, and four years later has not removed it.

"They were both at the peak of their mountain at the time this happened and it took the sails right out of Curt," said Sheldon Johnson, another of Chergosky's friends.

Raised as a man of faith, for a long time, Chergosky couldn't bear to go to church.

"I'd see ourselves up there, getting married, and I just couldn't," he said, tears welling in his eyes.

The prior spring they had tilled his fields together, he on one John Deere, she on another.

Now Chergosky was back to sewing his seeds alone. No soul mate, no promise of children, no 4th generation to whom he could pass on his farm.

"I was lost," Chergosky confides. "I had no idea what I was supposed to do."

Long time reader Ralph Groff spurred me to change the title of this story.  Long time reader and friend Budd E Shepherd gets the ending of the year award.

Ed

Game Du Football?

I did not fall in love with French class or soccer but I did learn to conjugate verbs a little better, thanks to French clasees.  I distinctly remember game du football which has nothing to do about American football.  It was about the world's view of football, a round one you kick with your feet.

The World Cup is so big on Google and TV right now that I had to take a look:

The FIFA World Cup is actually a multiyear tournament. The month-long finals occur every four years and 2014 is a championship year. Brazil is the host country and 12 of its largest cities are supplying venues for the various matches, which begin June 12 and end July 13.
Since the last Cup in 2010, soccer teams from around the world have competed in the qualification phase — a series of tournaments that determine the final field of 31 teams. (Thirty-two teams actually compete, but the host country’s team is guaranteed a spot.)
Once the finalists are decided, FIFA divides the competing teams into eight groups of four each.
When the soccer teams that compose these groups converge on Brazil for the 2014 World Cup, they’ll be competing in a multilayered tournament:

• Intra-group competition: The soccer action kicks off with a nearly two-week long series of matches to determine a winning team and a runner-up team from each group. No one is eliminated from competition until the end of this round. At this point, everyone is just jockeying for position in the next phase of the Cup. Only the top two teams in each group move on to the Round of 16.
• Round of 16: The winning team and runner-up team from each group advance to the Round of 16. During this phase, each winning team competes against a runner-up team from a different group. From here on out, competition is said to be at the knockout stage.
• Quarter-finals: The eight winners from Round 16 battle it out in the quarter-final round.
• Semi-finals: The four quarter-final round winners play in the semi-finals.
• Third-place playoff: The losers of the quarter-finals compete for third place.
• Final match: The top two teams vie for the FIFA World Cup title

How did they come up with the three letter codes for countries?

 

Ed

Contact The FCC

Dear Readers,

Please consider this request from Patrick at RFD Rural TV and Radio:

Ladies & Gentlemen,

Last fall, you sent RFD-TV a letter of support in regards to Comcast dropping our channel in Colorado and New Mexico. Last month we took those e-mails to Washington DC and shared them with Congressmen, Senators, the FCC and the Department of Justice showing how important rural, independent programming was to your home. Thousands of e-mails. Boy, was it effective!!!

These same people are now reviewing the potential merger between Comcast Cable and Time Warner Cable, along with the pending merger of AT&T with DIRECTV. Together, if approved, these two mergers will control cable in over 54 million homes in all 50 states. This is a big deal, and will essentially determine RFD-TV and RURAL TV's carriage for the next several years on all these cable and satellite systems. You can make a difference, and help influence this important decision.

We have the attention of Washington DC, and it sure appears that they want to do something to address the problem for rural, independent television channels like ours. Let me be clear - RFD-TV is NOT against either of these mergers, but we see this as an opportunity to not only get RFD-TV back on Comcast in Colorado and New Mexico, but on all their combined cable systems with the merger.

At this time, the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) wants to get comments from the public about RFD-TV and Comcast. Here is your chance to really make a difference. There is a short and simple process to register your comments directly to the FCC. Here's how:

1. Click here to go directly to the FCC page for making comments. (PLEASE REVIEW STEPS 1-5 FIRST)
2. Select Proceeding Number 14-57: Applications of Comcast Corporation and Time Warner Cable Inc. for Consent to Assign or Transfer Control of Licenses and Applications.
3. Fill out the form with your name, address, and comments in the boxes provided. Our Proceeding is 14-57. Be sure that 14-57 is in that first line when asked for the Proceeding Number.
4. Click "Continue" at the end, where you will review your information and comments one more time.
5. Click "CONFIRM" and your comments are then delivered to the FCC.
6. 
   I ask that you do this in the next few days, as there will be a limit to the time for public comment.  I have sent my request and hope you do too.

Ed Winkle

The Problem With Pain

From C. S. Lewis:  (a gift from my daughter Becky)

"The problem of reconciling human suffering with the existence of a God who loves, is only insoluble so long as we attach a trivial meaning to the word ‘love’, and look on things as if man were the centre of them. Man is not the centre.

 God does not exist for the sake of man. Man does not exist for his own sake. ‘Thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created’ [Revelation 4:11]. We were made not primarily that we may love God (though we were made for that too) but that God may love us, that we may become objects in which the Divine love may rest ‘well pleased’.

To ask that God’s love should be content with us as we are is to ask that God should cease to be God: because He is what He is, His love must, in the nature of things, be impeded and repelled, by certain stains in our present character, and because He already loves us He must labour to make us lovable.

We cannot even wish, in our better moments, that He could reconcile Himself to our present impurities—no more than the beggar maid could wish that King Cophetua should be content with her rags and dirt, or a dog, once having learned to love man, could wish that man were such as to tolerate in his house the snapping, verminous, polluting creature of the wild pack.

What we would here and now call our ‘happiness’ is not the end God chiefly has in view: but when we are such as He can love without impediment, we shall in fact be happy.

From The Problem of Pain
Compiled in A Year with C.S. Lewis

Conundrum

The definition of the word Conundrum is: something that is puzzling or confusing.

Here are six Conundrums of socialism in the United States of America:

1. America is capitalist and greedy – yet half of the population is subsidized.

2. Half of the population is subsidized – yet they think they are victims.

3. They think they are victims – yet their representatives run the government.

4. Their representatives run the government – yet the poor keep getting poorer.

5. The poor keep getting poorer – yet they have things that people in other countries only dream about.

6. They have things that people in other countries only dream about -yet they want America to be more like those other countries.

Think about it! And that, my friends, pretty much sums up the USA in the 21st Century.

Makes you wonder who is doing the math.

These three, short sentences tell you a lot about the direction of our current government and cultural environment:

1. We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works.

And here’s another one worth considering…

2. Seems we constantly hear about how Social Security is going to run out of money. How come we never hear about welfare or food stamps running out of money? What’s interesting is the first group “worked for” their money, but the second didn’t. Think about it…..

and Last but not least,

3. Why are we cutting benefits for our veterans, no pay raises for our military and cutting our army to a level lower than before WWII, but we are not stopping the payments or benefits to illegal aliens?

 

All you Need to Know About American Government Bureaucracy:
• Pythagorean Theorem……………………………………………………….24 words.

• Lord’s Prayer…………………………………………………………………66 words.
• Archimedes Principle…………………………………………..……………67 words.
• 10 Commandments…………………………………………..…………….179 words.
• Gettysburg Address…………………………………………………………286 words.
• Declaration of Independence……………………….……………………1,300 words.
• US Constitution with all 27 Amendments…………………….…………7,818 words.
• US Government regulations on sale of cabbage……………………..26,911 words.
• US Government Affordable Care Act (Obama Care)…………..…1,147,271 words.

Our tip of the day, don't be in a Conundrum, but it is pretty difficult not to be in this life on earth today!

Ed 

Gypsum Tips

I have been spending some time talking to farmers about the benefits of gypsum.  Our smallish wheat harvest in southwest Ohio is an opportunity to get more fields covered before fall harvest.

 

Gypsum is used by farmers to add sulfur and calcium to soils and improve overall soil quality.  We are about to spread gypsum on our wheat stubble in southwest Ohio.  Here are some tips to make spreading go easier:

Ron Chamberlain, founder and agronomist at Gypsoil, offered advice on how to store, load and apply gypsum for optimal results.

* Choose the best fertilizer, lime or litter spreader
The spreader should have a stainless steel box with slick, steep sides, twin spinners and a wide delivery chain or belt.

* Use soil tests to determine gypsum rates
The Cation Exchange Capacity levels dictate gypsum rates as a soil amendment, Chamberlain said. Rates vary from half a ton per acre on lighter soils to two tons per acre on heavy soils, applied once every one to two years.

* Apply gypsum in any tillage system
Gypsum can be applied to till or no till systems. Avoid applying on snow-covered or frozen ground, to prevent loss to wind and water, Chamberlain said.

* Apply gypsum any time that is appropriate to be in the field without physically damaging the soil or crop
“Ideal application periods include before planting, after summer wheat harvest, fall harvest and after any alfalfa cutting once the crop is removed.

* After several applications, growers may be able to use variable rate applications
Rates may vary from 300 to 500 pounds per acre in lighter soils and 1,000 pounds per acre in heavier soils

* Allow for small adjustments in equipment and application practices when you begin
Applicators will find techniques that work best for them and their equipment.

* If possible, store gypsum under covers
This protects it from rainfall to prevent moisture accumulation.

* Be careful when loading
Feather gypsum into the spreader bed with the loader to prevent bridging.

* Adjust door height, spinner speed and belt speed
The goal is to have the material flow uniformly onto the spinners to consistently deliver the proper rate.

* Make adjustments to the spinner assembly to improve distribution pattern
Remove any unnecessary accessories from the rear of the spreader. Then adjust the spinner so that the gypsum drops from the belt and contacts the spinner early in its rotation to help ensure a uniform spread pattern.

I know these are common sense but they are easily overlooked!

Ed

Comment On The Clean Water Act

The ditch rule interpretation under the federal Clean Water Act is open to comments by we the people until October 20, 2014.  I intend to comment and encourage my readers to do the same.  Click on the link above and follow the instructions.  If you need help, please email me and I will help you word your comments and get them to the proper address.  The How To Comment link looks quite complicated but you and I can do it.

"EPA officials announced Tuesday, June 10, that farmers, ranchers, rural property owners and other interested stakeholders will be allowed additional time to comment on its proposed water rules. The date for comment, that was set to expire July 21, has been extended until Oct. 20, 2014, an additional 91 days.

In addition, comment on the interpretive rule governing agricultural exemptions that was part of the Waters of the U.S. rule has been extended from June 5 until July 7.

On March 25, EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released a joint statement that would "clarify the definition of waters of the United States" under rules of the Clean Water Act. The announced drew fire from individual farmers, ranchers and farm and livestock support groups who contend such a change in the rules would expand EPA's authority to regulate water run-off ditches on private property, infringing on individual property rights.

EPA argued the proposed rule would not protect any new types of waters that have not historically been covered under the Clean Water Act and is consistent with the Supreme Court's definition of power granted EPA by the Clean Water Act."

I work hard to keep my soil in place and keep my water clean that ends up in the Ohio River pictured above and eventually to the Gulf of Mexico.  I think everybody should.

The ditch interpretation is very problematic for farmers and landowners.  I highly encourage you to comment.

Will you take time to voice your opinion?

Ed Winkle

 

Global Cooling

I got an interesting World Weather article from my friend Rick in Illinois.  I will send it to you if you are interested but I sent it to Dr. Elwynn Taylor and here is the short version of it:
Hi Ed
   It means do not expect the Ohio river valley to be a moist this coming winter as during the past 4 winters.
Also do not expect temperature to be as extreme (at the high or the low end).
   Since all 6 indicators of El Nino do point toward El Nino by August sometime (the attachment talks about 2 of the 6 and it takes more than those 2 to make an El Nino).  We can expect a mild harvest time in the Midwest.  Normal soil moisture recharge in the fall (and good last cutting of hay).  And an above trend Corn and soy crop for 2015.
   Elwynn

Where Does the Carbon Dioxide Really Come From?

Ian Rutherford Plimer is an Australian geologist, professor emeritus of earth sciences at the University of Melbourne, professor of mining geology at the University of Adelaide, and the director of multiple mineral exploration and mining companies.   He has published 130 scientific papers, six books and edited the Encyclopedia of Geology.

PLIMER: “Okay, here’s the bombshell.   The volcanic eruption in Iceland a few years ago ,

… Since its first spewing of volcanic ash has, in just FOUR DAYS, NEGATED EVERY SINGLE EFFORT you have made in the past five years to control CO2 emissions on our planet – all of you.

Of course, you know about this evil carbon dioxide that we are trying to suppress – it’s that vital chemical compound that every plant requires to live and grow and to synthesize into oxygen for us humans and all animal life.

I know….it’s very disheartening to realize that all of the carbon emission savings you have accomplished while suffering the inconvenience and expense of driving Prius hybrids, buying fabric grocery bags, sitting up till midnight to finish your kids’  “The Green Revolution” science project, throwing out all of your non-green cleaning supplies, using only two squares of toilet paper, putting a brick in your toilet tank reservoir, selling your SUV and speedboat, vacationing at home instead of abroad, nearly getting hit every day on your bicycle, replacing all of your 50 cent light bulbs with $10.00 light bulbs…..well, all of those things you have done have all gone down the tubes in just four days.

The volcanic ash emitted into the Earth’s atmosphere in just four days – yes, FOUR DAYS – by that volcano in Iceland has totally erased every single effort you have made to reduce the evil beast, carbon.   And there are around 200 active volcanoes on the planet spewing out this crud at any one time – EVERY DAY.

I don’t really want to rain on your parade too much, but I should mention that when the volcano Mt. Pinatubo erupted in the Philippines in 1991, it spewed out more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than the entire human race had emitted in all its years on earth.

Yes, folks, Mt Pinatubo was active for over one year – think about it.

Of course, I shouldn’t spoil this ‘touchy-feely tree-hugging’ moment and mention the effect of solar and cosmic activity and the well-recognized 800-year global heating and cooling cycle, which keeps happening despite our completely insignificant efforts to affect climate change.

And I do wish I had a silver lining to this volcanic ash cloud, but the fact of the matter is that the bush fire season across the western USA and Australia this year alone will negate your efforts to reduce carbon in our world for the next two to three years.   And it happens every year.

Just remember that your government just tried to impose a whopping carbon tax on you, on the basis of the bogus ‘human-caused’ climate-change scenario.

Hey, isn’t it interesting how they don’t mention ‘Global Warming’
Anymore, but just ‘Climate Change’ -  you know why?

It’s because the planet has COOLED by 0.7 degrees in the past century and these global warming bull artists got caught with their pants down.

And, just keep in mind that you might yet have an Emissions Trading Scheme – that whopping new tax – imposed on you that will achieve absolutely nothing except make you poorer.

It won’t stop any volcanoes from erupting, that’s for sure.

But, hey, relax……give the world a hug and have a nice day!”

Ed Winkle

Read Kiddo Read!

I heard Raymond Arroyo interview James Patterson this morning.  He said something that really caught my attention.  He said if we could get our kids to become proficient readers we would solve 60% of the problems we have now.

"A few years ago, I realized my son, Jack, didn't exactly love books. We'd always read to him as a baby, and he was beginning to read for school. When he got home, him going to the shelf and picking up a book was about as likely as his pulling out a notebook and solving quantum physics problems. Actually, the latter was more likely. He's a smart kid.

So Sue and I took it on ourselves to fix the problem if we could.  Starting that summer, and every summer since, we went out and found books that I was pretty sure he'd not just read, but would love to read. That was a big part of the inspiration for READKIDDOREAD.

But, more than that, the experience with Jack got me writing books that I hoped he and other kids would love to read. Before then, I'd always written books just for grown-ups.

In fact, one of my proudest moments as a writer was when I passed him the manuscript of The Dangerous Days of Daniel X. Not only did he like it, he told me it was his favorite."

Patterson has sold over 10 million eBooks and most of us have never heard of him.  I think he is doing a great thing in getting kids to read more.  Most of our grand children are readers and I hope they all do to the extent they can enjoy it.  Reading should be fun.  It was for me, it took me places off the farm I could have never have visited otherwise and stimulated my travels in later years.

I hope programs like Read Kiddo Read stimulate the youth of our country to become better and bigger readers.  I think nothing but good can come from that.

Ed Winkle

FFA, The Next Crop!

MEMBERSHIP​

Today, there are 579,678 FFA members, aged 12‒21, in 7,570 chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

• 44% of FFA members are female; women hold approximately 50% of state leadership positions.
• 67% of our membership is White; 22% is Hispanic/Latino; 8% is Black/African-American or American Indian; and 3% Asian, Pacific Islander or two or more races.
• 5% of FFA members are currently enrolled in grades 7-8; 91% of FFA members are currently enrolled in grades 9-12; 4% have already graduated from high school and may be engaged in postsecondary studies.
• FFA chapters are in 18 of the 20 largest U.S. cities, including New York, Chicago and Philadelphia.
• The top five membership states are Texas, California, Georgia, Missouri and Oklahoma.
• The 2012 National FFA Convention was host to 56,167 members, FFA advisors and FFA supporters.
• 2012-13 National FFA Organization membership by states: (English) (Spanish)

EDUCATION

More than 11,000 FFA advisors and agriculture teachers deliver an integrated model of agricultural education providing students with innovative and leading-edge education, enabling them to grow into competent leaders.

• 92% offer agriscience; 71% offer advanced agriscience and biotechnology; 59% offer agricultural mechanics; 49% offer horticulture; 43% offer animal science; and 24% offer environment-related
• 23% of teachers have five or fewer years of teaching experience
• The shortage of qualified agriculture teachers is the greatest challenge facing FFA and agricultural education

CAREER EXPLORATION

FFA classroom activities include math and science as well as hands-on work experience and the development of life skills, helping members discover their career path and realize success.

• Collectively, FFA members earn more than $4 billion annually through their hands-on work experience.
• Members participate and learn advanced career skills in 49 national proficiency areas based on their hands-on work experiences ranging from agricultural communications and food science and technology to turf grass management and wildlife production and management.
• According to the student magazine readership study, 87% of our students are interested in learning about career exploration, 81% about college preparation and 81% about technology.
• Through 24 national career development events and one activity, FFA members are challenged to real-life, hands-on tests of skills used to prepare them for more than 300 careers in the agriculture industry.

FFA got good publicity this week on RFD Rural TV and radio thanks to Dodge Trucks.  Chrysler has donated $1.5 million to the National FFA since October. 

FFA is "the next crop" of agriculturalists and HyMark High Spots salutes the FFA!

Thank you Becky and the Peter's family for my father's day gift of The Farmer In All Of Us!

Ed Winkle

The Power In Producing Food

"The future of the nations will depend on the manner of how they feed themselves, wrote the French epicurean Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin in 1826. Almost 200 years later, how nations feed themselves has gotten a lot more complicated. That’s particularly true in the US, where food insecurity coexists with an obesity crisis, where fast food is everywhere and farmer’s markets are spreading, where foodies have never had more power and McDonald’s has never had more locations, and where the possibility of a barbecue-based civil war is always near. So here are 40 maps, charts, and graphs that show where our food comes from and how we eat it, with some drinking thrown in for good measure."

Because of our land mass quality and location, we in the U.S. have been the leaders of food production.  "New data from the Department of Agriculture shows that, as world demand for food continues to be relatively high, price increases will moderate or even fall. This is in contrast to several years of sharp increases in the cost of agricultural commodities. Much of the reason for the mitigation is a rise in American crop production. America has become, once again, the bread basket of the world. That should help the world economy and could help feed people who are desperate."

One reason U.S. farmers will help hold food prices down is that in 2012 the level of exports of agricultural commodities will be at their second highest level ever, the Agriculture Department reported. There have been problems with supply in a number of the world’s largest nations because of drought and inclement weather. The weather in the U.S. has been relatively good for crop productions over the past year.

While the USDA expects demand for food crops to be strong again this year, “planted acres” in the U.S. will increase 4.2% from last year. Wheat and corn production will increase very substantially. This, in turn, should cause a drop in prices, in a range of 14% to 19% in the price of those two commodities. And, this likely will cause a reversal in food price inflation that began in early 2010.

While the drop in prices and increases in supply will help curb inflation in large countries, particularly China, the most important effect will be in the third world. A recent survey in India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru and Bangladesh conducted by charity Save the Children showed more than 30% of parents said their children did not have enough to eat. The primary cause, they said, was food prices."

It is amazing to me what transpired before my birth.  I know that the hybridization of corn had something to do with that but the resources we have to produce food in this nation is incredible.

I pray we do not squander it.

Ed Winkle