Be Not Afraid

Tonight we sung this beautiful hymn at church"

You shall cross the barren desert
But you shall not die of thirst
You shall wander far in safety
Though you do not know the way.

You shall speak your words in foreign lands
And all will understand
You shall see the face of God and live.

Be not afraid
I go before you always
Come follow Me
And I shall give you rest.

If you pass through raging waters
In the sea, you shall not drown
If you walk amidst the burning flames
You shall not be harmed.

If you stand before the pow'r of hell
And death is at your side
Know that I am with you, through it all.

Be not afraid
I go before you always
Come follow Me
And I shall give you rest.

Blessed are your poor
For the Kingdom shall be theirs
Blest are you that weep and mourn
for one day you shall laugh.

And if wicked men insult and hate you
All because of Me
Blessed, blessed are you!

Be not afraid
I go before you always
Come follow Me
and I shall give you rest...

I really, really enjoyed this hymn and it seemed so appropriate for this season.

Ed

Congratulations To Ohio's Outstanding Young Farm Couple!

My friends Nathan and Jennifer Brown were named Ohio Farm Bureau's Outstanding Young Farm Couple last night in Columbus.  Here is the video they presented at the annual conference where they were named as the winners of the selection.

I think I first noticed Nathan at our farm on Horseshoe Road near Hillsboro, although I am sure I met him before then.  He stopped to talk one day when I was working there and we've been friends ever since.  I asked him how he got his start in farming, as it is so hard to start a farm operation as a young man with little help.

I asked who his ag teacher was and I remembered him from FFA years before.  He told the story of signing up for agriculture class and then finding out he wasn't included on the roster.  He told a mentor friend what happened and the next day he suddenly was on the ag roster!

Since then he has worked up a sizeable operation for a young man.  We still visit from time to time and I keep up with him on Facebook.  I love to drive by his good looking fields with his and his wife's name proudly displayed on each field with their phone number.  No one does that around here unless they are selling something!

My sincere congratulations to Nathan and Jennifer for their outstanding work!  Their honor is well deserved!  I dedicate this neat video of Mount Victoria in New Zealand to their achievement!

Ed Winkle

World Clock Ticks On

I've never seen a world clock done like this one.  These things are all projections based on data.  Who's data and how accurate it is, now that is a point of conjecture.  Either way, they are mind boggling.  If you watch this clock a bit, it could get a bit depressing about human nature.  There is a smile button you can click on if that happens.  The world clock will tick on with or without you and I, so let's make the most of it!

I was reminded how depressing human nature can be last night.  I haven't showed LuAnn yet but someone pointed out that I was quoted as suggesting yield may be linked to soil glyphosate levels.  Some "liberal, left wing, anti GMO crowd" site took liberty at portraying what I said three days ago as Gospel.  Now the only Gospel is the real Gospel, I just stated my experience here and got misquoted for doing it.

The thing reads like I am promoting that you shouldn't use glyphosate.  You can do whatever you want, I just share my experience, strength and hope here.  You can take it or you can leave it!

The poster and my readers can do their own homework if they want.  Don't take my word as Gospel because it isn't, it's just one man's opinion!

I was scheduled to get an MRI on my wrist this morning.  With the storm working this way, I called to reschedule.  I don't want to get stranded 30 miles from home in an ice storm, though I think I could have made it.  Mark Denzler has already moved the date of his Christmas party to Saturday the 14th in Greenfield, Indiana.  Maybe I will see a few of you there?

The joys of aging are not that great but it's worth it every time I see one of our many children or grand children.  They all listen to me very well but be careful who you listen to, me included.

Ed

Blueberries

Blueberries is one of the fast growing fruit markets.  North America is really choosing this healthy fruit more often!  Consumption of blueberries have risen dramatically in ten years!

"In terms of U.S. fruit consumption, blueberries rank only second to strawberries in popularity of berries. Blueberries are not only popular, but also repeatedly ranked in the U.S. diet as having one of the highest antioxidant capacities among all fruits, vegetables, spices and seasonings. Antioxidants are essential to optimizing health by helping to combat the free radicals that can damage cellular structures as well as DNA. We recommend enjoying raw blueberries — rather than relying upon blueberries incorporated into baked desserts — because, like other fruits, raw blueberries provide you with the best flavor and the greatest nutritional benefits.

As one of the few fruits native to North America, blueberries have been enjoyed by Native Americans for hundreds of years. They have also enjoyed great popularity around the world in cuisines from Asia to the Mediterranean.

What's New and Beneficial About Blueberries

• After many years of research on blueberry antioxidants and their potential benefits for the nervous system and for brain health, there is exciting new evidence that blueberries can improve memory. In a study involving older adults (with an average age of 76 years), 12 weeks of daily blueberry consumption was enough to improve scores on two different tests of cognitive function including memory. While participants in the study consumed blueberries in the form of juice, three-quarters of a pound of blueberries were used to make each cup of juice. As participants consumed between 2 to 2-1/2 cups each day, the participants actually received a very plentiful amount of berries. The authors of this study were encouraged by the results and suggested that blueberries might turn out to be beneficial not only for improvement of memory, but for slowing down or postponing the onset of other cognitive problems frequently associated with aging.
• New studies make it clear that we can freeze blueberries without doing damage to their delicate anthocyanin antioxidants. There's no question about the delicate nature of many antioxidant nutrients found in blueberries. These antioxidants include many different types of anthocyanins, the colorful pigments that give many foods their wonderful shades of blue, purple, and red. After freezing blueberries at temperatures of 0°F (-17°C) or lower for periods of time between 3-6 months, researchers have discovered no significant lowering of overall antioxidant capacity or anthocyanin concentrations. Anthocyanins studied have included malvidins, delphinidins, pelargonidins, cyanidins, and peonidins. These findings are great news for anyone who grows, buys, or picks fresh berries in season and wants to enjoy them year round. They are also great news for anyone who has restricted access to fresh blueberries but can find them in the freezer section of the market.
• Berries in general are considered low in terms of their glycemic index (GI). GI is a common way of identifying the potential impact of a food on our blood sugar level once we've consumed and digested that food. In general, foods with a GI of 50 or below are considered "low" in terms of their glycemic index value. When compared to other berries, blueberries are not particularly low in terms of their GI. Studies show the GI for blueberries as falling somewhere in the range of 40-53, with berries like blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries repeatedly scoring closer to 30 than to 40. However, a recent study that included blueberries as a low-GI fruit has found that blueberries, along with other berries, clearly have a favorable impact on blood sugar regulation in persons already diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Participants in the study who consumed at last 3 servings of low-GI fruits per day (including blueberries) saw significant improvement in their regulation of blood sugar over a three-month period of time. (Their blood levels of glycosylated hemoglobin, or HgA1C were used as the standard of measurement in this study.) It's great to see blueberries providing these clear health benefits for blood sugar regulation!
• If you want to maximize your antioxidant benefits from blueberries, go organic! A recent study has directly compared the total antioxidant capacity of organically grown versus non-organically grown highbush blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum L., var. Bluecrop) and found some very impressive results for the organically grown berries. Organically grown blueberries turned out to have significantly higher concentrations of total phenol antioxidants and total anthocyanin antioxidants than conventionally grown blueberries, as well as significantly higher total antioxidant capacity. Numerous specific antioxidant anthocyanins were measured in the study, including delphinidins, malvidins, and petunidins. The antioxidant flavonoid quercetin was also measured.

In our Healthiest Way of Eating Plan, we encourage the consumption of 5-10 servings of fruits-plus-vegetables (combined) each day. We believe that the balance between fruits and vegetables can vary from day to day, depending upon personal health factors, personal taste preferences, and optimal combining of foods in recipes as well as meals."

 

With 12 grand children, we planted 50 blueberry bushes!  They love their blueberries!

 

Ed

Slow Start Deer Harvest

Opening gun season for white tailed deer is a big thing around here.

We have three hunters hunting our property and another trapping our creeks for raccoon.  Monday December 2 was opening day and not a shot was fired but Eric said he heard 40-50 shots, probably 3-4 shots at one animal.

I have come to look forward to deer hunting season.  The harvest of deer feeds hungry people, eliminates some crop damage, reduces the chances of hitting one with a vehicle and is a viable industry in Ohio.  Deer hunters do spend money to shoot, stay warm and eat.

Sunday night LuAnn prepared a big meal of meat loaf, mashed potatoes and green beans and corn, one of my favorite meals.  Scott, Tim, and Eric joined us for dinner to celebrate the start of gun season in Ohio.

I've never had the patience to fish or hunt.  I tried both, but it's just not my thing.  Walking a field of wheat, corn or soybeans, now that IS my thing.

"LODI, Ohio - Take the entire population of Cleveland plus an additional 30,000 or so and scatter them through the rolling hills and woods of Ohio’s 88 counties and that will give you an idea of the size and scope of deer gun week.

For many of the state’s roughly half-million hunters it is a ritual -- part hunt, part social event.

“We go down to southern Ohio and we have usually about 10 or 15 guys that get together and just spend you know a few days being guys,” said Luke Brock, of Medina. “So we really really look forward to it each year -- it's a chance to fill our freezers and maybe get a big one.”

The big one he brought into the ODNR processing station at Mack’s Food Center in Lodi was a buck.

"It's at least an adult deer because it has six teeth in the jaw," said ODNR’s Allen Lea. “That’s exactly what a lot of guys are looking for in this season,” he said.

Lea documents the size, sex, age and health of the deer that come in. ODNR expects around 80,000 deer to be harvested in this week that runs through Sunday and provides hunters with an extra half hour of hunting each day.

“This is the first time that we’ve extended the hunting season for deer gun to a half hour after sunset so now it mimics the archery season,” he said.

His processing center though running a little slower than in the past due in part to the ability of hunters to register their deer online on ODNR’s website.

"A guy can if he has a smart phone or a gal can go on and check their deer in the field from their smartphone and never have to come to the check station,” he said."

 

Ed

Non GMO Wins Root Worm Trial

My friend Coup, Dick Shelton from central, Illinois posted this on Crop Talk.  His feeling is that an "unknown" non GMO seed company provided seed that made more money than the traited corn in FIRST trials.

I am not surprised.    I recommended their seed on Crop Talk for non GMO seed corn seekers a year ago.  They are a brand new upstart company with good seed.  They sent me trial seed and it was very good.  I still prefer my First Choice and Porter seed a little more.  I am small enough I can't plant more than two or three companies and I want to try Genesys Grain Genetics this year.

Genesys is an ever newer upstart company that not only specializes in non GMO seed, but provides farmer ownership of the company and connects the farmer to markets that can improve his profit line.
  Jeff and Keith started this company after realizing the need for pure non GMO seed raised with the FHR Farms method of fertilization.

More and more farmers are coming to this realization when they see good, non GMO seed outperforming all of the traited seed on the market.  It's been a big topic of conversation on Crop Talk the past year.  Keith saw this in his plot this year with the First Choice 808 making 600 more pounds of corn than any other entry across his large plot.  A local farmer split his planter with First Choice 808 and Porter 4514 and saw the largest yield his farm has ever produced, 274 dry bushels per acre.

If I take a top hybrid in pure non GMO form, that is no glyphosate tested in that seed and plant it on soil where there is also no glyphosate, I am seeing higher yields.  That's in last year's drought and this year's extra moisture, which was seven inches above normal here this year.

I know the big seed companies who have invested millions in traits don't want you to hear this but this is exactly what we are finding out.  Take a look at this option on your farm if you haven't already.  The farther I get away from glyphosate and the purer the seed I plant, the better the yield I seem to get.

Applications of gypsum and soft rock phosphate are addressing soil health needs just like Dr. Dan Skow said they would.  Balanced fertility with plenty of free calcium and sulfur in the soil is making nitrogen work so much more efficiently.

What are you doing differently on your farm next year?

Ed Winkle

Cover Crop Summit

Here are two excellent videos that represent very well what we saw at the CTIC Cover Crop Summit in Ft. Wayne, Indiana November 20-21, 2013.  The first shows what Mike  Werling does on his farm near Decatur, Indiana.  The second video discusses the tiling controversy in northwest Ohio where the Great Black Swamp was drained.

The tour visited:

 

• Allen Dean Farm, Bryan, Ohio
• Whiteshire Hamroc Farms, Albion, Ind.
• Jamie Scott Farm, Pierceton, Ind.
• Mike Werling Farm, Decatur, Ind.

 

At each operation, producers discussed how they began with cover crops, their approach to using cover crops, benefits of using the cover crops and what they’ve learned about cover crops since they began.

 

The summit caps off CTIC’s Great Lakes Cover Crop Initiative, in which producers in the Great Lakes Basin planted 27,454 acres of cover crops and helped reduce the amount of nutrients making its way into the lakes.

 

The whole Summit was quite informative from Allen Dean's Nitro cover crop seeder to Jamie Scott's plots on his farm.  The swine farm showed how they use cover crops to keep 6 million gallons of swine manure annually in their soils and out of streams.  Mike and Allen's soil pit showed the change in soil quality from their cover crops and Mike's video has some really good footage on how a one man operation can make all repairs and planter improvements while farming no-till with cover crops.

 

I highly recommend the two videos, they are expertly done with great footage.  I hope this gives you a "taste" of all the things we saw and learned at the Summit.

 

Hat's off to the CTIC crew for putting on such fact finding tours.

 

Ed Winkle