Ten Most Fascinating People In Agriculture

I found this interesting article thanks to my soil sampling friend Dave Rahe in Illinois.  He writes "observations in agriculture."

I got to thinking who my ten most fascinating people would be when it comes to agriculture?

My list has surely changed over my lifetime but it would start with my dad and grandpa.  They were fascinating people to me and greatly influenced my life.  Our county 4-H agent Al Rhonemus and county ag agent, Jim Wells were very influential on my life.

Let's talk recent times, though.  The first one who came to mind is Paul Reed in Washington, Iowa.  That man taught me how to keep no-tilling and not go back to the chisel plow.  I was ready to do that in 1995 when I met him on Ag Online.  He introduced me to cousin Dave Moeller, the smartest guy on planters and combines I've ever met.    After a visit or two, he told me about Keith Schlapkohl.  I visited him and saw the healthiest crops I had ever seen.  They still are.  He has greatly influenced the way I farm and what I recommend.

He introduced me to Jeff Littrell, the mad scientist of chemical formulations and one of the most passionate people of life through agriculture I've ever met.  Jeff has introduced me to a whole host of people like Don Huber and Arden Andersen.  I shouldn't name names because the list will go on forever.

About the same time I met John Haggard on Ag Talk.  John has a view of me and of life and of raising crops like no one I've ever met.  For honesty and integrity, he reminds me of 24 year friend Leon Bird.  Leon is the most caring, honest man I've ever met.  He and Jeff introduced me to Scott Apple, one of the most fascinating farmers I've ever met and the father of sons like Henry.  Young men like Henry just make me smile.

I've been blessed to meet so many fascinating people, so many influential people, so many darned good down to earth people.  Most of them are involved in agriculture but agriculture is my passion.

Who would make your most fascinating people list?

Ed Winkle

Farmers Rock

Here is a great list of reasons why being a farmer "rocks."

10.Outdoors – there’s nothing like the smell of fresh air, or even better, the smell of fresh cut hay!
9.Fun Equipment – What other job do you get to drive large tractors, combines, sprayers or anything else?
8. Weather – You always know the weather, even when you don’t want to.
7. You’re your own boss – Well besides mother nature – but she’s another story.
6. Job security – As long as there is land to farm and mouths to feed, Farmers will have the most important job there is.
5. Farming communities – There is no community like a real farm community. There are no strangers, just some people you might not know yet. When a Farmer goes down, the whole town is there to pick up where he, or she, left off.
4. No need to clean – You have an excuse to be dirty and stay dirty. As Will Rogers so eloquently said, “What this country needs is dirtier fingernails and cleaner minds.” Dirty nails show more than dirt, they show work ethic, discipline and the most selfless workers the world knows.
3. Knowledge - Who else but a Farmer can tell you more about the weather than a weather man, more about a tractor than a mechanic and more about their land than anyone else.
2. The View- Your office has the best view of anyone – the outdoors, the fresh smells,  and the earth beneath your feet. What’s better than that?
1. The best part? You feed the world. There are not many other people who can say that about their job."

It's obvious to me whoever wrote this doesn't farm for a living.  Yes these all ring true but it only looks at the reasons farming LOOKS like it's fun!

Have you ever tried to build a self sustaining business from the ground up?  Have you ever lost income due to no fault of your own?  Have you ever even tried to take care of a herd of animals in sub zero temperatures?  I am sure my brother in law wasn't thinking about how great it is to be a cowman last night when his frozen fingers tried to help two newborn calves nurse on stubborn cows!

May of 2011 was no fun for me.  It rained 25 inches in two months and I lost most of my wheat crop and couldn't plant a new crop on time.

This year was a lot more fun with excellent crops and more than adequate rainfall.  The market prices slid all year and took some of that fun out.

It's funny how people perceive farming who don't do it for a living.  Heck, it's even funny how we who do it perceive ourselves and each other.  I do enjoy the casual nature of the business, I can even dress casual for church and be accepted by God and my neighbor.  I do like to dress up though, that's the way I was raised.

Farmers do rock though and my hat is off to you.  It isn't for the reasons listed above, it's because you have the passion to do something the world will always need, feed, clothe, house and fuel the world.

Ed Winkle

Soil pH and Nutrient Release

There have been many questions this winter on how much lime do I need, how do I manage my high magnesium and high pH soils and how should I fertilize?  Soils deficient in calcium with excess magnesium is my specialty and more common in the Midwest, especially east of the Mississippi.

Here is an old piece that is a great read.  I've referred to it the last 20 years or so or something similar.  I love the old chart that shows how the different minerals are available at various pH's.  I always made my students read aloud what was available at 6.5 pH and then look up the "ideal pH" for different crops.

I've used the Soil Test Reliability Rating chart in most of my talks.  The idea is the soil test sure isn't perfect but it's still better than any guess or just crop removal.  The recommendations will often come up to crop removal but neither one addresses micro nutrients.  This is why I like to pull tissue tests at flower and several times before if I am really trying to learn how my crop responds to weather and management.

Usually there isn't a dime's worth of difference in one tissue test to the next in the same field so my goal is to pull one sample for every field I farm and encourage all of you to do the same.  Then we have something to discuss on these cold winter days.  How should I address my need for Boron and Manganese?  What's the best way for me to apply my zinc?  How do I get my tissue test result up to Sufficient for every tested nutrient?  What happened with my management compared to the weather I had this year?  Did I maximize my results?

I am 64 and I am finally enjoying really good crops every year with pretty good test results.  I've spread more lime and fertilizer than I ever did in my life, though.  Gypsum and soft rock phosphate produced the best crops in the county this year.  We had about seven extra inches of water to make these programs all work.

Here are two good threads on how to handle high pH or calcareous soils like our good friend Wilson has in Texas.  If you have high pH and struggle what to do with it, I would email him and Darren Hefty at Hefty Seed.  I've seen those two gentlemen do a great job on high pH soils because they both have experience with it.

This week is a good one to ponder these questions, get your prices and formulate your plan.

I know what I have to do if I can just get it done.  2013 was a very good year for me to get into this position.

Ed Winkle

Did Everyone Survive?

Did everyone survive the arctic blast so far?  It sure looked cold in Green Bay, Wisconsin last night for the NFL Wildcard Playoffs!

We've heard from all the kids and everyone is surviving so far but most everything is shut down for two days where we live.  As long as the power company can keep the power on, life will be much easier for all involved.

Cincinnati fans have pretty much given up on Andy Dalton and Marvin Lewis, the two leaders of the Cincinnati Bengal football team.   They've done a decent job getting into the playoffs but they don't seem to have the ability to win the big game.  It's just a game like I said about the Buckeye's, right?  "Every dog has his day," and it looks like they both had their day in the sun.  Now it's back to work.

The mysterious crop circle near San Francisco has been solved.  I bet we see more and more antics like that, don't you?

My email has been hot about farming, Apex soybeans and all kinds of lime and fertilizer discussions.  I haven't been keeping up too well!  For those of you wanting to plant Apex soybeans, contact Scott Apple at Bowling Green, Ohio.  Mine are all spoken for and will be processed this spring.  If you are looking for Jacob or Clermont soybeans, contact Steritz Seed Farm at Lynchburg, Ohio, 5 miles southeast of us.

The big news across the US is surviving the coldest winter we've had in two decades.  Here's hoping we all get through this in anticipation of spring!

Many of my friends will be heading for Springfield, Illinois next week for NNTC.  I won't be in attendance this year.

Here's praying for our prayer list, don't be afraid to ask for prayer.

Ed

Sunday Prayer List

As the coldest weather grips the US in two decades, every day survival is first on everyone's mind.  We have friends and family in the hospital because they have to fight their own personal survival first.

I am part of the church prayer list and it has been huge this fall and winter.  You wouldn't believe the amount of sick and suffering of people you know and the only  thing I can do for most of them is pray.

I've always prayed since I was a child in Sunday School.  I've seen the power of prayer in my life and in the lives of other throughout my lifetime.  Do you have a prayer list?  Do you pray?

Today's list includes:
Tom, my brother in law
Will, my son in law
Holly, my friend in Minnesota
A lady at church who has been given two weeks to live because her cancer came out of remission

The list goes on and on.  Thank you for your prayers for LuAnn and I and our friends and family.  The best part of Ag Talks Café is when someone asks for prayers and farmers come out of the woodwork to offer up their prayers.

I pray you and your family is safe through this more difficult winter.  I am glad I am not a livestock farmer today though I really am.  I take care of billions of soil livestock that keeps my soil healthy and productive.  That's why we talk about all the things we do here on HyMark High Spots.  They are tucked away in warm soil right now, ready to multiply as soon as spring comes.

Until then, we will just keep plugging along, one day at a time!

A blessed Sunday to you all on this day of Epiphany,  Remember what the gold, frankincense and myrrh represents.

Ed Winkle

Saturday

It was hard to watch the Buckeyes lose in a close game in the Orange Bowl last night.  I never knew who Clemson was in 1978 when I attended my first game against them in Jacksonsville, Florida.  That night made history.

We flew down to Aunt Florence's house near the Wiki Wachi gardens on the Gulf Coast.  She let me borrow her big Buick to drive to the game.  It was a good thing, because anyone who had Ohio license plates and parked in the wrong place that night got their car trashed or burned.  It was like civil war riots.  Many cars were burned and destroyed.

I went to the rest room first and there beside me was Roger Bernard, the ag teacher I had followed at Blanchester!  We looked at each other like what in the world are you doing here!  He was executive secretary for the Georgia Pork Producers!  That turned out to be the best part of the evening.

As we took our seats we were out numbered over ten to one in favor of support of Clemson.  They had signs like Yankee Go Home and proceeded to harass the Buckeye fans all night.  The threw their beer at us and it felt like real hatred where I sat and watched.

You could see it on the field too and Woody went into a tirade near the end when their famous player intercepted a pass from Art Schlichter and Woody socked him one under his helmet.  It turned out his diabetes was out of control and that wasn't revealed to the world until last night's pregame show.  It brought back all of my memories.  The Civil War hatred was present at the game that night and I am not sure we will be ever over it.  It's been passed down for centuries now.

Any hatred I had was just extreme disappointment.

A football game is supposed to be fun, right?  I was hoping the Buckeyes could vindicate Coach Hayes but that wasn't what this game was about.  I hope the best team one last night.

Have a great day,

Ed Winkle

Cheerio's To Go GMO Free

I opened up a news link this morning and the first article was "Cheerio's To Go GMO Free."  Why would Cheerio's have GMO products anyway?  Are there GMO oats?

No, it's the corn starch used for binder and the sugar used to sweeten them.

They say they have done this for weeks now in response to "requests by consumers."  It's probably just another marketing ploy but fits right in with what we've talked about here on HyMark High Spots since its inception five years ago.

Forget all of that, today I dedicate this blog to my Dad, Gerald N. Winkle, who passed away at age 85, thirteen years ago today.

You are still missed, dad, and always will be!

Ed Winkle