"Peter Built A Truck"

Peter built a truck for a man to drive, it's a pretty good  livin' but it ain't no life
For a farmer's daughter or a drunk man's wife,
Peter built a truck for a man to drive.

I remember that song years ago when I was doing radio shows on WKFI, Wilmington where "we kept farmers informed."  It's one of the songs that sticks in your head.

LuAnn and I decided to go to opening night at the Clinton County Fair and the first person I made eye contact with came over and shook my hand.  He is Todd Garrison, long time family friend from Blanchester, Ohio and other parts since.  He is now sales manager at Peterbilt of Cincinnati, the Larson Group.

He said to tell my friends they specialize in helping the farmer and the smaller operations with trucking needs.  Here I am, telling my friends!

I liked what this friend said about "Pete's:" 

It has been my experience that it breaks down to what you are going to pull with it, how much money you want to spend on the purchase and personal preference. 

Personal preference is like "do I buy a Chevy or a Ford"... Do I buy a Lincoln or a Cadillac... 

Some of the names you mentioned as well as some of the names others mentioned are in categories above. Peterbilt and Kenworth are the "Lincoln and Cadillac's" of the trucking industry. They are good looking, tough and will give you very good service over the life of the truck..... on the other hand... they aren't cheap to purchase. 

Freightliner and Western Star were, until a short while ago, owned my Mercedes Benz. Freightliner has come a long, long way in improvement of their trucks since 1983 when MB took over. They were #6 or #7 in sales at that point and they are the number one selling truck in North America right now. Western Star use to be built in Canada, but they are now assembled in the Portland Freightliner plant. They are very good trucks as well. Both of these brands, along with International (Navistar) fall into the "Chevy and Ford" category. Very well built, good service over the life of the vehicle and less expensive to purchase than a Pete or Kenworth. (in most cases.... ) Volvo builds a very good truck as well.... I don't have much experience with the new ones so I can't really voice an honest opinion.... sorry... 

Macks build the workhorse of the trucking industry. Granted, they build "road trucks" and you will see a lot of them on the highways, but where you see Macks the most is Dump Trucks, Heavy equipment hauling, etc. They build a good truck.

Source:

30 years and 2.5 million accident and violation free miles in a truck. I have driven every brand of truck on the road and if money were no issue, I would purchase them in them in the following order because of my personal experience with them.... Pete, Western Star, Freightliner, Kenworth and Mack. Please understand that my preference is based on my 6'8" height and how much legroom each truck has. For every kind of truck on the road, you will find someone who likes "their truck" over anything else out there. 

Purchase what you can afford, what you can live with for creature comforts and what will do the best job for you on the road. You can't lose! Good luck"

If you are looking for a big truck, Todd Garrison can help you!

513-808-0184

Ed Winkle

 

Seven Super Foods For Summer

I wasn't surprised at the first food listed in this local TV health report but I was surprised at the second one!

Raspberries for fiber but we eat them like candy
Potatoes! for magnesium and potassium
Peas for healthy proteins
Parsley for vitamin K for healthy bones
Peppers has more vitamin C than oranges
Popcorn fiber snack without the butter!
Sauerkraut! is loaded with probiotics, good for your stomach

Lot's of P's in those words!  We eat all seven  foods like they are going out of style!  I wonder where Driscoll raises those red raspberries all year long?  The boxes have been saying Mexico but are saying product of the USA now.  The golden ones are OK for a change but you can't beat the red raspberries for taste.

Raspberries can be found in assorted colors including gold, black and purple, but red raspberries are the most common. These fruits are as nutritious as they are beautiful.

New research suggests that eating red raspberries may prevent cancer by inhibiting the abnormal division of cells and promoting the normal death of healthy cells.

Raspberries are also a rich source of the flavonoids quercetin and gallic acid, which have been shown to play a role in heart health and the prevention of cardiovascular diseases, obesity and age-related decline. Raspberry ketones are similar to capsacin, found in red pepper, which is known for its ability to inhibit the growth of cancer cells.

What are you eating this summer?

We picked peas today and will have sweet corn soon.

Ed Winkle

America 2016

We have visited the movie theatre more this year than the last ten combined!  On July 4, we went to Milford, Ohio to watch America 2016, our second Dinesh D'souza  movie.  I like the way this guy thinks, documents, and presents.

"Dinesh D'souza's documentary "America" opens this week, just in time for the July 4^th holiday -- but "patriotic" isn't the "p" word being used most often to describe this latest film from the conservative author and commentator. Rather, it's "partisan," which shouldn't come as much of a surprise for anyone familiar with his 2008 anti-Obama film "2016: Obama's America."

 

D'Souza's newer film, whose full title is "America: Imagine the World Without Her," sets out to do just that: It uses dramatic re-enactments to help imagine what the world would be like if America never existed -- and uses its conclusions to counter what it says is a deeply anti-American slant that has come to color the nation's history.

 

"'Someone once observed: 'America is great because she is good; if she ever ceases to be good she will cease to be great,'" the film's producers write in its synopsis. "Today that notion of the essential goodness of America is under attack, replaced by another story in which theft and plunder are seen as the defining features of American history -- from the theft of Native American and Mexican lands and the exploitation of African labor to a contemporary foreign policy said to be based on stealing oil and a capitalist system that robs people of their 'fair share.'"

 

"America" wasn't widely screened for critics, but the first handful of reviews are trickling in, and they're not particularly glowing. Below, find a sampling of what critics are saying about D'Souza's new film. "America: Imagine the World Without Her" opened in theaters on Wednesday (July 2). "

 

I recommend everyone go see this movie.  Like his first documentary, this movie makes you think.  I also think farmers and businessmen would really get the points of this movie.

 

Ed and LuAnn

 

Happy Birthday, America!

Happy Birthday, America!  I can see how you have survived 238 years thanks to the brave men and women who founded this country and have fought to keep her free!  I am not sure you will be around in another 238 years the way people are acting today!

It's been a crazy year here on the farm.  I can't believe it's the Fourth of July, the year is half gone, the longest day is over, and my corn is over my head.  I can't believe my nine month baby wheat crop is mature harvested, and growing a crop of soybeans where the wheat was.  I guess they said this would happen as you age and it sure has for me.

I give thanks today for being able to practice and enjoy my faith in a land of prosperity.  I am thankful for a great crop of kids and the best crop of grand kids one could imagine.  We are working hard to see these kids have the same opportunities we had at their age but some people in leadership don't agree with our way of thinking.

With all the problems we've created, we still live in great land but it's slipping away.  New Zealand is the land of the happiest people, just like we told you we saw on our two trips to that marvelous place.  "No worries, Mate" is their motto and they live by it every day.  I can't even watch the news in America some days without getting depressed.  Many people don't even watch the news here anymore, maybe just 10 minutes in the morning to catch the main stories.  If you watch the news all day, you won't get anything accomplished!

I truly give thanks today and hope you can too.  Most of my readers are patriots and my hats are off to you.  Many of you have sacrificed to make this country as good as it is and I thank you also.

Eat a big hamburger for me and enjoy your family and friends.  Let's keep America the land of the free and the home of the brave but we do have our work cut out for us!

Ed

Our Corn Made The Internet

Josh Mires from Ontario posted on Crop Talk one day, asking for places to tour for the third annual Farms.Com Midwest Crop Tour.  I volunteered to meet them in Darke or Mercer County Ohio because they are our top two ag counties of Ohio's 88 Counties.  They ended up coming here and shot some video and our corn ended up on their website!

Josh is traveling with Maury Agostino from near London, Ontario for Farms.Com.  We had iced tea on the back porch and then went crop scouting.  LuAnn invited them to dinner but they took a "rain check" because if they took up every farmer's hospitality they would be in the Midwest all summer.  I have to give "Moe" credit, he walked right up to our pretty corn and found a blemish and asked me "what's this???"

They missed a killer meal of roast lamb and potatoes and fresh peas from the garden, salad and dessert!  I don't like lamb but I admit it was excellent.  LuAnn has become quite a gourmet cook.  No wonder people tease me about my belly!

They have three states of their tour on the website already so you can follow their tour day by day.  It is interesting to see the variation from area to area they visit.  They show a real nice field of corn tasseled out and making ears.  Our field will do that next week.  We will start eating our sweet corn about that time, too.

They talk about the greenhouse conditions in the Midwest that could hurt the market prices even worse than they are.  We definitely have those conditions in the 2000 miles or so we have travelled so far.

Ed Winkle

99 Years Ago

99 years ago today, my dad was born.  I woke up wondering what it was like in those days on the farm in Sardinia.  The big old white civil war era house, the barns that have burned down since, the buildings that dad has built since.  Chopping wood every day just to cook and eat, carrying water, the outhouse, the horses for horse power and on and on.

The world was ready for war and a disgruntled professor set off 3 sticks of dynamite in the Capitol building to get attention.  Like every year, tumultuous events occurred while people of the day just tried to survive.

Dad was the fifth child for George and Mamie Winkle on the old Bare Plantation farm in Brown County Ohio.  He had four older sisters who treated me like gold.  He would have 3 more sisters and a brother.  Uncle Roy is the last one of that family still alive to day.  His birthday was May 5 and I wish him many more.  He still tells me stories about that family.  Dad's family was very special to me.

Yesterday my grand daughter Caoilin celebrated her fifth birthday.  We called and performed our best act of LuAnn's family tradition of calling early and singing Happy Birthday to her.  She got her gift from us right on time and we saw the pictures of her celebration.  I can't believe the 100 or so years I know something about have passed so quickly.  The last 64 have been a blur to me!

On the home front, we got the wheat cut, the double crop beans planted and sprayed and fertilized and I mowed for miles around the new farm.  Grandpa is worn out today but happy.  We were on the edge of big storms last night but we got some rain to make the new crop take off and all of the products I applied work.

Life is not perfect but life is good down on the farm.

Happy birthday dad, Caoilin and America!

Ed Winkle

The Difference Between Hybrids And GMO

 

Tedious tasks like running a combine gives one time to think.  I have been thinking about this article and why some consumers are so against GMO and why some farmers are so pro GMO.

"Are genetically modified foods (commonly called GMOs) and hybrid foods the same thing? Think about it. Have you ever eaten a Honeycrisp apple? A Honeycrisp is a hybrid. Have you ever seen an organic Honeycrisp? You can buy USDA certified organic Honeycrisps, and certified organic food cannot contain GMOs.

 

If you follow the logic, hybrid foods and GMOs obviously can’t be the same. But, what is the difference?

 

Hybrid produce is created when two different varieties of a fruit or vegetable, or two different types of a fruit or vegetable, are crossed with each other. When kale is crossed with Brussels sprouts, a new vegetable called Kalettes is produced.

 

When compatible plants are cross-bred, new varieties are created. Sometimes this happens in nature; sometimes it happens on a farm or plantation. Grapefruits are a hybrid of a pomelo and a sweet orange. They were crossbred on plantations in the 18th century. The Honeycrisp was created under more scientific conditions at the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station's Horticultural Research Center around 1960.

 

No matter how a hybrid fruit or vegetables comes to be, it is not genetically modified. According to the NonGMO Project, a GMOs are “plants or animals that have been genetically engineered with DNA from bacteria, viruses or other plants and animals. These experimental combinations of genes from different species cannot occur in nature or in traditional crossbreeding.”

 

While the creation of hybrid fruits and vegetables create a bigger variety, GMO produce does not increase the variety of fruits and vegetables available. Eighty percent of GMOs are “are engineered for herbicide tolerance.” They contain toxic chemicals that are designed to kill weeds or pests, but there has been little research done on what these chemicals do to human health. That’s why GMOs are controversial.

 

If you’ve been eating grapefruits or Honeycrisps or even Kalettes, go ahead and keep on eating them. There is no health risk in eating a hybrid. If you regularly consume GMO foods, however, you might want to learn more about them. A good place to start is MNN’s GMO page."

This stuff gets carried on without explanation or understanding.

GMO can only be created by injecting DNA from a different specie via gun, virus or bacteria, all of which has consequences.

That does not mean GMO is less superior, it just means it is different than hybrids or natural selection.

Many of my agricultural friends do not want to admit this.

Ed Winkle