Sunday

We are going on a little sabbatical so I have asked Ralph Taylor to write for me while we are gone.

I met Ralph and Donna when we lived in Blanchester. We used to see each other at the Winedog's Cafe across the street of Jim's Tire and Auto.

When we bought this place in 2004, we found out they were our neighbors! We have farmed the tillable part of their farm ever since and even went on a cruise together. Gee, that seems like years ago.

Ralph is a retired chemist from Proctor and Gamble and is active in the food pantry in Wilmington but I will let him tell you all about it if he wishes too.

Like me, he has seen a lot in his lifetime and has a lot of wisdom and hopefully stories to tell.

I will talk to you soon but until then, check in to see what Ralph has to say!

I was looking at my blog stats last night and we have readers all over the world! Many of you check in once a week or so to see what is up with us but some of you take a look every day as I have worked very hard to post something new every day.

Thanks a million, Ralph and all you readers!

Ed Winkle

Be Careful What You Post

Someone made a mistake of saying on croptalk that Ohio was covered with trees before man and had 1-2 inches of topsoil. I think he claimed our productive soil was due to years of plowing!

You know it only takes a few minutes to see that Ohio and the midwest soil was formed by glaciers. Everything that has happened since has affected what we have today but it all started with the Big White Plow.

Soil Regions 1 through 8 represent the portion of Ohio that was covered by glacial ice during one or more glaciations. That is the gray part of the picture. Most people think that IS Ohio. The most common soils in these regions formed in glacial deposits. The older glacial deposits are in Regions 7 and 8. Most of the soils in the glaciated part of the state are very deep to bedrock.

The most common soils in Regions 9 through 12 formed in materials weathered from sedimentary rocks. Because soil forms more slowly from bedrock than from unconsolidated glacial material, soils in Regions 9 through 12 tend to be more shallow to bedrock than soils in Regions 1 through 8. Weathered rock, that is good for pature, trees and hiking!

Soil Regions 1, 3, 4, 7 and 9 occur in the part of Ohio where limestone, dolomite and limy shales are the most common bedrocks, and so the soils in these regions tend to have a relatively high lime content in the substratum. The glacial deposits in Regions 2, 5, 6, and 8 have a lower lime content. In most of Regions 10, 11 and 12 the soils formed in materials weathered from acid sedimentary rocks, mainly sandstone, siltstone and shale. Remember dolomite is magnesium rock and calcitic rock is high in calcium. Most of Ohio is Dolomitic rock formed.

Soils naturally become more acid over time under Ohio's weather conditions, but soils with lime in the substratum are neutral or only slightly acid in part of the subsoil. Since most plant nutrients are chemically active under neutral or slightly acid conditions, soils with more lime in the substratum are generally more fertile for crop production. Ohio farmers commonly increase crop yields by spreading lime to neutralize the acidity of the topsoil and the upper part of the subsoil.

Ohio is a pretty neat state for many reasons. It's location in the midwest, mid-atlantic and the way it was formed makes it the neat state it is.

Tomorrow I will introduce you to a friend who will write this page while we take a little sabbatical.

Be Careful What You Post!

Ed

The Soybean Goes to London

This week, American Soybean Association has been busy with meetings in London. President Rob Joslin of nearby Sidney, Ohio has been busy.

You need to watch his powerpoint and see what is up with soybeans in the world. It is a good presentation and I was reminded how far we have come in production methods in a very short time.

"American Soybean Association (ASA) President Rob Joslin was at the ExCel Centre in London this week to give a presentation at CropWorld 2010, "Producing More with Less: The business, science, trade & technology of sustainable global crop production." Joslin was one of the 100 international speakers presenting during the two-and-a-half day event.

Keynote speakers included Maive Rute, Director of Biotechnologies, Food and Agriculture Research from the European Commission, James Paice, a Member of the British Parliament and Minister of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and Katherine Smith, Administrator for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service.

Joslin’s presentation, titled "Following the Life of the Soybean," provided participants with an overview of the many natural challenges (diseases, weeds, pests) farmers must overcome to profitably grow the food, feed and fuel the world needs. The presentation also features a contrast between conventional and conservation tillage practices, and highlights the benefits of precision farming technologies. View Joslin’s PowerPoint presentation. "

The GMO seed costs should get your attention, whether you farm or no because it affects our bottom line. People are always amazed when I share my seed costs. I have the decision of whether to plant non GMO or GMO soybeans for 2011 and the data available leans me to LL soybeans next year. They were my most profitable crop with the best weed control this year.

"Although organic production was a major topic, much discussion occurred on the need to double the world food supply by 2050 in an environmentally sustainable manner," Joslin said. "I got the impression that the industry is more frustrated with the anti-GMO attitude than they are supportive, and I think my presentation about how various farm technologies fit together into an overall beneficial system was well received by the audience."

CropWorld 2010, formerly the BCPC (British Crop Production Council) Congress, attracted more European companies than in pervious years and a broader spectrum of attendees from finance, food buyers and retailers, farming technology, packaging and universities.

Agriculture is in the world news and soybeans are getting lots of notice with reduced protein supplies worldwide.

It's an exciting time for farming.

Ed Winkle

Slumbucket

I was hungry yesterday morning so I thought I would treat myself to a local diner I haven't been to.

It is only five miles away and is called Stephanie's. It sits on the corner of a busy curve on SR 28 in New Vienna, five miles east of us. They are open 7 to 2 daily and specialize in breakfast and lunch.

My friend Jan told me I needed to try the "Slumbucket" some day I was hungry. It was chopped up and grilled sausage, onions, peppers, and homefries with eggs and cheese to hold it together.

It was really good but you need to be hungry before you try it! There is one in New York they have a name for like that I will have to ask about again. The name came up in a discussion at the funeral Friday.

Here is what a writer said on a Google search:

Stephanie'sStephanie's Diner is another excellent choice for a first date, and it has an easy to get to location at 142 W. Main St. in New Vienna. If you are more of a standard dinner date style individual then Stephanie's Diner would have the environment that you would prefer. They have a fairly standard rural menu,, with a very hospitable service team. In particular the waitresses that I have had personal interaction with were very friendly and service oriented. For dinner, drinks, and dessert the tab would run you and average of $25-30. I give this location a nine out of ten for good food, excellent service, and a clean environment.

I don't think I would quite go that far but they were right about quality and hospitality. I wonder if the writer ever ate there? It is like they plug in a town name and you read their ratings on various establishments.

It was good, Stephanie but I think that write up is an Internet gimmick.

Ed Winkle

OK Kasich

This Bud is for you.

Ohioans wanted change enough to forget about your troubled political career. They didn't even care if you weren't born in Ohio.

Now you are governor of Ohio, not a very good resume builder here the last 50 years or so. It is surely no step to the White House which you fizzled pretty well yourself 10 years ago.

No, I didn't vote for you and half the people of this statee didn't, either. Here is your chance. Show us your stuff. Prove to me you are not a crook.

Whatever happened between you, Lehman Brother's and the Ohio Retirement system will rear its ugly head. Now you are in the light and the light usually shows the truth.

I am not sure how much light Sean Hannity shed on you on his FOX News program. That really made me leery, also.

Personally I wish you had gone back to McKee's Rock, Pennsylvania but the word is you are not welcome there, either.

You have a chance to prove half the state wrong so let's see it.

Surely you aren't as bad as Bob Taft, are you?

Ed Winkle

FluidOTherapy

I was telling you about my new therapy in this machine called FluidOTherapy.

It circulates warm, ground corn husks around your extremeties.

Yes, it is ground corn husks. The physics of corn husks must be perfect to heat up and warm your fingers enough to do excercises you couldn't do without the heat and medium.

You can see my able assistant showing me how to excercise my hands in the FluidOTherapy. God, I love that machine!

Now, before you get thinking I am some demented old man, I took LuAnn in to see what I was up to and she approved so it's all not just fun and games.

I told my able assistant I could make one of those but at $5000 why reinvent the wheel? That was some of the prices I saw for the machine in a Google search.

I tell you now, that machine will really spoil you!

I finally learned why us old folks want to keep our Medicare!

See, getting old isn't all that bad!

Ed

Finnegan

Meet Finnegan! Finnegan is our new grandson born just two weeks ago. He is very quiet and gentle but his body is one of a brute in the making.

He comes from some pretty large people. I could see him at 6 foot 6, 260 in 18 years, a formidable foe on the grid iron or other arenas.

He also has the makings of a talented musician. Only God knows who Finnegan will be.

Finn is pretty famous in Gaelic Irish history. I have to admit I had to ask twice when I asked our daughter his name. I had never heard the name Finnegan for a first name or the nickname Finn.

The good thing is he is big, strong, and healthy. He is a solid chunk on my old left arm the way I hold babies out in front of me. I love to study their every feature.

So this blog's for you, young Finnegan. I am your crazy Papaw Winkle. I wish you the best of health and life and success in every endeavor. I must tell you though that some of my biggest lessons came at my defeat.

I am a farmer through and through but I love to teach children and hope to teach you.

You have great parents, siblings and grand parents, maybe even better if it weren't for me.

I yearn to live long enough to see who you will be.

Most important, welcome to this family!

Ed Winkle