Working And Living For A Cause

Good morning. As you will see in the blog photos we harvested all week. And even though harvesting is a very good cause worth working for I want you to think about a bigger picture with me this morning.

 With equipment, technology, genetics, and planning, farmers in this country have been given the ability to produce a very good crop, even in a dry year. We are to be stewardly in doing a good job and fiscally responsible in marketing.

Now here's a curve ball for you. I have always been intrigued by a harvest tip to the Israelites in Leviticus 19. "When you harvest the crops on your land, don't harvest your field right up to the edge, and do not pick up what the harvesters drop. Leave them for the poor and foreigners living among you. I am the Lord your God."

 Now I fully realize we do not have poor folks and foreigners walking through our farms, however does this verse have an application for us today? A couple of thoughts about that at the end of our visit.

Speaking of what the harvesters drop, I was talking on the two-way radio and overflowed the hopper. As I was on top of the cab scooping the corn back in the hopper I heard one boy tell another that Dad had so much corn on the cab he had to get up there and uncover the GPS. Ha. Ha. Funny but not true.

Since much of our crop is sold ahead of harvest we generally hire a half a dozen trucks to join ours to help deliver. We all become a team with a common goal and it's rewarding to see the comradery. Most of them have their own crops but set aside time in September to help us and we couldn't do it without them.

Harvesting in September doesn't start with looking for a dry field. It starts with planning on seed selection, planting dates, and pushing the crop with extra nitrogen and higher plant population. The goal is simple. It's to lock in a profitable price when it becomes available ahead of harvest and then taking advantage of a higher basis that happens at the end of an old crop year. This is the 4th year we have worked with Eddyville to harvest in September.

There are also many good reasons to store the crop. There are hours when Eddyville isn't always open. It's handier during harvest. And like this week sometimes the market drops below what you were hoping for on unsold bushels. Stored grain however takes more management than we sometimes give it.

One night this week Kurt, Brad, and Alex went to New Sharon and brought out tenderloins and fries for everyone. It was late. It was the first cool evening and we had a fire since we were cleaning up around the dryer. BJ suggested we pray together. It was neat. We were all pointing out the different groups of stars in the bright sky. God is good.

Next to our Faith, Family is the best reason for a cause and it's always a treat when they come out and join us.

Friends are a blessing as well. Below one of our landlords stopped by to see how things are going. Relationships are a gift and are so much more important than bushels and dollars and acres.

Well for some reason my computer refuses to load any more pictures so I guess that's a clue to wrap it up for this week. Farming is an occupation of risks. Taking those risks and managing them can lead to rewards. I think how hard we hang on to those rewards is what Leviticus was talking to the Israelites about. Sometimes with all our technology and planning we forget who gives us our talents, abilities, and even our crop in a year when it has barely rained in 3 months. (actually it's raining as I am writing this)

Just like the Israelites were told to do I think we are to be generous and share what we have been given with each other, with those we work with, with the poor around us(even if they are poor because of bad choices), and with foreigners(those we don't even know).  Have a safe week and work for a cause worth living for.