StillwatersIowa

 I'm sure many of you spent some time with family this past week. We did as well. Do you ever look back and think, Wow, so much has changed? Do you ever wonder what things will be like for the next generation? One thing is certain. The same One that had our lives planned has theirs planned as well.   As I thought about the paths our lives have taken over the last 40 years I decided to dig out some old but pleasant memories. I joined a Men's Chorus as a Junior in high school and was a member for 20 years. The group still sings today. I'll bet many of you from Iowa recognize some faces. I was 18 years old when Jan and I got married. After our first date I left on a motorcycle trip. I bought her the necklace she is wearing in this picture while I was gone. I remember asking my buddy Phil, if he thought that was an ok idea. This was and still is my little girl. Today Becky is married to Brian and they have 4 active growing boys.   Thi...

Good morning. We had a good week working on the farm. We are just about 4 days away from Thanksgiving. We are only about 4 weeks away from Christmas. Sometimes I wish I could ask you folks what you like to read about. My writing goals are to keep things short, keep things interesting, as few I's as possible, and share my heart. Sharing can be rewarding and create genuine friendships. It can also be revealing and make one vulnerable.    Sometimes you look at a picture and you just see the picture. However sometimes if you take the time to look close you see a blessing or a friend you might have missed. Life is like that. This week I'm going to share with you those gifts I've been given in every day living. Those of you that know me know I love my job and I'm thankful for the opportunity to farm . I'm so very thankful for the folks I get to work with every day. I'm thankful for the immediate and extended family God has given and I love my ch...

Well ready or not its looking like winter has showed up early in southern Iowa. I think I can think of only one other time that we have run out of time to get things finished before Thanksgiving. We had a good push on custom NH3. Most all of the planned acres got finished and we were even able to get alot of the last minute acres accomplished by running several outfits early last week. Sometimes things get done at night that don't usually happen during the day like coming home with 4 empties. We did run out of time on alot of our own and some custom chiseling. Some of those unfinished acres may have to be run over with our vertical tillage implement next spring. Remember back in July when we visited about replanting a North Skunk River bottom on July 29. Well after a hard freeze we worked on combining them. They were averaging around 10 bushel per acre. Dozing, tiling, and trackhoe work are going strong and will continue at a full pace ...

So with harvest over I have folks ask me what there is to do now that the crop is out.   Well you know what some folks say. They say the 4x4 logo on a farmer's pickup means we work 4 weeks in the spring, 4 weeks in the fall, and have 44 weeks vacation.   Well that's not quite right and with temps promising to be in the teens next week we still have a long list of jobs that need done before we get froze out as we call it. That's when the ground gets hard.  You can imagine what some of this machinery looks like after harvesting a fair amount in the mud. After it's cleaned up and before things are put away a list needs done of repairs to be done on those cold winter days in the shop.   We are coming along well on the honey hauling. Once again for our city cousins honey is hog poop. Honey makes corn. Corn makes hogs. Hogs make honey. Thanks Karl, Alex, Matt, and Doug.  Farmers were slow in making decisions for next year. Now with a cold forecast...