Now What

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 we are running several toolbars trying to get smoke on for next years crop. The double tank being pulled has anhydrous ammonia in it. The product smells like wet diapers. It can be dangerous to handle. It's what caused BJ's eye accident last year. The little tank on the bar has a stabilizer product in it that is injected with the NH3. Cold soil temps causes the nitrogen to sleep until spring. 

 Pulling on smoke takes alot of organization with suppliers, transporters, retailers, applicators, and farmers. Below Alex is a young Coop manager that does a good job of keeping us going and in the right fields.

Because of a wet fall there are plenty of tracks, ruts, and compaction in these harvested fields that need attention. Even though we have alot of chiseling finished we still have a fair amount to go.

 There's also seed corn selling before the mid November deadline, trucking, dozing, and tiling. I bet Jan would also appreciate it if we helped on a house project if we get caught up.

Changing gears. We had an election this past week where folks voted that they weren't happy with our countries current direction. Contrary to what you hear the TV folks say the candidates that were elected were not elected to stop gridlock, or compromise, or reach across the isle, or work with the president. They were elected to turn around the freight train before it goes over the cliff. A tough job. We'll see what happens.

So now what? The crop is either in the bin, the elevator, or sold and turned into corn syrup or ethanol. Yes, there are still bills to pay. We still need money to live on. However our security is not in how many full bins we have or how big our bank account is. Our security is that we belong both body and soul to our faithful Father in Heaven who shares with us and wants us to share with others.

 Life can be a rat race where all we do is chase our tail. Or we can take life a day at a time where we work hard, take on the responsibility we're given, remember to be thankful for what we have on loan from God, and remember to care about others. At the end of the day the latter suggestion will be what makes life most fulfilling. And remember as we approach the Thanksgiving season, when we shovel out with a grateful heart, whether we've been given much or little, God shovels back, and God has a bigger shovel.