StillwatersIowa

 One of the blessings of having a seed dealership is relationships. When folks show up to load their corn and beans, often on rainy days there are conversations about weather, markets, farming, and family. The week started out heading to the field early Monday morning. On Wednesday morning there were some showers go through and slowed planting down for a couple of days. Last Sunday noon we celebrated Malaki's first birthday. We took a four generation picture. Yesterday was my Dad's birthday. This coming Tuesday will be Karl's birthday. A lot of family blessings over the last 82 years. Mike called one day and asked if someone could show up and pull him out. He has been shaping waterways on ground going to soybeans. Our soybean planter had a communication problem and wasn't talking to the tractor monitor properly. BJ patiently spent the better share of a couple of days hunting down the problem. He and Alex finally found an Ag Leader harness cable sendi...

Good morning. This week was packed full of farming. We are going to kind of visit this morning about a variety of stories (His-story) reminding me as the picture below says, God is truly our Landlord. Dry weather and warm temps are a gift during planting time. Our crew took full advantage of it putting in long hours. Early last Monday morning Dana, my seed DSM, and I delivered a load of seed to his parents in Lytton, Iowa.  I asked if we could stop at the country church where the neighborhood has been attending for generations. My favorite story about this church is when they close their Christmas Eve service, everyone who has attended Sunday School there is invited to come to the front and sing the last Christmas carol.     Dana's parents, Roger and Marlene, are genuine, hardworking folks. Roger sold his John Deere 730 diesel recently at a collector auction in the Quad cities. In their kitchen is an original painting of their tractor being worked on...

Good morning. Often our faces show folks how we feel on the inside. What our attitude is. Whether we enjoy our work. Whether or not we are approachable. Has your face showed the folks you're around this past week you're happy to see them? That you have a positive attitude about life? Earlier this past week we were able to be in the field. Often in our neck of the woods we have certain soils that tend to stay wet, so it's a gift when those parts of the fields are dry. Are any of you old enough to remember the old timers saying, "Plant in the dust and your bins will bust". We all know it takes water to grow a crop however planting without wet holes gives the crop a good start. Spraying ground going to beans before the weeds come up helps weed control all season long. Sprayers also like dry fields. However they aren't crazy about the wind blowing. A local manufacturer in Pella gave our Christian Grade School a load of ground rubber for the playground...

Good morning. Welcome to April in southern Iowa where the weather changes from heavy coats on some days to sleeveless shirts on others.   Have you ever been going along and wondering if you are on the right path? Looking forward sometimes we can't see over the next hill. Looking back is usually 20/20 vision.   However looking back usually shows we had help. That help is always available for a conversation. Often we use prayer for a spare tire when we're in a bind when we should be using it for the steering wheel daily. Mike tackled some dozing projects close to home this past week.   We spent a day hauling rock getting a yard ready for farm traffic during the spring and fall seasons.   We have also been watching the soil temps. Unworked ground is still cold however fall tilled soils are warming up.   We worked on our yard this week. It wasn't leveling off like I wanted it to with the garden tiller so I went and found some bigger equipme...