StillwatersIowa

What do you want to do when you grow up? This question sounds kind of late for most of us doesn't it. It's true, most of us are already grown up and we aren't going back. However we can have an impact on what's ahead. Take five minutes and think about your next five years. The machinery is being put away for another planting season. Now what? Oh yeah, we'll work at keeping the crops fed and clean, the fence rows sprayed, and the road ditches and waterways mowed. However as we all know having the crop in is not our end game. It needs scouted to make sure it's growing and free from disease and bugs. Harvest is just four months away. At our house we have a combine and a couple of grain carts that need attention yet. Then there is marketing. After all the end goal in raising a crop is not just putting it in a bin but making a living and feeding our families. A farmer needs to have a good understanding of what his expenses are, what his breakeven price i...

The year was 1995. I was still in my thirties. Mike, our oldest, was graduating from high school and heading for the Marines. This was our family. We had no idea what plans God had for each and every member of this family. It's definitely graduation season. There have been kindergarten graduations all the way up to college graduations over the past week. Below Osky Christian Grade School had their 8th grade graduation Friday evening. Doug and Ginger's son Ben is in this class. Mike and Sylvia's youngest daughter graduated as well. The class asked Mike to be their speaker. He did a great job. Friends Joel and Lisa had Cory graduate from college, Ryan from high school, and Trenton from 8th grade all in just over a week. Plus they have a wedding coming soon. Talk about a lots of plans and a busy spring. So the busyness of seed and planting have slowed down. You might wonder what the plans are now other than graduations. Well we broke down seed boxes, sorte...

Most of us enjoy a good story. It's how we were made. It's part of relationships. It's how parents pass on family heritage. Below three grandsons and their friend are helping Mark with some custom bean planting. Pictures often tell a story better than words. If our visits every week were just a page of words it would tell a story but it wouldn't show it and wouldn't be as interesting. We seem to listen, learn, relate, and communicate better with something visual. Below the crew is fueling up early one morning after custom planting beans all night on the North Skunk River bottom. This picture says the planting season is same as over. Our seed tenders have for the most part finished with their responsibilities of hauling bulk seed to the field for another planting season. We will get them cleaned up, get some tires replaced or fixed, and put them away. Around 90% of our seed comes in bulk boxes rather than the traditional bags these days. Believe it or no...