StillwatersIowa

"Ware" means careful or look out for. My definition of beware means careful for self and be aware means careful for others thinking past the facts about the little things you can do to brighten folk's day. We have been harvesting corn. The April 6 planted 105 day hybrids were testing around 23% moisture delivered to Eddyville. The mid maturing hybrids are testing around 26% moisture.   Yields will be moderately variable this year in the dry areas based on soil type. Field averages on our hill ground south of Oskaloosa is around 175 bpa. Our better soil types on flat ground are considerably better than that. So far 2018 has been a good year to have the crop contracted ahead of harvest. John is in 7th grade this year. He stopped by one evening so after supper he and I went out and combined a grain cart full of corn so he could experience getting the right corn head snouts down the right corn rows. I am a firm believer in being aware of...

The dictionary has all kinds of definitions for maturity. Adulthood. All grown up. Finished. Ripe. Responsible. Ready. I have a few as well. The ability to respond in an appropriate manner. Knowing when to watch and when to act. Not making excuses for mistakes. Realizing how much I don't know.    Kurt and Emily's Jayden loves to hang out in the shop with the guys. And he prefers tools to toys. Getting dirty is not something that bothers him either.   Once in a while maturity can be a bad thing. This is a cow pasture with mature dry grass. It's getting mowed so when it rains young tender green grass will again grow for the cattle to eat.  Mature weeds are also a nuisance. They are hard to kill and they go to seed making them a bigger problem in the next growing season.   As we have talked in earlier visits our rains have been scattered. Our crops to the north have had adequate rainfall. We also have crops that have h...

Preseason is a period of time before the start when you prepare. When you practice. When you get ready. When you look forward. Notice the tree and the corn in the picture below. We are on the northern edge of a very dry area in this part of southern Iowa and northern Missouri. In spite of the lingering dry spell we are going to be blessed with a crop and are looking forward to starting corn harvest in just a couple of weeks. Our farms in the northern part of our county have had around 22 inches of rain so far this year. The southern area where we live have had around 12 inches. Last year we had just 5 inches by this preharvest time. 3rd cutting hay is in demand. One of the many things I love about summer is having kids around and it's not unusual to see Jan's kitchen island full at lunch time. However we are hearing preseason back to school shopping sales which means in about 10 days the school buses are going to start showing up. Last Sunday evening Osk...