StillwatersIowa

In the early 1970s Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz boisterously advocated that farmers plant fencerow to fencerow. With a growing world population he envisioned US farmers had the ability to feed the world profitably and cheaply. In the mid to late 1970s the US was selling Russia 75-90% of their imported corn needs to a population who was starting to get and like the taste of meat in their diets.    1974 was my senior year in high school. It was also my first year farming 200 acres crop share northeast of Oskaloosa for Walter's son Bill, after Walter, my part time employer, had passed away. I contracted my estimated share of the corn crop with Webster Elevator ahead of harvest for $3/bushel. After harvest I paid my FHA operating note, machinery payment, and subsidized interest of 7%. I then went to Lafranz Chevrolet in Oskaloosa and paid $5000 for a new pickup.   On the evening of J...

It seems the older you get the more you appreciate family. Family doesn't always have to mean the same DNA or even living under the same roof. Family can consist of folks who support you. Who love you. Folks you trust. Folks who care about your interest as much as their own. Thanks for the picture Karl. Family is the second most important thing to me. Jan and I started as a family of two. After living most of our married life raising kids we are once again a family of two. However we are blessed with having extended family close. Extended family is visiting parents and siblings. Checking out the kid's garden and other projects. Taking care of younger grandkids on Mondays. Having the older grandkids around the farm either helping or playing. Jan, Kristin, and Sydnie made salsa from tomatoes out of Karl and Kristin's garden this week.      We were busy with farm jobs again this week like Karl getting in new pigs. Our family is working on two diff...

For the last two weeks or so it feels like summer has finally arrived after getting behind from a late fall, a hard winter, and a postponed waterlogged spring.     Summers are for families. For immediate and extended. For get-togethers and gatherings. For pizza and picnics. Thanks for the picture Karl.   At our house summers are for Sunday afternoon Ranger rides. Checking crops. Going to see the kid's projects. Visiting neighbors. Finding a small rural cemetery and reading the stories on the tombstones. Just being together. Summers are for baling hay. It's a memory I dare say most of you remember. The heat, the dust, the bumpy ride on the hay rack, Grandpa teasing about not using gloves, the community water jug, and maybe the swimming in the pond at the end of the day.     Summers are for grandkids helping. School is out. Little League is over. They are growing up so fast they will soon have their own...