StillwatersIowa

Mark Twain once said, "Worrying is like paying a bill you don't owe". I've shared with you all before I often write about what's on my mind. And on this last day of July it's hard not to think about the dry weather and the crop. We pretty well wrapped up 3rd pass soybean spraying this past week. On this custom work farm near Deep River I was spraying the beans while the helicopter was right next to me spraying the corn.   Dry weather brings stress spots in the lighter soils of a field. And bugs and insects like to congregate on those stress spots for some reason. Notice the grasshoppers in the pic below. 3rd pass corn and soybean spraying is optional. It's insurance against diseases and bugs. One could ask why keep putting money in a crop when it isn't raining. I think it's in a farmer's DNA to grow the best crop possible. And then there is that trust factor that things will be ok. I've always said that by fair time one can separate the men...

Fair week is a gathering of community for projects, entertainment, competitions, food, fun, and fellowship. However these jobs also seem to land on fair week: Combining oats. Baling straw. Baling 3rd cutting alfalfa. Spraying 3rd pass soybeans. Trucking leftover seed. Repairing broken machinery. Dozing timber and pasture jobs. Getting hog sheds ready for a new batch of pigs. Sweetcorn. And vacations.    This week's visit is going to be extra pictures and fewer words. Above BJ and Dean are adjusting the knotters on the old twine tie baler. BJ was baling grass bales for their families 4-H projects. Below, well, it's a long story. I'm just glad Dean hit the ground "gracefully".😊 We combined oats around our new pond. The moisture was 12.4%. The testweight was 33#. Yield was excellent. Mark cleared some hills and took down a building site for Larry. We continued to work on spraying 3rd pass soybeans. Alex hauled some leftover seed this week for custom hire. Jim and De...

Being courageous during an uncomfortable time involves having some grit. It means staying calm when our culture suggest fear and anxiety. It means taking risk and being vulnerable. It means leading instead of following. Jan and myself spent some time in Minneapolis, MN this past week. Believe it or not we are already making plans for the 2023 crop year including helping folks with their seed needs next year. Becks Seed had a summer camp kick off with family, staff, and dealers. Speaking of summer camp, on the way to Minnesota we stopped at Riverside Bible Camp just north of Story City where I attended after my freshman year in high school. Fifty years ago summer camp was sometimes an opportunity to interact with girls that were not sisters or cousins. And I was about as uncomfortable around girls as an Amish boy in a tractor store back then.  A not so courageous story. It was a Wednesday at camp. The girls were to catch the boy they wanted to spend the evening at chapel with. The w...