Making Hay While The Sun Shines

Results. Making hay while the sun shines is a phrase I've heard since I was a kid. It means taking advantage of opportunities. That gets results. BJ was able to get our 2nd cutting alfalfa baled this past week. Alfalfa yields are about half of last year because of the dry weather.

Risk. You can't get hay up if you don't first get it down. In Iowa there is usually a risk in mowing hay. It might get rained on. There is also a risk in waiting. Farming is managing risk. Farming is also taking advantage of opportunities in timing. In input cost. In marketing.

Replace. One can't continually harvest row crop, alfalfa, or even grass without replacing nutrients. After 2nd cutting we fertilized a 9-43-120-12 on our grass hay and doubled that on our alfalfa. Crops  become increasingly unproductive, weak, and vulnerable if we only take and harvest, and don't replace and give back.

Recover. The next 28 days in an alfalfa plant's life is to recover, to rejuvenate, and to grow. So it can once again be productive if the good Lord provides the water and sunshine.

Reward. So what's the point of making hay? Of farming? Or of life for that matter? My definition of a rewarding year is when the bills get paid, family is provided for, and there's resources left to share with others.

Kudos to Alex. He cleaned up the second combine. Just one to go. All three combines have a list that Randy and Dean helped us identify. Two cornheads need totally overhauled. One graincart needs new unload augers. We need to "make hay while the sun shines" since we are just 11 weeks away from harvest.

Karl and his son Malaki have been busy loading market hogs. This round they have had quite a few loads during the night. Thanks for the picture Karl. Malaki is sleeping in the Ranger while Karl helps get a semi trailer wheels out of a ditch.

We usually don't take time for lunch unless it's a rainy day or Jan brings it out to the shop. However when I'm working around home I often stop at the house and just check on how Jan's day is going. There's not a greater blessing than to have people to love.

Our rains this summer have been scattered and we have farms on both ends of the spectrum. Where there's lack of rain crops are suffering from a variety of symptoms. Herbicide carryover, potash deficiency, second pass herbicide stunting, weed pressure, and shriveled and cupped leaves are showing up on dry fields. In our area the beans seem to be complaining more than the corn.

It's state tournament time for high school kids that are shooting competitively. Awards are this afternoon. As of yesterday BJ and Cassia's John is second, Rachel's friend Carson is third, and Loren and Jean's grandson Treyton is fourth in the state. Kudos to the Pella Christian shooting team and their coaches.

Someone once said, "The future will always be to those who see the possibilities before they become obvious". That often includes zigging when everyone else is zagging. And another thing. Success is not measured in acres and equipment. Jan brought us out lunch one day and I included this picture because most if not all our granddaughters joined us.

This snapshot could stand for rewards, results, replace, and yes, even risk and recovery at times. Twelve youngest grandkids came to Grandma's Monday and spent much of their day helping pick cherries for ourselves and others.

Cousins Jackson (8) and John (16) are loading grass bales. As Pastor Kevin at Third Pella often says, I need an umbrella of mercy here, but I've got something for you to think about. If you look where you're significance and security are, there you will find your God.

We attended the wedding of Mason and Kate at Lake Keomah last evening. It's the first wedding I've attended where the couple got married under an umbrella. A good time was had by all. Congratulations to the couple as well as the families including Mike and Sylvia.

We have received and been blessed by so many things in our community. It's just like making hay. I feel we need to and enjoy giving back, in a number of ways. Over the past three years our nation's culture has defied God and promoted evil. While the "sun is still shining" it's our job to promote honoring God and doing good. Some examples are the tractor ride our hospital sponsored yesterday, concert on the square Labor Day weekend, and Risefest when it comes to our community in November. Yesterday I stopped at our Southern Iowa Fairgrounds. And prayed for positive success for our community's fair and the kids participating.

Well, as someone once told me, "You'd better stop talking before you say something you haven't thought of yet". Just like hay, we all need a time of recovery, rest, and rejuvenation. And summer is a good time for that. The different families in our clan are starting to take a little time off. Yesterday was my 67th birthday and I need a little more recovery time than I used to. Blessings.