A Way Forward

Our local County Fair was first held on October 23,1852. In 1858 and 1859 the Iowa State Fair was held at the Oskaloosa fairgrounds. The livestock pavilion was built in 1919. The grandstand was upgraded from wood to metal in 1950 at a cost of $50,000. Thanks for the info Jim and Shawn. That was the beginning of the way forward for the Southern Iowa Fair our community enjoys today.

On Thursday evening the grandstand event at the fair was motorcycle and 4-wheeler races. Mark and his boys competed and did well.

Mark and Stacy's daughter Amelia competed and was chosen fair queen. She attended all events and handed out ribbons. This little guy won a Lego contest by building a fair queen with his Legos. Thanks for the picture Stacy.

On Wednesday evening our family sponsored free tickets for the 4-H kids for the stock car races. Attending the races with Grandpa are Elliot, Tyson, Ezra, Queen Amelia, Elijah, and nephew Luke. 

Mark and Stacy's kids showed hogs and chickens. Allison is washing her pigs getting ready for the hog show Tuesday evening. Thanks for the picture Stacy.

Our local Sheriffs Department fed the fair crowd on Wednesday evening as a fund raiser. Russ and his deputies served the meal. The reserve deputies grilled the burgers. Below Kurt, a reserve deputy, is talking to Jan, his Mom, at the fair while grilling on our family's grill.

Ezra and I enjoyed looking over the old tractors folks drove in for the fair week. This 1967 IHC 806 is owned by Ken and Rosie. I remember when my Dad traded a 560 Farmall for an 806 while we lived at the Ponderosa farm in Union Mills. I was in the 4th grade.

Fair week is kids. Our youth's character or lack of it isn't self made. It's made or lost at home by parents who do or don't choose morals, values, and boundaries. Fair week builds leadership. A good leader recognizes and encourages others. Fair week is character. Character isn't deciphering between right and wrong. Character chooses between right and almost right. These are qualities that help move our culture forward and in the right direction.

Back on the farm we continue to spray fungicide, insecticide, and foliar fertilizer on 3rd pass soybeans. Alex is washing our RoGator. This rig is 10 years old and has over 4000 hours on it.

One morning this past week Dean and Kasey put a new carburetor on Jan's power washer. It's getting time to get shop ready for our customer supper next month, and machinery ready for harvest.

Shaving with a straight edge is a lost art these days. While Mike and Suzanne were on vacation, Mike found a barber in Jackson Hole, Wyoming that still does shaves the old fashion way. Thanks for the picture Suzanne.

I went to a land auction this past week to support a friend. It was a short 160 acres with close to 120 acres tillable. The 47 CSR farm brought $7200/acre. 2025 crop input prices are coming out for next year. They do NOT reflect the lower crop prices. I'm hearing about idle acres in South America because farmers are not going to grow a crop for a loss. We're going to have to really have a sharp pencil to have a positive cash flow in crops moving forward for 2025. Because of uncertainty in our country these days I'm predicting a downturn in general for our economy. John Deere, Cargill, and other companies are already anticipating this.

So what's the path forward in a possible down economy; political confusion, anger, and violence; and spiritual warfare? I've been in a number of 3rd world countries with these very same issues. My friends in these countries are content. They live a day at a time. They help themselves and others. And they trust in God as their Creator and purpose. It's going to be ok folks. God wins in the end.