StillwatersIowa

Last Sunday evening Jan and I attended a Jeremy and Adrienne Camp concert at UNI in Cedar Falls. One of the songs they sing is Keep Me In The Moment- "I've been thinking about time, and where does it go. How can I stop my life from passing me by, I don't know". Early last evening the Saturday crew was discussing whether to call it a week or to move on to the next farm. The calendar, the crop conditions, and the weather are all saying it's time to keep working at it. Thanks for the picture overlooking the Skunk River bottom Karl. Patience comes in using the younger grandkids. Jackson, a sixth grader, is keeping the corn away from his Dad's (Kurt) combine. He even loaded semis by himself. Jackson put in a long day helping harvest Howell Station near Pella on Wednesday. Urgency comes after a wind we had on Tuesday night blew down some corn. I'm guessing space to put the crop will come into play in various communities as well. It's early for applying hog h...

"The two most important days in your life are the day you were born, and the day you find out why". -Mark Twain.  Thanks for the picture Alex. Harvest continues as weather and unloading space allows. Kudos to Governor Kim for allowing expanded truck weights up to 90,000# on Iowa roads. "You don't want school to interfere with your education". -Mark Twain. I need to share that our grandkids go some amazing Christian schools with dedicated teachers. I smile however remembering a discussion we had in our farm office Friday morning with Steve from Dordt University about whether or not college prolongs adolescence. Thanks for running grain cart Malaki. Malaki is a 5th grader.  On Wednesday morning we welcomed Cargill employees from Minneapolis, MN, along with several end user customers to Kurt and Emily's farm. We enjoyed each others company while we waited for trucks to return so we could give combine rides. Thanks for the picture Emily. We have cut around 250 a...

Let's visit about difference makers this morning. Those on the scene. But also those behind the scenes. Folks are craving men and women with principles today. The devil wants weak, comfortable, non-engaged Christians, especially men. Charlie was a Christian that engaged in a civil way. And was having a positive impact. As Anna said on the radio earlier this week, evil didn't kill Charlie because they hated him. They killed him because he stood for faith, freedom, and family. And that folks, means evil hates you and me as well. 13 years ago Charlie went to CPAC as an 18 year old full of dreams, wanting to make an impact on our culture. There he met Foster and Lynn. Foster believed in Charlie's dreams and gave him his start. I was not blessed to meet Charlie. However we have a hand full of mutual friends. We also both tended to lose our voice regularly, and use mint tea and honey to combat that. Thanks Jan. Foster also believed in Tucker and helped him with his restart, makin...

Harvest has started earlier this fall in southern Iowa. Test weight is not an issue. Moisture has nose dived due to dead plants as a result of southern rust. Yields are ok to good in the non fungicide sprayed fields, and great in fields sprayed with fungicides. Southern rust started blowing in from southern United States in late July. We don't see this disease often here. With a wetter summer and warm dewy nights, it decided to stay, grow, and spread. A fungicide application was effective for postponing the plant death it caused. Stalk quality will be an issue later in the harvest season. This post reminded me of last week's story. 1974 was my first crop after Walter passed away. I sold corn for $3.30/bu. that fall to Warder and Lee Elevator in Webster, Iowa. Since I was a senior in high school, and had few living expenses, I took my year's profit and bought a new 1974 Chevy Scotsdale 3/4 ton pickup from La Franz Chevrolet. The sticker price was $5200. As far as a health up...