Category Archives: crops

2025, Business, crops, Farming Update, Government, History, Music, Science, Technology, Theatre, Uncategorized, Weather

INTEREST-ING

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This week’s farming update from Ben

Brrrr. We are hardy Minnesotan’s but it’s still cold out. Hope you can stay inside and warm for the weekend. 

Honestly, how did people do it 100  years ago? Or 500? Or 1000?? 

We have so much to be thankful for. 

I got my corn check from the co-op last week and put it in the bank. And this week I paid off the loan I borrowed from a month ago to pay the bills. And the co-op emailed about setting up the loan and credit for 2026 crops. Easy come, easy go. Repeat. I spent some time this week comparing interest rates. It’s kinda hard to find out what the actual Prime rate is. Course it varies by bank and how much money you have. And it was kind of interesting how that works. One of the companies the co-op uses does Prime minus 0.5% until August, then Prime + 0.5% until Feb of 2027. Another company has different rates on some of the products and zero interest on some, but then Prime +2% on fertilizer. In the end, it doesn’t amount to that much money. It would be a different story if I was spending $450,000 at 7.5% interest. (That’s $33,750 @ 7.5% if you’re curious. Now we’re talking real money!) And the government is going to bail me out with the poor prices on soybeans. So they say. I don’t know what that’s going to amount too yet. It won’t be $33,000 I can tell you that. I’ll bet I can take off a couple zero’s there and be more like it. I always say the difference between me and the big farms is a couple zeros on the expenses and the income. 

I’ll fill out the forms this weekend and figure out next years crops. Samantha, the agronomist I work with at the co-op sent out a rough worksheet of next year expenses for my planning purposes, and I’ll get things ordered and prices locked in by mid January for the best rate. 

Yesterday on the blog we were talking about things from the past. I had a guy at the farm the other day who had a front wheel drive car and was almost stuck on the bare, but snow covered driveway. He clearly didn’t know how to drive on snow. His wheels were spinning and he blamed the posi-traction. I can still hear my dad’s voice “DON’T SPIN YOUR WHEELS!” Our mantra in winter back in the day of rear-wheel drive cars. “Sit heavy! Don’t spin your wheels.” And my family jokes that Dad would say, “NO TALKING! BE QUIET BACK THERE!” I don’t remember that, but I’m sure it was so Dad could hear the wheels not spinning. Shift to low, back up to the garage so you can get a run at it, and don’t spin your wheels. And the guy got out. Our driveway is long and starts right off with an uphill “U”. (So right, “get a run at it” but you’re making a corner at the same time. You learn a lot about friction doing that.) Then you’ve got a flat 75 yards to gain some speed before the next uphill corner to the left. Most people, if they get around the U, can make the next corner. Although there was some days I had to back up 50 yards and get a run at the second corner again. But a front wheel drive car? Dude. Learn to drive. I remember years ago, the guy who would come in to breed the cows. He had a little tiny car. Rear wheel drive. He couldn’t get out. And he turned around and went backwards really fast around both corners. I was very impressed. But he made it. 

Last weekend Padawan called me about 10:00 at night to see if I would help pull a friend of his out of a ditch. So I went. Because we’ve said Padawan is our second son, so, that’s what you do for your kids. The friend had a new sporty little car. Still had the temporary plates. Skidded on the snow and slid into a ditch. Another kid who needs to learn how to drive. He was only a little stuck. Pulled him out with the truck.

Haven’t had much time to work in the shop this past week. Concerts at the college, homework, (had the last ‘in person’ class. I have a couple tests to take yet and some online lectures to watch. Last day of classes is next Friday) And I’ve been moving snow. 

Our mailbox is out on the highway. It’s on a swinging post so the snow launching off the snowplow doesn’t damage it, the box just swings out of the way. Meaning it WHIPS the mail out into the ditch…More than once we’ve found the mail under that pine tree behind the mailboxes. Sometimes we may not find it until spring. Hopefully it wasn’t the check we’ve been waiting for. There are three mailboxes as there used to be three homes down our road. The third, unused mailbox our neighbor named “S. Lamb”. The sacrificial lamb. Our neighbors are very witty.

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The choir sounds really nice this year. It’s a new conductor and he’s doing a great job with the students. At rehearsal I heard him ask the kids, “Are you ready for the concerts Friday and Saturday?” And they responded, “Thursday and Friday!” 

“Good. What time is the concert?” 

“7:00”

“Good. What time are you going to be here?”

“6:00” 

“Good. Saturday and Sunday concerts, It will be fun!” 

“THURSDAY AND FRIDAY!” 

“Good.” 

Clearly, he’s worked with teenagers before.  

In my happy place.

HOW YOU GONNA STAY WARM THIS WEEKEND?

HOW DO YOU THINK YOU WOOD HAVE STAYED WARM 500 YEARS AGO?

2025, Business, crops, Farming Update, History, Nature, Science, Technology, The Future, Theatre, Weather

Straight Screens in Curved Holes

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This week’s farming update from Ben

Guess it’s winter on the farm. I even wore a T-shirt under my sleeveless shirt one day.  

I don’t think the chickens have come out of the pen all week. They peer out the door, but none of them has much interest in actually going outside. I picked up one chicken that was still living out in the pole barn and carried her back with the rest. And the garage chicken has moved down with the rest. For body heat I presume. Found 4 of the 7 chicks. It’s unfortunate it worked out the way it did for them. I’d have liked them to get a little bigger, or the weather to stay a little warmer, or momma to take a little more care of them a little longer. Any of those options would have served them better.

I got the starter put back on my 630 tractor and it started right up. I can’t get over how quiet it is now. Evidently having a hole and crack in the exhaust manifold is like a hole in your muffler. It’s surprisingly loud. And repairing it was very educational and gave me a great feeling of accomplishment. My dad would be so pleased. That thing has been cracked and loud for as long as I can remember. For a tractor from 1959, it’s getting some much needed attention.

I’m still working on some cosmetic repairs. I have new screens for the front grill and I picked up a cheap spot welder to repair part of the hood. Welding class from 12th grade comes through again!

Dad must have run into something to dent it and break off all the welds on one side. And now I need to figure out how to fit this straight piece of corrugated screen into the slots and curves on the corners.

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I know it bends, it is just a matter of fitting it all together.

I worked on it for a while one night and decided this was something to ponder and come back too. The dogs all run into the shop and get a drink, and I played ball with Luna while Bailey gets in my face. Humphrey likes having a warm place to lie down and he’s happy. But the others get bored after a bit and Bailey pee’s on the floor and out they go. Kelly lets them back into the house. Out in the shop is my happy place. Have I mentioned that? As I closed the toolbox and turned off the lights, I thought to myself, this has been 35 years in the making. We took over the farm when we got married, 35 and a half years ago. And I’ve been collecting or buying tools and gaining experience since then. If I had it sooner, I wouldn’t appreciate this so  much. Or I’d want something bigger.

=====================

At the college I’m getting ready for Holiday Concerts next week. My friend Paul is designing again, so it’s fun to have him back in the shop.

I added a few more LED lights over the stage. Just some plain LED wash lights. They don’t move or wiggle, they just change colors. Over the stage are pipes called ‘battens’ and they’re all counter weighted so they’re balanced as they come up and down. Called “flying in or out”. Our stage has 19 battens. Three are for lighting (called ‘Electrics 1,2 and 3′ front to back). Several are curtains, and some are open to hang scenery. The counterweight is achieved using metal bricks that weigh about 15.5 pounds. We add or subtract them to balance whatever is hanging. When I added the lights to the 1st Electric, I had to add 8 more bricks. This is the main lighting batten. I counted 58 bricks. 899 pounds. This batten is rated for 1000 lbs.

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These are the counter weight bricks. The yellow brick is empty base weight.
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The First Electric and it’s 23 various lights.

*********************************************

I read an article in a farm magazine recently about the next generation of autonomous farm equipment. The technology is out of testing and is available for sale.

A little background: As with all technology, this has been coming for a few years. First it was the GPS mapping. Then row sensors so machinery could follow the rows by themselves. Then the machinery started to incorporate the equipment and technology to put all this together and the tractor could follow a line through the field. Then it was automated so that the tractor could raise and lower an implement, slow down at the ends, and all the driver had to do was make the corner, find the next line and hit ‘Go’. From there, multiple implements or tractors could talk to each other. The tractor could pull up next to the combine, and the combine would take control of the tractor and unload at a constant speed. So simply removing the driver really wasn’t that big of a leap, it was kind of the next logical step. That said, I’m not sure I’m ready for a driverless car yet.

 This information is from an article in Successful Farming Magazine from November of 2025, called ‘How Farmers Are Using Autonomous Equipment to Do More with Less’. It cites labor shortages, changing weather conditions meaning smaller productivity windows, or maybe just not having enough time in the day to get it all done. Some of the jobs open to autonomy are planting, spreading fertilizer, tillage, or pulling grain carts.

Wanna know what it costs?

There are two big companies: John Deere and AGCO. John Deere doesn’t list prices.

AGCO: 

Capabilities: grain cart duties and tillage; planned for 2026 

Compatibility: AGCO and PTx’s OutRun system is compatible with 2014 or newer John Deere 8R tractors. Compatibility with Fendt tractors is to begin in 2026.

OutRun for tillage has a $54,000 one-time hardware cost and a $9,000 annual recurring payment; OutRun for grain cart has a $55,000 one-time hardware cost and a $15,000 annual recurring payment. 

If using the same tractor and base OutRun Intelligence kit for both grain cart and tillage, it has a $65,900 one-time hardware cost and a $15,000 annual recurring payment.

Carbon Robotics: 

Capabilities: tillage, mulching, mowing, and LaserWeeder

Compatibility: Carbon ATK is compatible with John Deere 6R, 8R, 8RT, and 8RX model tractors. Installation takes under a day, with no permanent modifications. Carbon ATK is a $60,000 one-time add-on kit that Carbon comes out and installs.

John Deere: 

No price listed

Sabanto: 

Capabilities: mowing and seeding

Compatibility: The Sabanto autonomous kit is compatible with 2015–2024 Kubota M5 Series tractors; 2015–2024 John Deere 5E, 5M, and 6E Series tractors; and Fendt 700 Vario tractors. The kit costs $70,000, and is available on cab and open-station models. 

https://www.agriculture.com/how-farmers-are-using-autonomous-equipment-to-do-more-with-less-11838003

[Whistle]

First off, I don’t even have a tractor new enough to put this on. Second, [Looking at my bank account]… Nope, there is nothing to say here.

It is kinda cool! I can see the advantage for some farmers. Kelly suggested I could have the tractor doing fieldwork while I was at the college. Yep. Suppose Bailey would still get in the tractor without me? From the video’s of the systems I’ve seen, the operator is monitoring it from his phone or tablet. Inside the tractor you set the field and boundaries. Then once you’re out of the tractor, depending on which system  you’re using, either you start it remotely and the tractor honks and the lights flash and it uses all the exterior cameras to make sure you’re not around, and off it goes.

If it “sees” something not right, it will stop and alert the operator, who can view the cameras and decide the best course of action.

Crazy stuff.

JOKE DAY! SHARE A JOKE:

Q: WE WERE SO POOR—

A: THAT FOR BREAKFAST WE HAD ORDINARY K.

2025, crops, education, Family, Farming Update, Kids, Nature, Technology, Uncategorized, Weather

Concrete Herring! or What Color is Your Herring?

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This weeks farming update from Ben

My schedule has been a little crazy lately. Next week will be better.  🙂

I hear there are places in the country where the weather on the evening news doesn’t take ten minutes. I don’t need the full ten minutes, I just want to know the 12-48 hour forecast, and the 7 or 10 day forecast, Which I know is just a guideline. Especially this time of year, when the forecast has some pretty drastic changes coming.

No, the corn still isn’t out and I don’t want to talk about it. The grain elevators are closed on the weekends now, because 99.8% of the harvest is complete. So I don’t expect anything this weekend unless they finish everything at their place and they just come in and fill up the trucks on Sunday. 

I wrote a long story about the thermostat in my shop and I threw all that away and tried to make this a shorter story. A red herring was involved and suffice it to say human error played a part. Because of course it did.  

I use a wifi thermostat so I can monitor it from the house. It worked last year. This year, it worked while I’m out there, but it didn’t work when I came to the house. 

One day it died completely so I bought a new one.  Installing that and I blew a fuse up in the heater itself. Another trip to town for an ‘E’ fuse. An E fuse? Never heard of an E fuse. Oh, it’s a ‘3’ not an ‘E’. Thank goodness I figured that out on my own and didn’t say that to the guy at the auto parts store. Then of course there was a new app and all of that rigamarole. And that night in the house and it wouldn’t connect again. 

The day we poured the concrete, including the slab outside the front door, I used a side door, and a different light switch. Turns out, the outlet I have the heater plugged in to is tied into the 3 way switch for the lights. And I hooked that up myself, this wasn’t the electricians fault. Other than they didn’t know I wanted an outlet for the heater, which is why I did it myself. But how come it worked last year?? Because the heater was plugged into a wall outlet and because the electricians weren’t here until March, and I didn’t get the heater outlet installed until April.  So now, when I come into the shop and turn the lights on, the thermostat works. When I leave and turn off the lights, the thermostat turns off. Well, don’t I feel like a dunce. How could I tell the thermostat was off once I left the shop?? I thought the problem was the wifi. Nope, that was the red herring. The problem was the thermostat wasn’t even ON.

I have it plugged into a regular outlet again and I can tell you, by the app, it’s 46 degree’s out there at 56% humidity. 

We did get the concrete done on Tuesday. Yay! Check that off the list! A big job, and I had the easy job in the tractor hauling the cement from the truck outside, to the pad inside. 

(Two reasons; the truck wouldn’t fit inside the shed, and I didn’t want him backing onto the existing concrete slab). When they poured the inside slab a couple years ago, they used a little “buggy” to haul the concrete. This was the same thing, only different.) The truck driver was great! Randy. 65 yrs old, been driving a concrete truck for 38 years. We joked before he got there, would he know we were amateurs? I told him right up front, feel to offer advice. He just picked up the bull float and got right in there helping. 

Took about 2 hours to get it all dumped and leveled. I was a little bit short of product and left a bit of a gap on one end of the walkway pad. I expect to finish that with 10 bags of concrete mix I picked up.  

About 6:00 PM I was able to start smoothing off the concrete with the hand trowels. (I Learned the difference between magnesium floats and steel floats. You use magnesium when you’re first leveling, and steel to do the final finish.) 

It was about 8PM when I was trying to finish the big slab and smooth around the drain. The concrete was getting too firm by that point and it was a little too late to be working it. All in all, it’s not bad for the first time for a bunch of newbies. It will look better when it gets some dirt on it to cover the imperfections.

I spread out tarps and covered the outside ones with straw. 

A few days later I pulled off the tarp and moved the dumpster over there. This right here was the original point of all this. 

I wonder how much snow will blow in here?
My brother using the bull float on the first piece.
Working on the big slab inside the shed.

Our son helped, my brother helped, Padawan’s girlfriend helped, (Padawan was at work) and Kelly helped. They all admitted this was harder work than they imagined.  And we all learned a lot. Next summer’s plan is to do another slab inside. My brother isn’t sure he’ll help again next summer. Son says he will find more younger helpers.

I’m just glad it’s done. I had a beer that night. I’ve been waiting to finish the concrete to have that beer. 

We thought for sure we’d have a dog footprints in it somewhere. Or Luna was gonna drop a ball into it. We locked them in the shop at one point.

Inside slab done. Won’t drive on it for a week yet, and will get it backfilled shortly.
You haven’t seen the chickens lately. Here’s the chickens eating some left overs.

I have a new appreciation for the people doing concrete work and making it look easy.

HAVE YOU STOPPED MISLEADING PEOPLE?

2025, crops, Farming Update, pets, Theatre, Uncategorized, Weather

BOO! HISS!

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The 1940’s station I listen to on SXM has changed to Christmas music already. 

Bah. 

The neighbor guys say they should get to my corn this week. Well, we’re running out of week. I heard recently the grain elevators are full and they may not be taking corn anymore. Great. I wanted something else to worry about.

Waiting on a road repair on the township road that goes into our place. The ONLY road into our place. I’m sure they’ll do that the day we start combining. Mumble mumble mumble…

The 630 tractor I’ve been repairing on and off for 2 years now. I had it running; I got the main hood back in place and got the air cleaner and muffler installed.

Coming together. Air cleaner and muffler on the top!

And then the starter, which some times acts up, started acting up again. I knew there was a bad wire down underneath, so I pulled the flywheel cover off, got underneath the tractor and took the cover off the starter and disconnected the wires, pulled them up and out of there, pulled the four bolts out and removed the lower dash, disconnected one more wire, took out the four bolts for the upper dash and gauges, disconnected a second wire, built a new wire harness, taped it all up with heat shrink tubing to make it look all professional like, put it all back together and installed the starter cover while that voice way in the back of my head said ‘You didn’t test this yet’ but heck, I know it’s fixed. And I touched the ground wire to the frame and the starter starts to spin. Crap. Key on or off doesn’t matter, the starter spins all the time. It’s not supposed to spin until I push the start button. It doesn’t engage to start the tractor, it just spins. 

Sigh.

I took the cover off again and tapped on the starter with a hammer. GENTLE taps. Nope. Still spinning.

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Luna on the left, flywheel is the ‘X’, starter poking through in the right circle.

Sigh. 

OK, it’s just three bolts to get the starter out; will take it to the starter repair guy. 

The lights down in the feed room haven’t been working. I replaced the bulbs the other day and they still didn’t work. Hmm, it’s dark early these days you know, I’d like to have lights in there. The barn lights work. I trace a wire and know they should be powered by the barn lights meaning it’s not a breaker. There’s a box in the barn that maybe is the problem, but the box is covered with 17 layers of whitewash. 

Anyone remember or know of whitewash? Tom Sawyer was probably using whitewash on that fence he got the neighbor kids to do. 

When we were milking cows, we had a guy come out annually to white wash the inside of the barn. Whitewash is a mix of lime and a few other things mixed with water. Evidently it has mildly antibiotic properties. And it dries to a hard surface that will still rub off on your hands or clothes. In the barn, it was a nice finish the milk inspector would approve. Applying it was messy and we had to cover the pipeline (or wash it off when they were done). And once dried, it sure looked nice. Back to this electrical box; it’s covered with 17 layers of whitewash (which is also mildly corrosive on metal) and I don’t want to start digging into that electrical box because it’s gonna turn into a whole big deal. 

The next option was to see if there’s power to the switch in the feed room. I got a handful of tools and the gator since I knew it will be more than one trip back to the shop. Pulled the cover off, took the wires off, and when I touch them together, the lights come on. Yay! Back to the shop for a new (used) switch and I have lights again. That project took longer than expected. 

I finally got the drain finished in the new concrete. Only took 4 trips to ‘save big money’ to get this glued together. I haven’t finished the outside portion yet, but that’s easy; it was the inside that was the priority.

I’ve got concrete ordered for the 18th now. 

I was doing some research about concrete and cold weather. I know you don’t want it to freeze. Research shows that’s only for a day or two while it is curing. Cover it with a tarp and some straw and it’s all OK at these temperatures. Concrete gives off some heat while curing anyway. Whew! 

My schedule lately has been busier than usual. Got through the college show, then lit a small show in Mantorville (not a melodrama. Are you familiar with melodrama’s? The audience is expected to boo and hiss the villain and cheer the hero. Back in my youth ((1985)) I was the Hero’s buddy and I won the coveted Golden Oink Oink award for my performance. A big ham in other words.) Then I have another show to light at the Rep. And some outside rental events at the college in the evenings. It will be Thanksgiving soon, then it’s into Holiday concerts at the college. Plus my forensic chemistry class, and pouring concrete, and random stuff to do at home. And IF THEY EVER GET MY CORN OUT I’ll want to get some tillage done this fall before the ground freezes or it gets too muddy. I’m not stressed. I’M NOT STRESSED I SAY!This is pretty normal for fall. Kelly knows she doesn’t see me much between the first of November and middle of December. Some how it all works out. But that doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it.

You may remember we have this Joseph at home. He was rescued from a ditch and we decorate him for the holidays.

The Mantorville show has these plastic figures sitting on the side of the stage.

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Jedediah and his wife Bertha.

I sent a picture to Kelly. We laughed, This is Joseph’s twin, Jedediah, and his wife Bertha. Jed to the family. Jed has had a much more bourgeois life… “No ditch life for him” as Kelly says.

GOT A TWIN OR A DOPPLEGANGER? WHO HAVE YOU BEEN MISTAKEN FOR?

EVER BEEN BOOED?

2025, animals, crops, Farming Update, pets, Seasons, Theatre, Uncategorized

WHO’S A GOOD CHICKEN?

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This week’s farm update from Ben


This week I was defeated by cheap electronics that think they’re smarter than me.

We have one of those little fake fires in the college show. The bowl with the fan, and the orange lights, and  the silk. I have a 12 volt battery connected to a power inverter (which takes 12 volts and makes it 120 volts) and the fake fire is plugged into that. It is all tucked under a table and the fire sits on top and it worked fine until one of the actors accidentally bashed the table into a wall. And then the power inverter didn’t work anymore. Which is disappointing to me, it’s all solid state, there’s no fuse inside because I took it apart to look, but all it does is give me a red “fault” light and it doesn’t do anything else. 
I went to the local electronic store and picked up a really cheap inverter and a little bit better one. Apparently the old one didn’t care if I only had 11.5 volts, it would still power the fire. The new ones want 13 volts and if they don’t have it, they don’t output anything except a loud annoying beeping. I tried a couple batteries wired together in parallel, I tried different batteries, and I tried other various assemblies without success. Between the two shows on Thursday I went over to the auto department of the College. They always look at me funny when I walk in with my arms full of whatever it is I’m working on for a show. They probably think it’s kind of fun and I think they do enjoy helping, but they still look at me funny. They suggested a jump pack, like they use to jumpstart your car these days. They even let me borrow one for the afternoon and that worked great. I’ve got one at home, it just never even dawned on me to try that. I took that in for the last couple shows. 


Cold weather coming for a few days. I think the snow they predicted is out of the forecast now. Still, I ran around Friday afternoon like there was a blizzard coming. I had to tell myself to just calm down. I drained all the hoses, put them away, took off the outside faucet I use for watering chickens. I parked all the tractors, the lawn mower, the gator, and the four wheeler in the shed. I finished power washing the deck and retaining wall. Both are in the shade and on the north side of the house so they get a lot of mildew and lichen on them. It sure looks nice when cleaned. One of those things you don’t realize how dirty it’s gotten. Once done, I drained that hose, and put the power washer in the heated shop.

My goodness! How did it get so grungy and we didn’t notice??

Driving into school in the mornings, the sun is at just the right spot now, it hits that gap in the visor. 

Achoo!

Another week it will have changed enough it won’t be a problem again. It sure does get dark early now. I like standard time; it just fits my body’s circadian rhythm better. Daughter is very upset it gets dark so early. 

I think all the deer in a 20 mile radius have moved to my corn fields. Just about all the other corn around here has been harvested and most fields are dug up for winter.  I don’t want to push the guys; they’ll get here when they get here to harvest mine. I just hope the deer leave me some corn. If you come down the driveway an hour after sunset, there are deer ALL OVER. Most coming out of the cornfield with an ear of corn in their mouth. Stupid deer. 

In one of the farm magazines, there was an article about an all-black chicken called an ‘Ayam Cemani’. They really are ALL black: Comb, skin, bones and even the meat is black. Their eggs are ivory colored. 

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 (Photo courtesy ‘Chickenscratchpoultry.com’)

Research shows these chicks can cost anywhere from $37 to $70 each. And I thought $5 was an expensive chick. The article I read says the chicken is “small, aloof, and only lays one or two eggs / week.” I won’t be getting any. That would be the first one eaten by a coyote. 

DOES SUNLIGHT MAKE YOU SNEEZE? ARE YOU A BIG SNEEZER OR A DAINTY SNEEZER?

2025, animals, crops, Farming Update, gardening, Nature, Uncategorized

Squirrel Farming

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This weeks farm update from Ben.

I sure am enjoying the cooler weather. We had 30 degree’s Wednesday AM. I had moved the pressure washer inside the feedroom, dumped out the hummingbird feeders, and we moved the tomato plants and flowers into the garage. 

I was using the pressure washer to clean off the haybine after cutting the weeds in the oat fields. After I hose it all off once, I start the machine up and run it slow in order to clean off the reel and get the dirt out of the sickle and cutterbar. And as I walked back around to the front, pulling the pressure washer hose, I gave the hose a ‘flip’ –and stuck it right into the reel and cutter bar and I was done washing. I can splice it back together, and it might hold (it is a PRESSURE washer after all) I just haven’t had time yet. Honestly, I kinda forgot the machine was running and what I was doing. Brain Fart.

The top drawer fell out of our dishwasher the other day too. I ordered some new parts from Amazon and the dishes are piling up in the sink. Yes, we could wash by hand…we just haven’t had too yet. 

Last week I mentioned how the squirrels were tormenting the dogs at home. They’re very busy around the college too. Right outside the theater are a couple large Oak trees. Three squirrels are often scampering around them. I call them Frank, Bob, and Jane. Frank seems to mind his own business. Bob and Jane are usually chasing each other and fussing over something or other. When she does get a break, Jane can often be seen foraging in the leaves. She doesn’t mind me and I don’t mind her. 

I’ve been seeing groups of turkey vultures lately. Sometimes around home, sometimes in SE Rochester where there may be at least a dozen sitting in a cell tower. Did you know group of turkey vultures in the air is called a kettle? I knew that a group sitting together is called a committee. I didn’t know they could also be called a volt, or venue. If they’re feeding, it’s called a wake. Who came up with these names? I’ve been on some committees that would certainly qualify as having vultures as members…

I am part of CoCoRaHS for reporting rain and snow fall. Although I only report rain. “Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network”. All that’s required to become a reporting member is their special rain guage that measures rain to the hundredths.

https://www.cocorahs.org/

They have a master Gardner guide:

https://www.cocorahs.org/Content.aspx?page=MasterGardener

 They have 1000+ stations across all 50 States and Canda reporting weather data, which is used by multiple agencies.

It started in Colorado in 1998. They sent out an email this week talking about “the Water Year” which runs October 1 – September 30.  So named because in Colorado, where this is based, most of the water accumulation comes from snowfall after October 1. And that snowfall is what provides water for the next year’s crops. 

The email last week showed how we can view statistics from our own locations as well as any of the others.

 I’ve been reporting since March of 2021. I see I have 907 reports. This year I’ve reported receiving 25.92” of rain. VS would like the site because there’s all sorts of fun statistics in there. 

Last week was our ‘Gotcha Day’ for Luna. I picked her up on October 5th, of 2023. Two years of that crazy dog.

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CROPS!

The neighbors got my soybeans harvested on Friday.

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I haven’t gotten the total bushels from the elevator yet, but according to the monitor in the combine, they were a little better than average. The price isn’t great, but it seems like there was a decent amount out there. Except where the deer have stripped the pods of the plants. I was out in a far corner of the farm and back there, it’s just stems. Stupid deer. I had to leave about half an acre of soybeans in one little field down by the house and buildings. They tried to get to it, but the head on the combine is 40 feet wide, and they couldn’t fit between the trees and a fence. Not the end of the world. The cost of combining that half acre would have pretty much taken all the profit from that half acre. 

The corn looks good. It’s very tall this year! But remember, the height really has nothing to do with the yield of the ears…

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There is a fungus called Tar Spot that’s becoming worse in the Midwest. See the black spots on the leaves? 

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Too much and it will kill the plant early, weaken the stalk, and reduce the yield. 

The corn is physically mature, but still drying down. typically when it’s mature, it’s still about 30% moisture in the kernels. The ears are still standing upright.

Too much rain at this point and it gets down inside the husk and can cause mold on the kernels. Some farmers have started harvesting corn and the moisture levels are all over the place. For storage, the corn kernels have to be 15% moisture. Once the ears hang down, it’s into the teens and drying it doesn’t cost quite so much.

WHAT WERE YOU DOING TWO YEARS AGO?

2025, animals, crops, Farming Update, pets, Theatre

IT’S THE LITTLE THINGS

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This weeks farming update from Ben

The squirrels are tormenting the dogs. They start with Bailey, since she’s outside. Then Bailey gets Luna and Humphrey going in the house and they’re at the door whining and barking until we let them out. You’d think they’d have learned it’s just a squirrel. Bailey has this shrill, piercing bark, it makes your ears bleed. We think sometimes the squirrels choose to off themselves because they can’t take her barking anymore. I watched a squirrel about 10’ up the electric pole, head down, dancing around the pole, just tormenting the dogs. (If Luna’s toenails were a little longer she’d be up that pole.) Then the squirrel leapt from the pole, cleared the dogs by a good 15 feet and made it to another tree before the dogs could turn around.

I got out last Sunday and cut some weeds in the oat fields. And I did more Thursday evening. One field left will take an hour.  I’m using the haybine instead of the brush mower. Six of one, half dozen of another. The brush mower is 10’ wide, the haybine is 9’. But I can go faster with the haybine. That machine cuts, crimps, and puts the material in a narrow row for baling. I used it for cutting alfalfa when I was milking cows, and I still use it to mow the roadsides. The brush mower is more like a big lawn mower, and it just cuts and shreds the material all up. I’m not saving the weeds or oats to bale, and by opening the rear guides, and putting a baffle inside, it lays the weeds out in a path about 6’ wide. I also don’t want to smother anything growing underneath, and I want it disintegrated enough by spring that it’s not a problem then. I’m hoping we get enough rain or snow or warm or cold temperatures to do whatever it needs to do to break down by April. I’ll bet you didn’t know I could make a whole paragraph on cutting weeds, did you?

Another online auction finished in Plainview on Tuesday. I won some good stuff cheap! Two grinding wheels for concrete sold for $12. They’re about $60 each online. And I bought 5 sheets of 5/8” plywood for $78. They’re $35 each at big box stores. Finally, I bought three doors, brand new, for $36. I needed one of them for a new dressing room we built at the Rochester Rep Theater. It was the right size, the right style, and had hinges on the proper side. I picked it all up Wednesday and installed the door. I told the men using that dressing room, if they had a good rehearsal Wednesday night, I’d get them a doorknob on Thursday. They did and I did.

I’ve been busy with theater most of the past week.

One night during rehearsal I noticed the cue labels on the lightboard made a nice, slanted pattern. It wasn’t intentional, but I appreciated it.

I like the symmetry in things. Also, my OCD kicks in a little bit and that nice slant appeals to me. Like when shopping at the big stores and taking the cart to the stall and they’re all mess up; that bothers me when they’re all cockeyed. I spend more time than a person probably should lining them up and making the stacked line of carts. I would hate having that job of returning carts to the store. You can never finish! I’d hate it. How frustrating.

The neighbors are planning on taking their cattle out this weekend. The cows ran over to see me as I drove past them.

Most of the soybeans have lost their leaves. Lots of guys cutting beans around here. The guys I hire will get to mine when they get to them…

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