No calm before the storm…

…at least not today on most of the farms in our neighborhood.  Everyone wanted to get their crops harvested, their fodder baled and their covercrops seeded before the storm hits.  So did we.

We rented my brother’s antique combine and got to work on the soybeans. Because of breakdowns, we couldn’t get all the soybeans harvested.  So we called some custom-hire farmers to see if they could help combine, but they said they were up to their necks in harvesting corn.  So, we’ll see if we can get any more done tomorrow.  If not, it’ll have to wait a couple weeks until we dry out.Stay dry and Happy Fall!

What happens on the weekend

It was a beautiful thing to be awakened in the early hours of the morning by the sound of rain pelting our plastic roof–a wonderful thing.  I lay in bed and held my breath for a bit, hoping it would keep on.  It must have.  I found myself waking up again at 5:30am and hearing more rain on the roof.

We got almost 1/2 an inch of rain.  Now our crops can uncurl their shriveled leaves…

…and maybe the rest of our soybean crop will emerge, if it’s not too late for those little seeds.

On Thursday we weaned all 208 of our lambs–the first year that we managed to wean every lamb that was born alive.  A bit of a celebration for us, but a sad time for all of them.  By this evening though, the lambs were jumping and running around with only an occasional cry for mom.

Our beef cattle peering out of their shady summer quarters, happy to be out of the sun and away from the flies.

I do hope that the rain is far-reaching.  I know there are many areas that could use a good soaking.  Then maybe the grain prices would come down and we all could sleep easier at night knowing that there will be affordable grain to feed our pigs.  I hope.

–Dee