Under the weather

Posted on February 26, 2026 by casifarm

Thursday, February 26, 2026

Since Pat and I returned home from Florida, I’ve been battling the dreaded man-cold.  Actually, when I went to the Dr. last Friday, they called it “Flu A”.  I got a shot that cleared away most of the drainage and helped my runny nose and watery eyes.  But a persistent cough just hung on and on.  I went back to see Dr. Tom yesterday, at the insistence of Pat.  She was concerned about the sound of my breathing, and that I may have the beginnings of pneumonia.  I’ve had that before, and I sure don’t want to get it again. So, on yesterday’s visit, I got another steroid shot, a special kind of cough syrup, and an antibiotic.  Dr. Tom hitting the illness harder this time.  He asked me to return this morning to get a chest X-ray, which I did.   The X-ray showed early stage of pneumonia, so I’m getting another Z-pack to treat it!   I am coughing a bit less today.

The steroid shot did have its side-effect… no sleeping last night.  I got out of bed about 1am this morning and watched the 60-minute B1G Network version of the IU at Purdue game.  Yes, we won the game again… by 29 points.  Then I viewed a Guy’s Grocery Games, and an episode of Jeopardy.  Went back to bed at 3 am, and I did sleep until about 6.  I am hoping for better rest tonight, but I’ll probably get a nap this afternoon, too.

This week-worth of being house-bound reminded me of the time in December 2018 when I had a man-cold and wrote a song about it during one of the sleepless nights.  You can find a post about that by clicking here.

Brandon K and Emily are out in San Antonio attending the Commodity Classic.     With the man-cold and the lingering effects of that cough, I cancelled the reservations for Pat and me.  It is certainly a show I miss, for attending the @ComClassic has become a highlight for me.  Since our introduction to it in Orlando a few years ago, it has now become a ‘must do’ on my list.  It was just not possible to go this year, with both Pat and me under the weather.  But Brandon and Emily are out there, and their pictures help me feel a bit ‘connected’ from here.    Our trips have been made possible by the sponsorship of Nutrien and their seed company, DynaGro.   We have used DynaGro wheat seed since 2022, and with it have received 1st ,2nd, or 3rd place each year in the SRW, non-irrigated wheat contest for Indiana.  Nutrien and DG host a big celebration dinner, and it’s a wonderful and classy event.

Here, Brandon and Emily receive his plaque. They are flanked by bigwigs from Nutrien. The guy in the tan jacket is Greg Anthis, our local Nutrien advisor. With Greg’s help, our wheat yields are improving. Can’t do it without Greg!  We also acknowledge our dependence on the Lord, who provides the favorable growing conditions. Can’t do it without Him, either!

Nutrien and DynaGro provide our tickets to the educational events and the CC trade show… IMO the best of its kind in the USA.  New and sensational product introductions usually occur.  For example, this week at CC, JD is showing for the first time their new high-HP 8R and 8RX tractors.  Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins will be speaking there this afternoon.

Back here on the farm, Brandon D is delivering several loads of corn to GPC this week.  I feel a bit bad for not being out there helping to load his truck, but I’m trying to stay in the warm for a few days to get fully recovered.  It appears I’ll be a bit house-bound for another week or so.  Better now than April!

Nutrien has been applying Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday the first pass of N on the 2026 wheat crop.  I’m not sure they got over all the acres, but I hope so.  In my mind, it was getting urgent to get that applied.  We had a bit of rain overnight, but not a lot.  I hope they can keep going with that N.  Next week looks even more rainy.

We hire both passes of N to be applied to our wheat crops.  Next pass, late March or early April.

 

I hope Purdue can win its game in Mackey tonight against Michigan State.  Green is my favorite color, but I have never liked it on a basketball uniform!   If they play like they can, they should get another win.  There have been glimpses of greatness lately, but also times they cannot stop a strong opponent.   Hoping the strong team shows up in Mackey tonight!   The broadcast will be on Peacock, not one of my favorite ways to see the Boilermakers.  One Peacock game broadcast was blurry and hard to see.  I hope the picture quality is top-notch tonight.  It feels sorta weird that basketball season is wrapping up. Already.

Have a pleasant weekend.

 

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Back Home Again…in Indiana

Posted on February 19, 2026 by casifarm

Thursday, February 19, 2026

Pat and I have returned from a special time down in Florida.  We went to Jacksonville to see her family there, and it was a pleasant time together.  From there, we went on down to Orlando and Disney.  We had a great time!  The weather was pleasant, nearly 80 each day and 60s at night.

Each park was a delight. This day at Animal Kingdom went well.  The Lion King show is spectacular

We attended an ‘after hours’ event at the Studios. What a nice time!

Epcot was a big day… we walked over 13 miles that day.

One night we stayed for the fireworks at MK and then got this special picture.   

The night parade, called ‘Starlight’, is amazing.  This is the last of the dozen-or-so floats that move up Main Street, USA.

The classic picture with Cinderella Castle.

Now, we are back home, working our way through the mountain of mail.  John kept the farm stuff up-to-date, but there is a bunch of other stuff that needs my attention!

The temperature here was 70ºF here yesterday when we arrived home.  The snow is almost gone.  Just a few bits from the deep piles remain.

The snow from the big old 12″ snow is almost gone…

I’m celebrating my 73rd birthday today.  Yes, it’s gone fast!  It’s a happy day.

 

 

 

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More trucking

Posted on February 6, 2026 by casifarm

Friday, February 6, 2026

Brandon D went out the lane this morning while it was still dark, a little after 7am.  He was headed to ADM at Newburgh with a load of corn.  We have this week’s Feb contracts filled at GPC, and the river market is rather competitive with GPC recently.

The soybean market bumped up a bit this week; there are rumblings about more SB purchases by China.  So, it was good to see that rebound somewhat.  We will see if that has some lasting effect on SB prices.  The new-crop 26 prices have not jumped as much as 25-crop.  But Brandon continually monitors the markets, and he will be ready to make some sales at an appropriate price point.

The snow from 2 weeks ago is still hanging around.  With a high temp of 40ºF (4C) this afternoon, the first bits of melting will likely occur.

Warmer…. may not last long, but it’s here today.

The snow is always pretty when it arrives… the blanket of white brings a hush to the sounds of the countryside.  But when it melts away… it’s messy.  I’ve appreciated this snow this time because it blanketed the wheat crop and protected it from the days of near-zero temperatures.

At 40F, there is some significant melting…and it gets sloppy for a while…

One morning this week, we awoke to frost.   It was beautiful… everything outside sparkled in the sunlight!  Even the weeds looked nice!

It looked like all the trees had a sugar coating on them.

 

Have a nice weekend.

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Hauling corn to market

Posted on February 2, 2026 by casifarm

Monday, February 2, 2026

Two trucks are busy today.  Brandon K is taking corn to ADM at Newburgh, Indiana and Brandon D is delivering corn to GPC at Washington.  The main highways are clear and dry; the county roads are mostly clear.  But our lane is still kind of deep and hard to maneuver.  The trucks are especially hampered by the deep snow when they return, and there is no load or heavy weight on the drive axles of the truck.  Anyway, so far, so good.

Out goes our Vanna (Mack) truck on its way to GPC.

The groundhog saw his shadow this morning, so it is for 6 more weeks of winter weather.
Whatever.

It was really a happy thing to be back in church at WCC yesterday.  Attendance was pretty good, even if the weather was pretty cold.  One of the members, John Dillon, did an exceptional job in clearing away the deep snow, and that made it better for everyone who attended!

Have a good week.

 

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A repair

Posted on January 30, 2026 by casifarm

Friday, January 30, 2026

It has been a rather slow work week, but not entirely so.  We have had to be out pushing and blowing snow for 4 days.   I think the blowing and drifting snow has finally stopped filling our farm lane, at least I hope so!  The local county schools have been closed or on “e-learning” all week.  Closed again today.  The 12″ snow of last weekend has had a lasting effect!   The main highways like US 50 or US 41 are clear, and many of the county roads are very passable, but by no means all.  Our farm lane is such that a 4wd is needed to get in and out.  Our mail was delivered on Wednesday, but he got stuck trying to get turned around.  So, our mail is being delivered to Brandon’s house until the lane gets better.

In good news, we have not had any power outages.

Early in the week, Brandon went over to Kris and Marty’s house to clear their driveway.  In that effort, the backhoe he was using slid off the lane and he had to get it pulled out.  During that slide-off, the backhoe came to rest against a tree.  That collision cracked a hydraulic line and bent the step on the RH side of the backhoe.  Both Brandons had the backhoe in the shop here yesterday to replace that hydraulic line and straighten out the bent step.  I think they did an excellent job.  With a good wash job to clean it up, you’d never know it had a run-in with a tree!

Here is the restored step, looking great.

A good washing will make this old machine look pretty good.

As the roads clear, our trucks will be busy again next week, delivering corn to market at GPC and ADM.  We hope the temps improve a bit.  It is 5ºF (-15C) here this morning!

Have a nice weekend…it’ll be a chilly one here.

 

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Big Snow

Posted on January 26, 2026 by casifarm

Monday, January 26, 2026

The weekend brought us a big snow…12″ at least… and that’s a big snow for us here in SWIN.  It started about noon on Saturday and kept coming down until 5pm Sunday evening.  It was such a major-enough snow event that when coupled with near-zero temperatures, we cancelled Sunday services at Wheatland Christian Church.   Unlike others who cancelled as early as Friday morning, we waited until Saturday evening to make the call.  It turned out to be the correct call.

Clearing the lane on Monday morning

Today, I spent some hours in the JD 61456R tractor using the old snow blower to clear the farm lane and my driveway.  I even had to take it over to John’s house to clear his driveway.  It was just too much to shovel by hand.  Brandon used the backhoe to work on the farm lot around the bins and buildings.  I think we are pretty clear for now as of Monday evening.  But the way the snow is blowing, and with big wind tomorrow, we will likely need to use the blower a few more times!

The snow blower does a pretty good job of clearing a path. It is quite old. Dad bought it soon after the Blizzard of ’78.  John restored it a few years ago.

I took the tractor over to John’s for him to clear his driveway.

 

This was the biggest 24-hour snow event we’ve had in many years.  Back in November, we got a 4–5-inch snow, and we thought that was a lot, but this one is gonna stick around a while.  There was no in-person school today, and I expect it to be another e-learning day again tomorrow.  I was out with the pickup to go to Wheatland to check the church building for frozen pipes (none, PTL!), and to take a couple pieces of mail to the post office.  IN 550 was snow-packed, making it a bit slippery, but no loose or deep snow.  For our county road, East Wheatland Road, I saw a county road grader scraping it as I was working on our lane, and it is fairly passable too.  Snow-packed of course, but passable.

Looks like things will be a bit slowed down for a couple more days.   If the kids don’t have school, they are not permitted to play their basketball games that evening.

The tournament draw for the Indiana Girls HS basketball state tournament was held yesterday.  Our team, the South Knox Lady Spartans, (defending 2A state champion!) will be playing in a 6-team sectional next Tuesday at Eastern Greene HS.  They drew Sullivan.  The toughest opponent will likely come on Friday when they will probably meet North Knox.  If they can get past NK, they would be favored to make a trip to the IHSAA state championship again.  We are hopeful.

Last Saturday, Pat and I went up to Purdue to see the Boilermakers play Illinois.  The weather was clear all the way as we drove to West Lafayette.  Of course, we had to make a stop on the way at the Beef House for a hearty lunch.  The game did not turn out to our liking.   It was a close game throughout, lead changes back and forth, but the Illini came out on top at the end.  They had a freshman player name Wagler who scored 46 points!  I have not seen anyone shoot that well since ‘way back in Rick Mount days.  As we left Mackey Arena, the snow was beginning to fall.  The roads home were pretty good until we got to Terre Haute.  US 41 was snow-packed through the city but got better once we got south of town.   The highway became slippery once again between Carlisle and Oaktown, and the last 10 miles were slick.   There was only about 2 inches of snow on the ground, so we made it safely by driving extra-carefully that last stretch.  It felt good to get back home.

The farm lane as we left late Saturday morning.

Pat and I really enjoy being at Mackey for a ballgame. It was loud and fun. And, of course, it was special to hear 14k+of us sing “Hail, Purdue”.

Mackey Arena is a great place to see a basketball game… not a bad seat in the house.  We did not come home with a win, but still it was a treat to be there to cheer on our Boilermakers!

As I write this on Monday afternoon, it has warmed up to a balmy 6ºF (-14C), but it does not feel too bad because there is no wind.  That’s supposed to kick up to about 40mph tomorrow.  Not fun!

If you got snow where you are, I hope you can enjoy it.  Down south, in KY and TN, they got ice, and that’s never a good thing.  We pray they get their power back on soon.

Have a good last week of January, everyone.

 

 

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Preparing for a winter storm

Posted on January 22, 2026 by casifarm

Thursday, January 22, 2026

The guys are busy this morning, putting together what may be needed in response to the weather forecast for the weekend.  Some heavy snow and strong winds are predicted for Saturday evening through Sunday.   It was nearly 50ºF yesterday, but single-digit temps are coming, they predict, with below zero wind chill factors.  And I’ve seen predictions for anything from 5 to 24 inches of snow.  They also say there will be a band of ice coming for a swath across Kentucky.  I prefer snow to ice!

Here’s the Weather Channel “Weather Alert” for SWIN

They have installed the snow blower on the 6145R tractor, and prepared the generators for the shop, and for their homes.  Pat and I put in a Generac at home a few years ago, so we are ready if the power goes out.  Perhaps the guys are doing too much, but in the words of my dad, “It’s better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.”  One wrinkle for us… we have tickets to see Illinois play at Purdue Saturday afternoon.  The worst of the weather is predicted for southern Indiana, so we may not have any trouble getting to the game, but we may have some difficulty getting back home that evening.  At least it’s a 3pm game, so we should begin the about 3-hour trip home before dark.  Would we skip the game?  Are you kidding, it’s Purdue basketball for Pete’s sake!

John prepares his generator to use at home.

All hooked up, fueled up, and cleaned up…ready for the weekend snow.

John modified the old-style spout-position hand crank with a hydraulic motor so that he can swing the spout from side to side from the tractor seat inside the warm cab!

 

The deacons are making preparation for snow removal at church for Sunday.  It will take some extreme conditions for us to cancel services, but it has been done in the past.  It’s too soon to make that call, probably that decision will be made on Saturday night.

Is a tough weather weekend predicted for your location?  Prepare now!   Come to think of it, there’s even an evangelistic message in that, too.  Jesus is coming… are you ready for that?

 

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Service work

Posted on January 21, 2026 by casifarm

Wednesday, January 21, 2026

My favorite tractor, the JD 9R540, is in the shop today getting its annual service.  Oil change.  All new filters.  Grease.  Inspection of all lines and hoses and wiring.  Thorough cleaning inside the cab.  In other words, ‘the works’.

This 9R540 is the best tractor I have ever operated. So smooth and powerful and comfortable. It gets the once over today.

Brandon D inspects the steering, the oil lines, and the electrical lines.

Devin from Sloan’s is here today also searching around the JD 6145R tractor for a tiny hydraulic leak.  He has some special skill in discovering such things and he is putting that expertise to work today.  We made an examination late last fall, and we were unable to locate the source, but we are confident Devin will have better luck.

Devin continues his search, and soon he will find and fix the tiny hydraulic leak.

It is not quite so cold today; it will get to the low 40s this afternoon.  But single-digit nights are returning for the weekend.  And a new wrinkle in the forecast…. snow!   Up to 8 inches Saturday night and Sunday.  We will see.   As always for me, I don’t mind the snow… in fact, I kinda like it.  But when it melts away, that’s not so great. Lots of muddy mess.  I’m not sure, but the forecast may merit hooking up the snow blower on the 6145R.  Usually, if we have it ready, there is not much snow, but if we don’t have it ready, it will snow a lot!

Have a pleasant day.

 

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Chilly

Posted on January 20, 2026 by casifarm

Tuesday, January 20, 2026

It is a cold morning in SWIN, 9ºF (-13C).  Just a little colder than yesterday morning, but it feels better because today, there is no wind!   I don’t mind these cold temps if the wind is not blowing, but when it’s this cold and windy, I turn pretty wimpy pretty fast.  They are predicting a warmer day tomorrow (in the low 40s), but a return to single-digit nights for the weekend.

 

Old Glory flies proudly on yesterday’s clear and cold and windy day

The guys have the Tony truck (07 Peterbilt) out of the shop this morning, they got the few little lights working on it.  Today, they’re working on the 8RF340 to find and fix a tiny fuel leak.  They haven’t traced it down just yet, but I’m confident they will.  They also are headed to Sloan’s in Vincennes to pick up this year’s supply of filters and the repair parts ordered for the soybean drill.  (Sloan Implement was running a 20% off parts special) We will have to wait for much warmer days to work on the drill…  our shop is too small to unfold it inside.  But we will have all the parts on hand that were identified in the inspection.

Congratulations go out to the IU football team on the wildly successful, undefeated season… National Champions!   One guy at church on Sunday said, “It must be the end-times!”  For all I can see about their Heisman-award-winning QB, he must be an outstanding young man.  He is bold to speak of his faith in Jesus, and I appreciate that about him.  I wish him well.  So, to all the IU fans out there, enjoy!  What an amazing story of success!

I worked yesterday in the office (not a bad idea in this cold!).  I was compiling all the year-end financial information for our banker.  Our books are ‘cash basis’, and for the bank’s purposes, I have to deliver information that effectively converts it to ‘accrual’.  It’s not hard, it just requires some attention to details and organizing the information in a different way.

I have some planting prescriptions to write yet… those for the double-crop soybeans (DCB).  I have not received the report on the seed size for that variety that we will plant in DCB.  When that arrives, I can crank those out pretty easily.  It’s not fast, but also not difficult.

These are the tools for prescription-writing. variety seed sizes, a soil survey map, and Operations Center in your computer.

 

Keep warm out there!

You know, planting season is only 11-12 weeks away!  We will be ready.

 

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Snow

Posted on January 16, 2026 by casifarm

Friday, January 16, 2026

There is a little bit of snow in the air today, off and on, but nothing is accumulating.  There is a little breeze and that makes it feel even colder than the 33ºF listed on the thermometer.  We had 50+ degrees on Tuesday, and each day since it has gotten colder and colder.  They tell us we are heading for the single-digits by Sunday morning.  Oh, well… it’s January in southern Indiana… and it can be warm or cold… or maybe even both on the same day!

Snow is coming down right now

 

The guys have been busy this week, doing some small repairs to the corn planter.  We had it inspected last fall, and that created a short list of repairs/adjustments that are needed.  Only two little parts needed to be replaced.  So, both Brandons have been working on that getting it fully ready for spring.  They got that done and removed the planter from the shop this morning.  Now, the Tony truck is in there, getting air bags replaced on the back axles.

Hooking back up to the corn planter to get it out of the shop

The planter goes back into storage until spring…. it’s ready!

The Tony truck is in the shop now. New airbags on the back axles and a check on some wiring and lights.

I will be using the next few days to prepare for the farm corporation’s annual meeting, set for January 28.  All the documentation for the shareholders is pretty much gathered by now, I just have to organize it to be distributed that evening.  We will also be signing revised documents for FSA, and the annual rental agreements.   It takes me a while to get all this stuff prepared.  But I enjoy this kind of paperwork, so it’s not a burden, just gotta pay attention to the details!

The January WASDE crop report came out on Monday and created a free-fall in the grain markets for corn, soybeans, and wheat.  After that surprising report of record corn production, the market went into shock, dropping (or should I say plummeting!) dramatically.  Since then, there have been a couple days of a small price rebound, especially for corn and wheat.  But the effect of that report has had a significant negative impact.  Grain farmers across the country were already pretty blue about the prospects for 2026, and this was another ‘hit’.  In this economic environment, we will examine our operation with even more scrutiny and make every effort to find ways to cut costs.   It’s all part of the challenge.  The “golden age” for agricultural producers (at least those of us in the grain business) has perhaps moved a little farther into the future.  But we are hopeful that better days are coming.

I am by no means an IU fan, but I am so happy for their fans, and I hope IU wins that football championship on Monday.  It is a great thing for our state to receive that kind of recognition.  I understand that the tickets for the game are outrageously priced, but no doubt the fans of the cream and crimson will fill the place.  I hope they come away rejoicing in victory.

This brings back sweet memories of April 2024, when I traveled to Phoenix with my sons and DIL to watch our Purdue Boilermakers in the Final Four.    Purdue fans filled about 70+% of that gargantuan stadium.   What a sweet memory!   What a thrill to be there!   That’s what I wish for the IU football fans in Miami on Monday.

What a glorious weekend we had in Phoenix.

Have a nice weekend.  Stay warm!

 

 

 

 

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