Today, it’s another rainy day in southern Indiana, but we are using it to prepare our farmstead for the Purdue Farm Management Tour, scheduled for here on Wednesday morning.  We were able to complete the wheat harvest on Saturday afternoon, just ahead of another rain.  My hopes for having the double-crop soybeans all planted has not been possible due to wet soils.  That will wait for another and drier day.   Over the next two days, the combines will be washed, as well as the grain cart and tractor.  I hope all the trucks can get a wash, too.  John, Ben, and Brandon will have a very wet task; they like to call it ‘beach week’.   This ‘wash day’ is a routine event after each harvest, but takes a special meaning because of the Tour.

Our responsibility for set-up will include borrowing some chairs from church, and placing them in one of the buildings for the general interview portion of the program.  A group of local 4-H Junior Leaders is coming to direct the parking duties.  After the general interview, Ross will explain his horse business, and John and I will explain our use of prescriptions for planting and fertilizing.  We are honored to be included as one of the 5 stops on this year’s Tour.

The rain last Saturday night was one to make big conversations on Sunday.  Reports of 3 to 5 inches of rain fell in the area, making local streams overflow their banks.  We have experienced some damage to growing crops, the extent of which will not be completely known for several days.  The flood damage is most readily seen in the flooded areas of soybean fields, and I must admit it is a downer to see parts of a few fields go underwater.   Replanting is not fun, but it is still an option where needed.  We will know more after the water fully recedes, and the damaged areas dry again.   White River is a couple feet above flood stage today, and is affecting our fields nearby.

We remain optimistic through this rainy time, we have faith that everything will work out OK.