Even for the 4th of July, it is going to be hotter than a firecracker– 105F. Fireworks are prohibited this year, the drought has increased the fire danger.
We ask that you pray for rain, not only for us here at our farm, but for every farmer across the country who is experiencing this extreme drought. (I’m told by our friends in France that they have the opposite problem: unusually cool and extremely wet, like we were in summer 2011).
There was also a storm in the area Sunday evening, high winds took down trees and power lines, and only recently was all local power restored. We were one of the fortunate areas, and we did not lose our electric power. We had to pick up some tree limbs from the yard Monday morning. Our internet was out; until 10 am Monday at the farm office, but it remains out at home… they tell us they should have that back up by Thursday evening.
We spent Monday and Tuesday replanting double-crop soybeans. The .71″ (18mm) of rain on Sunday evening gave me hope that I could get a ‘stand’ of soybeans in that small amount of moisture. Monday morning, we all got busy bringing in soybean seed, (had to go to Sullivan, Indiana to get the first truckload) The guys brought home the drill from the storage building at the Huey farm. I was able to be in the field replanting by 1pm. Philip took the after-supper shift with the machine, and worked until after midnight. I started again early Tuesday morning. Even with a 1.5 hour delay Tuesday afternoon because of a broken hydraulic hose, the 387.84 acres of DCB were completely replanted by 7 pm.
The moisture seems to be getting away quickly in this heat, but the planter placed the beans in moisture this time, I hope the warm temps will get them started before the soil dries out too much to support the sprouted beans. Yes, that’s what happened to the original DCB planting; a .28″ (7mm) rain was just enough to sprout the beans, but not sustain them. Sad. The temperature yesterday was only 93F, you could ‘feel it’ seem a little cooler. Only one other time do I remember soybeans that ‘sprouted and died’, and that was many years ago.
Tomorrow, we will clean out the soybean planter, wash it again, and take it back to the Huey farm to be stored. It has been traded off, and will be replaced next spring with a similar air cart and no-till drill, except that the new one will be 50 feet wide instead of the current 40-foot model.
Best wishes for a safe and happy Independence Day to all of you from all of us at Carnahan & Sons!
Sunset at the Carnahan & Sons farm
