Friday, December 14, 2012

After receiving and paying the bill to Shepard Construction for the tile project at the Waldo farm, I have calculated that they installed a little over 5 miles of 5- and 8-inch plastic drainage tile.  It took that much to put parallel runs every 50 feet over the 32 acres.  And then there was the extra 1000-or-so feet it took to get across the neighbor’s field to reach an adequate outlet in a stream.  The cost was about 12% above my early estimate.  But we are so very happy it is complete, and we look forward to improved production beginning in 2013.

It was great to spend a few hours with our sister Sheila and her husband John yesterday afternoon.  They had traveled to Mitchell, Indiana to attend a funeral, and they took the extra time to visit with us.  It was an unexpected treat.

It is sunny and cool today.  Rain is predicted for the weekend, and that will be a good initial test for the new tiling system.  And it will be a dent in the continuing dry spell.

We found out yesterday that the closing for the new Burke farm will take place next Wednesday at 2pm.  It will be another significant day as we take official possession of the place, and begin putting our initial touch on it.  We will have Shepards do some small improvements as soon as they can get there.  On the west side of the biggest field, there is an opening in the levee of Kessinger ditch.  When a big rain event occurs and the ditch water level rises, it can come through the opening and create some flooding in our new field.  It is our intent to place a culvert pipe in that opening, with floodgate or ‘trap’ on the outlet, and then build up the ditch bank to close the gap.  Once finished, this new culvert will allow water to flow out from the field, but not the other way.  There are a couple other small projects on the Burke farm that we have identified as immediate, and as we farm the place in 2013, we will identify what additional improvements are needed.

Christmas is approaching, and I am excited about the upcoming kids’ program on Sunday night at our church, Wheatland Christian.  It’s been a few years since we’ve had such a production with the children, and I’m really looking forward to it.  The Children’s ministry has really taken off this year under the direction of Jenny Beaman.  It will be great to hear the songs, and listen to the 40+ kids say their ‘speaking parts’.  And to see them in their costumes is really special to me.  It’s gonna be a good Sunday.