December 21, 2012

The gale-force winds of yesterday have come down a little bit, from 55+ to the mid 20s.  There is a dusting of snow on the ground this morning, and the temperature is 25F.  Yes, it feels like winter really did arrive today.  And it feels more like ‘basketball season’ here in southern Indiana.

Once January arrives, we’ll be working with the folks at CPS to get the nitrogen fertilizer on the wheat crop.  That is called top-dressing.  It is helpful to make that application when the soil is frozen.  An application later, maybe towards March would perhaps be more effective, but we cannot always count on having freezing weather in March.  So, we will make that operation a priority early in the new year.

I think Ross and Rhoda are departing Monday for their Florida home in Winter Haven.  Ross does not appreciate the snow, but prefers the warm weather down there.  He will return in late March or early April.  He says spending time in two places makes the calendar go even faster.  Really, it goes fast enough as it is… no matter what your address.

Ben and Brandon have the storage bins emptied and swept clean.  The remaining corn is now in our overhead load-out bins ready to be delivered to market.  We became empty pretty quick this year.  It seems to our advantage to deliver the corn soon, for the market seems stronger nearby rather than months out.  And if the drought-damaged grain is more difficult to maintain its quality, we are less likely to see declines in quality if we move it sooner.  So far, though, there have been no issues with the quality of the corn we have produced this year.  Since harvest began, the markets were scrutinizing the grain they bought very closely… checking for traces of aspergillus or aflatoxin.  And those spores are measured in PPB, yes that’s parts per billion!  Tolerance levels were reduced over the last few months from 13 to 8 PPB.  But our corn has had none of those quality issues.

All of us at Carnahan & Sons send you our very best wishes for a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.  Please don’t forget to pause and remember the true reason for celebrating this holiday.  It’s called Christmas for a very good reason.  Keep Jesus in your heart and mind during your celebrations, and every day in the future.