Monday, January 27, 2014

It’s sunny this morning, but the wind is strong, and the temperature is falling.  Right now, it’s 12ºF out there, and going down.  They tell us that tonight the temperature will fall below zero!  Add in the wind chill, and it really does get your attention.   If the forecast is correct, it’ll warm back up into the 30s by the end of the week.

Even in the cold, we are delivering corn to market today.  GPC is experiencing some unloading difficulties today, so John is having some delays to his scheduled delivery timing.  He is still hopeful to stay on track for our delivery appointments, at least on our part.   We have become accustomed to the ‘no waiting’ at GPC, but today is different.  Perhaps the cold is affecting GPC’s equipment today.

Maybe you’ve heard that there is currently a shortage of propane in the Midwest.  Supplies are limited, and deliveries are restricted to home heating.  Prices have surged to $5 or more per gallon– about 4x what we were paying during harvest.  We are reacting to the propane shortage by reducing the heat in our shop to 50ºF, and in our office to 55ºF when it’s unoccupied.  We are closely monitoring the usage.  We hope we don’t have to purchase much LP gas at this price level.  This price spike was completely unforeseen on our part.

The wheat crop is showing some effect from the cold temperatures.   The leaves are turning brown during these severe cold spells.  It would be a little better if we had a 4-5″ cover of snow to protect it from the ‘frostbite’.  We are hopeful it will recover when the temperatures moderate, and it begins to grow again.