Monday, January 4, 2016
Happy New Year, everyone!
It became winter here in the last few days. The daytime highs are in the 30s and the lows in the 20s. Even with these average temperatures, the days have been beautiful, clear skies and low wind. It’s rather pleasant to be out and about, and the cold helps keep the farm lot and driveways clean. The only missing element is some snow.
Brandon delivered some soybeans to ADM in Newburgh, Indiana last week. He also has the #4 bin ready for sweeping out. It is one of our milestones during the winter to declare another grain bin MT (empty). When a bin goes MT, it is both a good thing and a bad thing for obvious reasons: Good? It puts a difficult task behind you. Bad? You have fewer bushels left to sell!
I think I’ll wash the pickup again today, the weather forecast is for several days of dry weather, so the wash job should last a while. It just feels better to drive a clean pickup.
January begins a busy office work time. The cash flow and crop budgets will get their most precise revisions to date. We will begin collecting information for our tax returns. We will be reviewing our estate planning soon. Ross’ heart attack was a reminder of our ‘temporary’ status here, and we want to make sure we leave our affairs in the most helpful state possible!
And, of course, we will be going to see basketball, both at South Knox High School, and at Purdue. SK has an 8-2 record, and is currently ranked 9th in Indiana’s 2A listing. The team is faring a bit above expectations this year. They went 2-1 in the Graber Post holiday tournament at North Daviess HS– good for a 5th place. Purdue is still smarting from that unexpected loss on Saturday at home against Iowa. We will be going to see Purdue play when Nebraska comes to Mackey Arena. It is still a big thrill to be in Mackey to see the Boilermakers play!
Thursday, we plan to attend the local John Deere dealer’s program in Vincennes. When I was a kid, this was called John Deere Day. They’ll offer a good meal and an up-close look at some new machines, I think a 9RX tractor will be on display.
So, we’ll enjoy these chilly January days, and make the most of them.
