Tuesday, April 2, 2024

There are storms in the area, but nothing severe here.  Just a big rain this morning… We received 1.91 inches this morning and .1″ yesterday, so about 2″ (or 52 mm) altogether.  And I don’t think it’s quite over… rain is forecast off and on through tomorrow night.  And chilly nights are coming back for the next 72 hours.

It’s a warm morning, 63F (17C), and we’ve received about 2 inches of rain by noon.

The rain is very welcome.  All those strips where I ran the field cultivator to smooth ruts or tile runs were getting dried out.  But now, this rain will ‘seal’ up that disturbed soil, and make for a good seedbed once the planters arrive.  Our fields should be good-to-go for the next operation which will be the sprayer applying a burndown and residual herbicide to stop the weeds.  Soon after that, the planters will run.  If we can get going with planters by next week, that will be terrific!  The goal will be to complete #plant 24 by the end of the month.  We will see how that goes…

There have been a few farmers in the area plant last week and yesterday.  Early-planted soybeans have a better yield potential than late-planted ones.  But the “early” window extends from now to about April 15, so any planting in that window will be good.  I just don’t have the nerve to plant in March.  I am hoping for warmer soil conditions.

The wheat crop looks pretty good today.  It has had all its treatments, save for the final pass of fungicide that will go on at ‘flag leaf’ stage.   We are very hopeful for the wheat, but it is far from a ‘done deal’.  Storms of hail could ruin its potential.  Or high winds could knock it flat.  But good potential is still there today.  We will pray for a good outcome in June.

John is out in the new building adding some lights and receptacles.  He is pretty good at this kind of work, and it will look good and work great when he is done.  Brandon will be delivering corn to GPC as he can discover delivery appointments…he says they’re a bit hard to come by this week.

John wants it to be precise and neat-looking.

Got a few electrical boxes installed.

A sample of the finished receptacle

The thunder still rolls out there, and it looks like more rain is on the way.  We are grateful for this moisture.

As we plan for our travel to the Final Four in Phoenix, I was contacted by a dear friend who moved there a few years ago.  I am hopeful we’ll get to have a visit together while we are out west.  Perhaps we can go to church with them on Sunday morning.  We are getting pretty excited about seeing our Boilermakers play.  If I remember right, this arena in Glendale is the same one where Pat and I went with our son Philip to watch his Oregon Ducks play Auburn in the national football championship several years ago.  It is gonna be a big big place to set up for basketball!