State Champs!

Posted on March 5, 2025 by casifarm

Wednesday, March 5, 2025

Well, it finally happened!  In the 58th year of South Knox High School’s existence, a basketball team made it to the State Finals… and came out as the Champion!  We’ve had a few Sectional winners over the years, but never made it past the Regional… until this year.

The Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) State Basketball Championship games, 4 of them, are held in Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.  The 1A and 2A games are held beginning at 10am, and the 3A and 4A games are held in an evening session.  The 1A Champion Borden’s award ceremony was held immediately after their win over Lafayette Central Catholic.  After that, the 2A Championship game between our SK Lady Spartans and the Rensselaer Central Bombers took place.

Both teams were a bit shaky at the start, but the Lady Spartans gained their composure quickly, and began to take charge, leading 26-13 at halftime.  They cruised on to victory, winning 55-33.  The community had the largest crowd of any of the 4 schools for the morning session, with our attendance estimated at 5000.

What a thrill for the South Knox community!   We’ve been waiting so long, and it really feels special.  These girls are impressive, and their teamwork was incredible.  They were more interested in the team’s success than any personal accolades.  Their work ethic was a key ingredient.  We could point with pride about these girls and their character.

Here are some pictures of the great State Championship Day! What joy!

The big screen at Gainbridge

The team takes the floor at Gainbridge Fieldhouse

Yes, they’re real medals!

Ella Bobe got to cut down the net

The 2025 IHSAA 2A State Champions
The South Knox Lady Spartans!

What a glorious day it was, and we are still walking on the clouds!

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Great day

Posted on February 28, 2025 by casifarm

Friday, February 28, 2025

Even though it is very windy out there this afternoon, the sunny skies and warm temperature makes for a pretty nice February day.  It’s currently 62ºF (17C) and tomorrow’s forecast is for a high temp in the 30s.  So, we will enjoy today.

The guys have the older S780 (2019 model) combine in the shop today, working to do some repairs identified by the recent inspection done at Sloan’s Vincennes store.  The unload system was refurbished at Sloan’s, but other, easier, repairs are being done here.  A few new belts, new parts in the chopper, replace a chain on the feeder house, and all new filters have been done here in our shop.  We are trying to get 2-3 more years of service out of this machine.  We have confidence in our preventive maintenance to achieve just that.

John replaces the rotating and stationary knives on the chopper

With the repairs finished, the combine is moved out of our shop.

 

Tomorrow, our high school girls basketball team will play in Indianapolis in the Class 2A IHSAA State Championship game.  The 1A game is at 1030am, and our 2A game will be at 1245pm.  These games will be held at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, home of the Indiana Pacers and Indiana Fever.  In the evening session, the 3A and 4A games will occur.

We are hopeful; our team has been ranked #1 in 2A all season long.   It is nothing short of amazing how the community has come together to support this team.   Even our rival North Knox is having Spartan Day at their school today!  Let’s hope that March 1, 2025 is a date that will always be remembered as the day the South Knox Lady Spartans captured the Indiana State 2A Basketball Championship!  We love the other sports here, too, but in Indiana, high school basketball is preeminent!

Have a happy weekend!

 

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Writing prescriptions

Posted on February 26, 2025 by casifarm

Wednesday, February 26, 2025

We have been planting soybeans by prescription for many years. This process of setting up these maps is not difficult… it just requires some computer time in John Deere Operations Center, paying strict attention to the details.  I select a field, then choose a variety that can potentially be planted there.  I use the soil survey map as the basis for the planting population, assigning a population for each soil type, based on its productivity potential. Those maps are sent wirelessly over-the-air to the control screen in the tractor.   Then, at planting time, as the air drill moves over the field, the map commands the drill to apply the specified population of seeds.  There are one to twelve soil types in each field, and as I am planting, it is neat to watch the controller automatically adjust the planting population according to the prescription map.

This morning I’m busy in the office writing soybean planting prescriptions.  Because we use an air drill to plant soybeans, writing one prescription per field is insufficient.  The air drill meters the seed out in pounds per acre, not seeds per acre, so for every variety and seed size requires a separate prescription to be created.  It gets a little tedious, and after a couple hours, I have to take a break!  But this time in the office here in the off-season yields a good benefit at planting time.  When I arrive at any particular field to plant soybeans, I merely choose the appropriate prescription from a menu in the tractor screen, and it is ready!

It’s not just doctors that write prescriptions… farmers do too!

The weather has improved a bit, it is now 63ºF (17C) and mostly sunny.  Quite a contrast from the past weeks of near-zero temp!  It is windy out there, and it is okay to have a ‘desk job’ today.

Have a good rest of your week.

 

 

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Good news!

Posted on February 24, 2025 by casifarm

Monday, February 24, 2025

I’ve been away from the farm for a couple weeks now, and some good things have been happening.  First, our high school girls basketball team has advanced through the IHSAA tournament, and they are now set to play in the State Championship game on Saturday, March 1 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis!!!  They won the 1-game regional on February 15 at Charlestown High School.  They defeated Lanesville, the 2-time defending State Champion.  This qualified them for the 4-team Semi-State at Jasper just last Saturday.  At Jasper, our South Knox Lady Spartans defeated Parke Heritage in the morning game, and then in the evening game, defeated Heritage Christian.   Both games were won handily, but both games were physical and hard-fought.  Now, our Lady Spartans will travel to Indy on Saturday to play for the State Championship!   The opponent will be Rensselaer Central, and we expect another tough battle.  But our Lady Spartans have held the #1 ranking in Class 2A for whole season, and our team should enter the contest as favored to win.  But, we cannot assume anything… even so, oh, what a thrill for our team, school, and community.  The support these girls have earned is amazing.  Our fans far outnumbered at the Jasper gym the other 3 schools combined!  The school band went too!  We will travel to Indy on Saturday with hopes of a state title coming home to South Knox.  This is the first time any basketball team from South Knox has gone to the state final in the 58-year history of the school.

The girls hoist the trophy!

Next, the team gathered with the team from Heritage Christian to pray. This was the most touching scene for me from the whole night!

After some pictures were taken, the students stormed the floor to celebrate

Our church Youth Minister is the Assistant Coach of the team, and we got a picture with Collin after the game.

 

In other news, Pat and I have returned from a two-week trip to Florida.  We spent several days at Disney, to celebrate my 72nd birthday, then we went to Jacksonville to spend some time with family there.  Our WDW days were terrific, with 80ºF+ temps most days, and some nights got down in the 50s.  The days at Jacksonville cooled a bit with nights in the 40s.  Still, it was a wonderful time away.

Here are some pictures of our time in Florida.

We stayed at Disney’s Riviera Resort, a beautiful home base.

The flowers were especially nice, these at the Grand Floridian.

My birthday supper was at the Boathouse in Disney Springs, a wonderful meal, followed by this surprise.

Epcot flowering trees made the sights very special.

Remy’s Ratatouille is one of our favorites.

You have to wear 3D glasses at Remy’s

At Hollywood Studios, they give you props for the pictures!

Pat loves the TRON ride at Magic Kingdom.

In Jacksonville, the weather was cooler, but time with family was warm and happy.
L to R. Charlie, Renee, Pat, Leighton, me, Robin, Chris, and Sean.

After the supper pictured above, we attended together a Broadway touring performance of “Peter Pan”.  It was great!

Back home today, I’m catching up on the mail and bookkeeping.  John kept the books up while I was away, but there was a pile of mail to sort through, and some items that needed some attention.

It’s good to be home and back on the farm today.  We missed some sub-zero days while we were in Florida, and today it is 49ºF (9C)!

Have a great week!

 

 

 

 

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Sunny but chilly Monday

Posted on February 10, 2025 by casifarm

Monday, February 10, 2025

The two Peterbilt trucks and the two Brandons are busy today taking corn to ADM in Newburgh.  John is keeping overhead load-out bins filled for them.  I got the pickup washed; the farm lane is not too bad because it was frozen this morning…but it will likely thaw this afternoon.  It feels good to have the pickup clean again, washing off the salt and road grime from the weekend.

Shiny once again

We are now caught up in Hoosier Hysteria… the state high school basketball tournament.  Last Saturday night, our local high school girls basketball team, the South Knox Spartans,  won the first step of the state tournament, called a ‘Sectional’.  In front of a packed gym, over 4000 fans saw the Spartans defeat the county rival, the North Knox Warriors.  The Warriors have had a lot of tournament success in the past, and they were very good again this year, ranking as high as #2 during the season.  But our #1 ranked Spartans prevailed this year, 58-52, and will advance to next Saturday’s Regional.  They will play Lanesville, who have won the state 1A championship for the past two years.  Under Indiana High School Athletic Association (ISHAA) rules, schools with such success must move up a class for one year to compete against bigger schools.   The Indiana high school basketball tournament is divided into 4 classes, 1A to 4A, and our school plays in the 2A tourney.  If our Spartans are successful on Saturday in the one-game Regional, they will move on the following Saturday to a 4-team, 2-game “Semi-State”.   The winner of each of the two Semi-State tourneys will compete in Gainbridge Fieldhouse (home of the Indiana Pacers and Indiana Fever) on March 1 for the 2A  State Championship.   In the 58-year history of our school, our basketball teams have never advanced past the Regional round of the tournament, but we are hopeful for a ‘deep run’ this year!  Oh, the joy of seeing them play in GBF in Indy…what a thrill that would be!

The Lady Spartans celebrate their Sectional victory!

The team has a record of 24-2, and a string of 4 more wins would make them State Champions!

Have a good week…

 

 

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seed corn arrives

Posted on February 6, 2025 by casifarm

Thursday, February 6, 2025

The guys from Nutrien arrived late this morning with the seed corn.  John was busy for a while using our forklift to stack those boxes and one pallet of bags in our block building.  It’s nice to have all that stuff on hand, ready for #plant25.  The corn planter will be rolling here before you know it!  And the soybean drill will likely begin at least at the same time, if not before.

John prepares to unload these seed boxes and stack them in our block building.

The last remaining bit of the early-January snow is still around today, and it may last through the weekend.  Eventually it will fade away.

The last bit of the January 5th snow is still here… at least for now

The two Brandons are on their second trip to Newburgh today.  ADM there is super-busy, unloading about 450 trucks yesterday!  Much of that grain went directly onto barges on the Ohio River.

This day started very cloudy, but it seems to be breaking away by noon, with bits of sunshine peeking through.  It rained a little bit overnight, and the farm lane is messy again.  The trucks will need another wash before long!

 

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cooler

Posted on February 5, 2025 by casifarm

Tuesday, February 4, 2025

It is noticeably cooler than yesterday’s (70F) temperature, but it is sunny and 50F, with little wind, so… it’s not bad out there this afternoon.  The two Brandons are out in the trucks, delivering corn again today, as they will for many days this month.

As this picture shows, the afternoon is sunny and pleasant as we load the Pete for another trip south to Newburgh.

John picked up from Sloan Implement at Vincennes a big box loaded with all kinds of filters for most of the tractors and the combines.  They were running a special with 10% off regular price, so he stocked up the John Deere filters we anticipate using this year.  Any discount is welcome, for it seems that since COVID, the prices of filters has skyrocketed.  I don’t quite understand why they have become so pricey.  Kate is with John this afternoon, to be his helper!

Kate helps her dad unload a box loaded with all kinds of filters. John will place them in our inventory on special shelving reserved just for filters.

I have used some of my time today to run corn up into the  two load-out hopper bins, keeping them loaded and ready to fill the outbound trucks.

I’ll have an elders’ meeting tonight at WCC.   Purdue will play at Iowa, a place Pat and I visited a few years ago.  Carver-Hawkeye Arena is a beautiful venue, and we enjoyed our visit there.  Even though the Boilermakers lost that evening, it was a treat to watch a game there.

Have a good evening.

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Busy trucks

Posted on February 3, 2025 by casifarm

Monday, February 3, 2025

The two Peterbilt trucks are busy today.  Both the “Pete” and the “Tony” trucks are on the road, delivering corn to ADM at Newburgh.  Brandon has several loads of corn sold for this month.  The trucks will be busy.  The snow is essentially gone, we had a sunny day yesterday at 60ºF (16C), and it will be 60+ today!   The farm lane is slowly settling up, and if it stays sunny and dry for a few days, it won’t be bad at all.  When the snow melts and the ground thaws out, the lane can be a mess, but it’s getting better, little by little.  Both Brandons will be busy!

Out they go!

Pat and I got to go Mackey Arena Friday evening to see the Boilermakers take on the Hoosiers.  It was a classic tough rivalry game, with the Hoosiers keeping it close.  They even took a 1-point lead with 30 seconds left in the game!  But the Boilermakers pulled it out, and won by 5, 81-76.  It was an exciting game, and the crowd was really involved.  The noise was incredible!   Mackey is really a special place, especially when the Boilermakers are on a roll!

It was really great to be in Mackey Friday night!

I must confess that when I hear the crowd singing “Hail, Purdue”, I get kinda sentimental…

Our older 9520R tractor went in to Sloan’s for an inspection, and they found that the valves needed adjustment.   When that is complete, we will take the older 780 combine (’19 model) in to Sloan’s for its inspection.  A little preventive maintenance right now can save a big problem in the busy season!

Have a great week.

 

 

 

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Pete’s turn in the shop

Posted on January 30, 2025 by casifarm

Thursday, January 30, 2025

The Tony truck got cleaned up and serviced… the air lines to the trailer were also replaced.  After that, yesterday was the Pete truck’s turn in the shop to get  some attention. It was serviced, and it got the batteries replaced.   Brandon D also used the fairly warm day ( 50ºF, 10C) to wash outdoors the Pete’s trailer.  The guys are preparing the trucks for another push of corn deliveries to ADM in Newburgh once February arrives.  The January contracts have all been filled.

Brandon D makes the Wilson trailer that goes on the Pete look like new

Once out of the shop, the Pete is reconnected to its trailer, and both are ready for the February corn deliveries

With this warm up, most of the snow has disappeared from the fields.  Just a few spots of old, packed-down snow banks remain along the edges of the roads.  This will open the door to the first application of nitrogen fertilizer to the wheat crop.  The operation is called “top dressing”.  Nutrien will be responsible for that nitrogen application as soon as the condition of the fields is firm enough to support their sprayer.  The N is ‘streamed on’, using special nozzles that get the solution applied, minimizing the potential for a slight ‘burn’ on the wheat plants’ leaves.   In just a few days, you’ll notice the rich and dark green healthy color burst forth across the fields.   I think a wheat crop is beautiful at every stage of its development.  When everything is is dormant or brown or gray all winter, it shines a lovely green.  And when it turns its bright gold in June, it is spectacular to see the ‘amber waves’ as the wind swishes the wheat stalks around.

Rain is predicted for tonight and tomorrow.

Tonight is the last regular-season girls’ basketball game for our local high school, South Knox.  It is senior night, too.  This team is ranked #1 in class 2A in Indiana, and they have been for almost all the season.  The IHSAA tournament pairings were announced last Sunday evening.  The Lady Spartans will begin their quest for a title beginning next week in the first round called a ‘sectional’.  If they advance as we hope, they will go through the ‘regional’ and ‘semi-state’ to arrive at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indy on March 1 to play for the 2A State Championship.   A lot of things have to go right for that to happen, but we are hopeful!  Can’t have a bad game after tonight!

Have a nice weekend.

 

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Shop work

Posted on January 27, 2025 by casifarm

Monday, January 27, 2025

The guys are working in the shop today.  They have the Tony truck in there servicing it, and ‘rotating’ the tires.  By swapping the driver tandem tire positions, it helps make for more uniform wear and longer tire life.

Rotating tires on the Tony truck

This evening will be our farm’s annual meeting.  We will review the 2024 crop and sign the necessary documents in preparation for the 2025 crop.

It’s a bit warmer out today, near 40ºF (4C) but still there are remnants of the early January snow still remaining.  With this thaw, the farm lot and lane are kinda messy… it will take several days for those spots to “settle up”.   It still freezes at night, and the lane is cleaner when frozen.

Have a great week.

 

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