Thursday, January 9, 2025
This morning we awoke to seeing the trees with a beautiful coating of frost. It has been years since we’ve seen anything quite like this. The extra-low temperature last night, oºF (-17C), helped this pretty phenomenon stick around all morning. I will share some pictures here.
Wednesday, January 8, 2025
I knew we had received a tiny bit of ice on Monday, but I didn’t realize how much it was. My guess is that it is about 1/4 inch (6mm). What was clinging to the north windows of the house melted away yesterday, and the windows are clear again. But this morning, I noticed the coating on the north side of the mailbox is still intact. The best thing is that there was not enough ice to break the power transmission lines…we were never without electricity through this storm.
The side of our mailbox facing north has a lovely clear-coat on it.
Brandon D is now running the sweep auger in our bin #4, moving those soybeans upstairs to the load-out bin. It will be ready to load trucks when the road conditions allow. The weather has slowed the pace of work here, but there is almost always something that we can be doing.
Praying for those affected by the fires out in southern California. The images of the inferno-like conflagration on TV are sobering. Makes me grateful that Jesus has made a way for me to be in heaven!
Tuesday, January 7, 2025
With the big snow that roared in here on Sunday morning, things have been mostly at a standstill. Yesterday afternoon, Brandon and John were out with the backhoe and the 6145R tractor + snowblower to clear the lane and the neighborhood county roads. Of course, there was no school yesterday, and again today. I’m not sure they will be back in session tomorrow! The local schools are having what they call “E-learning days”. A couple of really cold nights in the single digits are predicted tomorrow and Thursday.
Looking out the kitchen window Monday morning, the snow was still blowing around!
John made the first pass with the snow blower down the lane
Brandon D has not been able to return here to work for a couple days… the snow just kinda halted most everything across southern Indiana. We haven’t received mail this week, and may be a couple more days before those deliveries will resume.
Today, I’ve been out with the snow blower, clearing the driveway up to my garage, and the circle drive out front of the house. I think a careful driver with 4wd could make it up to my house now!
I must use the blower to clear these tracks back up to our garage.
This morning, I made a second pass of snow blowing the lane.
Up at the intersection of Old Wheatland Road and IN550, I discovered an abandoned car this morning. Looks like they had an exciting ride.
Got word from our banker today about USDA’s proposed ’emergency economic assistance’ in HR 10445. He told me that I should put it in our A/R until the payment is actually made. I had visited the local FSA office for some other forms last Friday, but they had no information about this EEA. This may be a case of ‘don’t count your chickens…”
The trucks will be busy again once the roads are clear enough. US 50 is not ideal, but mostly in good shape. The county roads are another matter altogether. The farmers have bladed most of them, and the county has applied some sand/salt to the typically busy routes.
Pat is up at Ben’s house with Kierstin and baby Emmy, helping while Ben is away on a few days’ flights. So, the evenings have been pretty quiet for me, but she’s enjoying ‘grandma duty’ very much!
The snow is beautiful across the fields, but it won’t be so pretty when it melts away. We will enjoy it while it lasts. I’m glad the wheat crop will have a white blanket over it when the temps get down to single digits!
Keep warm and stay safe out there…
Thursday, January 2, 2025
It’s a beautiful day, with a brilliant blue sky out there today.
Clear blue skies at Carnahan & Sons today!
The trucks are out today, delivering soybeans to ADM at Newburgh. It’ll be quite slow, for the lines of trucks there are very long… typical for early January.
The weather forecast is a bit foreboding. A big snow is predicted for Sunday, up to 14 inches (36mm) here that day! School is scheduled to begin again on Monday, but if that 14″ really does arrive, I’ll bet the kids will be home for a few “snow days”. We will see…
In any event, we will have the snowblower attached to the 6145R tractor by Saturday night. Gotta be ready.
Tuesday, December 31, 2024
On this last day of 2024, the two Brandons are delivering corn to GPC in Washington. They have a busy day in store, with 8 loads scheduled to be delivered. It is complicated by off-and-on periods of rain, but they move ahead as expected. (There goes their shiny trucks on this rainy day) John is keeping the overhead load-out bins filled to be ready when they come in to load.
This is good day to look back a bit and reflect on what happened and what it means. But it is also the perfect day to look forward in anticipation of what’s in store! Up to this moment, we have made all possible preparations for the 2025 crop year. The lower commodity markets are concerning, but we move forward into whatever it is that is coming. Surely, there will be unforeseen quirks and changes, but we have learned over the decades to live in faith.
May this new year bring all of us a renewed reliance on our Maker, trusting Him for all things, like in Romans 8:28.
From all of us at Carnahan & Sons, we wish you a Very Happy New Year 2025!
Monday, December 23, 2024
The two Brandons are taking more corn over to GPC. The farm lane is frozen this morning, so the trucks can stay clean on this trip! Rain is predicted for tomorrow night, and the rest of the week, so they’ll use today to deliver corn for the contracts. Rain… no White Christmas for us. When the trucks stop today, all the December contracts will be filled.
Loading the Tony truck…
…and then out they go!
It’s nice to see the trucks looking shiny.
I’m keeping the corn run up into the overhead load-out bin.
This field of 2025 wheat is looking pretty good today. Down there in the flat, we hope to have wheat good enough for our entry in the 2025 wheat yield contest.
At the close of the day, Brandon D washed up the Volvo.
Are you ready for Christmas?
Friday, December 20, 2024
We have some snow flurries in the air today, and it is about 31ºF (0C). There is a very thin coat of ice sticking to the tree limbs and doorknobs, but the paved roads are in pretty good shape. Brandon D is delivering corn to GPC today. The goal is to get 4 loads over there today. By noon, he had two delivered, and we loaded the 3rd. His next appointment is a couple hours away, so he backed the truck into the shed, and will wait and see if the roads are still safe to deliver the next one.
From the driver’s seat of the Tony truck, I watch for Brandon D to signal me to pull forward to load the trailer with corn.
Today’s snow won’t cover the ground. Next week, the weather is supposed to warm into the 40s most days, so the possibility of a ‘white Christmas’ is not gonna happen this year. Today’s windy conditions make it seem even colder than it is. I don’t mind temps in the 20s or 30s… if the wind isn’t blowing! But windy and cold seem to cut right through your coat!
I went down to South Knox High School last evening to see the girls’ basketball team play against Princeton. There was a pretty good crowd in the house. Our girls started the game a bit slowly, and Princeton even led by 1 after the first quarter. But the Lady Spartans got it in gear, and their lead was 13 at halftime. They ended the game winning by 21. They will have a stronger challenge on Saturday afternoon as they face the Castle Knights, a team from one of the largest high schools in SWIN. Our girls are still ranked #1 in Class 2A (there are 4 classes of schools in Indiana, 1A to 4A).
Another free throw is in the air during the 3rd quarter last night. SK made 7 of 8 FT attempts for the game.
John is here today, making sure the overhead load-out bin #3 is filled for Brandon D. Our two overhead bins hold about 3 1/2 truckloads each. We currently have corn in #3 and soybeans in #6. Our inventory of soybeans will likely turn MT (empty) in early January, and after that, both load-outs will be used for corn.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Tuesday, December 17, 2024
Yesterday, we got a pretty big rain. According to the report from Climate.com, we received from 1.3 to 2.1 inches (33 to 53 mm) of rain, depending on the farm location. The rainfall started in the wee hours of Monday morning and was it was a steady downpour until about 3 pm. That was the biggest rain event here in months. Even with that, we are about 4″ below average rainfall for the year, and we don’t expect to make that up by New Year’s Eve. It’s not a concern now, but we will see if the rainfall is less during 2025, too.
I expect that the guys will use this ‘almost warm’ day to wash the Mack truck and trailer. It will be good to wash off the ‘road salt’ that coated vehicles on those snowy days a few weeks ago. The other trucks are still clean. The December contracts are currently all filled, but Brandon is considering selling some more soybeans to deliver this month.
The old Mack truck is getting a wash this afternoon
Brandon D is very thorough when he cleans up. Road salt be gone!
The wheat crop looks pretty good at the present time. Early next month, we will have Nutrien apply the first pass of nitrogen over the top. That nitrogen comes in the special liquid formulation called “NextBlu”, and it contains some micronutrients in addition to the nitrogen.
We trust your preparations for the Christmas holiday are going well. Help keep “Christ” in “Christmas”. May He bring you blessings beyond measure.
Thursday, December 12, 2024
We had a few snow flurries yesterday, but there was not enough to cover the ground. Then, last night, it got down to 13ºF (-11C). Today is sunny and chilly, with very little wind. Really, a pretty nice December day for SWIN.
It only lasted a few minutes…
Have a nice weekend.
Wednesday, December 11, 2024
Although it is 37ºF (4C) right now, it is getting colder by the hour. The day started at 25º, but tonight we expect 15º! The freezing weather makes our lane cleaner to drive in and out. It’s almost like it is ‘freeze-dried’. The wind is picking up, too, and that makes the cold seem even colder.
The trucks are busy again today delivering corn to ADM in Newburgh. There are several more loads of corn and soybeans to deliver this month, but the 2 Brandons are working on it for sure. Today, I’m the one running corn out of storage and up into our load-out bin #3.
Bookkeeping tasks occupy each morning for me. This morning had the extra task of reconciling the books with the November bank statement. That went very well this morning.
I’m getting excited about Saturday. Ben gave Pat and me his tickets to the Purdue vs Texas A&M game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Plus, after the game we will take short trip out to see our new granddaughter little Emmy! That will be a great day.
We went to South Knox Elementary last evening to see our granddaughter in the 4th grade Christmas program. It was titled “On the Way to Bethlehem”. It was very well done, and the sound quality made it easy to hear the kids speak and sing. Molly played a sheep, and she had a ‘speaking part’. It was really great to see a school program portray the real meaning of Christmas. As I told one older friend as we left the building afterward, “I’m so happy to hear the name of Jesus spoken at a school event.” I hope this can always be the situation in our community.
Our local South Knox High School girls’ basketball team is now ranked #1 in Indiana in class 2A. With a recent win over #3 North Knox, they have also moved up in the Sagarin power ratings from #8 to #1 overall of all the 399 high school girls’ basketball teams in Indiana… that includes some really BIG schools up north. Who knows how they will fare in the IHSAA state tournament next February, but right now, we are really enjoying watching this bunch of kids play ball. They are fun to watch, and the play very unselfishly–a real team. The youth minister from our church is an assistant coach, and he is especially enjoying this season. We hope they will be able to play in Gainbridge Fieldhouse (where the Pacers and Fever play) in Indianapolis on March 1. We surely can’t count our chickens too soon, but oh, what a joy that would be!
We will make sure the place is ready for tonight’s below-freezing temps. It will also be a good night to run the aeration fans on the stored grain to bring down its temperature in the bins.
Keep warm, everyone.
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