Farmer Fridays - Some things are more important

I have really struggled with this week's Farmer Fridays as not much as happened on our family farm this week which is honestly quite depressing this time of year.  We are usually trying to finish up planting season by Memorial Day and applying anhydrous ammonia to our corn this time of year.  Much to our dismay, Mother Nature has not been real cooperative so far this spring and our time in the fields has been extremely limited.  I try to be an optimist so I just keep reminding myself it could be worse.

I was reminded of this in black and white today when I received an email from a friend and professional peer, Joe.  Quoting the Daily Livestock Report, his email started, "Some things are more important than markets and policies and prices."  Joe then went on to encourage us to learn more about the upcoming Memorial Day holiday.  He also reminded us that "even though this is a difficult planting season, please take time to enjoy and observe Memorial Day."  "The challenges we face today are minimal compared to those who went before us and it is fitting we remember them on Monday."  "Please keep in mind that we still have family, friends and neighbors defending us around the world as well as in Afghanistan and Iraq."

Although we are starting to reach some critical time lines to get our corn and soybeans planted, Joe's words really hit home for some reason which is why I asked him if I could share them.  I hope that they have struck a chord within you as well.

Farmer Fridays - Our Memorial Day Weekend

 

Welcome to my first Farmer Fridays.  I hope that you will enjoy reading about the happenings on our family farm. 

It is often said that there are no such thing as holidays for farmers and there is a fair amount of truth to that especially if you are a livestock farmer like my family.  The care and well-being of our pigs always comes first even on days like Christmas.

  

Needless to say our Memorial Day weekend was very busy, but my mother-in-law and I did start the weekend by taking flowers to the cemeteries to remember those in our family that are already gone especially those that were veterans like my husband's grandfather who was a WW2 veteran.

After our trip to the cemeteries and a brief stop at the mall, we were very busy on the farm this weekend.  Each year, it is our goal to be done with planting season before Memorial Day weekend; however, that is at the mercy of Mother Nature who has not been fully cooperating this year. 

After a great start, we had all of corn planted by the end of .  And then the rains hit and we were out of the fields for 2 weeks straight.  This is killer for a farmer and his/her attitude and ultimately their family during the spring. 

So every one's spirits were high when we saw the weather forecast for the Memorial Day weekend.  Although rains were possible on Sunday and Monday, we worked very hard to get as much done as possible in the fields in addition to taking care of our pigs.  My husband planted soybeans (My friend, Ott,A, did a good job explaining our no-till beans in her blog.) and my father-in-law applied anhydrous ammonia (NH3) to the corn.  As my kids would say, we apply anhydrous ammonia to the corn to help it get bigger.  In all honesty that is what it does.  It is a form of Nitrogen which is essential for the corn plant to grow an ear and it has to be applied before the corn is too big to drive the tractor through the field. 

My mother-in-law and I were on standby to deliver meals, help them move from one field to the next, and keep the ammonia tanks full which meant several trips of back and forth to the coop to fill up the empty tanks.  (Just being around these tanks makes me wonder how anyone could ever think about making or using meth.)

Although we didn't get everything done before the rain arrived on Memorial Day weekend, things are looking pretty good and we need a couple more days of good weather to be done in the fields for the Spring. 

 

The plus side to the rain was we did get to end the weekend with a Memorial Day cookout full of the following homegrown goodies: pork burgers, lettuce, bacon, and strawberries.  Yummy! 

We also said an extra prayer that Mother Nature will be our friend going forward this summer.