Rain, Rain Go Away, Come Again When We're Done Planting

Last year I talked about the drought many times and even this year I've continued to talk about the drought.  Well, I don't think anyone in our area, and actually throughout the state of Iowa, is concerned about being in a drought anymore...  Let's just say we've gotten our fair share of rain lately!

Here is last week's Drought Monitor map for the state of Iowa
(I guess whoever is incharge of updating is still on their Memorial Day vacation
because it wasn't updated this morning)
I have circled the county where we live and farm.
As of last week we still lived in an "Abnormally Dry" area

On Saturday we received around 2 inches of rain and then overnight into Sunday we received an additional 4 inches of rain!  Normally on the Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend My Farmer, LP and I go to church and then go to a Memorial Day service at the cemetery - not this year...  Instead we were busy making sure everything was alright at our current house, our new home and at our hog site.  

We've gotten pretty accustom to water in our basement at our current house if it rains a lot.  The key is, if water reaches the apple tree, there is water in our basement.  Water was at the apple tree probably by 5am on Sunday...  

On Sunday water was ponded past our apple tree.
Today though can see how far the water has retreated since then
but you can still see how wet it is.

Our sump pump has been working nonstop since Sunday at our current house and finally today it is taking a breather and only pumps every so often.  I think I might actually be able to do some laundry today because now the laundry washer's water will have somewhere to go!

Our new house only had a little bit of water in the basement thankfully and our hog buildings were fine.  We were a little worried the hog barns were going to get water into them on Sunday morning but the rain stopped just in time that we didn't have to stress about that.

But stress is still high as we have large ponds in all of our fields.  Not only are we worrying about drowning out the corn that is planted in some of those fields, we are also worrying about the corn and soybeans we still have to plant!  And it doesn't look like this week there will be a good chance of getting field work done with a chance of rain every day.  Because the season is starting to go late, we are starting to talk about switching some of our intended corn fields into soybeans fields and have also talked with our crop insurance agent about preventive planting acres.

This is a view to the east from our acreage where you can see several "ponds".
On Sunday these were one giant "lake"!

I guess the only thing that needs to happen this week, so we can get our minds off of all of this, is to have a baby!  Every morning My Farmer talks to MP through my stomach telling him or her that it would be a good time to arrive!

Have you been dealing with flood conditions where you live?  Do you have any questions about planting this spring?

Ice, Rain and Snow Oh My!

Ironically my last blog post was about how beautiful winter is in Iowa.  Now, for the last few days we've been having the exact weather that people dread during winter...

It all started with an ice storm on Sunday and Monday, along with heavy fog all day Monday.

Look how weighed down one of our lilac bushes is due to the ice
and how low the neighboring trees branches are hanging to the ground

Ice was coating everything - trees, bushes, grass, vehicles, the house, etc.
See how foggy it is, at the bottom of the photo you can kind of see the ground through the fog

Thunderstorms and rain Monday night and Tuesday.

The thunderstorm and rain left everything very wet

We usually have puddles like this in April, not January...

And now this morning we wake up to snow, with wind to pick up later today.

Our dog Bailey taking a mid-morning nap in the snow
I don't know why,
but she'd rather sleep in the flower box next the the house, rather  than her doghouse

Bailey back on duty protecting the farm, she'd never want us to see her sleeping on the job!

I guess the only type of weather we're missing now is sunshine!  I just have to laugh and smile and say, this is winter in Iowa!  I'm just happy that we've been getting precipitation!  After the 2012 drought, I'm concerned with what sub-soil moisture we have left and what conditions our 2013 crops will have to try to grow in.  So bring on the moisture, in whatever form it comes!

Hope you all are taking care in whatever weather conditions come your way!

Farm Friday

This week we've been busy harvesting corn.  Since we started harvest a little over four weeks ago we really haven't had a break, meaning we haven't had any measurable rain that has really slowed us down.  There has been maybe 1 1/2 days total that we've been out of the field due to rain.  I know I'd love a day of rain to not only settle all the dust and soil in the field, but also to give everyone a day of rest!

I love helping out in the fall!  Now sometimes that means I have to run for parts to fix our equipment and sometimes that means I get to work in the field, usually driving the tractor with the catch cart.

LP and I riding in the tractor with the catch cart.
LP likes helping out with harvest too!

Having someone in the field running catch cart allows the combine to "dump on the go" so it never has to stop.  I follow along the combine when it is full of grain and then it empties out the grain into the grain wagon that I'm pulling in the tractor while still harvesting.

Combine "dumping on the go" on the tractor with catch cart

The corn harvest this past week has been going pretty well.  Yields are slightly better than we expected this summer before fall work started.  We can't complain about that - especially with this summer's drought!

Lastly I wanted to share a photo of our farm team.  Rarely are we all in one field but earlier this week, one evening before calling it a day, everyone was in one field discussing the plan for the next day.

L to R:  Rusty, Merlin, LP, My Father-in-law and My Farmer

Farm Friday

This week on the farm we have continued to get things ready for harvest.  The corn keeps on drying and the soybeans are starting to change colors.  Here are a few photos I took on top of one of our grain bins so you can see the changes in the crops.

You can see we have the combine, corn head and tractor with disc-ripper
sitting out and ready to go

You can see both the corn in the foreground and
soybeans in background maturing and changing colors

If you look real close in the shop you can see my father-in-law, My Farmer, LP and
one of our hired hands talking and probably wondering what I'm doing on the top of the grain bin!

My "backyard's" corn continues to mature.

The corn ears and kernels continue to dry, so we may be starting harvest at the end of next week.  This field will probably yield about 30%-40% less than we'd "normally" see but we'll be very happy with that type of result during this year's harvest!

My hog's "backyard" of soybeans have changed the most in the last week.  See how the field is changing colors and drying.

I'm looking forward to seeing what our soybeans yield this year.  They look really good in my opinion.

The soybeans are also starting to dry.  You can see how the pod and beans are drying.

It'll be interesting to see how things progress in the next week!  Like I said earlier, we might be harvesting by the end of next week.  Do you have any questions about harvesting corn or soybeans?  Feel free to leave comments and questions - I love hearing from my readers.

Farm Friday

I'm happy to be back on schedule and have a Farm Friday update today!  This week after we got my father-in-law back home and on the mend, we started getting equipment ready for the fall.  LP had his first combine ride of the fall earlier this week when we moved it out of the machine shed - he was very excited for that!

My "backyard" is getting closer and closer to being ready for harvest.

The corn stalks and husks are starting to dry and the ears of corn are beginning to drop.

Because of the drought conditions, the ears of corn are not as long compared to "normal" years.

The corn is now at the R5 development stage, as know as the Dent stage.  As you can see the tops of the kernels are dented.  The moisture content is lessening, which causes the dent.  It is always exciting to see your corn dent because that means harvest is near!

My "hog's backyard" has benefited for some casual rains over the past couple of weeks, but of course, could still use some more.

Here is an up-close look at a soybean pod and seeds.  Currently the soybeans are reaching the R6 development stage, also known as Full Seed.  After the soybeans reach R6, the plants will begin to mature and dry.

The drought has obviously affected our fields, along with the rest of the central United States, this year.  The news media keeps comparing this year's weather conditions to those of the 1980's and 1930's.  We might be having similar weather to the Dust Bowl years, but our crops are doing a lot better than they would have back then.  The conservation methods used by farmers today help keep our topsoil from blowing away and the hybrid's of today have traits to help withstand dry conditions.  I wouldn't like to think what are crops would be looking like right now if we didn't have the practices and genetics that we do.

Do you have any questions about the harvest process?  Do you have any questions about this year's drought?

Green Thumb Journey

It has been quite awhile since I gave my last "Green Thumb Journey" update.  Overall, I feel pretty good on how well I've kept up on taking care of my garden this summer.  This summer's drought's dry conditions were both positive and negative to my gardens.

The negative:  My pumpkin & gourd patch!

My pumpkins and gourds have flowered two different times but still have developed nothing.  Usually I never have to worry about getting a crop from my pumpkin and gourd patch, but this year I'm worried.  I just don't think my patch got enough water and I think they were competing too much with the neighboring corn - which didn't result well for either.  Luckily for me there is a new pumpkin patch that will be open this fall in our area!


The positive:  My tomatoes!

I can't believe how many tomatoes I have this year!  They have really liked the dry conditions.  I have so many tomatoes that some plant branches are almost touching the ground they have so much weight on them from all the tomatoes!

I picked my first tomatoes (and peppers) about a week and a half ago.  Now I pick several tomatoes every other day, and I have literally over 100 left to ripen and pick.  Earlier this week I got all of my canning supplies ready to make a lot of homemade salsa!

My first tomato and pepper pick - August 6th

Besides my tomatoes, my peppers are doing fairly well and my onions are doing okay.  I think my onions would be doing better if I had planted then deeper.  I also had a lot of weed pressure at one point this summer that I think hurt my onions.

Did you plant a garden this year?  Did the drought effect your garden positively or negatively in any way?

Farm Friday

This week on the farm we've started getting tractors and equipment ready for the fall.  We've also been doing a rain dance which gave us mixed results on Wednesday.  At our home place we got .10" of rain - needless to say, we would have like more!  But at the same time, we had some fields get 1" of rain, but with the rain came some wind damage.

Wind damaged corn

As you can see my "backyard" could still use some rain.

The corn is now at the dough stage, or R4.  As you can see, our drought conditions have stressed the corn kernels.  This ear has a poor kernel set at the tip.  Thankfully this ear has 18 rows, but the rows won't have as many kernels per row.

Now onto my hog's "backyard."  The soybeans continue to grow nicely.  The plants are now at my shoulders (keep in mind, I'm 5'2", but still that's tall!)

The soybean plants now have reached Full Pod (R4)

Look at all those soybeans!

and some plants are at R5 - Beginning Seed.

Lets hope we get some good rains so the soybeans can fill nicely and so the corn can maybe recover a little.

Did you get rain this week?  It seemed like a lot of rain fell across the United States but at the same time it seemed to be spotty.

Crazy January Weather!

There's no doubt that this winter so far has been unseasonably warm.  Temperatures today at home reached the mid-50s.  It was so nice out that LP, our dog Bailey and I got the stroller out and took a walk down our gravel road!

Now I have to admit, the walk today was great.  But I am missing "normal" January weather!  I love winter - the snow, bundling up, the cold air and sledding with my church youth group.  Some may think I'm crazy for missing it, but I am missing winter!

Also, all I can think is what does this unseasonably warm weather now mean for the rest of winter and into spring.  The rest of the winter could be very cold; Iowa weather history indicates that a warm December and January are often followed by a colder than average February and March.  As for this spring, the farmer in me is wondering if Elwynn Taylor's drought is actually going to happen.  We already had a dry fall, if we have a dry winter, does that mean we will be in severe drought conditions for spring planting?

I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens.  Until I get my beloved winter back, I guess I'll just have to go with the flow and enjoy the beautiful weather like I did today by going on a walk and grilling tonight for supper.

(I am happy to report for all my winter lovers out there - there is a chance of snow for tomorrow!  I am getting very excited and am hoping that I can dust off my sled soon!)