I don’t want to be the guy on the 10 o’clock news...

The scurs and the Weather Eye were high and dry last week as it ushered in some gorgeous temps until Sunday and Monday. Are we in for more or do the rain gods speak once more? Starting on Thursday, mostly sunny with a good chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the upper 50’s. Sunny on Friday with highs in the mid-70’s and lows in the mid-50’s. Sunny on Saturday with highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the mid-50’s. Sunday, sunny with highs in the mid-70’s and lows in the upper 40’s. Sunny on Labor Day Monday with highs in the low 70’s with lows in the low 50’s. Tuesday, partly sunny with highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the upper 50’s. Mostly cloudy on Wednesday with highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the mid-50’s. The normal high for September 2nd is 77 and the normal low is 56. After giving their AC a workout, the scurs will be resting comfortably in their hammock on Labor Day Monday.

 

Crops continue to make headway, although there are some concerns about GDU accumulations and an early frost making a less than stellar crop even worse. As far as GDU’s, last week’s press release from the SROC in Waseca had it still running about 2% above normal. Not a lot of cushion there, but the last several days of uncomfortably warm weather won’t hurt. Corn was denting this past week, so, given a normal finish with a frost in the 1st week of October, we should make that just fine. What we don’t need is a sudden cold snap with temps well below normal for an extended period of time. An early frost is always a possibility. While we’ve been fortunate in that respect the past several years, we know all too well that mid-September frosts occur. Let’s hope we’re not discussing that at a later date. Soybean aphid spraying has nearly come to a close. With many potential crop insurance claims, the maturity of the crop, adequate soil moisture, increasing numbers of beneficial insects, the calendar date, etc., etc., it becomes much easier to punt.

 

Back home and off the road for a spell. The trip to Canada followed by the Pro Farmer Crop Tour and the MN State Fair takes a lot of starch out of me. The heat didn’t help matters upon my return either. After turning on some tunes in the barn Monday night, sweat was pouring out of me and in my eyes during chores. It made me appreciate the prior week’s cooler weather. I was also glad to stay out of it on Saturday at the State Fair. As the crowd got bigger and the sun came out, it made things warm in a hurry. Inside the sheep barn, the fans were moving enough air to keep it relatively comfortable. The architecture of the old WPA building actually helps the heat get out and keeps temps more moderate than some on the fairgrounds. The windows in the roof were also good for natural lighting, making it ideal for trimming sheep during daylight hours. Even though it was positive for those things, the roof also had a propensity to leak when it rained. I don’t think I’ve been in it when it’s been raining after they fixed it, but it’s only a matter of time given the peaks and valleys design.

 

So how did we do? We did very well. With Dylan Nohner’s expert fitting job, the sheep were at high noon. We had both the champion ram and champion ewe. What’s even better was that one of our ewe lambs owned by Avary Hopper won reserve champion in the open class and 4-H as well. Getting them back home again wasn’t without a few minor issues. One of the buck lambs had developed a respiratory infection, so while he was treated by a vet friend at the fair, he needed some additional attention when he got home. Putting the fans on ahead of time to keep the air moving and temperature more comfortable didn’t hurt. I get that sometimes you can’t make animals live. I just don’t want to be the guy on the 10 o’clock news charged with animal abuse.

 

The Crop Tour! I want to hear about the Crop Tour! OK, keep your pants on. It came off without a hitch, even though we had to improvise a bit more due to some unforeseen circumstances. I’m lucky I have such good friends and family, however. Need a ride here or there and a place to stay in order to pull it off? No problem. The Crop Tour itself went about as smoothly as I recall with only a few minor glitches. There are always some of the foreign participants who have trouble making connections, so they can be there the first night. That’s unfortunate because it’s important to learn how the process works and to get to know people a little ahead of time. It works OK to come in cold, but the interaction with all the scouts the first night, foreign or domestic, sets the tone for much of the event as it moves forward.

How did the crop look? About as expected on the eastern leg. Ohio was decent and close, but not quite on a par perhaps with last year. Indiana and Illinois both had bin buster crops, the best for either state I’ve seen over the past 21 years. Iowa looked solid with areas that struggled last year back online once again. Minnesota was one of the disappointments, although that was not unexpected. One has to bear in mind that MN is a large state with a lot more corn and soybeans to it than just the southern third of the state. South Dakota was no prize either due to some of the same heavy rains that MN dealt with. Nebraska was Nebraska. Turn on the water, dial up some sunshine and poof! A corn and soybean crop. At any rate, it’s another one in the books.  As I told my fearless leader Brian Grete, I think I’m starting to get the hang of it.

 

Poppy was certainly glad to see me when I picked her up from the vet’s office where she had been boarded in our absence. She’s happy to see just about anyone most of the time. She was quite clingy for several days and I could tell she wasn’t thrilled when I’d have to take off to run errands. She was temporarily glad that I came home Monday afternoon during the heat to do some paperwork and correspondence. Her joy was short lived, however, as there was trenching and digging going on down the road. If the noise from that didn’t get your attention, Poppy made sure I was aware of it with her carrying on. Such a large amount of barking and growling for a small dog. Hard to get by with anything within a five mile radius if she’s on the clock. Even harder to squeeze a nap in.     

 

See you next week…real good then.