Cranky's Wrinkles

well its over (mostly)

2010-05-02T15:17:00.004-05:00

from down by the river side: well its over. We finally had our auction yesterday. Told just about everything good bye that wasn't nailed down here on the farm. Had several people ask what I'm going to do now. My response was "keep farming." I guess the only reason to have a sale is to do something different in most people's minds. We saw it as a way to clean house and do a better job at doing what we love to do - farming to help feed the world.

Me and Cranky want to say a special thanks to everyone who helped with the auction, who came and bought stuff and those who just came to visit. We appreciate having you over.

Here's what we did this past week. Mike, Kendrick, Maxton, Daddy and I were all about working the calves. We turned 58 of them loose on the Pickens/Richardson place. Hope they stay out of the wheat! We had to buy a new fence charger and install new ground rods to keep them where they are supposed to be.

Here's Mike givng shots to one of the "Cranky Steers" (he's getting good at that)

here's Maxton checking to see if we need more calves run up the chute.

here's another "shot" of Mike:

here's Kenny checking to see if Mike is staying in line:
And one last thing, here's one of Parker's jokes: "What do you call a bull with no horns?.....A cow!"

looking east

2010-04-11T13:03:00.003-05:00

Hello everyone. Do you ever look forward to visiting with someone and then don't know what to say when you are with them. (sorry just got distracted by a wayward piece of toast stranded in the pencil drawer. Hopefully it was Parker's and not mine.) Anyway, back to conversation we were having. Sometimes its just nice to be with someone and not say anything at all. That's what we did last night. Jenn and I took a drive, stopped by mom and dad's and just let the kids run wild around the yard and we just sat and enjoyed the evening.

Thot you might enjoy this pic of Carson & Griffin enjoying suckers from Aunt Keren. After we got home last night, I was feeling a little bit down and out because we drove up by the school where the prom was going on. Made me feel a little old for ma and pa to be driving around with all the kids loaded up in the car. Upon thinking these thoughts, I was changing diapers, putting on PJ's etc. etc. etc. when Parker came knocking on the locked bedroom door. (you may wonder why Jen and I were getting the kids ready for bed with the bedroom door locked. I'll leave that for speculation.) Parker kept knocking and hollering so Jenn finally answered the door. Parker said "the sink in the bathroom is running over!!!" Jen asked "why didn't you shut the water off!!!" as she stepped across the hall already flooding with water and shut off the flow. Parker said "cause I didn't want to get my socks wet!!!" That's when I lost it. Nothing could have been funnier! Try to enjoy the small stuff, its probably the funniest.....even when there is nothing else to say. Keep you sails out. You'll catch a breeze sometime.

think green

2010-04-04T14:16:00.003-05:00

Happy Easter everyone. I'm so glad that spring has sprung. Seems like its that time of year when everything is new again. Check out these flowers from up by the shed:

This gets me in the mood to smell the fresh mown hay, honey locusts, alfalfa in bloom, and WHEAT HARVEST. What a better life. Especially watching the kids hunt for Easter Eggs this morning:

Even when its hard, keep looking up. Jesus is coming soon.

a week makes a lot of difference

2010-03-21T14:45:00.003-05:00

Love is sunshine, hate is shadow, life is checkered shade and sunshine....Longfellow's The Song of Hiawatha.

The first day of spring has come and gone without me even remembering or noticing. The picture below was taken by our house Saturday afternoon:

From farm headquarters (at fireside): Hello everyone. Spring has sprung with a flurry of fun and games here at the farm. Below is a sample of our activities:

Gretta's observations of the last flury of wintertime activities was done from the safety and warmth of her box in the garage. Keep the box warm G.

We had a very nice week on the farm this past week. Cows are busy trimming the "winter grass" that has started to peek through the leaves and old growth from last year. Fence was built to pasture some native pasture land that we call the "Old Crow" place up by town. This land hasn't been pastured for a while so it has some great old and new growth.

I think this week we'll start with the fertilizer and weed control applications of the bermuda grass down on the river bottom.

Talk to you soon. r

Spring has Sprung

2010-03-14T14:53:00.007-05:00

From all of us at the farm headquarters: I think we've officially kicked off spring with bang. This picture was taken by a "storm chaser" out by Hammon back on Monday.

We've been busy this past week on the farm. It seems the weather plays havoc with the schedule board so I'm just going to pencil in "BUSY" everyday for everyone. How's that? We've been moving our electric fences to keep the cows off the wheat that we want to save for grain harvest and keep the cows where they are supposed to be. Not an easy task with green lush wheat on the other side of the fence from you no matter how much those cows mind and listen;)

Now on with something very newsworthy:

Mike Sigg has Officially been here with us as our friend and co-worker for 1 whole year!

WAY TO GO Farmer MIKE!

In other news we (rick, jenn, parker, preston, griffin, carson, and claire) all took a trip to Jenks to see the Oklahoma Aquarium. We went with Jenn's brother Jason and his wife Amy and their 2 kids (William & Alex) Wow, we were impressed. Never before had the kids or us parents seen such great exhibits. We then went for nap time up to the Port of Catoosa. That's where we get to sell some wheat from time to time. After that we checked into the Holiday Inn, complete with swimming pool and trampoline (our bed unfortunately). Griffin complained that he didn't know any better because he had never seen such a big bed.

For supper that night we went to Incredible Pizza. It certainly lived up to its name and we had a blast.

After getting up and enjoying the breakfast at the motel, we headed out west towards Enid. We stopped by Leonardo's Discovery Warehouse. I have never seen such an extensive outdoor jungle gym, maze or whatever you would call that structure. I would have played longer myself. Inside Leonardo's Warehouse we played for a long time too by going "shopping", playing "dress up" and painting masterpieces. Well worth every penny! After getting buckled back in the car, all the kiddies needed a nap and Jenn and I had a great visit on the ride back to home base. Safe!

2010-02-28T14:29:00.006-06:00

Cranky says.......

Howdy Folks! Looks like there just might be a hint of spring in the air today. I saw a few tulips and daffadils starting to poke through the ground. How have you all been lately? We've been pretty busy here on the farm. The cattle pretty much take up our time in the morning. In the afternoons we've been trying to work on remodeling a fixerupper house we bot 2 years ago. We've also been trying to get ready for an auction to sell some extra equipment, tools, household items, etc..... Lately, all the kids have been practicing their cowboy/girl skills. Here's Claire's attempt:

Below is Preston (Paul Newman's lookalike)

Parker looks the part pretty well:

Here's carson's attempt: notice a wash rag instead of his hat in his hand.

Here's Griffin's little smile under his hat:

As a fun project right now on the farm, we have made a start at least to try to sell some of our home raised beef directly to the public. We have a steer being processed right now that will be cut in quarters. If you are interested, please let me know asap. You don't even have to buy a a whole quarter, but its just a way to divide up all the meat evenly.

I recently found a neat website: http://thepioneerwoman.com/ This lady has some of the funniest posts and best pictures I have ever seen, complete with picture naming contests. She has even been on Fox and Friends and Good Morning America with her cooking demonstrations. Below is a sample of one her pictures I thought was pretty funny.

I'll let you guess what the photo was named in her contest.Go ahead, check out the link to her site. You'll be glad you did.

january on the prairie east of t town

2010-01-24T14:27:00.003-06:00

Above: The River Valley looking East from the camp site by the pond we are fixing. It was about 4 degrees this morning.

Hello everyone. Its been a slow week here on the farm. We've been rebuilding a pond dam that washed out, hauling and selling our older cows and calves off the wheat. That pretty well sums up the last week here. Parker has gotten on the habbit of "going hiking". We'll take one this afternoon here in a little bit.

I took a couple pictures of our neighbor's cattle while out checking cattle here lately. Thought we would ride over and give them to him here a little later after everybody gets up from their naps. Here's a beautiful shot of their cows on the river:

And here's one of Eddie's prize long horn cows.

Also, below, here's Rex on a typical day feeding cattle
Notice the calf back towards the open barn door in front of the cow feed bunk. He's our current little bottle baby. Park has taken to calling him "Black Shop". Not sure why and don't think he even knows. Also, notice the yellow 'schwans' feed truck. The most we have had to feed this winter has been 5 tons in one day. This truck will hold about 7 tons of silage. This silage has been a point of controversy on the farm however. It seems we've been feeding more than cows with it because the wild hogs come in at night and eat their fill. We've been trying to get rid of this guys for a while now. I think we'll have to fence the silage pit with some hog panels to keep them out.

lazy Sunday afternoon

2009-12-13T15:08:00.005-06:00

Greetings everyone. We are at a new chapter in our lives this afternoon. All of our kids are now able to get out of their cribs on their own. What a fast Sunday afternoon we've had.

Much of our farming time this past week has been focused on keeping the animals fed and watered. A cold snap shuffled in two times this past week. Last Sunday evening, we had a great big cold front blow through and then last Wednesday another one came roaring in. We had two nights with temps down into the single digits. Wow. What a shock to the system. This afternoon however its a balmy and windy 67 degrees. Not bad for a Sunday in December.

Here lately, we've been starting to feed our cattle liquid molasses.

This stuff helps them to have more energy and boy does it ever make them eat everything in sight. We'll keep hauling the stuff to them. However, please let us come live with you when they eat of out of house and home. The talk is that if you feed your cattle molasses, they'll eat just about any thing. Well, it sure does make them eat up that wheat straw that they would never eat before. And now, they even have better hair quality. Maybe that is going a bit too far.

Below is a pic of them licking the molasses off of a wheel that rolls down into a tank full of the sticky stuff.

time to take account

2009-12-06T13:43:00.005-06:00

Hello farmers at heart. This is it. This is your season to take account of what has been done this past year. The grain is in the silos and the calves are out on the wheat and the cows.....well, who knows where they are. And we farmers are approaching that time when we all become a little more reflective no matter what type of day we've had or how busy we've been. This is a precious time of year. The little children at home looking with hopeful anticipation of dad getting in from the cold and holding them on his knee. Each one reflecting sweetness in their little faces as their time of anticipation draws near. Wouldn't trade that for anything with anyone. And to think, it must be like that with our Heavenly Father and us. Well, on that lingering thought, I'll share a few pics with you and let you be on your way:

Mollie, my faithful companion in her seat on the patio behind the house.

height of the Endurance wheat we fertilized and sprayed for weeds and cheat back on 11-20-09 was about 3" high and looks thick as hair.

#196 (heifer born at Sheldon Payne's place) now she's here in the field by our house waiting to have her first calf. Hopefully sometime in December about Christmas time.

growing

2009-10-18T11:40:00.002-05:00

Hello there. We've had a over a weeklong rain delay for our wheat planting. We mulch treaded and packed the Lapel place on Saturday, so we'll be off to the races with drilling there at tomorrow morning at 8 o'clock sharp. A special thanks goes out to Rodney Wheritt for spaying the volunteer wheat with roundup so we can try to get a perfect stand. We'll plant Doans variety that came from Joe Peeper up near Enid. This is a fairly new variety for wheat country as it was only introduced to growers in 2007 and this is the first year for it to be used by farmers other than seed growers.

Yesterday, we bot a new camera to replace the one that got dropped one too many times. Jenn is working out the kinks as I write this.

To encourage your responses, I have a special prize for the person who guesses closest to the correct number of grains of wheat per pound of the Doans Certified wheat seed I mentioned.

Gradually expecting a change.....

2009-10-04T13:53:00.003-05:00

FARM UPDATE: Autumn is settling onto the Oklahoma praire where the wheat planting is winding down. Wheat spikelets are popping out of the ground all over. Calves are being weened from their mama's with anticipation of getting a taste of early wheat pasture. I can hear a pen of them bawling just outside the window down at TC & Christy's (our neighbor to the south).

We are getting a little bit of rain today. Maybe we'll finish drilling the wheat this week. Part of the reward is in this effort of planting alone.

Sowing the Seed

2009-10-02T21:06:00.002-05:00

Hello farmers at heart. We've been busy planting our wheat. So far, we have finished over half of the farm and used up all of our Endurance Seed Wheat. Now we're starting to use our Duster variety. On Thursday morning early, Daddy and I took our annual trek to see how the first field we sowed was looking. You should have seen it. Beautiful.....Each little spikelet of seedling wheat had its very own diamond dewdrop on top of it. Pop would have been very proud (even if this was on our no-til upland river patches). Every time I think of No-Til Farming, I remember him saying "Don't neglect the seedbed!"

Update: Well, Dallas Crowdis came through. He found us an 8-volt battery for the 1951 Chevy Wheat Truck. Way to go Dallas and everyone at DNA Auto. Truck runs very smooth and we were all happy to see it driving down the road.

Wheat's growing
Cow's lowing
Moon's up
Lights out.

rants from the backyard overlooking my life

2009-09-20T14:18:00.007-05:00

Would you think that an 8-volt battery for a 1951 Chevy truck would be too hard to find? Well, apparently they are. I was trying to get one this week for Pop's pride & joy but to no avail. Tried NAPA Auto Parts - they said convert it to a 12-volt system. Called John Deere and the 8-volt battery in their computer was listed as "unavailable". Is nothing important just simply for the sake of that's the way it used to be? Are we too busy to appreciate anything besides something that is NEW? Maybe my heart is a relic of the not so distant past. I think I shall take up cigar smoking ..... perhaps.

Into everyone's life a little rain must fall

2009-09-13T12:26:00.002-05:00

Hello everyone. Sorry we've taken so long off from the blog. For the past month, we have had some very sick kids. It all started a month ago this past week. We thought our kids one by one were coming down with the flu. Well, after the "flu" had pretty much run its course, the first kiddo to get sick was sick again. Turns out that all 4 quads had e-coli. For Preston, Claire and Griffin, they in turn got sick again with HUS. Its sort of like blood poisoning that resulted in a week and half hospital stay for Preston, a week for Claire and just over two weeks for Griffin. As of Friday, however we were all back home from Children's Hospital in OKC. Everyone is doing very good now. Just a few carryover problems from high blood pressure for 3 of the kids. We are staying on top of this.

As for the farm, many thanks to Daddy, Mike and Kendrick for holding down the fort. They were able to work on the fence a lot, work the ground at least once over with the springtooth and even keep the minerals put out for the cows. Doesn't even seem like they needed me at all. But Jenn and I missed this place. Its certainly good to be back home.

Today, it is raining. Official Weather Observer Maxton Slagell has been eying the rain guage. So far as of 7:00 a.m. this morning we had 1.85" of rainfall. We've had some more that has been falling here since the report this morning too.

We plan on starting to drill wheat next week on or about the 21st of September. This past week, Mike and I made our annual trip to Alva to Joe Shirley's farm for seed wheat. Take a look at Joe's website www.shirleyfarms.com. There his wife Ann and son Biron loaded us with a load of Certified Duster and a load of Certified Endurance. We'll probably plant the Endurance on the home place here because it makes such good pasture during the winter for the mama cows. Maybe some of the Endurance will also go on the Kaiser and Miller places in order to make hay there and help clean up some pesky rye that tries to come up and grow with the wheat. Endurance variety is known for the great amount of forage it produces.

As for the Duster, it was our best yielding wheat for this past summer. It will probably be grown on the Pickens place as well as Huiatt and Long 1/4.

On Thursday, Mike went to the Enid area to Joe Peepers farm. There he picked up a small load of Certified Doans seed wheat. As he was coming back home, he stopped in Lahoma at Byron Hobson's farm to pickup a small load of Cerfied Santa Fe seed. He was able to do this because our trailer has two separate compartments that can hold about 500 bushels of wheat each. Pretty handy for such a trip.

We have almost completed the two wire electric fence on the Woods and Pickens places. Its going to allow us to keep the 2nd calf cows/heifers out of the trees, creeks and ponds on those places this winter. It'll make them much easier to check come calving time. Special thanks to Kendrick and Max"well" for this effort since I've been gone so much.

My Granny taught us a poem with this portion "look this way see nobody, look that way see nobody, hoe corn, dig tater." Perhaps this is one of those endearing things about life on the farm, that we just have to keep on going no matter what.

God Bless, thanks for your prayers. P.S. don't turn the cows into the garden just yet, I think the tomaters are coming on strong!

A week of catching up

2009-07-26T16:48:00.004-05:00

Well we've been recovering from the sweltering heat of the past few weeks. Much time this week has been spent working on electric fences for our midsummer cattle endeavors. We've also been busy cleaning up our equipment that we did our field work with. We worked everything at least twice except for the no-til farming we're doing near our house here on the river. The guys have all been busy building electric fences of either the one or two wire variety.

We got about a one inch rain all together early last week. Maybe we'll get a little more this week it looks. We've been starting to sell a little equipment again. Maybe we'll "clean house" and get rid of some extra stuff. Anyone who's interested needs to check the website soon. It'll be updated with some new stuff to sell.

On Thursday, we all banded together - Daddy, Max, Kendrick, Konner, Mike and myself to work our calves. We had a grand total of 40 that got the "works" and then we ear tagged a few of the younger ones that were too young to work. This gave us the opportunity to cull 2 cows. Who were too old and fat to turn back loose.

On Monday, we picked up our first beef from the locker plant that we've home raised in a while. You ought to come by and visit because you'll be in for a treat if you stay for supper.

deep in the middle

2009-07-12T14:36:00.003-05:00

Below: Was that daddy's tractor? says Carson

Below: I was wondering where my hat and showes went that day. Looks like Griffin is the culprit.

Hi everyone. This week (and last week) we've been all about working the ground. Mike, Konner, Kendrick, Dad and myself have been pretty good about taking turns and keeping the wheels turning on the tractor. We've had good luck and not much in the way of breakdowns. Rother Bros. at Clinton has had to make 2 service calls for a tractor problem that keeps reoccuring on the calibration for a transmition shifting problem, but other than that not much problems have gone on. We've been sweeping the ground with sweep plows, then since we've received no rain, we've had to change and deep rip the ground and follow with a sweep plow. On the ground we used the sweep plow on first, we have gone back and deep ripped and sweep plowed again for a stubble mulch affect. This week we are planning on finishing our ripping and sweep plowing work and hooking up to the moldboard to plow up Long Quarter, Huiatt, Lapel and all of the terraces on each farm.

Well, been there and done that and without pretense.

2009-06-28T08:31:00.007-05:00

Here's a view from the cab of our Case International STX325 tractor pulling sweep plow on Long Quarter:

Below: Here's Jenn's kitchen during harvest meal prep!

Below: here's mom driving the chuck wagon and on a mission. This day we were cutting wheat on the RMc place.

Below: putting seed wheat from the Airport place in the wheat bins on the Hamar place

Below: Eating lunch on the Airport place (Rex, Konner, Rick listening to a tale spun by Mike.

Mike during Lunch seated infront of his combine and Konner/Mikey's Grain Cart

Below: combine driven by Rex unloading, Konner on Cart and Mike in his combine in front. They were cutting on "Old Crow" place just east of Thomas.

Below: Yours truly advertising for Blahut Harvesting

Below: As a reminder to be careful, Jenn and Parker saw this accident while on a parts run. 2 people were hurt pretty bad after this truck rear ended a grain cart pulling a combine header.

Below: Jenn and Parker on a parts run last week to Schmidt & Sons in Mt. Hope Kansas.

Hello friends, Well harvest is about all wrapped up. All we have left to cut is the wheat that's on the river bottom, so we should be wrapped up on Monday (I think, however we've had .7 tenths rain over night). This week has been long and the whole crew is extremely tired. Thankfully everyone still has their sense of humor and no one it seems is irritable but me. We've cut about half of our total acres this week too. We've made a parts run to Fairview, OK and Pratt, KS and Alva, OK. Willie our faithful truck driver got here this week on Monday and that was while we starting to put some seed wheat in the bin. Has he ever been handy! We thought we ought to save a little seed wheat just in case we can't buy any to replace it with. On Monday, Willie hauled me the wheat at the wheat bin and I put it in the bin while Willie took the empty truck back to the field. That wheat came off of the field we call "Airport Place."

During mid-week, we made the trip down south to cut "Woman Later" place down between Weatherford and Thomas. This trip is pretty hard because we have to go out and around Deer Creek Bridge on Hwy 54. We made it however without a hitch. Just had to air up the combine tires to get over the several bridge banisters we do have to cross.

Sometime this week we also got started working our ground. We started this with a sweep plow that just slips under the ground and works it by lifting it up and over the blade. This really helps control weeds too and then creates a "stubble mulch" effect. On Saturday the ground started getting too dry for the sweep plow to penetrate the soil so we had to switch to the Laney Ripper which has spikes that penetrate the ground about a foot deep and then we follow immediately with the sweep plow. Kendrick Wingard and I worked on the laborious project since Thursday once we got the guys on the combines and trucks off and running. So far we've worked about 400 acres in this fashion.

The Harvest that was not.

2009-06-21T12:47:00.006-05:00

Hello friends. The week has come and gone. We've harvested about half our acres, taken the wheat to the elevator and had lots of adventures along the way. Above is a picture of Mike cutting wheat on the field our family has owned since the early 1940's. We call it the Long Quarter. Below is some of the "adventure" I was talking about: Parker is making a trek to "East Creek" which is down below "Squeeky's Tree". Squeeky is his imaginary pet squirel.

One of the funniest things that was said this week was from Parker. (see picture below) Parker and I were making a trip to the elevator in the Mack truck. We had on the AC and so I had my window rolled up. Parker's window was down and he looked over at me and said "Daddy roll your window down because my other arm is hot!" I laughed and laughed and told everyone about it. Just had to tell you about it too.

Below is a picture of our #2 Gleaner R72 complete with scenes of nature (weeds from the water way on the edge of Long Quarter.

Thought the pic below was interesting. It was just after the dinner bell rang and everyone was in a hurry to come to the edge of the field for supper. We have a rule that before the combines sit for any length of time that they need to be unloaded. Mike got a jump start on supper by unloading on Konner & Mikey's Grain Cart while they were unloading on the truck. Notice Mikey on the back of the trailer directing traffic.

Below is a picture of Tanner Pruitt our good neighbor farmer who was already working their ground. This field was just east of Long Quarter. He is driving a 9230 John Deere and pulling a sweep chisel plow.

Below is a pic of the grain cart and #1 Gleaner driven by Dad working together on Long Quarter.

Thot the pic below was a pretty sight with our grain cart and the elevator at Thomas in the distance. That's where we haul all of our wheat. Nephew Mikey Taylor and neighbor Konner Kippenberger are Co-Grain Cart Drivers.

Below is a good pic of #1 Mack on the Huiatt Place.

Below: Waiting behind Eyster Harvesting truck at the East Side Elevator. We are next in line and ready to dump.

Below: Pic of Mark Sweeney - assistant elevator manager for Wheeler Brothers in Thomas. He's a good friend. This was taken after we pulled thru bay.

Pic of two of the elevator hands unloading the hopper trailer.

This coming week we'll have more updates!

Here at last

2009-06-14T07:44:00.011-05:00

Parker cleaning up some trash in the wheat before it is cut.

Sorry about no post last week. We took a family trip for the benefit of the kids play time and our mental health. At least the kids played so hard they wore themselves out. Jenn and I were too tired to care after keeping up with them. We saw the Calumet elevator open but not receiving any loads of wheat.

Now for this week's post:

Well I think its official - Wheat Harvest '09 has started. Farmers in our area began cutting last Monday afternoon then followed a few rainy days. On Friday, we even started cutting with a test sample that showed 14% moisture. After cutting a truck load we were told "let's not cut anymore 'til next week" by Mark Sweeney (assistant elevator manager). The truckload of wheat Mikey and I brought in went for 15.7% moisture and got a moisture dock. Thankfully they took that one load and we were able to call ahead and stop Daddy & Mike from cutting anymore.

On this first load of wheat that we hauled in, the test weight managed to be OK at 57. If this is all greek to you, the moisture is the easy thing. It's like taking a measurement of the wheat's humidity and temperature together. The elevator can usually safely store wheat that has a moisture percentage below 13.5%. Especially if they have some drier wheat to blend it with. Now on to the test weight of the wheat which is its density. Our load came in at 57 lbs per cubic foot. Normally we like to see wheat weigh at least 60 lbs test weight (per cubic foot) which would be a perfect.

I'm sure you've all heard of farmers talk about how many bushels per acre their wheat made. Now you can imagine if you hear a farmer say his wheat made 40 bushels per acre, then in actuality it made 40 cubic feet of wheat per acre if his wheat's density was a perfect 60 lbs/sq ft.

To tie in the issue of the test weight to the real world, if our wheat yielded 40 cubic feet of wheat per acre and its test weight was only 57 lbs per cubic foot, it actually only made (40x57)/60 = 38 "bushels" per acre. This in essence is a wheat quality issue - being that it was less dense than the standard 60 lbs per cubic foot. A bushel by the way weighs 60 pounds regardless of its density. Bushels are simply a measurement of weight. Therefore, this bushels per acre measurement has the density quality built in to the equation. Sometimes as is the case, but probably not this year because of the stress the wheat was under (drought, hail, freeze), the wheat can even be more dense or heavier than 60 pounds test weight. I've even seen 1 load a couple years ago that went for 64 pounds test weight! You could feel that it was heavier than normal just by putting your fingers into it.

Some what relatedly, in some parts of the world, farmers have stopped using bushels to measure yield since they are such small units of measurement and have gone to using tons per acre. Times they are a changing.

To sum this wheat quality info all up, we had our wheat graded at grade 3. This is not great, but the test weight significantly affects the grading scale and moisture significantly affects the test weight. Anything 57 and below is grade 3 or worse and 58-59 is grade 2 and grade 1 is anything above 60 test weight. Now you know what we had. We expect the test weight on this particular field to increase since we are waiting for the moisture to go down before harvesting the wheat.

I am sure that someone noticed. Yes the truck was significantly over weight. However, being new to the grain cart, I'll get that weight issue figured out. Our crew is somewhat changed up: It includes Daddy on #1 Combine, Mike on #2, Willie on Trucks (Willie's mom passed last Thursday evening, so he's not able to be here til the middle of this week. Please pray for Willie and family.) Myself on Grain Cart (I've heard I've been called "hell-on-wheels" already, but I'm not sure why). Miko aka Mike Taylor bro-in-law at Grain Bins. Mikey & Konner as go-fers and assistants to all where needed as they learn the business.

While waiting for the wheat to dry out, we've worked on cleaning the sheds, putting up wrenches, sorting bolts and working cattle. A farmers work is never done, but we keep trying to get caught up.

Above: Mikey taking a break after cleaning the north shed.

This morning, (as I am trying to recover from a riduculously bad cold) I think the weather is showing signs of change. There was a lot less dew than we've been getting and the breeze feels more like harvesting weather. Forecast is for hot and dry for the next 2 weeks. Glory be. Watch out wheat, here we come :))

I would also like to introduce you guys to a new blog that we've found. We always take a look at is at lunch time since we've been around the house here lately. All the farm hands always want to "hear the update from the harvest blog." Our new frinds and bloggers are named Jenna

and Jada. They are blogging about wheat harvest from Texas to Canada. You can follow them along too. Right now Jenna and her family are in Seiling, OK cutting wheat and Jada and her crew are moving from Olney, TX to up north around Kiowa, KS Blog site: http://www.allaboardharvest.com/ You can subscribe to receive their blog entries by email by entering your email on the top right corner of their site. Also, check out the "What am I doing ..." box on the left side of the blog. It shows lots of interesting trivia.

Well until next week, keep the dust at your back and the breeze to your face and keep the wheels turning.

Growing closer

2009-05-31T14:37:00.004-05:00

Hello everyone. We're getting ready for wheat harvest. It seems like two weeks ago I was saying that harvest is about 2-3 weeks away. It still is. And that's a good thing, because the wheat has more time to fill with grain. During this beautiful time of the year, we've been busy with harvest preparations, bermuda grass planting and rye picking. Here's a pic of Mike installing a new chain on the combine header:

Below is a pic of Matt in a tight spot. He was setting up the grain bin extensions for the combine.

Below is the rye picking crew. We've been working about 3 hours a day picking out the rye that tries to grow up over the tops of the wheat. Maybe we'll be finished in about 2 -3 more days. Front Row, r-l: Kendrick Wingard, Konner Kippenberger. Back Row: Philip Barnett, Mitch Cruse, David Barnett, Joel Barnett. In the middle: Megan Barnett.

Below: Case 7110 loader tractor hooked to the Bermuda King sprig digger and trailed by Daddy's own invention - the Sprig Katchall. We use this equipment to dig up bermuda grass sprigs and transplant them to other areas.

farm update

2009-05-17T14:57:00.005-05:00

Above: Here's a pic of the wheat just outside our front door. It looks pretty good considering.

Hi Farmers and those who are interested in ag. We are coming down the home stretch for our wheat crop. It has been a tough year.....flood, drought, greenbugs, hail, freeze and now rust! But we are doing our best and God is doing the rest (which is actually way more than we even imagine). Notice how uneven and thin the wheat is? It has had a lot to face, but its still going to make a crop.

On a lighter note, Parker is playing dressup with a few extras around the house. He's our entertainment around the farm.

farming passion

2009-04-05T14:47:00.003-05:00

For those of you out there who have ever lost faith in anything, let me introduce you to the Oklahoma Farmer. He's made up of a tenacious blend of a rock solid confidence in his fellow man and a tender heart that loves to see things blossom and grow. Now is the time if ever before that we need to band together. We need to embrace tradition while at the same time cultivate change. This will enable us to grow out of the current "down in the dumps" steady drum beat that we are inundated with on the TV. Let's just get back to basic home grown values and look for ways to apply these values to our current situation and maybe even do a little less complaining along the way. What do you think? Are you with me?

As the saying goes....

2009-03-08T14:28:00.010-05:00

It seems like we live and die here on the farm by adages. One old adage goes that "it will rain in sight of 3 days if the sun goes down behind a cloud bank on Sunday evening." We're waiting to see what the sunset brings. Another old adage goes "all weather signs fail in dry weather." Well we've certainly seen our share of that lately. All my life I have been warned to watch out for greenbugs in the wheat when it gets dry. We'll that's come true too. These bugs are starting to devestate the already drought sticken wheat plants. Here's a stock picture of a greenbug (aphid) that has made its home on our wheat.

When rain won't come here on the prairie the wheat reaches a critical point that will result in one of two things. Either the wheat will find moisture stored in the soil below its roots and sink them down further to sustain itself. Or the wheat will simply wither and die. Time has yet to tell what will happen. We have waited in hopes for life giving moisture, but it hasn't come yet. We've gone from having the wettest August in history (the month before wheat was planted) to having the driest stretch that can be remembered by my dad and he's 73.

In fact our area has been charred with one of the largest wildfires in modern history. This occured on the hills and canyons just north of here in Dewey county. This county is known for is spectacular grass where cattle graze on its abundance. Late last week, at least two towns in Dewey County (Taloga & Putnam) were evacuated as a result of the fires. Reports have come in that many cattle have been lost as a result of these raging fires and at least 4 homes. I heard by reliable people that 3 supertanker airplanes were brought in to dump chemicals and water on the fire to help put it out and an Oklahoma Army National Guard Blackhawk helicopter equipped with a big bucket has been helping the over 90 different fire departments across our area. Much appreciation is owed to these courageous people who put their lives on the line. We are grateful. Only one firefighter has been injured so far. He was released after being treated for smoke inhalation. Reports have also surfaced that over 100,000 acres have burned during this fire.

In a somewhat related incident, I was checking for greenbugs on a farm west of our house. I had noticed that our neighbors were intending to take off in their 2 seater airplane. I saw the plane up in the air and then turn and head back another direction sharply. Then I heard the noise of it landing or so I thought. After checking for bugs and much to my worry finding them chewing away, I headed on to check another field. I drove not too far from the site where my friends and neighbors had to make an emergency landing. When their wheels touched down, the front one caught and flipped the plane over on its top. One neighbor was unhurt and his passenger had a big knot on his head and had to have a few stitches. These fellow farmers were on their way up to Dewey county to check on the fires.

So much for a quite weeek on the farm.

Update time.....

2009-03-01T15:01:00.007-06:00

Found the camera from the posting I mentioned in the past update. Actually daddy found it hanging on a fence post. It must have stayed there 2 or 3 days. Well here's one of the calves we had. We have to check on them so much that I can walk among them at night and walk right beside them and they don't even get up. If you ever get the experience of calving heifers, it is well worth your patience to see this picture below:

Now don't think we don't have our share of problems, but usually things turn out just right like this newborn calf here:

A lot of the credit goes to this fellow here:

Under Papa's watchful eye, nothing gets missed. He might turn into being a full time calving expert. Too bad we can't afford to pay him what he's worth.

Suspended rest

2009-02-15T14:35:00.003-06:00

.....Who, through long days of labor, And nights devoid of ease, Still heard in his soul the music Of wonderful melodies.....(Longfellow)

Well thot I would check in and update you on farm progress. We've been having calves from our heifers on the CrankySteer property just outside of town. Had to pull one last night. Today we had another one. I took a picture, but I can't find the camera right now.

Just got back from checking them here again at 10:00 pm. We have another one in labor. I'll have to check her every two hours tonight.

Our usual schedule is every 6 hours. Usually at 12:00 am, 6:00 am, 12:00 pm 6:00 pm. That is unless one is in labor. Then its every 2-3 hours. If active labor then every 1/2 hour to 15 minutes and wait in the pickup. If they are crowning, we stay on scene until we have a baby.

I think this schedule is pretty standard, however it gets a little overwhelming when these cattle are 5 miles away.

Next time, all the girls will be here at the house in a pen out back.

lonely

2009-02-12T12:05:00.003-06:00

Hello farmers. You know those days when you have to get rid of stuff you've had for a long time? Well, this morning we sold 24 mama cows. Several of the cows we've had for 8 years. They grew old here on the farm. The maximum life expectancy for a cow is about 10 years. We had one old cow named Roaney. She must have been 15 years or older. She's been a good cow but she was old when we got her. Special thanks to Jerry Gwartney for hauling them for us. He's a good friend and a fellow Gideon.

At least Jerry didn't have to haul them like this. I'll get a picture next time he's up to help.

Dry weather on the wheat farm

2009-01-25T14:12:00.007-06:00

Hello everyone. Hope this post finds all you doing good. Yesterday, we took a family trip to Woodward, OK to my nephew's birthday party. He's six now and we spent the afternoon at the bowling alley. Kids had a blast. Below is a pic of something.....take a closer look and maybe you can tell what Parker actually took a picture of.

We always observe the crops growing as we drive and boy is it getting dry. The wheat from Thomas to Woodward progressively looked more dry as we drive northwest. Perhaps we should be praying for moisture in what ever form it comes - even ice.

Below: Here's a pic of what's happening with the wheat:

Not much is going on as you can see, but we're hopeful for moisture and the warmer winds of later February and March.

Next up for farm activities is putting down the final application of "N". We'll topdress (like putting the frosting on the cake) with Nitrogen the middle part of February before the big spring green up.

Below: Here's a picture of our trusty Mack Truck waiting on the first load of Nitrogen produced at Enid, OK to arrive.

We'll put down the nitrogen with a big Terragator that spreads the nitrogen across each field.

Below: Here's a picture of the Terragator:

Below: Here's a closeup of the nozzles that do the work.

Winter night prairie thoughts

2009-01-23T21:25:00.003-06:00

Hi Farmers at heart. Do you ever just want to give up? I do. I had one of those moments today. Nothing worked and in the midst of trying to fix the barn door, I couldn't even find the tool box that contains all of the allen wrenches. I looked high and I looked low and even in the middle of everything (literally) I couldn't find that wretched box....................................sorry for the delay, but I had to go see if we caught a mouse in one of our 8 mouse traps. YES! we caught the one that has that big long tail. Finally, mama can rest at ease. Now back to the the wrench box that was lost in a sea of tools. It was found where it had apparently come to rest on a mountain of socket wrenches. However, barn door was fixed without anything contained in the allen wrench box because I didn't even need one! All we needed was a pin and a hammer to drive it in with. I guess it pays to look first then hunt tools later. All I'm saying is that I was about to give up before I even tried to see what was required of me. Sometimes I just need to take a breath and relax. Ever see anything cuter than a thirsty baby?

Its all about time

2009-01-19T19:20:00.004-06:00

Greetings neighbors down on the farm. There's nothing like bedtime here at the ranch house. Everybody has their bottle, Parker is winding down and mama has her cup of tea. And I have a good book. I'm one of those kinds of people who can not pass up something good to read. If anyone has any book selections that they think are good, sign me up to read it too. Problem is, I've got about four of those selections going right now.

One thing I've been reading a lot about lately is the subject of "farm activism". There are lots of people with lots of ideas. Many of these "activists" think they know how to better care for our land and care for our animals than we do and we're the ones spending time with the crops and livestock each and everyday of the year.

One thing I've noticed in life is that the squeakiest wheel usually gets the grease and I don't just mean its share of grease. I mean it gets all of the grease. These "farm activists" keep pounding away at their ideas and all the time making the general public think that these extreme ideas are main stream.

I'm here to tell you that extreme ideas like "cow gas tax" is starting to get talked about and pretty soon you know it'll be enacted into law just because its the "right" thing to do. All I have to say is that people better wake up and realize that these "farm activists" do not have any one's best interest at heart. They are making lots of noise to get their point across and soon we'll all be paying twice as much as we do now for our food. And you know that's their main point - that they have control over someone else. Bottom line is that control means power and power means that the more we pander to these loud mouths the more power that have.....over you and me.

Believe me no one knows better how to care for crops and livestock better than the American Farmer. We are up to your challenge you wackos.

brrr....cold day on the farm

2008-12-09T13:59:00.004-06:00

Hello all. We are suffering a pretty cold snow flurry today. We weened 48 good black calves yesterday. Today, they're doing pretty good eating their feed. Thanks to Terry Murphy with Moormans Feed and Amos Yoder and his good leafy alfalfa. The mama cows got out on the river bottom bermuda grass late yesterday afternoon. We just let them stay out on the grass and no-tilled wheat that is coming up pretty nicely. They all seem to be doing pretty good today too. Maybe they are relieved at not having to feed their babies in this cold weather and are content to let us do it. Here's a picture of outside today. Notice how crazy the lawn furniture is positioned. Just think last night I would have been able to sit out there and enjoy 60 degree temps. But due to the wind I stayed inside. Today its still windy. But its a little colder - about 24 degrees. Not much of a big deal here on the Oklahoma prairie. The other picture is of Gretta in her dog house. She got a nice bed of hay for the colder temps.

Ebb and flow

2008-12-02T05:38:00.003-06:00

Hi there farmers. Well its official. December is here in farm country. Its a time of putting out hay, checking the cows and working on fences. At least it is here on our farm anyway. Today, I think we'll haul in some extra hay that our neighbor RL Dalrymple sold to us back a while ago and work on a fence to keep our youngest set of heifers down on Bear Creek. These heifers are sure nice as you can tell by the picture. Also, I've added that picture of the dirty sprayer I was telling you about last week. Sure need to get it cleaned up. Gotta go for now, good talking to you.

Family time

2008-11-27T18:21:00.002-06:00

Well farmers today we enjoyed a beautiful thanksgiving meal together with our extended families at Nana's house. We had approxmimately 25 people there. I especially enjoyed the visiting and fellowship. The turkey and green bean casarole wasn't bad either. Neither was the dressing, deviled eggs, pumpkin bread and strawberry surprise. Well to say the least we are a little full. Even the cows looked especially plump this evening on our drive that we took.

Well we are finished as of yesterday with our fall application of herbicide and top dressing of fertilizer. I noticed that it is getting pretty dusty here on the farm. We are in bad need of a rain. I'll post a picture of the sprayer after it made its final pass around the last wheat field yesterday. It is caked in about 1/2 inch of dust. Hopefully it rains soon, but I am reminded that November is one of the driest months we experience here in western Oklahoma. Perhaps we'll have a white Christmas! Because at this point I'ld take moisture in any form. Well, gotta go and wrap my teeth around some more turkey.

Thanksgiving Day everyday

2008-11-23T15:10:00.003-06:00

Hello agricultural enthusiasts! This week we will be celebrating our national holiday of Thanksgiving. I was reading in the Oklahoman newspaper that a parent had heard from her little kindergartener that Thanksgiving Day was the day the pilgrams met to give thanks to the Indians for their help. This mama was quick to point out that the pilgrams were meeting to thank the Lord for his blessings and not the Indians. How quickly we forget that the Lord is in ultimate control and deserves the best thanks we have to offer in return. However, we can show our thankfulness to God by being thankful to those around us whom God has placed there to help meet the needs we have in our lives . Thank God our farmers are willing to make the sacrifices necessary to provide a plentiful source of quality food that we all enjoy. This enables all others to pursue adventures and jobs that they otherwise wouldn't be able to seek if they were primarily concerned with finding or growing a good source of food to help feed their family. God bless the American Farmer in this fruitful land of opportunity.

Parker's advice

2008-11-19T22:03:00.003-06:00

This is to all you farmers at heart out there. Our 3 year old has been talking a lot here lately. What is unusual at least to me is that he thinks he has a farm plan that we should follow. He suggests that he drive the combine and then follows with all else who would make up the crew to help him harvest the crop. He thinks that I could drive another combine, his brother could drive the grain cart, his other brother could work the ground and the other brother could drive the truck. He thinks that his mama and sister should stay at the house to cook. Basically this little entrepreneur has it all mapped out. All we have to do is follow his plan. He has even allowed that Papa stay in the pickup to be the boss or get a new combine so he can show us where to cut. Well, I guess he thinks we all have our place. Maybe he's on to something bigger than what we think. I know I have found my place, right here on the prairie being a farmer. It takes a little different individual to get up every day with the sole intention to help feed people. Farmers have been doing this for centuries exhibiting much patience and perseverance. This road seems to be really clear cut. Work ground, plant seed, spray crop, harvest crop. But within this scenario is a vast field of enough variables to make my head spin. Maybe Parker will be one of those pioneer farmers of the future who will be feeding others when all of us are worn out from trying. I certainly hope that he will be. May God bless all of our farmers, past, present and future.

taking a breath

2008-11-16T23:38:00.002-06:00

Well farmers we have finished planting. Wheat is all up and growing. you would be proud. We are even starting to topdress nitrogen fertlizer and apply chemicals to keep the weeds in check. It took a while to finish up planting because we got a large rain that kept about 300 acres from coming up. We had to completely replant 200 acres in one field and patch around in several fields to make sure we got an adequate stand on them. We have even turned the cows out to graze on the wheat that is closest to our house. They are much appreciative. Our wheat has had a bout with what is known as leafhoppers. Also, we've had many reports about rust getting on the wheat plants. If its not one thing, its another around here. Well, as for me, I've enjoyed my Sunday just about as fully as farmer can enjoy anything. Well gotta go. I'm off to check the weather reports!

Almost finished....

2008-10-13T11:37:00.004-05:00

Well today farmers we could have finished with the wheat planting, but thankfully it has rained near half an inch. The green wheat here on the prairie sure looks splendid and is it ever growing. We'll be thinking about the wheat pasture before long. However, the cows must wait for 45 days to graze due to us treating our seed wheat with a chemical that keeps fungus and insects at bay. The chemical is called Gaucho XT and we heartily recommend it. We have not had any problem with fall army worms and I've seen the neighbors to the north having to spray for them already.

When we do get to plant again, we only have about 50 acres to go. We'll also have to re-seed about 40 acres due to wild hog problems. These things are really multiplying around here and they root the wheat up looking for grub worms. Hopefully we'll get them in check soon. The only way to get rid of them is to either hunt or trap them. We caught 3 of them earlier in the summer in a home made trap. My brother-in-law, Mike Taylor, made it and we'll have to start using it again.

We'll keep up the good work and you do the same.

Keeping the wheels turning

2008-10-05T21:22:00.002-05:00

Hello you humble farmers. We've been busy planting the wheat. It has been going very good and we are well over halfway finished. Hopefully, we'll be drawing it to a close this week. So far we have planted everything into moisture which is pretty hard to do sometimes in this part of the country. This evening we are even looking for a gentle rain which will help the wheat to come up. The biggest problem we had was with a fertlizer tank that sprung a leak during the night! We'll fix its wagon sooner or later. Also, the John Deere 4450 for some reason decided to get a sticky thermostat. We thought it was fixed by Michael the Deere mechanic, but Saturday after lunch it started over heating again. Aye, we had to go get one of our Case IH Steiger STX325's that was resting in the barn. We'll finish planting with it and with our trusty Case IH 9240. Both Crustbuster all-plant 4030's have performed flawlessly. Much thanks to our mechanic James Lindsey on their regard. We'll that's about it. Two weeks in a nutshell.

Rain falling softly

2008-09-11T16:32:00.006-05:00

Hi farmers. Rain today and it is coming down so perfectly. I sure hope we don't get this nice rain and then a big washing rain from the Hurricane churning down in the Gulf. We need days like today here every once in a while.

We have spent all day in the barn working on our newest addition - a CrustBuster 4030 all-plant drill. It is being plumbed for liquid fertilizer and boy is it taking some time. We like to work, but this has been pretty intense today, especially for a rainy Thursday. Maxton says we must be getting some of the humidity from the Gulf with this rain. Now I know the humidity has to be 100% to get rain, but its really warm and sticky and its raining. So, needless to say I'm in the house drying off or up or something like that.

I'm amazed at how still the wind has been. We haven't really had any wind for the entire month of August and now September has been the same way. Its a little dissappointing not to have a little breeze.

We're also having to mow some of our no-til land that we spread some potash on. It needs to be worked into the growing layer of the soil and there is too much straw to do this so hopefully mowing will help. Richard is in charge of this project. And he ought to be getting pretty good at it since he's had to do mowing at every opportunity this summer.

sunday morning in farm country

2008-09-07T09:54:00.007-05:00

"Anybody out there?"

"Now that's a predicament!"

Hello all you farmers at heart. You know you're a farmer at heart if you still like the smell of the air right before or after a good rain. You know you're a farmer at heart if you still like to watch things grow. You know you're a farmer at heart if you still try to see the good in things no matter how upside down things might be in your life.

I just want to take this time to remind you guys to slow down a little. I know we all here in wheat country are gearing up for a spell of wheat drilling, so remember, we all want to see our crops grow up this coming spring. Let's all just be a little more thoughtful and careful.

Items newsworthy this week are that we are spraying all of our no-til and min-til wheat fields with the final application of RT III. This will help us control any remaining wheat that has come up voluntarily from the left overs of harvest, also any other invaders such as weeds that can weather the winter and other grasses that try to take over our fields. We are making preparations now to be seeding in about two more weeks - depending upon the rain from Hurricane Ike. We got basically nothing from hurricane Gustav last week - just a few cloudy foggy days.

It seems like fall has really come to the farm during this past week. We usually change seasons drastically here on the western Oklahoma prairie and this change is no exception. Well, farmers, there's nothing better than a hot cup of joe and a room full of babies on a beautiful, slow as molases, Sunday morning on the farm.

Anyone out there?

2008-09-03T10:38:00.003-05:00

Hello farmers. We have been busy working that ground I told you about. I think that we'll have to help our local Wheeler Brothers spread some of that fertlizer that we hired them to do since their machine has gone down for a while. So...if there are any of you out there let's hear from you on the comments!

2008-08-31T15:43:00.004-05:00

Rex loading the spinner truck with ag-lime

Back of the Tyler Spinner Truck "where the action takes place"

Rex in the Case IH 7110 loader tractor loading lime from where the truck dumped it.

Greetings again Farmers. Well since we last talked, we have finished spreading all of the ag-lime as of yesterday! I've attached that picture I told you about on the post of the big-wheel spinner truck we used to spread the lime.

Now here on the farm, we've moved on to other things like working the ground to get the ag-lime mixed in with the soil. I think we'll use the sweep plow to help kill the volunteer wheat that the round-up won't kill and then just use a mulch treader on the rest.

We'll also use a mulch treader to work in some fertilizer that we have hired the local Wheeler Brothers Grain Co. to spread for us. We needed their help because we are running out of time to get everything done before we plant wheat. The fertlizer they'll be spreading for is mostly a potassium base with some nitrogen to be used too. To help activate the fertilizer we'll run the mulch treader over that land too. I'll show you some pictures this week when we get the tractors hooked up to the implements.

Brother-in-laws Richard Palmer and Mike Taylor have also been busy this past week getting all of the seed wheat here. We now have all of our varieties here and ready to plant except for one more smaller truck load that needs to come in soon. We'll plant Jagger, Endurance, Bullet, Duster and Custer. These are all varieties that are well suited for the western Oklahoma prairie land that we are smack dab in the middle of.

I am reminded by this afternoon's balmy breeze that we might be looking at the calm before the storm because that Gustuv storm in the Gulf might be blowing in pretty soon. Our prayers are sure with the Gulf Coast residents who are facing land fall tomorrow. We've had the remnants of hurricanes here before and I'll keep you posted on any weather that comes our way. Until then, keep on the upwind side of the tractor dust.

Beautiful days

2008-08-25T08:20:00.003-05:00

Parker Payne aka Daddy's Helper

Hi Farmers! We've been having some exceptionally beautiful weather here at the farm. Most years this month is exceptionally hot and dry but not now. We've had great moisture and cool mornings and just almost hot afternoons. Parker our 3 year old has been really interested in "helping" here lately. He often asks "Can I help you, Daddy?" I let him come out with me a lot of times. How could I ask for more? Children are certainly a precious gift from the Lord. In other farm news, we've been trying to get some ag-lime spread on the Miller place, Kaiser farm and the Long 1/4. Hopefully this week's weather will bode well for getting this project completed. Ag-lime is a product we apply to the soil to help increase the pH level of the soil. Ag-lime is a product made up simply of ground up rock that is normally put on roads. We spread it on with a big wheel fertilizer spreader. I'll take a pic today and let you see the operation.

Rain, rain and more rain!

2008-08-19T08:04:00.002-05:00

Well hello farmers. We have certainly had our share of rainy weather these past few days. Much of the farm is completely soaked which is very, very good. This rain is giving us a little extra time to do some work in the shed which helps us to catch up on maintenance. My brother-in-law Richard was out yesterday hauling wheat. He took a big load to the eastern side of Oklahoma then hauled a small load of certified seed wheat back home. He was gone from 5:00 am to 11:00 pm. Not sure he'll be good for much today. If I were him, I'ld sleep in a little this morning. Thanks for the big help yesterday Rich. Some people say, "I'ld rather be fishing." Well, for me I'ld rather be farming!

Lately

2008-08-18T08:18:00.004-05:00

getting ready to drill a little wheat!

Hello Farmers! Lately here on the farm we've been soaking up some much needed rain. Seems like the weather pattern has switched from hot and dry to cloudy, cool and rainy. All this much needed rain has helped soak up the soil just in time for wheat planting. We've been trying to spread some ag-lime which is really just powderized road rock that helps with soil acidity due to fertilizer usage. Its been a little too wet to get this done and the weeds are sure trying to grow. Since school has started back, we've had a lot less help down on the farm this past week. Hopefully we'll get all of the work done soon .) See you later farmers.

eternal summer

2008-08-12T18:31:00.002-05:00

Well farmers, does it ever seem like summer is headed into fall and you don't even know where summer has gone? Well it sure does for me. It was in the cow shed looking at a new calf a while ago and it hit me that I haven't really even enjoyed summer yet and its almost over. August is half over and my favorite month of June was no more over six weeks ago! Wow time flies. I think it all kind of hit home this week since school started on Monday morning. Parker has gone back to the baby sitter and I'm making preparations to plant some wheat. Times they are a changing.

On the Go!

2008-08-01T15:19:00.004-05:00

Picture - Rick dumping wheat on the go from the combine to the Richard's grain cart.

Well hello farmers. We've been on the go here lately working the ground, spraying for weeds and tending the mama cows. Not any rain to speak of since before harvest ended. And is it ever hot! It's over 100 right now in the shade. Hopefully it'll cool off before much longer. Hang in there farmers - the dog days of summer are fixing to turn into those beautiful fall days just right for wheat planting. Can you hardly wait? The mornings are getting to be covered in that heavy dew that accompanies the wee hours of late summer early mornings. What more could one ask for than to sit back, have a cup of hot coffee and enjoy the view down on the farm!

thunderstorms

2008-05-31T21:49:00.002-05:00

Hi farmers. Today and for the past several days, we've had beautiful weather. We tried cutting wheat today with much sun and heat, but this evening, the weather has taken a stormy turn. Much lighting, some rain and a little hail. I wonder why God would let us raise such a beautiful wheat crop only to pumel it with hail. I'll never understand that. Well our harvest crew is assembled. We have Rich Palmer, Alberto Rodriguez, Konner Kippenberger, Phil Blahut, Matt Stanford and Mike Sigg and of course Dad and I

busy

2008-05-20T22:57:00.002-05:00

Hi farmers. We've been busy here on the farm these past two days. Yesterday and today we have been working on the wheat trucks to be sure they are ready for hauling the wheat to the elevator. Its a pretty big job checking the tires, changing the oil, etc. Today, we received our header that we leased from our good friend Phil Blahut. It was sure good to finally meet him after talking to him these past couple months. Phil lives in Saint Louis, farms near Sharon, Kansas and has agreed to help us come harvest time with his combine and header. Phil is also going to let us borrow 3 of his harvest team members as well. We are looking forward to meeting them very soon. Long time friend and elevator operator Bert Godwin estimates we are going to be cutting by May 30. We're fast going to get there! Talk to you soon.

WARNING! Sunday Sermon

2008-05-18T11:14:00.006-05:00

Today is a brilliantly sunny day here on the farm. The weather is about as beautiful as possible. Hearts are stirring with the knowledge that wheat harvest is close. Each day brings about a more yellow tint to the wheat in the fields as they blanket the countryside in all directions. From any direction here, we can see at least five miles and even more. It looks like we're camped out in a sea of green from horizon to horizon, but that sea is rapidly turning a golden hue. We're just a couple of weeks, maybe three at the most, away from Wheat Harvest 2008. The Bible says that "eternity" is in the souls of men. This eternity has been divided into seasons. This is our season of harvest that comes only after a planting season. What we have sown and cared for, others will reap the harvest. This food that is growing here in the Oklahoma prairie will feed thousands of people for this next year. It is our hope and prayer that all of the people who eat of our bounty will not only benefit from it nutritionally, but spiritually as well. It is said that "bread is the staff of life". This "bread of life" is made from the wheat we grow. We intend to make that a double meaning for people both physically and spiritually. By grace are we saved through faith in Jesus alone. This makes salvation a gift of mercy and grace, salvation of our bodies through physical nourishment and salvation of our hearts through the bounty of grace. I can't wait to take part in this bountiful gift of a wheat crop this year. My prayer is that the Lord will benefit his people in the harvesting and eating of this year's crop in a two fold manner, physically as they gain nourishment and spiritually as we endeavor to be a blessing to those with whom we come in contact.

A "Day" in the Life

2008-05-15T23:21:00.003-05:00

Well...hello Farmers. We got a shower over night and it sure cooled things off. Rye pulling came to a halt this morning due to the rain. When it rains the rye bends down because of the extra weight and we can't FIND IT! The big Mexican Crew got finished up yesterday with their work on the rye. They worked a total of 394 hours. WOW...that's a lot of RYE PULLIN'. This is a picture of Juan Martinez...he's the crew boss. Today, we worked on momma's garden irrigation project. I'll show it to you sometime...you might be impressed. The cows are looking much better since the spring grass has started growing. They keep looking "LONGINGLY" over the fence at the fresh green wheat. BUT...they know that if they ignore the fence we'll have steaks to eat. No...seriously...they only have to go to "Jail". We have a "Jail" setup in the river lot complete with only dry hay to eat. On a bright note, the wheat, especially the Jagger variety, has sure started to turn that golden yellow hue. Won't be long now. r

chances of rain

2008-05-14T11:48:00.003-05:00

Well hello farmers. Today we are waiting on rain. Oh, we're still able to pull rye (of course :)) however we have quite a bit of clouds. Parker has even been helping a little in his own little way with the rye pulling. He likes to look for it, but he's not quite big enough to pull it up. We're raising a good little farmer.

pulling Rye

2008-05-13T09:05:00.004-05:00

Left: Rye heads growing up above the wheat heads.

Well here at the farm we've been busy pulling rye. Had some passing car stop and ask what in the world we were doing. We said "pulling rye" He asked "What's that?" I explained it sort of looks like wheat but grows up above the wheat and kind of waves at you in the breeze like its sort of mocking us and just waiting to be pulled up by its roots. We'll that's what we've been busy with anyway. It takes a long time to keep it out of the fields but its sure worth the effort because the elevator will dock us $1.00 per bushel of wheat if they find any rye seeds in the wheat up to 3% and and will dock us $3.00 per bushel for anything over 3%. (at least so I've heard on the grapevine gossip tap) Makes that "clearfield" technology that you can spray your wheat and it removes everything else growing there sort of like roundup pretty attractive right about now. We've had my brother-in-law, future sister-in-law, a crew of 10 mexican field hands, 5 school kids, our full time farm hand, two part time hands, and two young women from town helping at the same time plus my humble self! Sure makes for fun conversation. We have a system. Pull it up, behead it and stuff it in a homemade rye bag. Then transfer it to a trash bag once you get to the side of the field and finally, feed it to the cows. Our good friend Phil Blahut suggested making rye bread with it. Today, I'ld rather starve. When its all finished though, a good sandwich made with rye bread sounds pretty good! r

fence rows

2008-05-03T21:40:00.002-05:00

Well today was a beautiful day here in paradise. Not much wind and everything is so green! Well, almost, because we sure need a rain. Even a heavy dew would help matters tremendously. We have been pulling rye. That blasted stuff. Special thanks to Konnor Kippenberger and David Barnett for helping me today. They really worked hard. Well it was so nice this afternoon that I decided to catch up on our spraying. I sprayed the fence rows where the johnson grass was starting to grow then sprayed the water way here at the home place. I sure hope it helps kill the cheat that tries to take over and stop the water flow. This evening Eldon Shantz came over and swathed down some of that rye that is so thick we can't pull it up by hand. Thanks Eldon. A friend shared with me this week that he had been reading the 139th Psalm. I have read it to today and I challenge you to read it as well.

Launch!

2008-04-29T23:01:00.002-05:00

Well, Payne Farms has officially launched our website with the purchase of advertising. We are trying to get our new sign made as well. We are excited about meeting people through this venture. Well, the wheat has certainly grown up as of this writing. Most of it is headed out. However, we need moisture badly. Hopefully some is coming on Thursday. We have been in the process of leasing a combine from our new friend Phil Blahut. He and his crew of 4 will be our harvest guests this coming June. Phil and crew come with a 2005 R75 Gleaner Combine. Well, I'm starting to get the harvest bug. Talk to you soon.

Rick

Back in the Saddle

2008-03-16T00:06:00.003-05:00

Hello Farmers. This is a recent pic of a set of twins born to us. Its spring time here as the calves are being born, the wheat is greening up, the weeds are spouting and the birds have returned. We even have cranes passing overhead as we speak. We are fighting a lot of pnuemonia with our 150# calves. We are using Baytril. We will vacinate our cows from now on to try and prevent all this.

2007-12-14T20:32:00.000-06:00

Hello there farmers. The farm is wet and cold today. The feed truck lost its rear bumper today, but they say its fixable. We'll see, but I suspect that I'll be the repairman. There is a large crowd of seismographers around here lately. They are searching for oil and gas. I suspect they'll find it, but they are leaving deep ruts in the process. I'm so glad that we put down extra fertilizer with the cheat and weed killers. The wheat will be ready to grow sooner than we think. Dreariness and weariness in December bring abundance in June. Or at least so they say.

Waiting on the feed truck

2007-12-12T20:11:00.000-06:00

Looking pretty is #12. We slopped around in the mud a lot today. It was cold and didn't get above freezing until 1:00 P.M. The seismo guys got stuck in the little field by the house. They should have known better. We fixed the white pickup after it ran into the ditch and a the front tire came off the rim. Berto and Cole worked on the north lot fence by putting up new 2x6's. I think everyone including me took a spill on the ice today. Daddy was smiling all the way down til he hit the ground. He landed on his rear, but said it hurt his shoulder. I jumped up after I fell and tried to act like nothing happened. Terry Murphy brought more lick tubs. Those cows are sure eating that straw. It almost seems like we might get all that wheat straw fed up after all.

Melting Ice

2007-12-11T19:29:00.000-06:00

Well the ice started melting today and we got lots of rain. The cows are bogging in the mud and hungry as ever. They are eating the straw bales like candy. The wheat is smiling with the falling of the rain. Separated 3 cows that had small calves from the main lot to the barn lot so they'll be toasty warm this evening. Tonight we're all tucked away roasting marshmallows and making s'mores.