Who would have believed it. Here it is July 16 and the corn is almost fully tasseled. We went through a terrible spring, wet ground and late planting made us believe the whole year would be late, and now the corn is tasseling on time, this is great!
Now not every field looks this good. There are drowned out spots, but they do not really take up all that much area. Of more concern are really late planted corn, replanted corn and areas of compaction or nitrogen shortage, all of those can amount to many more acres and much more yield loss than the drowned out will effect. When you look across a field and you see areas where the corn looks a bit yellow and is short, that could be from any of those problems. They will cause a shortage of mature corn at harvest and a reduced yield.
So I’m giving thanks for the places where the corn looks great, but I’m a bit worried for the areas where it does not.
This has been a wild spring! First we had lots of snow that didn’t go away, then we had rain that would not quit.
Normally we want to start planting corn about April 23, but it was still cold and wet then. I did finally get started planting on the 7th of May, but I only got 1 acre planted that day. It wasn’t until the 18th of May that I finally got finished planting corn, a full 8 days later than our usual end of planting date.
I got right at it and started planting soybeans on the 20th of May, but then the skies opened up. The field I started to plant got over 4 inch of rainfall that night, and since it is near a creek, all of our neighbors water ran across that field. It was not until the 5th of June before I could get back into that field.
Several times I tried to get soybean planting going again, but it was not until June first that I finally got another field planted. The first week of June stayed mostly dry and I got all of the soybeans planted, about two weeks later than I wanted, but planted.
Between June 6 and June 11 we got 1.3 inches of rain, then 4 days in a row of no rain. I started to get ready to kill some weeds. Then the skies opened. Between June 16 and June 21 we got 6.8 inches of rain, and we had flooded fields.
It is now June 26, 
we still have water everywhere. This is north of my dad’s buildings where about 3 feet of water is not going away. We’ll lose crop here. 
There’s a low spot in this bean field southeast of my house,
and two ponds in view along my dad’s west fence line. 
This spot was so wet last fall we could not get it harvested, it still has water in it today. I’m actually amazed that the soybeans look good here since this field got two showers of over 4 inches.
My farm has gotten 9.6 inches of rain so far this month and more is forecast in a day or two. This is definitely a spring for the record books.
Filed under: agriculture, cold, Corn, Farm, farm life, Minnesota, planting, Trees, weather, winter
April 15 was the first day crop insurance covered newly planted corn here in Southwestern Minnesota. Has anyone here started planting corn yet? Not this year! This year we had just received 7 inches of snow on April 14. 
In years past some of my neighbors would have planted some of their corn before April 15, not this year!
April 22 is the first day that the University of Minnesota recommends planting corn here in Southwestern Minnesota. Will we be planting corn on Monday? Not this year!
This year we still have snow in the fields.
This year a field like this where the snow is mostly melted is hard to find in my neighborhood.
This year a field tree line has a lot of snow on the down wind side where snow piled up when the north winds blew the snow around.
This year groves of trees have 4 feet or more of snow piled up in them which will melt into the fields for a long time yet.
So when do I hope to start planting corn? Who knows. It will not be this month. My hope is to start planting by the normal last day of planting on May 10. If I have to wait to plant corn after May 20 we’ll have to change the varieties of corn I plant. This year may yet go down in the books as the latest I have planted corn, but I do not know the answer to when I will start planting yet, all I can say is not yet.
Filed under: agriculture, Animal care, Corn, Farm, food, Minnesota, Soybeans | Tags: Corn and Soybean growers, Minnesota, Shrimp, Tru-Shrimp
On Monday, I attended our local Corn and Soybean growers meeting. The guest speaker was from a company called Tru-Shrimp. The goal of Tru-Shrimp is to help the U.S. grow more of the shrimp currently eaten here. Currently 80% of the shrimp eaten in the U.S. is grown overseas in lagoons and bays near the ocean. Because of a variety of problems, these shrimp production areas can have a mortality rate of over 60%, a number that no U.S. farmer would allow in their flocks and herds.
Tru_Shrimp has developed an indoor pond system for shrimp production in Balaton, MN. Thats about as far away from salt water as you can get in the lower 48. This pond system is set to be put into full scale production in an indoor ocean near Luverne, MN in about a year. The plan is to eventually have 12 of these large scale shrimp production sites in the area.
Now why would the corn and soybean growers be interested in shrimp production? The food source for the shrimp will be locally sourced corn and soybeans. In ocean side shrimp farms the shrimp are fed fish meal. Taking fish and fish by-products for shrimp production may be part of the reason for the 60% mortality rate. Using corn and soybeans in a totally enclosed system where water is filtered and reused has gotten the mortality rate to nearer 10%, a truly ground breaking shift.
So keep your eyes open for Tru-Shrimp. Once those Minnesota shrimp farms are up and running you’ll be able to buy and eat some really fresh shrimp, all brought to you by folks here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, and your Minnesota Corn and Soybean Growers.
It seems that every storm since Christmas has had us in it’s bull’s eye. Many areas to our north have been mostly snowless, but we have been buried in snow. Now comes March and we really get dumped on.
I know we got at least 10 inches of snow to go along with the stuff that had not melted from the past storms.
There was not a lot of blowing, but what there was left some interesting drifts to walk around to get to my snow removal equipment. The snow was heavy and wet, so a blower had a hard time moving it, and some times the snow would not flow into the blower. I ended up pushing some piles up behind my tractor blower.
I decided to move the minimal amount of snow I had to. I’m hoping that warm temperatures and rain will move it out, but it is still going to take a long time to melt this snow. As long as we have snow, the temperatures will not warm up, so melting will be slow.
With planting only a month away and Easter later this week, signs of spring are welcome. It’s just that I know we have a lot of melting to do to get to spring.
Filed under: Ag education, agriculture, american farm bureau federation, Farm, Farm Bureau, farm life | Tags: AFBF, american farm bureau federation, Nashville
This past week I was able to attend the American Farm Bureau Federation’s (AFBF) 99th Annual Convention & IDEAg Trade Show. Part of the reason I go is to participate in educational workshops that help me to expand leadership skills and impact policy discussions. There is the opportunity to celebrate the accomplishments of leaders in agriculture and witness keynote speakers in the general sessions. I get to explore the IDEAg Trade Show floor to gain a stronger industry network, learn about innovative technologies, and enjoy TED-style talks on the Cultivation Center stage.
An annual meeting gives you the opportunity to interact with others in agriculture and share your stories of the rural life. There were plenty of opportunities to tour the Nashville area and experience things only available in Music City. I also met up with a few friends from across the country that I only see at a major event like this.
Since the Convention was held in Nashville we were lucky to get Reba McEntire as our Monday keynote speaker, but we also heard from Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue and American Farm Bureau President Zippy Duval plus others.
Sessions I was able to go to included ones on Membership Recruitment, Talking to Consumers, Animal Activism and Religion, Crop Markets, Crop Insurance, Farm Policy, Retirement, and Dicamba.
The last official event of the General Session was an address by President Trump. It has been 25 years since a president has addressed the AFBF, they are always invited, but few take the time. Policy development sessions were scheduled for Tuesday, but not being a delegate we did no stay for that.
Next years 100th AFBF meeting is in New Orleans, a place I have yet to visit. I’m seriously considering making the trip.
Filed under: Farm, Farm Bureau, Politicians, Politics | Tags: 2018 AFBF Annual Convention, Nashville, President Trump
I’m just back from a trip to the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) meeting in Tennessee. I like to go every once in a while, especially when it is a city that I have family near. In this case my sister lives just south of the city.
The main sessions run from Sunday morning until Monday afternoon. There are tours and contests that run before and during, a trade show and on Tuesday a delegates session.
This years registration included an orange arm band for use on Monday. That was the only way you could get in to the room for the closing session. The extra layer was because for the first time in 25 years, a sitting President was going to speak to attendees.
Before we left there was a news release that President Trump would be speaking to the assembly. Until later Sunday no one was told exactly when. Then those with the meeting app were sent a change of schedule for the days meetings, including a security page.
Many meeting times were moved up, or moved to different locations, the trade show closed early and security check points were set up. The ball room was to open at 10:00 for the noon closing session, and the line started forming about 8:00. By the time we got in line at 9:00 the line went almost all the way across the Opryland hotel complex.
The security was not ready until 10:30 and the line movement didn’t reach us until 30 minutes later. The first speaker, Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Purdue, started on time. Once you cleared security you were ushered to your seat, you went where they told you, no exceptions. Your group had better clear security together, or you had to sit apart. We got in at 12:15 and were pleased to get in the door. We were about 3/4 of the way back and off to the side so the cameras were not in our way. The auditorium seats about 5000 people, what with about 500 news people, special guests and a congressional delegation, we were quite a crowd. Extra rooms were ready for a remote feed, but a saw a few empty seats in the back.
Security included toilets and a lunch cart. Your only choice was hot dogs, and a few different varieties of drinks. There were no where near the facilities needed for the group. If you left the secure area you could not be sure you would be let in again. After the closing session and an interview of Reba McEntire, there was a scheduled 45 minute intermission, which went a bit longer, no one rushes the President.
The speech was not overly long. He did spend much of it praising the farmers there for their hard work. He also reminded the delegation that throughout our countries history, farmers have answered the call to build and defend our country. The President knew the areas of the country that turned out to elect him were mostly rural. He told us that our forgotten area of the country was not forgotten anymore.
Overall, my opinion of Trump did not change. He seemed to be on message more than usual, perhaps because he thought he was with a friendly audience. He got 6 standing ovations, but not all of his usual topics were universally well received. He did seem to forget where he was later in his speech when he spoke only to the Tennessee delegation, not the whole Federation.
At the end of his speech Trump signed two Executive Orders to promote the increase of the availability of Broadband Internet access in rural areas. These orders were the product of the Rural Prosperity Task Force which was to deliver it’s findings that day. The report is available at usda.gov/RuralProsperity
It was interesting to be in the room with a sitting president, to go through the security measures and hype of a presidential speech. Secretary of Ag. Purdue and AFBF President Duval seem to think he is doing good things for agriculture, we shall see how this all plays out. I can say I was in the room, and in politics it is better to be sitting at the table in the room, than on the menu.
Filed under: church, Minnesota, Ondini circuit, Shetek Conference, South Africa, travel
So I’ve shared all of my trips to South Africa’s Ondini Circuit with you. If you are not a long time reader, you can find the first two trips in February of 2011, and August of 2014. These exchange trips have been going on between the Shetek Conference and the Ondini Circuit since 2008, but what’s next, how do we move along further in this relationship.
Change has seemed to be almost glacial in the Ondini. There are many societal reasons for this, and change takes time. In some of my conversations with the younger Lutherans in Ondini I know that they are chaffing at how bad things are and wanting more for their people, but change is also frightening. We here in Minnesota see something that needs to be done, and do it, in the Ondini, that does not happen.
We have spent years now developing a relationship. It is expected that we will show up every few years to renew that relationship. Now it is time to step our game up to another level. We need to spend more time with each other so we can really have a chance to change things. Two things are being worked on to make longer relationship building happen.
First we are researching ways to get younger residents of the Ondini Circuit who have potential to spend time in Minnesota. There is a program that brings Africans to the U.S. to work at bible camps. We are researching how these young people are sourced and placed. If we can get that information to our friends in the Ondini Circuit, it is hoped that they will come up with candidates to work at our own Shetek Bible Camp. This will develop a core of young people trained in Christian education to work in their home area. We also plan to help those young people find their way around the Shetek Conference and support them however we can. That support could also include gardening and health tips to take home with them.
Second we are hoping to place an advisor from the U.S. in the Ondini Circuit to help them expand and improve the projects through out the circuit. This advisor would have to have an understanding of management, gardening, livestock production and building projects. They would have to commit themselves to staying on site for at least three months. Ideally this would be a retired individual or couple with a lifetime of experience to pass on.
Our partners in the Ondini understand their problems. Pastors and teachers are doing their best to bring the needed change, but they have other jobs to do and personal lives to live. We need to empower some of the younger people to carry on the changes they envision. Whatever we can do to keep the best and brightest minds in the rural areas, we must do. Only when young people see hope where they grew up will the people of the Ondini stay and create the jobs needed to benefit all of Africa.
Filed under: church, Kwazamohkuhle, Ondini circuit, rain, Shetek Conference, South Africa
On Wednesday, August 2, 2017, ten members of churches in the Shetek Conference of the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) left for the Ondini Circuit in the Kwa-Zulu Natal of South Africa. The time for our return home came all too quickly. 14 busy days were spent with the fellow Lutherans of the Ondini Circuit. When you are in the midst of it all, it seems as if the day will never come, and then we are saying goodbye.
We held our partnership meeting where we discussed what has been done, and what needs to be done, but got into very little of how to do the things that need to be done.
We took our picture with our partners. That picture is a remembrance and a reminder that these friends of ours are still there working for the betterment of their area every day.
We exchanged gifts. Ours included an original oil painting by a talented former member of my home congregation. There were also a pile of the grey “Walking Together With Christ” partnership tees, over 700 partnership pens and a multitude of other items that are needed day-to-day in a depressed area.
Our partners gave us a large platter like those used in so many ways in Africa.
Dale got a Ondini Circuit jacket like so many we had seen on our travels.
We all got polo shirts. The shirts have the Luther Rose on the left and the Diocese emblem on the right side.
The backs of the shirts tell of the themes for each of the past church years in what they have been celebrating as the Luther Decade, all leading up to the 500th Anniversary of Martin Luther’s birth. We all had been looking at the many ways their churches celebrate membership in the wider church and were proud to be able to wear these shirts.
But now the day of departure was upon us. We woke to a light rain, that changed to just moisture in the air. The comment was made that even the sky was weeping in goodbye.
We all went to chapel that morning. We sang for the workers at the Centre and they sang for us. As usual they sang us out the door. We emerged to a rainbow in the western sky, and that brought lots of tears. We were saying good-bye to Africa.
Will I return again? Who knows, that is for the future to decide. I do know that I left a bit of my heart with the wonderful people I was lucky enough to meet in the Ondini Circuit, and that will never leave.
Filed under: church, happiness, Music, Ondini circuit, Shetek Conference, South Africa | Tags: ELCSA, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa, Hymn singing
Sunday services in the Ondini Circuit were always a dress up affair.
Women, youth and men all had their uniform, different some times congregation to congregation, and they all wore it proudly.
Sunday, or even a week day service meant the preachers dressed up.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa (ELCSA) has been having a discussion on how pastors should dress and perform services. They have come to the conclusion that they need to have more ceremony and more elaborate dress in the ELCSA, not less as seems to be the pattern in the U.S. Sunday services are done with all the pomp and ceremony the congregation can muster. If they can get 10 acolytes helping with the service, they will all have something to do, complete with ritualized actions, incense and bells.
While we were there they held an induction service for Reverend Ncanana. Every pastor in the circuit was there, plus the Doicese bishop and representatives from other Circuits, Diocese and the visitors from the U.S. and Germany that were staying at the Centre.
An Induction is not an ordination, or an installation service as we know it in the Lutheran Churches of southwestern Minnesota. The pastor is assigned a church, then after a few weeks, if they decide to stay, they are inducted.
Pastor Sarah had asked the day before how long the induction would last. She was told “The whole blessed day.” And it did. There was over 3 hours of service and ceremony, a sermon to tell Reverend Ncanana how to behave as a new pastor, communion and a sermon by the newly inducted reverend. About noon, apples and bananas were passed out and then they kept on going well into the afternoon. All of this was done in a way that would have fit in well with a service in the Vatican.
In the afternoon portion of the induction there were many gifts to be given. I even saw them trying to stuff an appliance of some kind into the reverends small car. After all, what is a party without gifts.
Singing fills every spare minute of a church service. Before the service starts members of the congregation would be singing hymns chosen by some self appointed song leader. The pastor would call out a hymn number and some lady would start singing before you could even reach for your hymn book. They seem to have the whole hymnal memorized. There is also dancing. Processional offerings were an excuse to dance. Hymns quite often had motions to them that everyone knew. Even in a church so crowded that you could hardly move, they danced.
Offerings would include at least two plates if not three or more. There were offerings for the wider church, the congregation, the pastor, the youth league, the children’s fund, they sang and danced and added their offering to the pile. They are a great people for celebrations.
There is great joy in the celebration of a Sunday service in the ELCSA. A joy in the gospel that I do not see here in the states. We could use a bit of that joy here.
Minnesota Farmer 