Brownfield’s Indiana Farm Director Meghan Grebner is out covering a story today and sent this message a few minutes ago:
I was at Dull’s Tree Farm in Thorntown, IN to see several volunteers help load Christmas trees for FedEx to ship to Bahrain, Rota Spain and Great Lakes as part of the Trees for Troops program. In one corner of the barn there are the trees to be loaded. Across the way – Bill the llama, some sheep. . .
. . . and an ATM.
I guess Dull’s is always prepared, too!
I’m not exactly afraid of spiders, but I am not a big fan, either. I know to watch for Brown Recluse, or “Fiddleback” spiders in the attic of our big old farmhouse and for Black Widow spiders lurking in webs in the corner of the barn or in the woods. A bite from one of these venomous spiders can be painful and require medical attention.
I know that those enormous Wolf spiders I see climbing over hay bales in the barn are doing good work elimating some of the insect pests around. The ones that jump, I have to admit, freak me out a little bit. The “Grandaddy long legs” looks like a spider, but isn’t really a spider at all, and there is absolutely nothing about “him” that causes me to shudder like I do when I find a spider of some ilk trapped in the bathtub.
My favorite spider is the the gigantic black and yellow garden spider. There are several on the farm right now that I see every day. One has woven its web across the door frame in the feed room of the barn. One has a beautifully crafted web reaching from an orange mum plant to an antique rose bush in my front flower bed. Another set up housekeeping on my front porch.
Brownfield Affiliate Relations Manager Mike Cady was welcomed to the day by this one, whose web reaches across the Cady’s front door.
I remember taking these big spiders to school in mason jars and placing them in a dry aquarium so the entire classroom could enjoy their delicate beauty.
I spotted several combines in corn fields in Pike County, Illinois today. It was a beautiful late August day with temperatures peaking in the low to mid-80′s.
Brownfield Ag News radio network does not cover Texas, but we know that farmers in the Midwest like to know what is going on with other crops in other parts of the country (and world.) Meghan Grebner is “Facebook friends” with Texas Farm Bureau and was intrigued by some pictures posted on the social network showing what appears to be a darned good cotton crop.
The good folks at Texas Farm Bureau put Meghan in contact with farmer James Faske, whom she interviewed.
Faske told Meghan that so far this year, the state of Texas has only had 6.53 inches of rain. That sets the record for least year-to-date precipitation to this point. While the majority of the state has suffered detrimental losses in the agriculture industry, Faske, a Bishop, Texas farmer and his family are counting their blessings.
Faske farms with his father south of Corpus Christi, Texas and because of the subsoil moisture and their only rainfall that totaled around an inch in May, they were able to have a decent sorghum and cotton harvest.
Faske told Meghan that along with the rest of the state of Texas, they are in dire need of rainfall and without tropical storm-like rainfall totals, preparing for next year’s cotton crop will be really bad. He says they plan to begin planting cotton at the end of March, beginning of April.
Matt at Texas Farm Bureau also sent along these photos of the harvest and a picture of James Faske at work.
I had the opportunity to travel around Central Indiana this week. Last night ( Wednesday evening), I joined the REAP tour in Middletown at Howell Farms. I ended up being really early and had the chance to visit with Mr. Howell about his farm, their operation and his take on agriculture in general. I have always loved visiting with farmers – the stories, their view on how technologies have changed and how things used to be.
It was a perfect summer evening – we sat in the rockers on the front porch of their beautiful home and there was a nice breeze.
Howell Farms hosted dinner for the REAP group and it was a great opportunity for fellowship and talking about farming in different area.
This morning I headed up to our affiliate, WHBU in Anderson to visit with Doug Zook from 8am until 9am. It’s nice to have the opportunity to visit with the stations that carrying Brownfield programming. Doug’s studio is in the Mounds Mall and he has the opportunity to see and visit with listeners every morning. I am excited that Doug’s invited me back for another visit and can’t wait to return.
I am gearing up for my first Indiana State Fair… which kicks off tomorrow with my first Ham Breakfast!
-Meghan
I found some amazing aerial photos of the Missouri River flooding on the Lee Valley web site. They have been updating them regularly since the first of June. Lee Valley is a farm equipment auction company based in Tekamah, Nebraska.
-Ken Anderson
This rogue swarm of honey bees found temporary lodging on a limb in a sycamore tree along the lane on my farm for several days before moving to a sugar maple tree in my front yard. When I left this morning, they were gone.
Hopefully they found a hive-home.
The Farmgirl Follies blog features a really great post with several pictures and a ton of information about how a beekeeper rescued a rogue swarm of honeybees on a farm in Ohio.
The Brownfield team took a little road trip over the week-end to visit Warm Springs Ranch, a state-of-the-art breeding farm for the world-famous Budweiser Clydesdales. The ranch is located in the rolling hills of Cooper County, Missouri, near Boonville. We had a wonderful time! Budweiser Clydesdale Duke was patient enough to pose for a picture with us.
Overheard at church Sunday morning:
“It is probably just as well that it rained. I had to put a new water pump in the (model#) tractor. You used to be able to get a kit for $35. It cost me $475 yesterday. . .I just had the air conditioning fixed in that tractor last week. That cost me $1750. $7 corn isn’t looking quite so great right now.”