brrr....cold day on the farm

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

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

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

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

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

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....

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

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

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

"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?

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!

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

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!

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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.