As the saying goes....

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.....

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

.....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

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

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

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

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.