Burn Ban

[Janet]

Same here....if the crops are not good, everything else will go up in price. Spoke with a farmer friend today and told him that I saw on the news that if we didn't get 4-6 inches of rain within the next two weeks and not all at once, that it won't help at all. He said he didn't think it would help anyway....it really too late. He's very worried.

[DIANE W]

Well here in England we are having a big problem with rain, some areas are having floods really bad, it is heavy rain, high rivers, and the drainage cant cope.

I have watched on the news how some people are being flooded out of their homes, its just awful, thankfully both at our home and our holiday home we are not at risk of the floods.

I will send you all some of our rain to help you with your crops, its a very worrying time for you, i am sure.

[DianaB]

Oh Diane.....if we could only share rain!!! We've had times that we've had so much.....and like you, wished that we could have sent it on to other places!!

Farming is such an up and down way to live. Every year it's such a worry and it seems like you never get the outcome.....or the price that you'd like. We never have paid vacations or holidays. My husband works long days......6 days a week. There are NO weekends. It's fustrating but it has been a great way to raise kids!! That's been the best part. There are times where I really, really wish that Glen had an 8 to 5 job with evenings and weekends off!! But God is good to us and we're blessed......it always seems to work out.

[DIANE W]

Diana.... i can only imagine how tough it is for you and other farming people at times, i think there are positives to both lifestyles.

It must be lovely to have the freedom not to be tied to a regular job, you know what i mean, like you have to answer to someone all the time. Glenn is his own boss so to speak, but with that comes the big responsibility of not having a regular wage, and the worry of farming life.

But like you say ....... thankfully it always seems to work out, despite the tough times, and that is a good thing.

[DianaB]

It is a hard job......because you are your own boss. That means you don't just take off on vacation or do a lot of things that most people get to do. And trust me......there is ALWAYS equipment that needs to be worked on!!

[Janet]

I honestly don't think I could handle the stress of being a farm family. It would be a bit different if I'd grown up around it all my life and was use to it. It's bad enough living from week to week or so now and I don't have to worry about weather. I'm grateful to all the farmers and their families though that put in all that hard work so we all can eat.

[DianaB]

Farm life is different and with my Mom and Dad having regular jobs and an income every week it was hard to be a farmer's wife. I've learned to leave it all in Glen's hands. If anything ever happens to Glen I'm going to be in a pickle!! I guess that my son, Feyn, would have to help me figure everything out. It doesn't help that Glen's grain is mixed with Feyn's and Mark's........However he does keep a record of things on the computer.

Our money come in in large sums.......you may have a lot of money one day and it's gone the next so you never get too excited about having money!!! The bills are huge. I go and get parts for the equipment and I may carry out several hundred dollars in a little sack!!

It's the way of life that Glen grew up with so he's used to it. I hate the amount of money that we have borrowed......it's a lot!! But you have to borrow money to buy ground......and you have to have ground to farm.......then you have to have equipment to farm......and living expenses!!!!

[judy]

I hope you all get rain really soon! It is so hard to have to rely on the weather to make a living!

[DianaB]

It is. The weather is always a concern......too much rain.....not enough rain......too cool of temperatures......too hot of temperatures!!! Always something!! However.....it's been good to us and our kids were raised with Mom and Dad both around a lot. The kids used to go with Dad in the tractors and combines.....and played at the shop with him around. I can't complain too much. Farming doesn't work for everyone.......and we've had friends that have gone on to do other things. God has been good to us!!!

We did get some rain last night. A half inch on some of our fields.....a little more here at the house. Hopefully it's a break in the weather and we'll get a little more.

[Janet]

That's great that you did get some rain. We got a little, but not much. Suppose to stay in the 90's with no rain in the forecast. It's so sad.

[Janet]

Even though we got some rain, we are still under a burn ban until August 6th. They'll re-evaluate things then.

[judy]

We are under a burn ban until mid October. Last year, we had the floods that wiped out so much of this area.

I do see some beautiful corn crops though. They must have some kind of watering system in place. I read that the preice of corn and soy beans are going to be very high!

My area is mostly dairy farms, but corn is also very important. There are not that many farm stands around as usually. It's a bad year for farmers!

[DianaB]

They probably have irrigation in the fields. Different areas have different ways of irrigating.

Yes, the prices are higher than we've ever seen them.....as far as soybeans go. Feyn got $18.02 a bushel for beans last week!! Usually they are below ten dollars so this tells you how high they are. Glen sold some for $16 a couple of weeks ago and that was the most that he had ever sold beans for and the price is still going us. Glen thinks that the government will step in soon and put a stop to it. You're probably going to see some things going up at the grocery store because of it.

Corn is up too but not to the extent that soybeans are. Soybeans are used in a lot of things if you check your labels.

[Janet]

It's suppose to be 105 today...and it's humid. Not so good to be out and about but I did go to town and had lunch with a friend.

[2tiredmom]

They have lifted our burn ban. Except no campfires or fireworks still. would love to have a campfire but will have to wait and see what happens. suppose to get more rain today i am praying.