FOODS RESOURCE BANK
BLOG #3 March 21, 2010
Hello we had some snow yesterday and it’s a little chilly outside. Looks like it will not be an early spring so let’s hope it is a normal one. I had some ponds in my fields but the last several days the ground has thawed to allow the low spots in the field to let water soak down to the tiles (underground pipes that channel excess water into creeks). The gravel roads have not benefited as well with the thaw and ruts 6-8” deep can be found on many local roads, our local road district cannot afford to have all roads blacktopped as are found in the more urban areas so we will get by with the inconvenience of soft roadways for several weeks each spring but this year is worse than normal.
There was a consignment auction put on by the Leland Lions Club Saturday. I was able to sell my corn head (an attachment that removes the ear of corn from the plant when harvesting as it goes into the Combine) that I had purchased used in 1996. I will upgrade to a newer corn head built in 1998 this make me glad that John Deere equipment is able to be rebuilt and I will be doing that to the one I buy this summer. The newer one is made of plastic parts that allow corn to slide into the machinery easier among other improvements. My wife does the combining on our farm and I’m sure she will appreciate not getting out unplugging things. The interesting thing about these consignment sales is that there is a farmer just as glad to buy my used equipment because it is an upgrade for him and the local Lions Club raises money for great work also.
The challenges of last year keep on growing, because of the lack of maturity of the corn when it was harvested many cases of corn in storage beginning to spoil have been reported. This becomes an economic loss for the farmer and worse it becomes a hazard when unloading. There was a worker that died from being trapped in a corn storage facility so let’s continue to pray for the safety of everyone. Dean
For more info see http://www.foodsresourcebank.org/