My tail is draggin

[Mobuck]

Not meant as a "whining post" but I'm about beat and still a long way from "caught up" with tasks.
We got pounded with a wind and hail event 10 days back that caused an enormous amount of damage which included a total loss of our soybean crop. The insurance adjusters were here the 24th and released the acreage for re-plant. That meant we had to poke our seed supplier to come up with more seed at a time when all that's left is bits and pieces of returned product. We managed to get that arraigned by Friday, got the planter in the field, and found the AC on the planter tractor was not working right. More cobbling because no one is working on a holiday weekend.
Several 12-15 hour days and this old man is beat. BUT I still have days of storm damage to clean up and fences to repair. Plus, my part-time job is full time for the next 2 weeks. On top of that, we have hay that's ready to mow and an all day trip to pickup of a "new to us" grain table in central Iowa that seems to have suddenly become an issue for the seller(he initially said "Whenever is convenient").
I used to be able to deal with this hectic schedule when I was younger but with the record high temps we had last week, I'm simply not able to meet the goals anymore. A friend(I worked for his Dad and took care of their farm after the Dad died)offered me his teenage Son and I think I'm going to have to use him for some of the tree cleanup and fence damage repairs. My Grandsons just aren't strong enough to provide the uumph needed and Tom's workload is ramping up during the growing season. Everyone is telling me to slow down but it's not in my nature to back up from what needs done.

 

[gramps]

I don’t envy you Mobuck. One foot in front of the other and all that. Aging isn’t fun. It does give the younger generation an ability to work with the best, and learn the proper work ethics. Good luck my friend!
gramps

 

[coach]

And I thought I was busy. :shock:

 

[Mus408]

Wow that is a load of work to try and get caught up! Are your fields dry enough to plant?
Around here I think rice would be doing great with all the rain lately!

 

[Don Lovel]

I know it hurts financially to have to do a replant, there are always breakdowns and expenses the crop insurance does not cover. But I would think that plowing in all that green soybean plant material will really be good for your ground and improve crops and be more fertile for the next couple of years

 

[contender]

Fully understand here. We have had rain for over a week now,, and first, a mudslide just a few miles away killed a woman. Then, just yesterday,, a pair of journalists were killed by a falling tree while driving in the mudslide area. We made national news last night with their deaths.
Miss Penny got scared this morning going to work,, as she's never heard our local flood warning system go off. She called me & gave me the run-down on the local river.
Not good.
My gun range has a big mess,,, and I'll be waiting on cleared & drier weather to do my repairs. Lots more rain forecast for all week too.

Mother Nature is letting us know she's in charge here for sure!

 

[Ale-8(1)]

Most folks will never understand the amount of work involved in farming, even when everything goes "almost as-planned".

Throw a weather disaster into the mix and it's enough to break the weak of spirit (not to mention body).

You go, guy!

:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

 

[caryc]

^^^^
What he said.

Getting old is no fun but it's just one of those things you can't do later. Get the help you need. Don't run yourself into the ground.

 

[Mobuck]

"Wow that is a load of work to try and get caught up! Are your fields dry enough to plant?"
With the exception of a few sticky spots, all went fine. The hail beat the ground to the point of being a bit hard on top and our 8 row no-till planter handles that great. The A/C malfunction nearly doomed us until I figured out how to hot wire the compressor to the sprayer control switch so Tom could run the cooler manually.

"But I would think that plowing in all that green soybean plant material will really be good for your ground and improve crops and be more fertile for the next couple of years"
Truthfully, there was nothing left above ground in most places. Tom just ran on the old rows with the no-till planter. We're pretty conservative on our machinery but still capable of planting 10-12 acres per hour average so once the machine is moving, things happen fairly quickly. It used to take me all day to plant 40 acres and now we can do that before lunch.

I started today by spraying some "escapes" on our north farm which wasn't storm damaged and returned the leftover re-plant seed. Then came home showered, collected my work backpack, and spent 4 hours on the road. Looking at crops that didn't get damaged didn't make the job easier, but the folks I talked to were all sympathetic since they've been in the same spot before. I've known some of the local farming community for 55 years so we've basically seen all there is to see in the business and can empathize with most of it.

 

[daveg.inkc]

That same storm system broke 6 windows out of my Dads house. Plus he is getting a new roof. His neighbors lost barns and grain bins. North of him, 3 power poles were twisted off. All this after midnight.