Northern Farmer

As another Sunday is coming to an end around here I’m rested up from all the world can throw at a guy. Went to church this morning to the early service. I always wonder how the farmers can all get done with their work and make it to early service in such numbers and the town people are yawning and streching yet when they come to late service at 10:30. Another of life’s little mysteries that I’ll never figure out.

The day was in the mid 90s for temps today and it’s getting drier by the day. I noticed late this afternoon some corn on some sand pockets starting to twist. Some of the pastures are starting to burn up but all in all things are hanging in there. I get worried even when I know I shouldn’t about drought. In 87, 88, and 89 we had a three year drought with 88 being the big one, equal to the dirty thirties according to the old timers. Also 87 was when I started farming full time, the three year drought was an incredible experience looking back. What a way to cut my teeth in full time farming. The first year was dry but there was left over sub soil moister from the year before so we got half a crop, by 88 there was no moister left, an open winter with no snow, just cold. By mid April it was in the upper 90’s daily with wind. No pastures, no hay, nothing.There was no crops at all. We had a couple of week over a 100 degrees and never any rain.The only small rains that year came in early fall.The farm had alot of hogs then and I remember the main job was to hose them all down continuously or they’d start dying, even with that we lost quite a few.Drought is a creeping thing in the mind, it’s everyday, every night. Always looking at the sky, watching a promising thunderhead fizzle out before it gets here. Listening to the weather on the radio for any sign of rain, listening to the radio saying what a beatiful day to get out and enjoy the outdoors. And my favorite, when the weather announcer says there’s no “threat” of rain to ruin your outdoor activities.
At this point even if it’s dry from here on out I can be very thankful for the bounty we received already this year. It would be tight but I’ve seen much, much worse.Faith in God and living a homesteader lifestyle can help anyone ride out the storm. Back then if I was living the “modern” way everything would have been lost.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 10th, 2005 at 9:25 pm and is filed under Northern Farmer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.