Still very dry in western Ohio. Forecast rains never develop and nothing in the forecast to give any hope. Late planted soybeans are having a hard time getting started. Corn is starting to show stress, particularly no-till crops. Wheat harvest has finished almost 2 weeks early with most reporting good yields. Oats are already turning and will be coming off starting next week. Second cutting hay was very short, but good quality. Third and fourth cutting look doubtful unless we get some good rains. My soybeans and sweet corn is fairing alright. Can find moisture at 4 to 5 inches, so the roots are deep enough to tap the water. Been in mid 90's most of the past week, but only got to 85 today with strong north winds. Forecast to be back to high 90's by end of week.

I made a lot of birds happy today. I filled in the holes where I had taken out a cherry and plum tree. I soaked it good with the sprinkler on Sunday and seeded it this morning. I had the sprinkler running while I went in for dinner and when I went out after 1 1/2 hours, the birds had found the water. Were about 15 birds bathing in the water and from their carrying on, they were enjoying their bath. Had robins, chickadees, mockingbirds and sparrows. I moved the sprinkler a couple times and they followed it till they got enough and all left.

The airplane inspection Thursday went well. No problems were found. I finished reassembling it Friday evening and flew it on Saturday morning. Everything checked out alright. Fortunately in our part of Ohio we don't have motor vehicle inspections. Seems everyone gets along just fine without them.

Ralph, I hope you are getting some good growing and spraying weather. Hope the weeds are not getting too rank.

Gene

Your crops are way ahead of us Gene. I will attach a photo of my canola from yesterday which is pretty advanced compared to some. I think it is just about past the stage for a second spray of glyphosate and is not bad for weeds.
Just the flax left to spray in the next day or so when the temp and wind are right.
We had some intense weather yesterday with heat index of 41C which is about 104 F I think . Way too hot for me and it brought on some thunder and lightning storms, wild wind laid all the hay flat and spun up some tornados. Wind blew my rain guage away so not sure what I got.
Its cool  (60) with wind warnings this morning.[ATTACH=CONFIG]627[/ATTACH]

Canola hasn't been raised in our area in several years. In the late 70's several farmers grew it for a few years, but it just went away. Always liked flying over the fields when they were in bloom.

The hot dry weather has been taking a toll on th crops in Western, Ohio, especially the corn. Yesterday when I went to town, I passed field after field of corn with the leaves curled up tight. My soybeans still seem to be holding their own. Sprayed the second time on Tuesday.

Been trying everything to get some rain. I left the truck and car windows down all week, watered the sweet corn again this morning, and even left my hand saw out for 2 nights.

Finally got some rain today. About 1 inch in one of the strongest thunder storms I can remember. Winds probably 80 MPH and blew things around as I have never experienced before. Had some 1 inch by 16 foot boards laying on a hay wagon and even blew some 20 feet away and even blew 2 4x4x7 feet off the wagon. Blew my hat off and ended up about 200 feet away by the apple trees. Blew many of the green apples off the trees and the lawn is littered with tree limbs. I had just gotten back from the woods where I hauled the scrap lumber from the hay wagon I am building a new bed. Felt the air cooling and saw the black clouds to the west. Hurried and closed the truck and car windows and got the mail, just as the winds started and got in the house without getting rained on. Rain came in a horizontal sheets. The sweet corn is leaning about half way to the ground, but hope it comes out of that. Noticed today it is started to tassle. Temperature went from 97 degrees to 68 degrees after the rain had stopped in about half an hour. Power was off from 4:00 to 9:00. Brought the little generator to the house and kept the refrigerator running till power was restored.

Yesterday we had a high temperature of 107 degrees, first time since 1988 we have been over 100 degrees. The humidity was low, so I was able to work outside most of the day. Today's high of 97 was very humid and was much worse working outdoors.

I filled the dog's bath tub with water for the birds. They sure appreciated it. Haven't seen so many around here before, so I guess they spread the news.

Gene

Canola hasn't been raised in our area in several years. In the late 70's several farmers grew it for a few years, but it just went away. Always liked flying over the fields when they were in bloom.

Gene, I think Sask. is going to be mostly yellow soon. There is a lot of canola planted here and mine is just showing the first blossoms today. That wind warning on Wednesday was serious. Recorded winds were wiithin a few points of hurricane force (118 Km per hour) and did a lot of damage some places. Power lines down, buildings roofs lifted off, steel bins tipped, etc. Lucky I had none here.
Guess I will make it rain tonight. I hitched the old 40 to the haybine and cut a little hay.

Hey Guys, I am still here and reading.  I have not been saying much as I have nothing noteworthy to chime in with.  Had to do a hundred plus mile drive yesterday so did a lot of crop looking.  As I stated prior, many, many acres of corn.  I suspect some will head to the processing plant to be distilled into corn liquor for the gas tanks.  All sizes from less than knee high to probably about four feet and lush green.  It really takes off after it is fertilized.  I saw that going on in my neighborhood last week.  Soy been fields look o.k. at this point, considering a late start.  Wheat fields have that bright yellow with a reddish hue and look like they will be going down any time now.  Some have already seen the combine.  I see more of a short variety of wheat now.  The whole stand will be only 12-15" tall and in head and color turned. I suspect it resists blow down very well and may be good when straw is not an important by product, as there sure is not much straw there.  The combine head will have to be nearly in the dirt to get the heads cut off.  The old tall variety can still be seen but is not as common.  some oats are still green while other fields are ripening.

With the several steady days or drying, hot 30-40 mph wind we have had, everything is getting quite dry.  I can't tell that crops are hurting now, but if we see no rain for another week and it stays hot the story may change.  Good harvest weather for the hay and wheat anyway.

Charlie

Charlie;

Good to hear from you. You always have something noteworthy to post. Really appreciate your updates for the crops in your area and also the nice personal stories you post, after all, this is the Pot Belly Stove forum. I have been raising a semi-dwarf variety of wheat. Not a lot of straw, decent yields and no lodging problem. Matures early too.

Friday night storm here has us looking like a war zone. Trees down everywhere and a local dairy farm lost one of his cattle barns and several head of cattle. Had straight line winds of 80 MPH and gusts to 118 MPH. Ralph will have to convert that to KPH. My figuring comes to 128 KPH to 188 Kph. Higher winds than I have ever heard for Ohio. At least my rain gauge didn't blow away.

Took a golf cart ride through my woods to my neighbor's woods behind me. Couldn't get very far with the trees blown across the trails. Very large, mature trees broken off from 15 to 20 feet above ground. Trees are hickory, oak and wild cherry. I have 1, 15 inch hickory that splintered about 20 feet high and blew into other trees at about a 30 degree angle, a real widow maker. Neighbor has many oak and cherry trees that have been completely broken over at about the same height. These will be very dangerous to take down. I get most of my firewood from this woods. Guess I will just cut what I can from the tops and let the rest go if I can't pull them down with the dozer.

Spent all morning picking up limbs from the lawn around the house. Got a full load on my 3/4 yard dump trailer and hauled to the woods. Quit about noon as the heat and humidity got too oppressive. 95 drgrees and saturated humidity. Still have the limbs at the east end of the lawn to finish. Some will require chainsaw work.

My neighbor with the woods behind me lost electric Friday and didn't get it back till after noon today (Sunday). Offered to take him back through the woods, but he is not ready to face that yet. My sweetcorn that blew over seems to be recovering nicely. It is almost standing upright now.

Had another wind storm this evening. More limbs down where I picked up this morning. Only a sprinkle of rain as the severe storm went west and south of us. Was hoping for more rain. Cooled off nice this evening to 70 degrees. Be a good night for sleeping.

Gene

Gene you are sure getting hit with some bad weather. All that wind damage and not enough rain to help, then the heat. I've been hearing how bad it is hitting the crops down that way and people with no electricity dealing with the extreme heat. We hit 85 here yesterday which is plenty hot enough for me. Then it built up into a thunderstorm in the evening. I was at a neighbour's place watching the buildup in the Western sky and took this picture before the rain hit. Big lightning strikes and rain the rest of the evening.

Gene, sorry to hear that storm took such a toll up there.  I know it hit hard over in Steve Sewell's neck of the woods as well.  Here in Dayton, Ohio, I was fortunate to miss any serious damage from the storm--just a few branches down here and there in my yard--although many others nearby weren't so lucky.  Lots of traffic delays due to power lines fallen across roads or knocking out traffic lights.  Back to dry and hot now.

Dean Vinson

Oops!  I did not realize this morning that I had jumped threads and was replying to posts on two threads at the same time.  To keep life in balance, I will duplicate the post here.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________-

Gene,

Those are kind words in your last post, and I appreciate them. The condition of your woods sounds similar to what ours was following the devastating ice storm in 1992. In addition to many whole trees down, a lot more were just broken off at 20 to 25 feet up where the limbing on the trunk started. Most were white ash and trees with missing upper portions are probably still visible now. Quite a sock to see.

Great photo of your Dad's place, Dean. It sure is pretty and colorful.

I was out and about in the late afternoon last weekend and spotted a large field laid with neat windrows of golden wheat straw with a baler busily putting out the old fashioned square bales and dropping them on the ground. I am glad I do not have to pick them up. I did enough of that when I was young and able. Up on a slight hill further back was another field of wheat with the combine making more windrows to bale.

On Saturday while taking a glance on my checking account I noticed a problem. It seems that a check that had been sent to my insurance agent from the banks electronic bill pay had cleared, but also an electronic debit from the insurance COMPANY for the same $$$ amout showed up. Well now! How does that happen? I called the agent and got no explanation and the bank was closed. Yesterday I got mobile and drove to Mendon to talk it over with the bank. Not us they said. We did not pay this. It was an electronic funds transfer done by the insurance company so someone supplied them with your banking information. Not me, I said. It would have to be the agent. Off to Bloomfield I went to have a little heart to heart and face to face with the Agency. They did a little checking and found their mess up which allowed this to happen. While at the bank I signed a form to allow the bank to vacuum the extra amount right back into my account. I guess all is well that ends well, but what a pain. What this ramble is leading up to is that while driving down RT. 64 on yesterdays beautiful, sunny morning I passed yet another field of golden wheat just starting to fall to a combing. About two rounds had been cut, the rest standing proudly. What a great picture, but due to my original mission I did not bring a camera.

Charlie V.

Thank you, Charlie--that little farm remains one of my all-time favorite spots.

Glad you got the funds transfer situation straightened out.  Not much riles me up, but that would qualify.  I hope the agency was suitably humble.

And I know what you mean about the great photo of the partially-cut wheat field.  If I had some land (still hoping to make that a reality in just a couple of years now) I'd be powerfully tempted to plant some grain crops just because they look so doggone good.

This morning I spent an hour and a half cleaning up dead-fall branches and twigs from my yard, the remnants of last week's storm, and being thankful that's all I had to contend with.  Hot and humid already out there.

Happy Fourth of July, folks!

Dean Vinson
Dayton, Ohio

Dean, that was a great yard picture you posted. SOmebody puts a lot of work in to make it look that good.
Charlie, this electronic world works pretty good most of the time but once in a while it can throw a monkey wrench into the works and you have to sort it out in person it seems.
More wild weather last night with 3 recorded tornado touchdowns in South Sask. Thankfully none of them near me. Got another inch and a quarter of rain though.
I spent an afternoon moving machinery on Monday. Seems every time I want to park something in the back of the shed I have to move about half a dozen other machines that all share one battery. One of the machinery items was my Uncle's old John Deere AR

"Glad you got the funds transfer situation straightened out. Not much riles me up, but that would qualify. I hope the agency was suitably humble."

The agent was humble, Dean and offered a cash refund of the over billing, or to pay any bank costs which I may have encountered.  My bank was already in the process of recovering the money and I had no service charges, so that was taken care of.  The agent asked what they could do for me.  I suggested that he make sure this situation never happened again.  I have a premium for another policy paying tomorrow, so that will be a good test.  

Still no rain here in WNY.  I have seen a few well drained lawns completely browned off.  Mine is still mostly green except along the edges of driveways where there is gravel underneath.  Growth has stalled out except in a few shaded areas.  We could use some rain soon.


I am just sitting here on the back deck enjoying the 72 degree evening.  The sun has about set.  I will go inside soon when the flesh eating skiters show up at dark time.  I still like the old John Deere AR, Ralph.  Someone locally is advertising a running '52 JD A for $ 1400.00. I have no need for it and cannot take proper care of the ones I have, but it is still a temptation.

Wishing everyone a good evening,

Charlie V.

Dean; Good to see your post on here. It is a very picturesque setting. I like the motto on the sign. It is such a true meaning.

Charlie, no 72 degree evenings here. Had a low of 84 this morning and now at 4:09pm it is 105 degrees. Have the air on in the motor home and Bandy is relaxing there now. I just came in the house after a short relaxing nap there. House is all closed up and still a susvivable 84 degrees in here. Still no rain here and very little chance in the forecast. I watered my sweetcorn for the 5th time this morning. It is still holding on pretty well. Ears just starting ti show silks. Soybeans are still looking decent and actually still growing. Most other local crops are burning up. Went to town this morning and saw several fields of corn starting to fire on the lower leaves, so not much hope for that.

I spent the last few days on my flying trip to Minnesota. Hot there too. Was 97 degrees when I landed at 5:00 pm Tuesday. Wednesday got to 101 degrees and Thursday only got to 97. Humidity was very high and the mosquitos were ferocious as soom as the sun started to set. Too hot to be sleeping in the tent and too many many flying critters to be outside. No one else had shown up for our camping outing, so I decided at noon on Friday that I had enough and packed up and headed home. The flying was decent with clear skies so was able to fly high enough to enjoy the cooler temps at altitude. Going out at 8500 feet the temp stayed in the sixties and coming home at 11,500 feet the temp stayed in the lower fifties. Lots of headwing going north westbound for a long 8.2 hour trip with 2 fuel stops. Coming home was better with 1 fuel stop and 6.2 hours flying time. I landed just before 7:00pm to 101 degrees. Really dreaded coming down.

Crop conditions in most of Minnesota looked pretty good. They have had timely rains and even with the high temps, the corn looks pretty good. Flying over eastern and northern Indiana, I saw way too much soil through the thin crop canopies. Looked more like mid may than early July. Lots of brown lawns and hay fields. Fireworks were cancelled for the entire area of western Ohio and northeast Indiana.

Gene

Gene, you are sure getting some intolerable heat there. I keep hearing how it is affecting the crops down south and no letup in sight. Amazing what a difference a few hundred miles can make. Daytime highs of 80 here and no shortage of rains (yet) means crops are doing great. I've started cutting and baling hay and its a good crop too. But as somebody said once, "in Saskatchewan we are only ever two weeks away from a drought". I still haven't forgotten 1988, the driest, hottest summer I ever experienced.
Surprisingly, we have very few mosquitos this year. Crawling with wood ticks though.
Took a drive through the always scenic Touchwood Hills on the way to Raymore for parts yesterday and here is a quick view out the window.

Not only is the ground dry, but the air is dry too. Have run my air conditioner in the motor home all afternoon and not a sign of condensation from the unit. Usually have it running off the front side. Was right at 100 degrees late this afternoon and I walked through the soybeans and pulled a lot of lambsquarters that had survived the glyphosate spray. Worked about 2 hours and was not all that uncomfortable. It is 9:00pm right now and still 90 degrees. Plan to sleep in the motor home tonight.

Forecast for tonight and tomorrow is 30% chance of isolated showers, then dry the rest of the week, but highs only in the 80's.

Gene