Hi Gene.  Were you at Greenville this year?  I made it up there briefly today, but it was already mid-afternoon and the sawmill had been taken down and a lot of exhibitors were packing up.

We also enjoyed a stop at the old Pennsylvania Railroad interlocking tower at Bradford, about ten miles east of Greenville, on the way home.  A museum volunteer and former tower worker opened the place up for us and gave a little tour, which was fun.  Neat to imagine that tower back in its heyday, and the trains that would have run back then, and the tractors that would have worked the surrounding farm fields, and the folks that made it all tick.

Driving along the small highways between Greenville and Dayton, I sure saw a lot of short, spiky-looking, tasseling corn.

Dean Vinson
Dayton, Ohio

Dean;

No, I didn't go to Greenville. I went to Minnesota instead. Usually make it to both, but with the holiday falling on Wednesday, both events were at the sme time. I did come home Friday evening and could have made Greenville on Saturday, but decided it best to stay home with the high temp of 105 degrees. Decided it best I water the sweet corn.

With the high temps all week, I cannot imagine sitting on the LA running the sawmill. It must have been intolerable for the work crew. I will be there next year as this was my last trip to Minnesota for the campout which seems to be dieing out. Have been going there since 1980 and only missed a few years. Trip is also getting more expensive as I used nearly $700.00 in gas.

Glad you enjoyed the museum tour. Sounds very interesting. There is a grist mill museum east of Greenville called Bears Mill. Probably half mile south of U.S.36 on Bears Mill Road. They have nice tours there.

Have to concur on the short, tassling corn. Have a lot of that in western Ohio and eastern Indiana. Have heard of some cutting and baling it just to get something out of it and second and third cutting hay is very poor. Cows have to have something to eat. Good friend and dairy farmer near New Weston is buying all the hay he can find. He ran out last year and had to buy on late winter prices. He will have very little hay and not much silage. He had a good wheat crop and said he is investing all that in hay. If there is any crop close to him he will try to contract some corn silage. He is not a big farmer and only smaller acreage, so the weather hits him hard.

Gene

The country is turning yellow here as there are more fields of canola than usual. Bad news is that heat records fell yesterday and more are predicted today. That can cause the blossoms to drop off the canola plants and reduce yield. They are predicting heat index in the 40C range today which is over 100 degrees. Not looking forward to work today.

Hot and dry here in WNY.  A total of 0.17 inches has fallen since June 20th.  There were a couple of comfortable days early this week but the last three or four have been in the 90's F and peaked around 95 here.  80 degrees currently here on the back deck at 8:15 PM.  Lucky the outdoor cat has come back to life somewhat.  He has pretty much been in hibernation all day.  We have had three great weeks of harvest weather for grain crops but the green crops have to be getting thirsty.  I have had a break from mowing lawn.  Mine is about 50% mixed brown off now,  Many others that are better drained soil are a total brown out.

Sometime over the weekend a willow tree fell and landed partly on my Farmall 560, so on Monday evening while it was still cooler we cut the willow up enough to clear the tractor and move it out from there.  I liked that parking place as it is out of sight and mostly shaded.  Keeping the sun off the tires is a good thing.  I have some more of the willows to cut down before the tractor goes back in place.  The good news is that the tough old tractor carried the load and I do not even see a dent.  Some 4" limbs just missed the exhaust pipe.

I hope those with AC are staying cool and comfortable.  I know anyone without air is a little warm.

Charlie V.

Still no rain for this part of Ohio. Forecast for the past weekend was chance of rain each day, but this didn't develope. Had a few clouds go over and rumble but not a drop of rain from them. Temps still in the mid 90's and low of 70 at night.

My soybeans are still holding their own and even growing some. Must have deep roots to reach any moisture.  Been watering the sweetcorn so it is doing very well. Starting to develope some nice ears. Much of the local corn is drying up and starting to die off at the lower leaves. Very little green grass anywhere. Hav saved on the mowing costs. Has been a month since I had to do any general mowing.

Neighbor to my west tried to raise a patch of White Lupine. The 90 to 100 degree temps has pretty much killed all of it. Just won't tolerate the high temps here.

Gonna clean up the brush in the driveway while it is cool this morning.

Gene



Hard to believe the prices on corn and soybeans. Local price on corn is $7.92 and soybeans at $16.09. Hope I have something to harvest to take advantage of these prices.

Got the chainsaw out yesterday and cut down one of the big dead ash trees along the driveway. Only have 16 more to go, but most are smaller than this one. Went back to the woods and started cleaning up some of the storm damaged trees to open the paths that are blocked by trees. Got a lot of very big trees down and will take a lot of work to clear the paths. Should clarify that most of the trails are in my neighbor's woods behind my woods. Looks like I will have plenty firewood for the next couple of years.

Charlie , I guess you were lucky to have a tree fall on your Farmall and no damage done.
That drought is sure getting serious for you guys down south and it is pushing the price of grain up. I guess we are getting your rain up here. I've lost track but think we must have had 4 inches in the past couple of weeks. Long slow drizzleing rain going on all today, the kind that really soaks in and does some good. Poor haying weather but I won't complain . I got my first patches of hay cut and baled before the rain hit it.
[video=youtube;7E1tcVXZib8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7E1tcVXZib8[/video]

Finally got some rain in western Ohio. Looks like maybe an inch in the rain gauge. Thunder storm with pretty strong winds and rain came in a deluge. Be thankful for all we get. Still calling for possible showers for next 2 days.

Ralph, I have a 479 haybine just like yours, noises and all. Still gets the job done. Third cutting hay was a disaster on the 3.5 acres. First cutting was a good crop with 146 bales, second cutting was 39 bales and 3rd cutting was 6 bales. Sure had to do a lot of driving to rake a viable windrow.

Gonna go out and get reacquainted with what real mud is.

Gene

No mud in our neighborhood yet.  About 1/4" fell last weekend.  That was just a little better than none.  Wednesday evening brought some thunderstorms along the Ontario shoreline but they did not reach more than a few miles inland.  Last night we were given a tease of about 7/32 inch. Not much, but better than none.  All in all conditions here are getting very dry.  

Sorry to hear the Minn. trip was less than expected, Gene.  That is a lot of dollars for gas.  At least I hope you enjoyed te flying time.  Probably like driving a car, you need to put in some time to stay good at your game.  I always had a desire to be a pilot. but as life worked out, never had the $$$$ or the opportunity to do it.  

Charlie V.

Living in a different weather system up here in Sask., we continue to have nearly ideal conditions. Although the 40C humidex on Thursday was a little hard to take, glad it was only one day. Grass and crops gowing fast. I guess the drought affecting U.S. corn prices is helping us here as oat prices were up to $3.30 or so per bushel a day or so ago when I emptied out the last bin. The old 479 haybine has been sitting in front of the shop waiting for repairs so long that the grass needs cutting underneath it. Hopefully today I will have it back together.
Spring wheat is pretty well fully headed now as can be seen in this photo. Canola is about done blooming and flax just starting.

Pretty good looking heads on your wheat, Ralph.  Do you have any photos of the Canola blossoms.  I think you posted some last year, but not sure.  I used to like to grow a small patch of buckwheat to have three weeks or so of nice white blossoms.

Charlie V.

Pretty good looking heads on your wheat, Ralph.  Do you have any photos of the Canola blossoms.  I think you posted some last year, but not sure.  I used to like to grow a small patch of buckwheat to have three weeks or so of nice white blossoms.

Charlie V.

Something like this Charlie? Or were you talking about a real close up of the plant? This shot was taken two weeks ago. Not many flowers left on this field now.

Thank you, Ralph.  That is exactly what I had in mind.  I wanted to see it again to refresh my memory.  It appears the blossoms pretty much run the length of the stem, rather than being in heads at the top.  An entire field in full blossom must be a sight to see.

Charlie V.

A little shower in town today. My brother sent me a few pics. Normally the black labs like water but it looks like this one has had enough. There was four inches fell in a very short time this afternoon. Tornado warnings all around and some hail fell but, luckily for me, none here at the farm. Only 3 tenths of rain so far. Always interesting weather.
Edit: now I am hearing there was only an inch and 3/4 in town. Came down so fast that it caused flooding though.

Conditions are changing here in Ohio. Have had some rains this past week. Last Wednesday and Thursday we had 3+ inches. Things are greening up again. Yesterday, Tuesday, we had another inch. Grass will need mowing again. I think my soybeans have grown almost a foot in the past week.

Had this all typed up over the weekend, but forgot to send it when I exited the page. Was too tired to retype it all. Frustrating when that happens.

Have had sweetcorn from my patch the last 2 nights. Really good and tender and ears filled out really well. Ears about 9 inches long. Have to cut the ends off to fit the boiling pot. Makes it worth all the effort to get it grown.

Been cutting the ash trees along the driveway. Have 16 out of the 18 trees down and have 14 of them cut up. Will be quite a job cleaning up all the brush and firewood blocks. Will have lots of firewood from them for the winter.

Family reunion coming up this weekend. Will be taking a trailer load of stuff today that we will need. The reunion will be held at the Hardin County Fairgrounds starting this afternoon and going through Sunday. We are expecting as many as 150 people to attend. Will be picking the sweetcorn this afternoon or Thursday morning to feed the group on Friday evening. The corn is always a big hit and will be especially special this year.

Gene

It sounds like the living is good in Western Ohio this week.  Fresh sweetcorn, easy fire wood, and family reunions.  I can't say we are out of dry conditions here in WNY yet.  Rainfall Thursday and Thursday night gave us about 1 3/8 inch total so that will be a big help and maybe save a few crops.  Another dose in a few days would be a good thing.  We will see what happens.

Not much else notable happening here so I guess I will not rattle on just to hear my own voice.  Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Charlie V.