Rains welcome, but cut both ways

INDIANOLA, Neb. — Wheat harvest is currently delayed due to a combination of moisture and the berries in each head not being ripe yet. Rain this late in the wheat growing season tends to drop the test weight and the weeds are going to slug up the combines if we try to cut too fast. Farmer Tom says he doesn't remember a time in his life when we were this late getting started.

My thought is it is just as well because I started on my second round of thistle spraying and Farmer has some time to get his summer fallow worked. One of our grandsons likes the tractor so he’s been helping out too.

A couple of things we traditionally say is that we try to be done cutting wheat by the fourth of July and this year we haven't even started yet. Also, you may have heard the saying that the corn should be knee-high by the fourth of July and I've seen quite a few fields that aren't that tall because we had rain that kept some people from planting.

On our farm this year we can't complain about the weather so far. The grass looks awesome due to the great shots of rain we've received at the right times. We missed out on any flooding and so far, we've also dodged the hail. It sounds like the Tri-City areas have been experiencing the drought that we have had in the previous three years. The eastern part of the state usually gets more rainfall than we do as one moves west, so those folks aren't used to irrigating as much as we have to. If a guy only has dryland, it's been a lot harder to be a farmer in recent years.

By this time last summer, we had already been supplementing two pastures of cows with hay. This year the ole girls are feeling like they are in high cotton. The calves are growing well, and I can only pray the moisture keeps coming.

The flies have been a major problem, so besides putting out some insecticidal rubs, we are also trying some mineral with garlic. The idea is that the cows excrete the garlic through their pores which the flies aren't supposed to like. Not sure yet if it's really going to work but we are giving it a try. It's a bit odiferous when mixing it in the salt, so if you see me out and about don't mind the smell!

Have a Good One!