Good morning. It’s Wednesday, the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and my arm is stiff from moving a lever. Yesterday I took the utility tractor and lined up big hay bales in scattered rows of 6 to a row in the hay field. It makes it quicker to load and move because the hay trailer the guys use hauls 6 at a time, dumps them off the side when they get here to the hay lot. Then they get put in rows in the hay lot. Last year I tied a colored tape to which rows were from which cutting of hay because the first cutting is usually coarser.
When I pulled into the field there were about 6 turkey buzzards feasting on a young dead deer. I didn’t look quick enough to see if they were the black or the red headed turkey buzzards. One breed is becoming a real threat to newborn animals, and you can get a nuisance permit to shoot them. The other kind is protected. The deer had probably gotten hit on the road and made it to the edge of the hayfield.
The WASDE (World Ag Supply and Demand Estimate) comes out tomorrow about 11 a.m. Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio has had a lot of delayed planting and I would add southern Illinois to the list. However, the report prediction doesn’t change much from the last one. Prices today were up 4 cents for corn and 3 cents for beans making at the river prices of $4.42 for 2024 corn and $4.10 for this year’s crop. Beans are priced at $10.62 for 2024, and 2025 crop at $9.96 at the river. Terribly discouraging for the farming community to look at both.
Have to laugh at myself at times. Last week I had put on my work clothes, gone outside and done some work, came back into the house later to change clothes, and go to Macomb for a haircut. When I went to pay for my haircut, I looked down and I had my shirt on inside-out. Embarrassing, but we had a good laugh about it.
A friend of ours had sent this at Christmas time, and it is so true. It is from a Cody Johnson song ‘Til You Can’t. “If you got a chance, take it...take it while you got a chance. If you got a dream, chase it..’cause a dream won’t chase you back. If you’re gonna love somebody, hold ‘em as long, and as strong, and as close, as you can...”TIL YOU CAN’T!” Hugs to all...
Sharon Chenoweth is a resident and farmer of McDonough County. Her column focuses on rural life and will be featured every other week in the Community News Brief Friday Edition.
