Still Winter?

We had a little bit of everything today weather wise! We had clouds and sun, and I saw snow flurries, sleet, hail, and rain. How confusing is that on April 28? I guess the best place for our seed corn right now is in the bag, and not in the field. The seed in the small field that we planted last week probably isn't doing much growing. And it's supposed to freeze tonight.

The women in the house were complaining about being cold again. So I had to relight the pilot light on the furnace so we could start it up again. It was starting to feel like camping weather in the house again.

The old farmer and the wife of his youth drove down to Champaign tonight and took the "Saltshaker" boys out for supper. We had a nice meal at T.G.I. Friday's. We stopped at Barnes & Noble first to do a little shopping. It's hard for me to leave that store - I need a minimum of an hour in there.

Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion. Ecclesiastes 5:18

Food vs. Fuel II

From a Reuters news story last week:

BRASILIA, April 16 (Reuters) - President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva defended Brazil's production of biofuels on Wednesday, rejecting criticism that they are furthering a surge in global food prices and harming the environment.
"Don't tell me, for the love of God, that food is expensive because of biodiesel. Food is expensive because the world wasn't prepared to see millions of Chinese, Indians, Africans, Brazilians and Latin Americans eat," Lula told reporters.
Critics say the increased production of crops for ethanol and biodiesel, which is derived from oil seeds, competes for land with food crops.
Lula said he was "shocked" that biofuel critics failed to mention the impact that high oil prices had on food production costs, such as fertilizers. "It's always easier to hide economic and political interests behind supposed social and environmental interests," he said.

This is just some excerpts from the article, but it gives you an idea of Pres. Lulu's facing his critics head on.

Some ethanol facts: The ethanol industry in the U.S. employs about 230,000 people in construction, operation, and support services. It provides up to $12 billion in tax revenue annually. A 2003 paper co-authored by the U.S. Energy Dept. and the Agriculture Dept. proved a net energy gain of 67% from the production of ethanol. We only eat 8% of the corn grown in the Midwest - the majority is fed to livestock. Ethanol production only uses the corn's starch, the protein that is left is still fed to livestock. Ethanol in gasoline is much better for the environment than the poisons, lead and MTBE that it replaces. Ethanol use helps reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

Ethanol from corn still makes sense.

Corn Planting

I started planting corn today! Because it is a new planter, it took most of the day to get it adjusted the way we want it and for me to figure it all out. Including two calls to the John Deere salesman. But by quitting time, the first field was planted and the first sweet corn patch is in.

"Who plants a seed beneath the sod and waits to see believes in God"

Rock

With the frost out, the ground has firmed up enough that last week we had 5 semi loads of white rock hauled in. I spent quite a bit of time spreading and leveling it. We could actually use 2 or 3 more loads to completely cover all drives with an adequate layer, but this will do for now. The sad thing is that we will probably have to do it all over again next year. Below are before and after pictures of one of the areas that needed the most help.

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Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

Weather or not

A week or so ago, we had a couple of nice days to get some yard work done and spray and prune fruit trees. We also got in the field to haul some manure. The spring like weather didn't last long unfortunately. While the weather was nice, the local wildlife took advantage of it by coming out to enjoy the sun.

Snow flurries on April 13. Will we get in the field at all this week? If soil and weather conditions are right, this is the ideal week to start planting corn. But the soil is wet and cool, so it will take heat, sun, and dry to get us in the field.

Food vs. Fuel

After a couple of damp, blustery days, I am really ready for the spring that we thought was here. It looks like planting will start late this year. The forecast calls for possible snow tonight. No sign of global warming here on the farm this spring!

I started a week ago trying to post some pictures, but my "add image" button refuses to allow me to post. I have gotten no help so far from Blogger's help, so I guess I'll just won't be able to add any pictures.

One of the hot topics right now is the food vs. fuel debate. Food prices have increased and ethanol (made from corn)and its subsidies are being blamed. Yes food prices have risen. But the increase in the price of corn due to ethanol production is just a small part of it. When the price of corn doubled over the past two years, the cost of the corn in a box of corn flakes went up by 4 cents (from 4 to 8 cents). The cost of corn (and corn silage) in a gallon of milk went up 8 cents (from 8 to 16 cents). Just a fraction of the store price of these items. We are in a global economy and what is often overlooked is that the global cost of energy to process food has increased, labor costs have increased(especially health insurance), the cost to transport raw and processed food has dramatically increased with oil prices, with the growing economies of developing nations(especially China and India) food demand has increased, our exports of grains are at record high levels(partly because of the cheap dollar), and the world had a poor wheat crop last year. The prices paid to farmers for pork and beef are actually lower than in recent years. Americans pay less than 10% of their income on food. Americans still have the safest, cheapest, and most abundant food supply in the world!