Spring

We enjoyed a beautiful spring week here on the farm. Warm days, cool nights, lots of sun, and dry conditions for field work. We never had these conditions at all last spring. Some local farmers started planting on Monday, a full month earlier than last year! We have been doing a lot of catch-up tillage (that didn't get done last fall) and leveling a lot of ruts made last fall. We waited until Wednesday before we planted our first field.
Three years ago we bought a new planter and partnered it with our old tractor(JD 4430). The planter uses vacuum to singulate the seed. Our old tractor barely had enough hydraulic flow to create the necessary vacuum to do the job, so we made a command decision after planting the first field to replace the hydraulic pump with a bigger one. Two days and several thousand dollars later, we were back in the field with all the vacuum we need to do the job well. We put in a full day planting Saturday and are prepared for a big week ahead.

On my office wall, I have a needlepoint plaque (that I think was a wedding gift) with the following saying:

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

So we begin another farming year in faith.

In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thy hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper,either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.
Ecclesiastes 11:6