Nor'easter

We had our first big time snowstorm of the winter last weekend.  Actually, it's been a long time since we had a good old fashioned snowstorm.  The snow and winds came out of the Northeast, which is backwards from our usual west-northwest winter storms.  Which means all the drifts were in the wrong places!  The normal snow fences and blockers didn't help this time, so I spent a fair amount of time this week rearranging snow.  We received 10+ inches of heavy wet snow.

As a trustee, we get the job of deciding whether or not to cancel church.  I have always thought we should just have church and those who can make it should come, and those who can't should stay home.  But I now realize that those who often put forth the most effort are those who perhaps shouldn't be going out in inclement weather or on icy roads.  Particularly the elderly, older single females, or those with handicaps often desire the fellowship and come regardless of the safety concerns.  Often, those who could handle the weather the best are the ones who will stay home.  So I have changed my thinking and now tend to err to the side of caution and safety. 
We called off church for last Sunday, and we called it off on Saturday night already so that we didn't have to worry about making the decision early in the morning.

Today we had another snowstorm, but with much less than predicted snowfall.  The wind blew strongly all day which caused drifting and poor visibility on the roads, so our evening services were cancelled.  We will have church tomorrow, but the temperatures will be in the deep freeze.

It was a busy week for meetings including 360 Yield Center, Ag PhD, Precision Planting, and an Industrial Hemp Forum.
The growing of industrial hemp (low THC cannabis) is now legal in Illinois, so it will be interesting to see if this will become a viable alternative crop for us.  As of now, there is no infrastructure to process it, and the rules and regs are still in the process of being determined.  There were over 200 people at the forum, so there is a lot of interest in it, and there are a lot of potential uses and products that can be manufactured from hemp.  Everything from food to feed to fiber to health products to oil seeds to polymer composites to insulation to bedding to paper to much more can be made out of the various parts of the plant.  Stay tuned!
Hemp used to be grown around here, but after WWII it was banned because of the popularity of marijuana's (high THC cannabis) use as a recreational psychoactive drug.

The steak line at Precision Planting's Winter Conference.

And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
Genesis 1:29