How 2008 will be remembered...

Consider these two unrelated events.

Exhibit A:  an e-mail from a friend

Its the fourth of July and the corn is "knee high".  How it has achieved this stature is truly a miracle and a testament to genetic engineering and the tenacity of determined farmers.  There are a half dozen factors that identify "ideal conditions"  to begin and complete a crop growling year.  To date, this crop has experienced none of those factors.  But as I look out my kitchen window it is begriming to look like a corn crop.  I must guard getting too optimistic because some serious stages are ahead of us and the way weather patterns are behaving we are not out out of the woods yet, but I have completed my 10% of this growing cycle and the rest is in the hands of the big guy upstairs.

Soybeans are another story.  From my kitchen window they have yet to show me much.  In fact, there are several spots in the fields that they show me nothing.  From a few years experience I have learned to never rate a soy crop until you  see them in the combine tank. 

I suppose the market should be mentioned in a comprehensive crop report.  If I could make any sense of it at all I would mention it.  From a producer  who has forward contracted 20% of his expected production at a price that is currently $3 out of the market, it is best that he sit quietly in the corner and lick his wounds.

I spend a lot of time looking out the kitchen window as you may have noticed.  The reason being that I am not very mobile as yet.  Knee replacement went well but recovery has been a drag.  For those of you who promised me that it is a simple procedure and a piece of cake I can only say-----"YOU'RE FULL OF CRAP"

 Exhibit B: My neighbor Don asked me if I could remember the two days at the end of May when we were able to plant some beans.  He needed the date to get his FSA reporting done.  We struggled to recall when in this 2+ months of planting we had done what where, and then he brightened and said, "Wait - I took photos of The Flood on my cellphone.  It should have the date and I can work backwards."

I think these two events capture perfectly my spring.