In an earlier post Adam talked about planting the crop and how it is always a gamble once it is in the ground. A farmer does not have any control over the weather and that is one of the risks you take in this business. He compared planting season to Goin' Gamblin' and we have certainly done that this summer. We have experienced severe weather in May, flooding in June, and oppressive heat in July. Mother Nature just continues to punch us in the stomach and her last blow in the early morning hours on August 20th, hit us pretty hard.
A furious storm blew through NE Kansas, bringing with it high winds and hail. Our buildings and home survived with minimal damage, but our yard and corn crop looked like a war zone. I had tears in my eyes as I drove home on our dirt road. There were limbs blocking the road, and one neighbor had an entire tree on top of their house. I got closer to our driveway and saw the corn, some spots were leveled by the wind and the beautiful green leaves the plants had the day before were now stripped from the stalk. My heart just sank.
I called Adam to see how he was doing after seeing all of this, and he answered the phone like nothing had happened at all. He had a happy tone in his voice and asked me how I was doing. I said, "What is the matter with you? Have you not seen the damage from last night's storm?" He replied, "Yes, but there is nothing I can do about it, we're going to be fine."
This response is another reason I love my husband so much. He always sees the positive in things and doesn't fret over things he can't change. Yes, it sucks our corn, and trees were damaged, but we were okay and our house was okay. It could have been a lot worse, and we are grateful we still have a crop to harvest, because other farmers in the area were not as lucky. Ten miles to the north of us the hail was so destructive all that was left of the crops was a six inch stalk sticking out of the ground.
Needless to say Adam and I are thrilled to death about the fact harvest is finally here. We have reached the endpoint in the growing season and can (hopefully, fingers and toes crossed) breath a sigh of relief as the crop from each field is trucked to town and put into the safe haven of a storage facility.
The weather this summer has taken farmers and ranchers on a tumultuous ride this year. We can only hope next summer will be less eventful and Mother Nature will be more cooperative!
The backside of the tree that was brought down
by the wind.
In this picture you can see the brown mark
in the grass. This is where the silage wagon was
sitting before the storm. The wind moved it a good
eight feet, and it is a heavy wagon!
A large tree branch ripped from the trunk of the tree.
Many shingles from the roof ended up in the yard.
Wind and hail damaged corn.
Close up of the damage.
One of our large trees was completely knocked out.
After all of the storms this summer we are grateful to experience the calm after the storm. The weather has been absolutely amazing this fall and has allowed farmers to get in the field to harvest the crop.
Hallelujah!! The combine is in field!
What a wonderful site!
The grain cart hauling corn to the semi trailer.
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