June 15,1998****Corn was about knee high on Saturday morning but we had a hailstorm and winds come through this afternoon. So now it is stripped up pretty good but should come out of it. That is Mother Nature for you. In this part of the country we don't get enough rain to grow the crops so we have a system of ditches and wells to irrigate . In order to do that the corn has to be ridged in order to get the water down each row of corn and that is the project for now.
June 27,1998****Things are looking much better this week. Corn survived the hail and is in great shape ! The first cutting of alfalfa is up in stacks. The alfalfa is producing way above average yeild, this too is great ! This week the plan is to lay out the pipe, get the wells ready and pull a few ditches for irrigating. The temperature has been in the 90 to 100 degree range all week so this will be a hot job. Come back next week and see how is goes.
July 8, l998****Another week has past and temperature is staying around the 90 degree mark. This is great corn growing weather and it sure is a good thing we have the irrigation to keep the ground wet. Corn is a little over five foot tall at this time and is looking very good. This week we started mowing the second cutting of the alfalfa. Got to witness a tornado this week. Saw one drop down out of the cloud about 5 miles away. It was in open country so there was no damage but it sure was a site to see.
July 15, 1998****Wow ! That week flew by! Still mowing 2nd cutting and putting some up at the same time. Had a 70 mph wind blow through the other nite and raise heck with all the windrows that were about ready to be put up. Now we will have to take and extra day to rake that back together. Temperature is running in the high 90 to 100 each day. Good drying weather for the hay but the corn is taking lots of water. Crops look great! Since we are into mid summer I thought I would show you the corn and the garden all in one. The Farmers wife does the garden and I provide it with a little shade from the corn field. Everything is tassleing at this point.
July 23, 1998****This week we will have to call weed week. The weeds want to take over the irrigation ditches and nobody I know wants to reach in to 2 ft. tall weeds to open a gate on the pipe and disturb whatever might be taking a nap in there. So we will be spraying miles and miles of pipe and ditches until we feel the war of the weeds is under control. Weather changed yesterday. Cold front moved in and temperature are very comfortable right now. Weatherman says we might even get a little rain. That would give us a chance to put a stacker back together that was in need of repair before it goes back to the field.
September 17,1998****This week has been filled with closing ditches and getting truck ready for the harvest. Time is closing in on us because the hot dry weather is drying the corn down fast. Got the combine out today and set the GPS all is ready to go. For those of you who don't understand GPS it is the new farming by computer system. There is a web address back on the farm page if you would like to know more about it.
September 22, 1998****I am adding this week a little early because harvest got into full swing on Friday and I might get a little behind keeping up this diary for a while. The corn is testing very dry for this time of year. We are almost two weeks ahead of most seasons but that once again is mother nature for you. She is always full of suprises! Speaking of which she also lowered the boom on the temperature , the last 3 days have not gotten over 50 degrees and it has been cold and damp. A preview of winter I suppose. Will get back to you when time allows.
PICKING WET CORN FOR FEEDLOTS
October 5,1998****Wow this has been a crazy two weeks. Weather turned nice again and we got about 350 acres picked to take to the feedlots as wet corn for feed. But the wet corn wasn't as wet as they would have liked. They like it when it test about 25 moisture and the wettest we could find was 17 to 20. That would be real nice if we were taking it to the bins but the feedlot growled at us a little. Then last Wednesday the weather got wet and cold again and it has been wet ever since. This is Monday the 3rd of Oct. and the wind has blown enough we can get back in the field here around home. Now the corn is testing a little wetter but guess what, it has to go to the bins. We have rain in the forcast for the next two days but so far it is just cloudy so will keep going until it rains us out again. Cattle at the feedlots are keeping us running in every spare minute to keep them in hay so I hope we can fit it all in. Sounds like another crazy week ahead !
October 18,1998****Well today we are going to take a Sunday off. Everyone is tired and getting a little grouchy. We have been picking corn now every day and into the night for about almost two weeks. We have about 450 Acres to go yet out of 1250 Acres now at least we can see the end. Weather has cooperated pretty good. Machinery has had only a few small breakdowns but nothing that a couple of hours repair time didn't fix. Have been grinding hay in the morning for one of the feed lots but they told the drivers they were getting in 7000 more head at the end of the week so it will be a race to keep up with them and still get the rest of the corn out. We got an inch and sixty hundredth of rain last night. Seems late in the year to have a summer storm but it came so we will live with it. Did get a good 4th cutting of Alfalfa so in between shot the men are stacking it. Good Lord willing by next week corn harvest will be complete and we can settle down the work load a bit.
OCTOBER 27,1998****That took a little longer than expected but the HARVEST IS IN THE BIN. Had some trouble this week. Little ill health with the farmer and a lot of hay grinding to do but the work got done and the harvest was a great one. Corn yeilded an average of 197 bu to the acre and found enough storage so we don't have to sell it right away. That might help if the price goes up later. Got the 4th cutting alfalfa baled in big square bales and they are as we speak on their way to one of my fellow farmers out east for their dairy cows.
NOVEMBER 3,1998****This farmer was expecting a new Grandchild on Holloween night, it is not here yet. Grandpa is waiting patiently but Grandma is getting a little ancious. The next few month will be filled with Hay Grinding and might get pretty boring but we will see what we can come up with for excitement! Later Friends.
NOVEMBER 6,1998****She made it !
On a cold and wet Nebraska night , she enter the world at 6lb 10 oz and has lots of coal black hair and now Grandma is happy. Everything on the farm should work better now.
After 11 days with no sunshine, about 3 inches of rain and a one day blizzard ground conditions are not good for grinding hay or unloading trucks at feed lots. We have to pull the loaded trucks out of the fields and in and out of the feedlots. The mud is nowhere to be trying to drive this equiptment but the cows have to be fed regardless so the payloader is getting a good work out.
THE AMERICAN FARMER
CROP YEAR 1998
THE FARMERS WIFE
CHILDRENS PAGE
THE HUSKERS 
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