The Farmer's Last Task

As most farmers know, the farming season is reaching its end. Most farmers are close or finishing up chiseling and disking ground. Farmers only have one more thing that is still going through their head, “what’s next?”. Well as most farmers dread, spending more money is an issue. Next on the agenda is putting on anhydrous ammonia. One of the most nasty and horrible chemicals ever used in agriculture. This chemical starts out in liquid state and is stored in metal tanks. Ammonia is also very cold in the liquid and gases state. And I’m talking way below 0 degrees. When the liquid anhydrous ammonia is exposed to the air it becomes vapor and will freeze instantly to any surface, even you if your not careful. Farmers are encouraged to wear safety goggles and thick rubber gloves. And if you don’t wear the gloves, you will regret it. In person, I have seen what anhydrous does to a rubber glove. At first I was impressed by what it did but then I realized that I hoped it would be the glove instead of my hand. Those are just some tips about anhydrous ammonia. My family will be putting it on soon later in the week. To all farmers out there, be careful and safe when putting on anhydrous.

The End of Another Year

Well... Another year of farming is almost up. To some people, it may have been a good year, and as well it should be. But if you’re a farmer from Central Illinois, that’s defiantly not the case. I am one of those farmers from Central Illinois, and I can say that this year was defiantly not a good one. Although we did start our earliest in 3 years, we still had some time to wait for crops to mature and the occasional standing water. But of course, it’s a farmers luck to have something malfunction, wear or the ever so often; break.  I hope farmers in the surrounding areas had a better harvest than we did. I am really hoping next year will be a better year in both crop yields and also weather wise. I do have to admit though; this year’s weather was a lot better than last years. It seemed to me that every time I would look out in my field, I would see nothing but standing water. Once again I hope the seed and fertilizer prices would decrease a bit more than what it is now. But any farmer knows that that will never happen unless it’s a miracle.

Two Farmers With the Same Opinion

In this blog, I will be discussing and sharing a blog from another blogger with the same thoughts on agriculture. When I found this blog, I couldn't agree more with Alex Tiller. If you check out his blog site, and you like agriculture, I'm sure you would agree with Alex and I too. In Alex's blog he talks about what would happen if farmers quit farming and no longer produced crops for companies to sell to the public. He also states that if companies didn't have crops to produce and sell to the public, grocery store and other department store's shelves would go bare.  After reading this blog, I realized that I am not the only one who thinks about things like that. I myself, am a farmer. I've farmed most of my life with my grandpa and my dad. Sometimes I also ask myself, "what would happen if there was no farmers in the world"? Well to answer my own question, I do agree with Alex. If the were no farmers, store's inventories would run dry. I've based my life on 4 simple words; "No Farmers, No Food".

Country Or Not?

Most people say that in order for someone to be a farmer, you have to be born and raised in the country and on a farm. Well, that's not always the case. There are lots of people in the United States who farm for a living or farm in their spare time. For those who may not know it, there is a lot of football players in the NCAA who play football and they either live on a farm or farm in there spare time. My friend, C_Dogg's blog is all about college football. Check out his blog and his opinions on college football at http://www.cfwhoisthebest.blogspot.com/. There are college football players everywhere who farm for a living. In my opinion, you don't have to be born and raised on a farm to do that in you spare time.

Today in Agriculture

The world in agriculture changes daily. Sometimes without even knowing it. One thing that  changes daily is the markets. The market is constantly like a guessing game, you will never know when its going to go up and stay up or plummet to its normal price that it is today. Its not just Central Illinois farmers who have to worry about the up and down market. It affects farmers everywhere. Illinois is one of the major producers in cash crops. Some of the other competing states are Indiana, Kansas, Iowa, and Nebraska. Even though the markets have their ups and downs, farmers in Central Illinois still strive to make ends meet. Another concern in today's economy, is the fertilizer prices. The prices of fertilizers and seed have made a major increase over the years. Farmers today, are wondering how they will be able to afford these prices in the near future. Seed prices today have been higher then farmers would of ever thought. Seed corn prices today reach over $200 per bag. Seed is not the only thing reach a high price. Liquid fertilizers and anhydrous has also increased over the years. Liquid fertilizer actually costs more to be put on privately rather then having contract companies do it for them.