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.