Happy Thanksgiving

[Hobbyfarmer]

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Just sitting here thinking of things to be thankful for.

A great wife/partner.

Being a farmer in the best time ever for such a career.

Having the bins closer to full than empty after a hot dry July and August. Had 75% enterprise crop insurance and did not trigger a claim. Thankfully will not drag my aph down too bad..

Got grandkids coming for the feast the wife is already working on.

We Still have decent health after 7 decades, at least good enough to look forward to another season next year. All due to the mechanization developed to make it easier.

A great set of neighbors.

Edit to add:

This site and the old discontinued Agweb site for bringing me some really great personal friends.

Thankful for hitting the jackpot of life as a farmer...

[BA Deere]

God has truly blessed the farmer this year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc2gjLE1zSU

Proverbs 31:10-12 King James Version (KJV)

Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, So that he shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good and not evil All the days of her life.

[Hobbyfarmer]

Are things so bad out there I'm the only one out here with some positive things to be thankful for?

Anybody have a list?

[lsc76cat]

Well Hobby it sort of goes like this...

Found a gal with low enough standards and enough bad taste to stay married to me 41+ YEARS. Not bad eh?

3 great kids that have given us 10 grandkids and they all bring great joy. They're even willing to keep us a part of their busy lives and think nothing of popping in whenever.

Great memories of family members that are not really gone, just waiting for us to join them again when the time comes.

We plan to put "Truly Blessed" on our tombstone in a tiny cemetery surrounded by farm fields.

[Wind]

Thanks Hobby,

Have been married to my virtuous wife for 48 years, very thankful for that.

Started farming in 1974 and harvested my last crop in 2022. At two clicks north of 70 it is time to let younger fellows farm my land. Had a good run. Thankful for younger minds and hearts to do the work.

Thankful for the crops this season. Corn looked very bad in mid-August-then a 3" slow rain turned things around. Corn-185 bu. beans 65 bu.

Thankful for tractors- Started with a 1080 MF then a 966IH then a 1466IH straight pipe.(that one was hard on my hearing.) Finished with a 7130 Magnum and a 4707 MF. It is going to be hard to let go and see green tractors running around in my field. 🤔

Turkeys are still a bargain around here, $1.15 a pound. Gas at the pump down to $3.09.

To be thankful is a matter of choice.

[roarintiger1]

I am very thankful that my occupation of being a farmer is more of a life style instead of a job.
Raising a family on and around the farm is also something to be thankful for.
I am also thankful for the acquaintances that I have encountered on this site. Even though I have not personally met most contributors here, we share many life experiences.
Kudos to almost everyone here. Yep….almost everyone.😉

[sw363535]

Ok....... I can be drug into this since the wind is down and I'm enjoying some solitude between loading trucks of corn to endusers who act like the want it.

1. Grain prices that are at levels we would have only dreamed about three years ago.... When you harvest half a crop or less it helps..... and the way supplies in the sw are..... we should have decent pricing levels for some time. (please don't listen to anyone telling you that this inflation is because of our grain prices..... they are totally unrelated..... other than monopoly suppliers will charge what they think you will pay ). Grain prices are high because there is such a short supply..... enjoy for more than a week or two.

2. Two sons hanging in through extreme hardship for 2022. These are times that mold young men. Consider the younger guys around you and encourage them. There are questions in their heads than do not have workable solutions.... cash flows that don't have pluses and "wolves" in land owner, seed, equipment, fertilizer, idea mens clothing that see young beginners as prey. Take the time to prop them up a little, share some respect.

3. A lifetime of good advice from family members, neighbors, friends and all the folks on that list dad told me to have handy. The list of "who to call" everyone needs. a good electrician, a wise motor tech, a farmer who says no and prioritizes properly(without frills and egos)--an example for life, a backup crew of dear friends(3 or 4) that can handle every detail you need to discus, trust and be trusted---The list must have faithful friends that see things from a different perspective. A good life isn't easy.

4. The forgiveness of many mistakes in life................. we all can enjoy.... and occasionally forget.

5. A few small skills that I enjoy even though memory fades at times.

6. Good health for the most part..... . better than most elves my age

7. Grandkids that We love....and seem to enjoy us at a limited time level......... 4 boys and finally a princess. I am comfortable with someone else raising them..... The wife maybe not so much. Their parents are doing a good job in spite of anything their grandmother thinks.

8. She's my princess. And she's been with me far longer than even she expected.

9 Friends ---- for a guy who works alone and in his own head, I enjoy meeting new friends in the few opportunities I get. I been lucky to have a few wonderful friends........ I once decided to go to a marketing meeting just to figure out a couple of new personalities and chance a new meeting. I discovered some real Gems. and always appreciate SF staff at the time for a meeting that was probably not successful for the marketing firm putting it on, but was a pleasure for me.

10. Faith in a creator that I consult with regularly, Your right this is probably number one, but I want to sneak it in here so all those who read get through more material.... some just need to soften up a little cause they need a good consultant when they realize their faith is in things that are not real. Everyone has faith in something. Its tragic to misplace it.

11. Have heart and find that neighbor who is struggling over the future of agriculture..... sometimes being a friend is all it takes too get through the "mildew" and stress of things that are "out of control".

[elcheapo]

Hello Everyone !!

Been a while, have been busy.

The topic, Thanksgiving......I guess I should say that I do have things to be Thankful for.......

Early this year, I was getting things ready for the new year. Got rid of the fellow that was doing the farming, since I had fell off the combine, and kind of hurt myself. I forgot lesson #1, don't do business with relation....well in the situation, I got 1 crop in 3 years.....that sure does not help with the cash flow !!!....but due to savings and being "cheap", lived, not fancy, but lived.

Well one morning I got up and was sick, thought it was gallbladder, since I've had it before, so go to clinic, then ultrasound, to see if anything is stuck anywhere.....well gallbladder was ok, but there was a spot on the liver....so sent for a mri....and result were sent off...In a week later I got a call, from the hepatology dept at the university, I have been seeing them for fatty liver due to diabetes....well they called, informed me that I had liver cancer....also looked like cancer of the gallbladder, and in a CT scan I had done...a nodule in the bottom of one of the lungs.......I was informed I was a very sick person... at this point, I was like that tire on the pickup on the hot day, when it was acting up, you get out of the cab and look and then you hear it......the slow, but steady sound of air going out of the tire !!

so, the parade started, scans, blood tests, seeing doctors, etc.......the plan was to do a liver resection, also liver resection, remove gallbladder, put me on the liver transplant list, etc....and if needed, we have this brand new proton treatment unit that will run about $60,000 for what may be needed.........things went on and on, well transplant put its foot down this fall, saying enough was enough, and started doing the biopsys....after a number of them....and don't even want to know how many rads of xrays I was exposed to....The transplant surgon called me to thank me for taking up his time !!!

He said they finally come out saying it was a non-cancer mass...the gallbladder was just sick, and the thing in the lung, most likely a fungal ball.....but I did come out with a sick liver and will be kept on the transplant service, but monitored. We will continue to monitor everything from now on......

so we are thankful for that......and thankful that the new fellow got the wheat in the ground....now if we could just get some moisture on it !!

but due to the significant liver disease, I still need to slow down, and figure out how to pay for the $2000 a month meds, or the $1150 a month insurance !!!!

almost true....cant afford to live.....can't afford to die !!!

But I've meet alot of people, did alot of traveling, and did some reading, and some thinking.....I don't know if the dye has did something to my brain, but.....

Starlink...slicker than snot...fellow I know using it to stream while storm chasing....saves alot of money on data, but still $110 a month for the service.....but now, just about everyone can now get fast internet, no matter where you are at (if you are in the footprint), and can afford $600 to buy and $110 a month !! I've even come up with a nutty idea, there are alot of little communities around and other regional things, that people would like to go to but can't.....so maybe may start something that will "broadcast" such events.....get out the camera, bluetooth to the starlink and away it goes to youtube or other !!...alot of people stuck at home, or nursing homes would enjoy those kind of things !!

Drones.....at first, I just to think of the song "bring in the clowns", but now, bring in the drones !!...been watching alot of video, and reading, and researching....I think it might be possible to make them be useful....I want to have them spray..It is just funny how it works....in most instances they use 2 gallons/ac, and you can do 2o acres an hour....it is all automatic,even has on board radar, so it does not run into the ground, or that lone tree (or mother in law) out standing in the field..and when it runs out of water or power, it flys back to you, and you change battery and add water/spray. There are tech questions.....I thought my prayers were answered, if I could do spraying, like tordon in the pastures, and applying pre on the milo and beans....some chems you can, some you can't....the question is, is it enough water....imagine, not having to haul water all the time, you stand in the shade, and you can spray if the fields are wet, etc..also, the cost might be cheaper, I've been quoted around $20 K.......but you can have a swarm.....up to 4 units on one controler....so that's 80 ac an hour, and $80k.......alot cheaper than JD at 300 K !!

The electric semi.....I know, I imagine this semi that has a bunch of ray o vac AAA in it !!!!

but....someday....we might need to think different.....with telsa...... big cost savings over fuel, but problems on travel, generation 1 is 200 miles, gen 2 is now at 500 miles...but we are still talking over $120,000.....most farmers, in my humble opinion, will not buy new units, although if you haul a bunch of grain, and not a long long distance, the savings in fuel, could help make a good payment.......but maybe a few years down the road, and there are used units around, things could be interesting....

but....I was thinking......hmmm, maybe I should go talk to all the terminal elevators, or at least the landowners that surround them, and buy an acre, and put in a charging station.......as far as labor, I don't know how efficent, you could drive 200 miles dump, plug in, then in a few hours, you are charged up and ready to go home, when you get home, you plug in again.......yes sound like a headache.....but if fuel prices continue....hmmmm

either that, or biodisel made from alge grown in bags in the sun (or greenhouses), squeezed, and the oil refinded)....

then, using the usda grants, build a nh3 plant, that uses elec (wind power)....imagine we can make our own nh3

(or coops or groups of farmers) by wind power, none of this silly cost for n !!!

as much as we moan and groan......perhaps, we do have something to be thankful for

peace and god bless