R.T. Slack farms with family in Henry and Johnson counties in west-central Missouri. He says conditions are muddy heading into spring planting time. He grows corn and soybeans and also puts up some alfalfa hay.

Lots of corn was planted in March, but we have not turned off the tap since April 1. It’s all mud. Nothing but mud. And wind. It’s been pretty windy. We missed the storm here, but we always get the rain. I’ve lost track of the inches.

After 24 days of mud, we managed to find a drier spot in the county. It was none too dry, but we got 250 acres planted in one day. Woke up the next morning to more rain. Now it’s raining again. Another 2.25 inches and counting. We really need to save some for August. All those in favor say “aye.”

Finally it’s going to be dry enough to do something on Monday (May 4). Rain again on Tuesday. Missouri farming is living up to its name — misery! Wheat is pretty much headed out. Looks decent. Send warm temps — we need it.

We finally have some sunshine. With a little luck, maybe we can plant something this week.

There was a lot of corn and beans planted last week. More rain is coming, they say. Hopefully we’ll get another dry stretch soon to hammer these beans on out. Wheat is coming along. Some alfalfa got baled, too. Nice to finally get something done.

Another wet week on the record. Showers moved in Sunday night and hung around until Tuesday evening. Thursday afternoon added some light showers to keep the saturation present. Cooler weather has slowed crop growth slightly, but the countryside is getting greener and greener with new crop emergence. Sun and warmer temps are on the minds of most to get this crop moving upward at a faster pace.

Some corn looks good; some corn needs another shot of nitrogen. Beans are still chilling in the seed box. Wheat is starting to turn. It refuses to stop raining long enough to get anything accomplished. We replanted some corn last Thursday in mud, then started on beans. It started raining about the same time — 40 acres into it we were rained out again. Add another 2.75 inches to the 20-plus we’ve had since April 1. It’s really starting to get frustrating. A few guys around are trying to bale hay, but it’s not working out for them either. We need some dry weather.

It rains every day. The question is, how much? We did manage to plant about 500 acres in two days’ time. Just barely got it dry enough and ran with it. I’m so tired of rain; we are soaked again from rain today. Calling for rain all week. Wheat is getting really close. Starting to see a few weeds in it now. A lot of corn around here needs sprayed in the worst way. Still a lot of beans to plant, and I’m not positive we’ll ever get to replant the rest of the corn. Hay guys are itching to go, but no chance of that happening any time soon.

Rained again, and more rain coming. Looks like mud. Thats about all. I sound like a broken record.

Looks like mud once again. We did manage to mud some in last week and did find a couple dry spots, but that’s over after the last rain. Still waiting on mud. The hay guys are still waiting, too. The beans I planted in March look like I should have planted a lot more. They look like a million bucks.

It’s plenty warm and plenty wet, but we were able to sneak in and wrap up bean planting. Some will definitely have to be redone. Seems silly to have to rush to cash a crop insurance date, but rules are rules, and we all play by the rules. Wheat was way ahead of normal. We wrapped that up today, June 25. Just as we got the combines back in the barn, it started raining again. Go figure. All we can do is laugh — this year has been a real pain.

Finally we got the break we were looking for. We finished up planting beans and got some spraying done. I can’t begin to tell you how many bales of hay were born this week. Four balers were on fire in my neighborhood, including my own. Three of them were saved. So be sure to check those bearings. Crops are all looking pretty good after some heat brought some growth and good color.

After we wrapped up planting and got some hay put up, we got a couple pretty good rains. Funny how it rained all spring, and we really needed it. A few beans around still need sprayed. We can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel, just in time for the next big thing. The beauty of farming is there is never a lack for something to do.

The heat has finally arrived. Luckily we’ve been getting a few spotty showers. The early corn looks good, and the late corn is hanging on. Beans seem to be enjoying the heat and humidity, but they always do. Hopefully we can get hay finished up this week and move on to something more exciting. Grain price seemed to jump some this morning.