I think it was the winter of 1977-78, one of the coldest and snowiest winters on record. I still remember the “treat” of being snowed in on a Thursday and Friday, so we kids had a four-day weekend.
Some time back I saw a bumper sticker that read, “If you can read this, thank a teacher.” I quietly mumbled, “Amen.”
Jeepers Creepers, where’d ya get those peepers?” Now there’s a phrase you probably haven’t heard for a while. Perhaps you’ve never heard it. The line is from a song recorded by Louis Armstrong in the late 1930s.
As a mere lad of 60 years with some semblance of youth, or as some would say “denial,” I wrote about meeting the challenges of growing old in a column entitled “Seven Ways to Grow Old Gracefully.”
Fitting the pieces of a farm transition puzzle together can be challenging. Like a puzzle, you need to find the corner pieces first, then the outer straight edges to frame up the foundation.
David and his two grandsons decided to take the afternoon off and go to the county fair.
The morning sun shined brightly through the front window of a newer house on the corner of a city block. Herman and his wife had moved there less than a year ago.
As the end of the year approaches, we close the books on another production year. There are many lessons to be had this year, but none of them greater than “Cash Flow is King.”
If farm people think the holiday season is a good time to resolve intrafamily conflicts about farm estate matters, they probably are wrong. According to professional farm mediators, family get-togethers over the holidays generate more guardedness and stress among the disputants than warm fee…
The world’s most common expression of farewell, “goodbye,” originated in the 16th century as “God be with you.” Through a series of metamorphoses over the next two centuries, it became the contraction we use today — “goodbye.”
There was an old man who lived on a farm and had a loyal dog. After a busy Thanksgiving, the old man decided that he would go walking every morning in an effort to become more fit. His dog was always happy to accompany him, and they walked in the mornings before the sun came up.
I am not a big football fan, but on the rare occasions when I have visited a university stadium, I love the halftime performances by the college bands. In particular, I enjoy the sousaphones.
No wonder sales of utility vehicles have exploded in the post-pandemic years. No other product family sits so squarely at the intersection of fun and functionality. And along with the massive increase in ATVs and UTVs, there’s been a corresponding eruption in attachments and accessories.
This year is testing the endurance of nearly everyone in the U.S. and around much of the world. It’s still too soon to tell how the co-occurring crises in the Ukraine and Gaza will turn out, as well as how challenges to democracy in the U.S. and elsewhere, uncertainty due to climate change a…
We non-smokers are tickled that most restaurants are now smoke-free. No longer do restaurant hostesses ask, “Smoking or non-smoking?”
If you think it’s a mind-buster to keep up with the latest in precision farming technology, then you likely haven’t shopped for tires lately. Just as equipment has gotten massive, as crop genetics have spawned rebar-like stalks, and larger, far-flung operations create new demands for speed, …
As soon as harvest is complete, farm families will turn their attention to the holidays and year-end tax planning. As sure as Thanksgiving dinner or family Christmas, farmers will engage in the annual scramble to reduce the year’s income-tax liability.
Harvest is wrapping up throughout the upper Corn Belt, and producers are counting the bushels, blowing off the combine and happy to close the books on this growing season.
Saying “goodbye” to a loved one who is passing, or who is already deceased, is one of the most emotionally painful experiences we have to go through during our lifetimes. However, it doesn’t have to be that way. We can turn it into a personal growth experience.
My attitude toward cars has changed over the years. These days I’m more concerned with how long my car will last than how fast it will go. More importantly, is it large enough for my 6-foot-7 frame?
One of the mentors I was lucky to associate with early in my career was my first business trainer. I constantly bombarded him with questions. One day, after I had asked what he said was 100 questions, he refused to answer me.
With efficiency and costs top of mind for producers, strip tillage continues to gain traction across the Corn and Bean Belt. In fact, almost 50% of corn, soybean and wheat acreage was in no-till or strip-till at some time over a four-year period, according to a 2021 study of strip-till pract…
In recent weeks I have overheard folks discuss the Old Farmer’s Almanac and its weather predictions for this winter.
David waited at the end of the field as the combine worked its way through the corn. The dry summer was taking its toll on the yields this year.
Many U.S. farmers, especially in parts of the country that have snow during the winter, plant crops earlier in the growing season than they did in the past century because spring comes earlier now. Increased tolerance for cold and hot temperatures, high winds, drought, and other factors that…