by Deanna
Republic County WIFE

November 1, 2001

We give praises for a beautiful fall morning this November 1, 2001.  As we eat breakfast and have a time for devotions it’s almost nice enough to open windows. The morning’s work starts for Dean at his desk, as he makes phone calls to a seed salesman, the elevator and the office of our county Farm Service Agency. 

The computer goes on first thing because we need to check information stored there during harvest. Finishing harvest means there are lots of details that need to be finished.  While we’re harvesting this year’s crop, we’re watching how each seed variety yields so we can make plans for next year. Planning for the coming year is part of an on-going cycle on the farm; it’s a continuous process. 

We have just finished the fall’s harvest.  We began the second week of September, so we’ve been working for the past two months to bring in the crops.  Days have been long and we’ve all worked hard to get the corn, milo (or grain sorghum) and soybeans into the grain bins we have on the farm or to the grain elevators in the towns that surround us. 

We’ve had good harvest weather this year, but if we’d had lots of rain, or snows, ice, or high wind, that could have put the plant and the grain on the ground where we would never be able to it pick up.  We had wind and hail on several fields, so we had some grain lost earlier.

If you’ve read other diaries, you know my nephew, Mylan, farms with us.  His time today will be spent putting electric fences around the fields we’ve just harvested.  We’ve already put cattle onto some fields.  They graze on dropped grain and the crop residue (leaves, stalks, corncobs, etc).  On the fields that suffered hail and wind damage, there’s more feed those places than usual.  If we wouldn’t put the cattle on the stalks, the ears of corn that dropped would grow and compete with next year’s crop.  Tomorrow we’ll move cattle onto another field after we have them checked by our veterinary (animal doctor). 

Part of my day will be spent at the computer.  I do the financial bookwork for the farm and keep track of all kinds of details.  Today I write some checks to pay bills for the farm.  The sale of the corn, milo and beans that we just harvested will bring us the dollars we need to pay our bills. 

Between harvesting the crops that matured this fall, we have been planting wheat.  It has sprouted this fall and shows some growth above the ground.  We planted the first wheat about September 20^th, but we just finished two days ago.  What we planted earliest is growing well and those fields are bright green.  When a hard freeze comes, the tops will turn brown and most growth will stop.  The plant will become dormant.  All during the winter the wheat stays dormant.  When spring warmth and rains come, the plant begins to grow and the wheat will be ready to harvest next summer. 

After Dean finishes his “desk time,” he’s off to level some ground and work on building the ends of some terraces.   One of Mylan’s landladies has contracted to have fence built around a pasture.  The pasture is next to farmland.  This piece of ground includes both the pasture and crop land.  We’ve worked with a technician from the NRCS (Natural Resources Conservation Service) to plan the conservation work that will improve the land and preserve it.  Terraces and waterways are to be built on the farm ground.  They will drain the water into the pasture ponds when it rains. 

Since the fences are being built now, Dean is now preparing the part of the terracing that will be under the fence and into the pasture.  He’ll add the rest of the terraces in the next days.  Dean and Mylan will spend a great deal of time from now and until the ground freezes working at building the terraces and waterways that have been planned by the NRCS.  We’ve done most of our own conservation work for many years, and building terraces and waterways is one of Dean’s favorite jobs. 

Dean’s brother will help some with the conservation work.  All three men will be moving the dirt with three tractors and the dirt scoops, blades and the speed movers.  Watching those big machines move is almost like watching a dance, as each circles around doing their part.   It’s almost as if they were sculpting the ground.  Last spring, the work Dean has done through the years was recognized as helping to preserve our soil, water and other resources.  He received a Soil Conservation award.  Perhaps that’s another story! 

My morning finds me leaving the computer to load the washing machine and put clothes in the dryer.  The next task will be fixing some lasagna for lunch.  I’ll double the recipe and put some in the freezer knowing it will come in handy some busy day soon. 

After lunch, Mylan returns to fence building and Dean to the tractor and bulldozer.  I make a trip across the state line…it’s only six miles away.  The bank where we do business is the same one where both Dean and I remember opening our first accounts.  We now live quite near the areas where we each grew up.  That’s one of the blessings of living in a rural community and we continue to be grateful for the opportunity.

After I return home, it’s time to take advantage of the beautiful weather to mow the lawn and pick up leaves.  It may be the last mowing for the year.  Then it’s back to the computer to print out an agenda for Dean.  He’s chairman of our church and there’s a meeting this evening.  We’ll have a chalk artist at our church next week and final plans need to be reviewed for that series of meetings as well as conduct the regular business of the church. Before supper we make a trip to pick up vehicles that were left in fields where Dean worked today.  The meeting will take us to bedtime.