by Deanna
Republic County WIFE

September 1, 2000

The day usually begins later, but today it began with a bang. A loud clap of thunder woke us . . . no rain, only a little thunder and lightning. Prayed for rain and then I rolled over for another hour of sleep. When I woke again I found it was cool, but there had been no rain. However, even that cool breeze was something for which to say "thank you" to the Lord. We’ve had so many hot days with the temperatures in the triple digits—over 100 degrees.

Dean, my husband, had already rolled out of bed and was at his desk having his morning devotional time, when the business band radio came to life with the message that our neighbor, Calvin, could use some help. Several days ago, other neighbors had cattle make their escape from the feedlot when they spooked (became frightened of something.) They pushed the fence down.

Over sixty head of steers roamed the neighborhood for a time. Everyone had dropped whatever jobs they were doing to help to round up the animals, but there were still some missing. Our nephew, Mylan, joined Calvin and Dean to help put in the cattle. (Mylan was on his way to our farm. He works with us here at our farm and rents other land he farms.) The three men were able to get two frightened and thirsty steers in with Calvin’s cattle. They can stay there till they calm down. Then they’ll be separated out from Calvin’s cows later and returned to their owners.

Even though the drought has reduced the amount of grass and water available, each neighbor shares and helps when a situation like this arises. They know that the same thing would be done for them if the situation were reversed. While I listened to the talk on the (business band) FM radio to follow the men’s progress, my prayer was that those scared steers would be guided to go through the gate.

The first phone call of the day was from our son, Greg. He and our daughter-in-law, Peggy, are parents to our three grandchildren. They’ve purchased an old house and are working to fix it up. He had a question for his dad about the job ahead. They presently live in a mobile home.

Greg is an instrumental music teacher. Alex is in first grade this year and Alyssa attends pre-school. Another teacher’s children join Allyson during the day. They keep Peggy busy and watchful.

Dean and Mylan return to the place. Dean comes in for a delayed breakfast. I’m finding it surprising how much has happened already this morning. It’s 8:15 a.m. when Dean and I share our morning devotion and prayer time. As Dean goes out to join Mylan, he takes cat food to the cat that adopted us.

I’ll continue my morning by clearing breakfast things away. Ice and water go into jugs for Dean and Mylan to take to the field. The combine broke down last night as we were harvesting dryland corn. They’ll work to repair it. A chain broke and went clattering through the machine.

I stretched garden hoses to two trees last night and set the water to soak the roots with a little dribble. I want to save the trees we’ve planted if I can. Even the lilac bushes that were ancient and surrounded the farm place when we moved here are wilted and have some dry leaves. The leaves of the 8’ tall silver maples are turning yellow. Oak trees that I dug from pastures we rent and transplanted one very hot day a few years ago are now 2’ or more tall. The 2’ tall one has survived being eaten down by rabbits, so it’s older than it’s size indicates.

Watering animals and plants has become a time-consuming activity. We keep water out for the cat and the two nearly wild kittens she’s raised. The birdbath needs to be cleaned and filled often in this heat. In the pastures, cattle don’t find ponds full of water as they normally do. Ponds that have not been dry in 40 years are now dry, so we haul water to tanks for the cattle.

I pull some weeds—some sand-burrs—as I walk to the mailbox to get the mail that was delivered by our rural mail carrier. They seem to grow, but the grass is so dry that it crackles as I walk across it to the box. I’ll move hoses today each time I think of it. I lay the open hose on a small board and let it run to soak deeply into the patch of grass that’s right around the house. Since the mail carrier beat me with his delivery, I’ll have to take some mail into town later today. There’s a daily paper, a weekly advertiser and a big stack of bills. The mail usually seems to hold more bills to be paid near the first of the month.

As I return to the house, the phone sounds and I sprint the last little bit. It’s the John Deere (implement) dealership. They’ve called about the combine. It’s been low on power and we’d called about that yesterday. Someone will come out and fix that combine while Dean and Mylan go to visit with a landlady.

Tried to call one of the salesmen from whom we purchased corn seed. We’d like to do a yield check of some varieties of corn with a weigh wagon. Left a message on his answering machine, called his parents (who are partners in the seed business) and left a message there, too. Got two cell phone numbers, but neither one is on. So goes technology . . . Bret arrives to take loaded trucks to the feedlot location of the elevator where we’re delivering the corn we harvested last evening.

It’s now 10 a.m. and the repairman is here to begin work on the combine. I unpack the dishwasher and turn on the computer. It’s time to enter those bills that arrived in the mail today, so they’re ready for payment at the correct time. While at the computer, I print out the checks that are due today. I’ll mail some as I go in to town later.

We live just over 2 miles from the small community of Republic. Businesses in town are few. We have an elevator that is part of a larger cooperative. Boettchers . . . welding shop . . . small hardware shop attached…gas station and attached quick-shop . . . post office . . . A local family has a trucking business headquartered in town.

It’s been a while since Bret left. When I check with him, I find he’s had a long wait in line behind other trucks.

The seed dealer called and made an appointment to check the corn yields after lunch. Dean and Mylan have returned. Dean leaves to check the cattle’s water supply and pick up the crop scouter’s report. We wonder if we’ll need to irrigate the soybeans once more.

Bret made it half way home when the truck stopped. Since Dean was closest, he drove over to help. It took a half hour to find out there’s no gas getting to the carburetor. They’re wondering if they’ll have to pull it in to the repair shop.

Faxed a document to the Farm Service Agency. Printed out and faxed an update of a contract to a lawyer for review.

Took a call for Dean with a message concerning the work of our church. He’s chairman of the congregation. We drive about 20 miles to church and across the state line into Nebraska—at Deshler. We’re members of Abiding Word Lutheran Church and organized a new church in the late 1980’s. Our church is a part of the Association of Free Lutheran Congregations. We’ve been in our new facility for almost exactly a year now.

It’s nearly noon and lunchtime. The grill is ready for pork patties…and the trimmings are ready, too. A neighbor called about the veto of federal legislation on the repeal of the estate tax. She’s disappointed. The reasoning that was mentioned is that not many farm and other family-owned businesses were affected. We both know neighbors who had to sell down for cash to pay estate taxes. They were able to retain part of the farm, but not enough to continue to be profitable and have now sold all the farmland, but retained the farmstead.

It’s taking a while to find the problem on the combine. Mylan makes a trip in to Belleville, the county seat town 20 miles away. The Twin Valley (John Deere) dealership is located there and he picks up a turbo for the combine. Determine that we’d better call the seed salesman to reschedule. When I reach him, I find he’s got a computer problem on the weigh wagon. Wonder if we’ll get to the field to combine corn today?

At 11:40, it looks like the pork patties better be burgers, rather than served as a meal. Chips and side dishes will keep better so everyone can eat as they get here. While the burgers are cooking, I call the insurance agency to report on some information and verify the reason for an increase in our insurance.

Decided to add sauerkraut and a can of baked beans to the menu. Poured off 20% of the can’s volume in juice. Carrot sticks and a dessert of ice cream and cookies will complete the meal with lemonade…it’s hot working outside! Table is set and food is ready—but no one is here—yet!

Because we drive a half hour one way to one of the area communities where there’s a grocery store, I try to keep a food pantry well stocked and a freezer full. I plan to shop no more than once a week. I keep a grocery list to add supplies, as they need to be replaced.

Mylan returned with the part…it’s 11:45. He’s helping the mechanic who’s working on the combine. Dean and Bret are still attempting to start the truck. The part they’ve needed isn’t available locally. It’s 1:05 p.m. and the combine is running, so they can check whether it will work.

I grab some carrot sticks to munch on. I have a few minutes, so I’ll check e-mails while the men come in and wash up for lunch. The meal doesn’t last long…by 1:35 they’re done. Time to reorganize—they find a part for the truck and need to drive back to Belleville for that—another 40 mile round trip. Then Mylan and Bret pull the truck in to the repair shop. Dean is ready to combine corn. I’m on call to bring out the tractor and grain buggy to unload the corn from the combine when it’s full. We’re cutting just east of the place and putting the corn into one of the bins for storage. That means we’ll be able to get along without the truck until it’s fixed.

While I wait, I check the e-mail messages that I didn’t have time to look at before lunch. There’s communication from a business where I’d sent something yesterday and messages from members of Women Involved in Farm Economics. The national president asked about the reactions to our "Drought 2000" questionnaire and wants to know how the meeting with Congressman Jerry Moran goes this afternoon.

The Kansas WIFE Legislative Chairman wrote about an EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) hearing on water issues to be held soon. The third communication from a WIFE member/friend was a joke to give a lift and a chuckle for the day!

Time to move hoses and continue with the farm’s bookwork. I put film in the camera for pictures of our drought-dried fields, ponds and streams. Time to move the tractor and grain buggy. I'll follow the combine to another field and help Dean get equipment placed. Had a phone message to stop by the Rip City Inn—our quick-shop, café, and gas station. Some of the questionnaires had been left for me to pick up to take to the meeting with the congressman. That meeting is at 4:30 so there’s just time to go through Republic and on to the Depot Market for some of the fresh fruits and vegetables before I go in to Courtland for the meeting. Sipped a "peach smoothie" as I left! Good and cooling on this hot day.

There’s a good crowd to meet with the congressman, more seating had to be brought in. He got some good comments, suggestions and ideas to take back to Washington. He’s fully aware of the drought, low prices for our products and the deadly combination they add to the high price of the inputs needed to produce our crops.

Back home, and it’s time for supper. The combine is sitting in the field—stopped, with the bin full of corn. The auger in the grain buggy had sheared off a bolt, so it couldn’t be unloaded. The men placed a smaller auger under the bottom opening of the wagon and allow the corn to run out to be augured into the larger auger that takes the grain into the big bin. Once it’s empty, they can replace the bole and the wagon is again ready to take the corn from the combine.

Prepared toasted cheese sandwiches and micro waved the food that was left from lunch, so the men could eat before they returned to the field. Bret is in the tractor with the grain buggy and Mylan has left to check on the water (again) for the cattle.

It’s time to fill the big tanks we have on trailers to transport water to the pastures and fields for the cattle. We’ve sold steers and heifers at a younger age and smaller weight this year to cut the numbers on the pastures. Cull cows have been marketed, too, as pastures and ponds continue to dry up. Weeds seem to continue to grow, so we’ve pastured the wheat stubble. The cattle are doing double duty. They graze for the young growth that’s come in the stubble. They are also eating the weeds before they go to seed, which will keep weed growth down next year.

Fields are much too dry to disc and we’ve not even applied fertilizer. We don’t want to open up the ground and risk losing any moisture that might be in the soil.

I’m taking the camera along as I drive from place to place today. I’ve found a couple places where the milo (grain sorghum) is somewhat protected and looks fairly normal. Most milo is dismal-looking. Leaves are dry and there are no heads. Soybean plants are short (about 6" tall) and look like dry sticks. This time of year, they’d usually be tall and full of leaves, with pods developing from each blossom. Pods that are there this year aren’t filling; meaning the beans inside are very small. There is a difference in the dryland and irrigated crops, but even the irrigated crops aren’t doing as well this year. As a contrast to the 6" tall stems in the dry areas, Dean has walked through fields where some of the plants are up to his shoulder. Since he’s 6’4" tall, you can see that means the plants were between 5 and 6 foot tall.

The next stop for a photo was the pasture. The pond there is nearly dry. We built the pond soon after we began to farm—28 years ago. When it was full, the water stretched for nearly 3/8 of a mile and covered many acres. The pond was so dry early last spring that Dean was concerned that the dirt would blow. He planted oats for a cover crop in ground that had been the bottom of the pond. He knew it would also be good eating for the cattle if we didn’t get rain. As he drove the tractor and drill back to the place, snow began to come down. The crops have all matured early this year, and the oats was actually combined. Guess I should have been taking a picture of Dean cutting oats in the pond.

(There is such a contrast between the photos I’ve been taking and the pictures in my mind. Our farm on September 1 is usually still green. Corn harvest usually doesn’t start for another couple weeks. Milo and beans should still be green and growing with milo heads just beginning to turn the varied shades of reds. It will be a hard situation for farmers who don’t have much to harvest because of the drought. It’s like working very hard and doing your best at your job for most of the year—only to find you won’t be getting paid enough to provide a living for your family.

Most farmers have a great love for the land and enjoy planting the seeds, taking care of the crops and watching them mature. This dry, dry year is a hard one in many ways. There will be a deep financial loss to each farm family and we can’t look at those dry fields without a feeling of sadness . . .)

It’s 9:30 p.m. and Bret has gone home. Mylan finished the task of hauling water to some of the cattle. Dean and Mylan will stop harvesting when this combine bin is filled.