Burn Ban

[Janet]

Our county is so dry that government officials have put us under a burn ban until July 16th unless we get substantial rain. No outside flames for anything are allowed. Everything is so brown...our yard crunches when you walk on it. It's 91 degrees right now, so it's hot..humid and just awful. So...guess I'm staying in today...lol

[gja1000]

I have all the empathy in the world, Janet. We had a burn ban for a year last year, and we had temps over 100 everyday for weeks and weeks. We could only water once a week, and many areas could not water any at all. Everything was brown and crunchy and it seemed it would be that way forever. It was so depressing. Last summer was just brutal. Thankfully, it started to rain in about a year and it felt like paradise. But now I'm so terrified that it will stop and never rain again. So I completely understand how you are feeling.

[JJJ]

Oh no Janet :(

Seeing things like that can make people feel down.

[Janet]

I remember Gayle how bad it was last year for you guys. It is just so bad that even with lots of lotion, even my skin feels dry...lol. Hopefully our drought won't last as long as yours did....I honestly think I'd go crazy...:) I'm already dreaming of standing in the rain when it comes.

[DianaB]

That's not good to be dry going into summer. I feel sorry for the farmers there. I'm sure it's a big worry. We had a bad year last year and we're worried about it being dry again. We did have a little over an inch of rain last week so it helped but we still have summer ahead of us. I figured that you probably got some because the rain that passes here usually heads your way.

A burn ban is a lot harder than a water ration. I remember that you had that last year, Gayle. I know that things are better but aren't you still in a drought area? I know that a tropical depression would be really good for you.....in rain anyway! Sometimes they push up here and we get rain as well.

I hate this extreme weather!!!

[gja1000]

Yes, we are still in a drought but it is so much better than last year. I'm so thankful. I will never take rain for granted again.

[Janet]

I guess there is a slight chance of rain tonight, but it's very slight. It would be so nice if we could have a downpour. Well...I'm keeping my fingers crossed for rain...as long as we get some.

[DianaB]

We have a 60% chance during the night and 40% tomorrow. I sure hope we get some. The corn could really use the rain......plus the beans that Glen's been planting. I'll try to send any that comes our way your direction, Janet!!!!

[Janet]

It did rain last evening. The smell was so awesome and it just plain felt good. It really poured down for quite some time, but I'm not sure how much we got. I don't want to sound selfish, but wish it would rain again today.

[DianaB]

I'm glad that you got some rain!! We got about .65 and we're pretty happy with that. Nate and Jaci got quite a bit more but they haven't gotten as much from the other rains that we had and they needed it. I'm like you......I was hoping yesterday for a little more but we didn't get it. It's suppose to be hotter this weekend and the rain has just made it more humid. UGH......

[Janet]

How are the crops doing there Diana? Here...not so good and it's a little scary. The corn looks horrible. It's not very tall and it looks a little wilted. Some fields don't look too bad at all, others...not good at all. There is some sweet corn near us and it's only about two feet tall with tassels. So weird to see it that little. I hope we can get some more rain soon.

[DianaB]

That doesn't sound good. Sweet corn doesn't get as big as field corn but that sounds pretty short to me. Right now the crops don't look too bad but we have 15 days of hot weather with no rain ahead of us. Last year wasn't good for us.....we were so dry.....so we're hoping and praying that things are better this year. Farming is always a worry......not enough rain.....too much rain.......insects.....disease.......price is down......it's always something.

[Janet]

It is really short...even for sweet corn. We haven't gotten enough rain and the news is that it won't do any good now. The corn crop is not going to be a good one. It's good that farmers can have insurance, but I don't know much about it. Our neighbor just to the south of us has an insurance company just for farmers called Crop Insurance Specialist.

This year is the first time in years that I wish we still had our pool, although I wouldn't want the expense to keep it up...lol. I don't even own a bathing suit anymore but have often thought these last few days that it would be nice to go to a lake. No one else would go and I won't go alone.

Suppose to be 102 degrees today , Friday, 99 on Saturday and then 86 on Saturday. Sunday is suppose to be 82 with a 20% chance of rain....sure hope that improves. I want to stand out in it...lol

[gja1000]

Janet, I feel your pain, for sure. We haven't gotten any rain now for over a month and you sure can tell it. Everything is brown and yellow. I'm really surprised we didn't have any fires from the fireworks last night. I know it just feels miserable.

[DianaB]

We have Crop Insurance here too.....in fact, some friends of ours run it. Because of the drought crop prices have been going up. Glen's been selling some grain but I know that with the rising prices he'd rather wait. It's so hard to sell when it's gong up!! A few cents can make a $500 difference in a load. It adds up quickly.

I wish that we would all get some rain and get over this dry weather. It worries me.

[Janet]

Same here....if the crops are not good, everything else will go up in price. Spoke with a farmer friend today and told him that I saw on the news that if we didn't get 4-6 inches of rain within the next two weeks and not all at once, that it won't help at all. He said he didn't think it would help anyway....it really too late. He's very worried.

[DIANE W]

Well here in England we are having a big problem with rain, some areas are having floods really bad, it is heavy rain, high rivers, and the drainage cant cope.

I have watched on the news how some people are being flooded out of their homes, its just awful, thankfully both at our home and our holiday home we are not at risk of the floods.

I will send you all some of our rain to help you with your crops, its a very worrying time for you, i am sure.

[DianaB]

Oh Diane.....if we could only share rain!!! We've had times that we've had so much.....and like you, wished that we could have sent it on to other places!!

Farming is such an up and down way to live. Every year it's such a worry and it seems like you never get the outcome.....or the price that you'd like. We never have paid vacations or holidays. My husband works long days......6 days a week. There are NO weekends. It's fustrating but it has been a great way to raise kids!! That's been the best part. There are times where I really, really wish that Glen had an 8 to 5 job with evenings and weekends off!! But God is good to us and we're blessed......it always seems to work out.

[DIANE W]

Diana.... i can only imagine how tough it is for you and other farming people at times, i think there are positives to both lifestyles.

It must be lovely to have the freedom not to be tied to a regular job, you know what i mean, like you have to answer to someone all the time. Glenn is his own boss so to speak, but with that comes the big responsibility of not having a regular wage, and the worry of farming life.

But like you say ....... thankfully it always seems to work out, despite the tough times, and that is a good thing.

[DianaB]

It is a hard job......because you are your own boss. That means you don't just take off on vacation or do a lot of things that most people get to do. And trust me......there is ALWAYS equipment that needs to be worked on!!

[Janet]

I honestly don't think I could handle the stress of being a farm family. It would be a bit different if I'd grown up around it all my life and was use to it. It's bad enough living from week to week or so now and I don't have to worry about weather. I'm grateful to all the farmers and their families though that put in all that hard work so we all can eat.

[DianaB]

Farm life is different and with my Mom and Dad having regular jobs and an income every week it was hard to be a farmer's wife. I've learned to leave it all in Glen's hands. If anything ever happens to Glen I'm going to be in a pickle!! I guess that my son, Feyn, would have to help me figure everything out. It doesn't help that Glen's grain is mixed with Feyn's and Mark's........However he does keep a record of things on the computer.

Our money come in in large sums.......you may have a lot of money one day and it's gone the next so you never get too excited about having money!!! The bills are huge. I go and get parts for the equipment and I may carry out several hundred dollars in a little sack!!

It's the way of life that Glen grew up with so he's used to it. I hate the amount of money that we have borrowed......it's a lot!! But you have to borrow money to buy ground......and you have to have ground to farm.......then you have to have equipment to farm......and living expenses!!!!

[judy]

I hope you all get rain really soon! It is so hard to have to rely on the weather to make a living!

[DianaB]

It is. The weather is always a concern......too much rain.....not enough rain......too cool of temperatures......too hot of temperatures!!! Always something!! However.....it's been good to us and our kids were raised with Mom and Dad both around a lot. The kids used to go with Dad in the tractors and combines.....and played at the shop with him around. I can't complain too much. Farming doesn't work for everyone.......and we've had friends that have gone on to do other things. God has been good to us!!!

We did get some rain last night. A half inch on some of our fields.....a little more here at the house. Hopefully it's a break in the weather and we'll get a little more.

[Janet]

That's great that you did get some rain. We got a little, but not much. Suppose to stay in the 90's with no rain in the forecast. It's so sad.

[Janet]

Even though we got some rain, we are still under a burn ban until August 6th. They'll re-evaluate things then.

[judy]

We are under a burn ban until mid October. Last year, we had the floods that wiped out so much of this area.

I do see some beautiful corn crops though. They must have some kind of watering system in place. I read that the preice of corn and soy beans are going to be very high!

My area is mostly dairy farms, but corn is also very important. There are not that many farm stands around as usually. It's a bad year for farmers!

[DianaB]

They probably have irrigation in the fields. Different areas have different ways of irrigating.

Yes, the prices are higher than we've ever seen them.....as far as soybeans go. Feyn got $18.02 a bushel for beans last week!! Usually they are below ten dollars so this tells you how high they are. Glen sold some for $16 a couple of weeks ago and that was the most that he had ever sold beans for and the price is still going us. Glen thinks that the government will step in soon and put a stop to it. You're probably going to see some things going up at the grocery store because of it.

Corn is up too but not to the extent that soybeans are. Soybeans are used in a lot of things if you check your labels.

[Janet]

It's suppose to be 105 today...and it's humid. Not so good to be out and about but I did go to town and had lunch with a friend.

[2tiredmom]

They have lifted our burn ban. Except no campfires or fireworks still. would love to have a campfire but will have to wait and see what happens. suppose to get more rain today i am praying.

[Janet]

Hope we get some rain too. The storms are suppose to be here later this afternoon (if they come at all) and they say there is large hail and damaging winds to be expected. It's too hot and humid to do anything so I'm staying in today.

[2tiredmom]

We had a very small amount of rain yesterday. But nothing special. It finally cooled off here. didn't get above 85. Hope you didn't get the hail and high winds Janet. Crops up here could not stand the wind. The fields would be flat if we did.
Maybe rain today I hope then nice for the weekend.

[judy]

The Northeast is getting plenty of rain these past few days. I heard New Jersey got hit bad, and so did NYC. They lost electricity, etc.

We have been getting milder weather than downstate the past year! It's usually the reverse. We had quite a storm a few days ago, and lost power, but it was back up in the morning. Our lines are underground in my community, so we are very, very lucky!!! I don't think anybody around the Catskills got hit too hard, but we sure need the rain!!!

I hope Gina is okay. She lives in Jersey.


I hope you all get lots of rain soon!

[Janet]

It's been so humid here. The county I live in..Clinton County...has been declared a disaster because of the drought. It's so awful for the farmers.

It did sprinkle some while I mowed the yard this morning, but just a few minutes ago it poured down. Now the sun is out so I imagine if I were to check...it would be really sticky out now. Here are a few pictures of the rain we just got:

7120 7121 7122

7123

[DianaB]

Eighty-two counties in Kansas have been declared a disaster......so sad. The drought is hurting so much. Actually in spite of us being dry we don't look too bad compared to some areas we saw on the way to Tablerock Lake. At least we still have some green!! The corn harvest has started here......early because of the early spring.

I'm glad that you got a little bit of rain, Janet. We've had some come through but didn't get any here. Oh well......at least it's trying!! God will provide!!!

[Janet]

Temps are going back up into the 90's for the next few days anyway. I know that's not as bad as Texas right now, but I sure wish it would rain some more. It won't help the crops we're told, but it sure would be nice to have a steady rain for a day or so.

[DianaB]

Our temps are running around 107* to 111*. We are REALLY hot!! The crops are really suffering from the heat......plus it's hard on Glen and the farmers that are out in it. Glen usually comes in some time in the afternoon and takes a short nap and eats lunch......not always but most of the time. I can't imagine being out in it like he is.

We has small chances for rain all weekend but didn't get a thing. Rain was out there......but very spotty. It will be our turn soon. We're still praying that Texas gets hit by a hurricane!! Sorry Texas Girls!!!