My husband, Dean, is a farmer. He plants and harvests corn, soybeans, milo, and wheat. He does no-till farming which means he does not plow the ground, but he sprays the weeds. Leaving the stubble and stalks helps the ground retain moisture and doesn't blow all the topsoil away on a windy Kansas day. (That is my simple understanding and explanation of no-till) I am still learning about farming and will never know it all! I have told my husband he is really smart because he has to know so much to farm. He needs to know (or at least make his best possible guess) the best times to plant, how much fertilizer, chemicals to spray, and of course the best time to sell! (that is anybody's guess!) He has told me I could be his marketing person. He doesn't always listen when I give my advice. I don't understand all of the marketing strategies like calls, puts, options, etc. So much to know! We also have cattle we get as calves, "work", brand, keep and feed for a few months then send out to pasture before deciding to sell or send to the feed yard.
The first time we sold cattle after we were married was the first time I had seen a check for over $100,000.00!!! Wow! Farmers are rich. NO! That has to pay off the loan that bought the cattle and hope there is some leftover. There is so much to learn about farming. One thing is that we will always have debt. We owe for land we have purchased to farm. We cannot really figure out a monthly budget because we don't know what our income will be. There is always the issue of buying "new" (different) machinery and fixing what we have. Luckily, Dean can do a lot of the repairs himself.
Even typing this blog has taken time with the "help" I've had. I hope to keep up with this blog and let you in on "the good life, down on the farm." I will accept any encouragement from other farm wives and/or mothers! I am always trying to organize life better. I have ideas, but implementing them is hard amongst just keeping the peace and sanity around here!
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