Tuesday, July 18, 2006

The Effects of Stress While Trying to Reproduce!!


Several times a day, I slip off my old farmer shoes and slip into my black, knee high mud boots. They're the type firemen use with no shoes required. They are very comfortable. I then get on my old four wheeled ATV and usually head down this field road first. Here, it's about 6 A.M. and the heavy dew has wet things down pretty good. I'm on my to visit my irrigation wells and change the gates. Gates are the plastic and rubber mechanisms in the aluminum irrigation pipes. You can slide the gate open and water will come out. We are in trouble on the farms in this area. Tomorrow's high temp is to be 105 degrees with winds around 30 mph. That will be a very costly day for those of us with already stressed corn. Some of the corn is still in the pollination phase. Ideal for pollination is 92 degrees or less. The hot winds can dry the silks and cause one side of the ear to be barren.
Although barren is a good thing when you're 56 years of age... it's not good in the cornfield.
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23 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like that picture, Cliff. Very cool.

Ralph said...

Cliff
Couldn't get the picture to open but the story is great. Hope the corn pulls through.
Ralph

Anonymous said...

Cliff,
Corn looks good. Mom called this afternoon and said that she hated to rub it in, but she and Ole Blue were canning sweet corn. I told her that wasn't fair. We have to eat sweet corn bought from Wal-Mart. Not even close to home grown. Folks here in Montana just don't understand "fresh from the field" sweet corn.

Love the pics from home.

Greg

Ralph said...

Blogger must be back. The picture came up - that looks nice, real nice. Wish I was there.
Ralph

Rhodent said...

Beautiful looking cornfield, Cliff! I have been thinking a lot about your farm the past couple of weeks... between the hot spell, and other bad weather... I hope things get better for you soon... This must be why farmers tend to have such strong faith!

Paul Nichols said...

God bless you, sir. I'll pray for a miracle. Nice picture.

Rachel said...

That corn looks good to me Cliff. I love the picture too. I can picture you on the ATV with those boots on!!

Hope it all does well. You really had a catchy title there!!

PinkCat said...

Cliff I can not imagine anything worse than barren corn. I hope it pulls through.

I giggled thinking of you in your fireman wellies...!!

Take care xx

Jim said...

Your corn is looking really good. I think corn prices will get a lot better this year.
If you have too much water you could pump some of that up over the hills to Dad's farm.
I hate to see how it is looking.
..

Anonymous said...

That's a bummer, Cliff. We're in a drought, too. You don't suppose Gore was right??? He did predict Summer would be the warmest months of the year.

Raggedy said...

Loved the picture!
I sure hope your corn makes it.
Good post!
Have a wonderful day!
*^_^
(=':'=) meow hugs
(")_ (")Š from da Raggedy one

Jamie Dawn said...

In the Bible, barren Hannah prayed silently in the temple and asked God for a son. The priest thought she was drunk, but she wasn't. Hannah later gave birth to Samuel.

What can Cliff learn from this passage?

Make your way into the corn field. Drink a lot of liquor, Wild Turkey will do. Pray silently for God to de-barrenize your corn and help it reproduce despite the hot weather. Make sure a priest is present.

Sometimes, my wisdom scares me. :)

I hope you and your corrns survive this heat.

Gel said...

Enjoyed the photo, but I'm wishing for much better weather conditions for your farm (and area). It hit over a 100 here with humidity that's been doing me in, but I can work inside for my job. It must be awful to be subject to the whims of the weather.

Corn on the cob(yum!) is one of the few veggies my daughter will eat, even though I love vegetables.

Rhodent said...

Cute title, by the way!

Cliff said...

JD, your wisdom can't scare you as much as it does the rest of us.

Kendra Lynn said...

Hope your corn does okay.
Its been pretty hot here as well...not good for the cornfields.

Peter said...

Sure hope you get a break in that weather Cliff.

1 plus twins said...

it seems to be hot all over the u.s. this summer. i sure hope your corn will be ok!!

Unknown said...

It's not the heat, it's the humanity...

Dan said...

Did you get any of this rain?

Cliff said...

Just about 2 tenths. Not much. You?

Jamie Dawn said...

My wisdom IS scary.
Be very afraid!!!!

Sandy Hatcher-Wallace said...

I hope the temperature has come down and that the bees have polinated your corn.
I love the picture and I also love corn, so I hope it rains soon.