Turn, Turn, Turn!

There are lots of twists and turns between planting time and harvest.

A tale of two crops is playing out across the road. In one field, the wheat we've planted earlier in the month is having a good growth spurt after unseasonably warm temperatures this past weekend.

And another crop - the sudan - is being swathed. (For more on planting the sudan and why we use it for cattle feed, click on this link: TDN? BMR? It's Alphabet Soup!)

The guys had begun swathing the sudan before we got 3.20 inches of rain. The moisture was beneficial for the wheat crop, but it didn't help the sudan that was already swathed and left to dry and cure. We are definitely not complaining about the moisture. It just demonstrates the dichotomy that sometimes happens in crop production. What's good for one crop is not necessarily good for the other. But since wheat is our "bread" and butter (so to speak), we would much rather have good moisture for it.

On Monday, the guys were able to get started with the swathing again after a two-week hiatus. They finished it up yesterday afternoon.

The sudan was really leaning in the wind on Monday.

Can there be a "harvest" without a complication? The guys ended up having to change the teeth on the swather since it wasn't cutting through the thick stalks. (We had other complications when we swathed a neighbor's sudan this summer ... always an adventure.)

Now it's hurry up and wait. The sudan will take several days to cure before it can be baled. Then it will be ready to be served up for "dinner" for the cattle this winter.

I keep thinking about the Byrds' song, "Turn, Turn, Turn." There is a season for everything. And sometimes the planting and the harvest happen simultaneously on The County Line.