Truth in Labeling?

For the past several few weeks, we've had the opening act, but no main attraction. Lightning has flashed outside the windows, and booming thunder has jolted us from our chairs with a resounding crash. But it's been all show until this morning. So far, we've had 0.60" of rain, and it's still falling gently.

It should help our dryland corn crop a little, though it would have been more beneficial a few weeks ago as the corn cobs were beginning to fill. But, regardless, it should help bolster our alfalfa fields, silage crop and our pastures.

With the summertime temperatures hovering near the 100-degree mark for the past two weeks, Randy says we are going to find out "drought resistant" our corn crop really is. (We are looking forward to more moderate temperatures for the next few days!)

This is our third year of growing corn on the County Line. One reason Randy made the decision to switch to corn from milo was because it has more drought resistance bred into the seeds. Additionally, corn is Round-Up ready, and milo is not. We had been having trouble controlling weeds in milo. If there are weeds and grasses in the corn, we can spray with Round-Up without harming the growing plants.

Since recent rains have gone north or south of us, our corn is looking stressed. As we walked through the field, the dry rustle of corn stalks sounded more like stomping through leaves in the fall than a lush green canopy for growing corn.

The proof will come when it runs through the combine in a few weeks. 

As for today, I'll just enjoy the rain and the cooler temperatures.