A Corny Post

It's the crop that almost wasn't.

Before last week's 2.80" of rain, Randy wasn't going to plant corn on the 200 acres he'd planned. He'd ordered seed from our friendly neighborhood salesman. But without moisture, it would have been a lesson in futility to plant the expensive seed.

Who knows? It may still be a lesson in futility. Since we are dryland farmers, we need the rain to fall at the right time and moderate temperatures during pollination later this summer.  But the much-needed moisture was the "green light" to start planting the green seed.

God says, "Leave the miracle part to me. 

I've got the seed, the soil, the sunshine, the rain and the seasons.

I'm God and all this miracles stuff is easy for me. 

I have reserved something very special for you 

and that is to plant the seed."

--Jim Rohn, Author & Motivational Speaker

Randy just might have jinxed himself the night before the planting began by saying something like this: "I think we are caught up on repairs at the moment."

At the time that declaration came out of his mouth, I looked at him and shook my head. "You are tempting fate!" I told him.

So guess who was off for parts the next day? I picked up two fertilizer tanks to replace the ones that had cracked during the winter. And $1,200-plus later, I was back from my whirlwind trip to Hutchinson, and the guys got the tanks installed. Randy started planting last Friday (April 22) afternoon.

We got one field planted, but then had another breakdown. (It's just one other variation of the Farmer's Law: "If you're in a hurry to get something done, there will inevitably be breakdowns."

The parts didn't come in until Tuesday morning. Once they were in place, he was off to the field to try and get more planted before the forecasted severe weather came in. (It never did, by the way.)

Randy also applies fertilizer to give the seed a boost of energy for germination and early growth.

Our planter was set at 18,800 corn seeds per acre. Each $205 bag has 80,000 seeds and plants 4.3 acres. By comparison, one bag of certified wheat seed costs $15 and plants a little more than 1/2 an acre. A bag of milo seed costs $100 and plants 14 acres.

And now we'll leave the miracle part to God. We may need some more miracles in the repair department, too. I'm off to Hutchinson again today to pick up more parts. (Farm wife hint: NEVER say you are caught up on repairs.)