Knee High by the 4th of July?

Knee high by the 4th of July.

Just like putting something in the "ice box" or saving something to a "floppy disk," the terminology is no longer relevant today. Once upon a time, corn farmers measured the success of their corn crop, wanting it to be "knee high by the 4th of July." 

So did Rodgers and Hammerstein have a more accurate measuring stick for today's corn? In “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning” from their musical, Oklahoma!, the main characters marvel at the height of the corn, singing:

“There’s a bright golden haze on the meadow ...

The corn is as high as an elephant’s eye,

And it looks like it’s climbin’ clear up to the sky.”

Since there were no elephants around, I used my handy 6-foot-1-inch measuring stick. I'd say it looks good ... for now.  

With significant advances in agricultural technology, genetics, disease control and growth efficiency, today’s farmers can expect corn to reach far higher than the knee come Independence Day. Modern corn can flourish in conditions that might have stunted the plant in past generations. So in dry times or wet, too warm or too cool, the stalk generally keeps on growing and produces an ear. 

As you can see in the photo below, we got quite a bit of rain last week. Depending on the location, we got between 2 and 4 inches.

While our dryland corn liked the moisture, it was not so good for harvesting wheat. We cut late Monday afternoon (June 28 - after rains the weekend before kept us out of the field) and then weren't able to cut again until late evening, July 2. It gave us plenty of time for a crop update tour and other excursions.

The toadstools growing on the Stafford golf course sometimes caused some confusion with golf balls. It's not often you make a trip to the golf course when there's still wheat to be cut. But it took our minds off the uncompleted task for a little bit, I suppose.

The clouds provided a pretty backdrop for some dramatic landscape photos on the way home, too.

 

The humidity didn't allow early starts in the wheat field.

After Randy checked pastures on Saturday, he suggested a photo opportunity along U.S. Highway 50, just outside Sylvia. Someone had decorated their barbed wire fence with American flags. 

That excursion had me looking for my own medium-sized American flag for some shots in our wheat field while we waited on the sun to dry out the wheat.

Test weights suffered from the rain, but, thankfully, we didn't get hail or extreme wind, so the crop kept standing. The wheat is still yielding well. Yes, we are still cutting.

And, when you have time to play with filters and such, you make patriotic messages on photos.

The hiatus also gave me more time to practice the patriotic piano prelude I had planned for church on the 4th of July.  I played "The Star-Spangled Banner," "Battle Hymn of the Republic," "God Bless America" and "America" before church started on Sunday, July 4. And I also played during communion, so it was a lot of extra playing. These days, I think about my piano teacher, Mrs. Lighter. She'd be amazed that the Moore girl with the least natural ability on the piano spends so much time playing these days. If only I'd devoted that practice time as a kid ... Oh, the wisdom of advancing age!

Thankfully, we hired a young farmer from the area to do some custom cutting for us. So we are getting closer to completion. The finish line is hovering at the horizon (though not today).

 

We are thankful for the co-op workers who came in to weigh and dump wheat trucks at Zenith on Saturday and Monday. I did take them some cookies. (I know it's not much, but we appreciate their work when many people were celebrating the 4th at the lake or elsewhere. The custom harvesters got a cookie delivery, too.)

The hay fields liked the rains, too. As I walked to the combine through an alfalfa field last evening after delivering supper, I decided that my camera needed "smell-o-vision." Swathing and baling the second cutting will have to wait until after we are done with the wheat.

Randy is battling some mud as we continue cutting. So far, he's been able to work his way through it. We hope that trend continues.