Why We Irrigate and a Memorial Day Thank You

Which wheat field would you rather have?
You can't hurt my feelings, neither field is mine. But, both fields are within a mile of each other near our farm.

Or, this one?

   I hope you can see the difference. All the top field received in the way of water was this past winter's rainfall. The bottom field belongs to a neighbor who raises consistently excellent wheat.

   Can you see the difference? The top field is much sparser than the bottom field. If you could see the individual kernels, they are no more than 2/3s the size of the kernels in the bottom field. And that, dear readers is why farmers in my neighborhood irrigate. Even with 160% normal rainfall there isn't enough rain to raise even a decent wheat crop. Last year's dry land wheat fields in our area, again that was a wet winter, yielded only one half to three quarter of a ton per acre. Farmers who irrigated their wheat had yields of three to four tons of wheat per acre. Why wouldn't we irrigate. We can take a hundred to two hundred dollars of water and turn it into seven hundred to twelve hundred dollars worth of wheat.

Memorial Day

This weekend is Memorial Day. In spite of what many people think it is not merely the opening of the summer BBQ season and an important annual motorcar race. The celebration of Memorial Day goes back to just after the end of the Civil War. With Jonathan's deployments we have learned a new appreciation of the price of our freedoms. It is not only time to honor our fallen soldiers, but a good time to thank our veterans, our soldiers and their families. Waiting for your soldier, sailor, Marine or airman to come home can be very hard. My hat is especially off to the spouses who wait at home during long deployments. THANK YOU ALL!

I saw an important reminder a few years ago-

It is the Soldier

It is the soldier, not the reporter,

Who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the soldier, not the poet,

Who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the soldier,not the campus organizer,

Who has given s the freedom to demonstrate.

It is the soldier, not the lawyer,

who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the soldier, who salutes the flag,

Who serves beneath the flag,

And whose coffin is draped by the flag,

Who allows the protester to burn the flag.

Father Dennis Edward O'Brien

USMC

Again, Thank you all. I have not always been the most patriotic person, over the last ten years I have learned a new appreciation of the special country we live in and the price that has been paid for us to live here.