Fall is in the Air

     Ahhh, Fall is in the air. It is still warm, but the summer heat has broken. I hope you are all enjoying it like I am. This is my favorite weather of the year.
     We are still busy in the shop getting equipment ready for harvest. We are also getting ready to put some fertilizer on the almonds. This helps with the growth of the new fruit wood for next year's crop and makes sure the trees have a little food when they come out of dormancy next Spring.

    It is also time for the Big Fresno Fair. Here's a little radio bit I did about the Fair.

An Unusual Sight at the Fair
     If you want to see something truly amazing when you go to the Big Fresno Fair take a peek inside the Ag building. Yeah, I know you have seen it before. Stacks and stacks of golden peaches, purple plums and sun kissed nectarines. Boxes of grapes of all types and colors. But, I invite you to see it with new eyes. We think this is normal. We grow three hundred different crops in Fresno County. Do you realize how unusual that is? It is truly amazing. There are very few places on earth that do what we do here. When you drive through Iowa or Kansas you see miles and miles of corn, or miles and miles of wheat.

     But, when you come to Fresno County you drive through grape vineyards, cotton fields, orange groves and dairies. We’ve got it all.

     And there in the Ag building, in one glimpse you can see it all, you can see what few people on earth see. So, when you go to the Big Fresno Fair I hope you have a great time. But, I also hope you take a peek inside the Ag building and remember how unusual that all is.

I hope y'all have a great week!

The Fall Rush

Sorry I haven't posted for a while. Fall is a busy time on the farm. On top of that I have been waiting to get a picture to post and I haven't seen anything that really captures my attention as a photograph. A friend took this picture of Indy.

My buddy.

     In the cotton we have cut off irrigation water. Now we are waiting for the bolls to open. This warm weather has been great. We have had some bug problems. But, I am riding that out. I am hoping the good bugs are eating the bad bugs. The plants are lush and green so they can take a little damage from mites and worms. But, if we get any significant white fly or aphids we will have to spray again. Quality is everything in a global market and the honey dew secreted by white fly and aphids makes the cotton sticky and hard to spin. That is a serious problem.

    The last of the almonds have been harvested and the trees have gotten another drink of water. They will also get some fertilizer. The trees are forming next years fruit wood and we want them to be as strong and healthy as they can be. A little food now and when they wake up from dormancy in the Spring they are ready to go.

     We are working in the shop to prepare our equipment for harvest. I'll attach two recent radio pieces I have done on maintenance below.

     My radio work has been absorbing some time also. Thanks to everyone who has heard me and sent words of encouragement. I appreciate hearing from you. Occasionally I will post the text from my radio bits as appropriate. Remember, if you miss me on the air you can always find us at-

http://www.940kyno.com/index.php?c=68

A Lesson Learned: The Importance of Maintenance

By Paul H. Betancourt
Copyright August, 2011
     My uncle was a New York City Transit cop. My uncle was also an avid hunter and a crackerjack mechanic. When I got my first car, Dad and I too it over to Uncle Charlie to get it serviced. While we were talking about parts and tune-ups, Uncle Charlie laughed and said, “You don’t have to be a good mechanic, you just have to learn how to change the oil and do the maintenance. Oil is cheaper than parts.”
     You can bet this is a lesson I use on the farm. When I first started farming I kept buying bigger and bigger toolboxes. Then I realized I’m not that good of a mechanic and I don’t have to be. I got a smaller toolbox and a cell phone. We service all our own equipment and do the minor repairs. When we get stuck we call for help.

     You’d be surprised how many people, including farmers, don’t check and change their oil. A little tender loving care in the way of oil and grease goes a long way to keep things running smoothly.

Maintenance II- Annual Inspections

By Paul H. Betancourt
August 2011

     A pilot friend told me his plane was in the shop for its annual inspection. When I asked what mechanics check in an ‘annual’, he said, “Everything.” Mechanics go over the whole plane inside out, from tip to tail. Any equipment that is even close to the edge gets changed out.

     That makes sense. Sooner or later, every piece of equipment I have owned or driven needs to be pulled over to the side of the road to have something checked. Up in the sky there is nowhere to pull over and park.

     That gave me an idea. Why not do an “Annual” on the tractors? We are not flying, but down time during harvest can be costly and may drive you nuts. So we have changed what we do on the farm. Every fall, in between the summer irrigation and cotton harvest, we perform an Annual inspection on each piece of equipment we have.
     It may seem a long way from an airplane hangar to a farm shop. But, you can learn a lot of interesting things when you ask questions. I learned how to take better care of our equipment just by asking my pilot friend one question.

I hope y'all have a great week.
 
P

Almond Harvest

and that is what a year's worth of work looks like. Pretty isn't it? And tasty too!

The first variety of almonds are up and on their way to market. The next variety will be shaken on the 29th. In the meantime we are sneaking a shot of water on the trees to keep them going.

This week we will work in the shop. No irrigating on the cotton. Next week we will put the last irrigation on the cotton.

Before I sign off, here's my recipe for roast almonds.

Roast Almonds
4 cups of almonds

1/8 cup of olive oil

2 tbsp salt

12 minutes and check

350F
Note- you can use any type of oil, I use olive oil
Also, be creative and try different types of salt. Garlic salt is yummy. I think I have tried Pappy’s. Zatarain’s Cajun salt is very zippy. I have my own creole salt I use also. Have fun.


Mmmmmmm. Yes, that is a yummy sound.
Fresh almonds taste great, but a can't eat too many. Maybe that is a hint.
Roasted almonds taste fab-u-lous, and I can eat them all day long. Again, maybe that is a clue of some sort.

I hope y'all have a great week.

P

We're shaking my nuts,

that means it's harvest time! [What  were you thinking?]

The little brown flecks are the almonds being shaken to the ground.

The old joke is Al-monds on the tree and ah-monds when they are on the ground. Because they have had the 'L' shaken out of them. OK, corny, sometimes we get a little silly when we have been in the sun too long.

The nuts will lay on the ground for a week to dry out. Then they will be picked up and sent to the huller to be hulled and shelled. Then off to Blue Diamond for packaging. Remember, a can a week is all we ask.

Elsewhere on the farm-

We are starting our last irrigation in the cotton. We'll be done watering the end of the month.

The bugs got sprayed over the weekend. I hated the expense, but those bugs won't die by themselves. The crazy thing is the new generation of bug killers are softer on the environment, but they are much more expensive and don't last as long. I am left with this dilemma- do the right thing and pay through the nose, or go cheap. We do have good commodity prices this year. I hope it is enough to cover fuel, fertilizer and chemical prices. There is always something to worry about.

My radio work continues to go well. Last week the station posted MP3s of my pieces. You can find them at- http://www.940kyno.com/index.php?c=68

   I do appreciate the words of encouragement some of you have sent along. Radio is a different critter. It is hard to create a conversation when I am in the studio by myself. Glad to know some of you like it.

I hope y'all have a great week.

The Plants Will Tell You...

Sorry I haven't posted lately. I have been busy. I'll explain later.

Plants will tell you when something is wrong. The corn leaf on the left is not lush and green. The yellow streaking tells us something is missing. Soils and leaf samples confirm the field is short of potassium. A friend who is a retired agronomist tells me the plant wants potassium, but there isn't enough in the soil. So it picks up the sodium in the soil which burns the leaves. I need to get some potassium out there so we can have healthy, happy plants. Of course, the corn plants can't be all that upset. You can see two healthy ears of corn in the background.

OK, like I said I have been busy. We have a new project. Those of you in the Fresno area can now hear me on KYNO 940 radio weekdays. They have asked if I do a little radio work for them. Eventually the owner at KYNO wants to do a full Ag news show, but we are not ready for that yet. So we have started with one minute spots about life on the farm. You can hear me 5:30. 6:30, 7:30AM, 12:30 and 5:30PM.  We are also tyring to link this blog with the station web page. We are being sponsored by a local fertilizer company, Actagro. Thanks guys.

Next week- almond harvest! We start shaking trees on Monday. I'll report back to you.

I hope y'all have a good week.

P

Wheat Harvest

Sorry about the late post. Last weekend we helped our daughter and her family move in to their new home. I am just catching up.

There are 365 days in a year. We have been waiting for the grain harvesters to show up for about two weeks. Of course they show up on moving day. Whew.
   This sure is a pretty sight.

Hard to believe this is the first step to a loaf of bread.

Looks like a good crop. Prices are softening, but that usually happens during harvest of most crops.
Once the straw is baled we will disc the ground and rip it. Then we will let it sit open until the Fall. We will work it and bed it before cotton harvest and it will be ready for next year.

And how about the weather? It is over 20 degrees cooler than this time last week.
   I was looking over some weather forecasts this week. The average temp in our area for the end of July is 97 on the Weather Channel. That's funny. Twenty five years ago I was working with the UC thirty year average temps and they had the last few days of July were pegged at 100 degrees. I thought we were supposed to be warming up. I know they probably had different methodologies, but my point is that at least over the last thirty years, in our area, temps are not going up.

Elsewhere on the farm-
   The corn is now officially as high as an elephant's eye. It really grew during last week's heat. It is tasseling out. It is getting another shot of water and fertilizer this week.
   Today we finished the second irrigation on the cotton. It is finally blooming. Some bugs started showing up last week. They are getting sprayed this week.
   We finally have hull split in the almonds. That is about two weeks late. Another reflection of the cool Spring weather. Almond harvest is next. We will start prepping the fields next week. Meanwhile there are always weeds to kill.

I hope y'all are having a great week.

P

Happy 4th of July!!!

Anotherr busy week on the farm. We are getting ready to irrigate the cotton again so furrows were built up, weeds pulled and ditches put in place.

Here's the view from the tractor as the cultivator goes through the field.

This cultivator is six rows wide. Those steel spiders cultivate the weeds and break up the soil which we through back up in to the bed. Ruben gets a good sixty acres a day in if there are no problems.

As you can see the cotton is growing fast. We make the crop in the next five or six weeks. Anything that blooms after the middle of August won't have time to mature as an open boll before harvest. So, keeping up on irrigation, fertilizer and bug control is very important for the next month or so.


It is also the 4th of July.

Personally, my favorite clause of the Declaration of Independence is where Jefferson wrote, " He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance." Some things never change do they? To farmers at least, we can't seem to turn around without having some government agency or another showing up with a bill or a fine or a regulation. I make my living producing food and fiber, not filling out forms. The wealth of this nation was created by producing products and services, not filling out forms. Some day we will get that straight.

While I am on my soap box...
   Ben Franklin is quoted as saying, "The American Revolution was not fought for freedom, but for self-government." Think about that one for a minute. Our system was founded on the idea we can govern ourselves. We need to rise to that sort of expectation, because I can tell you, If we don't govern ourselves there are people that would like to rule over us. I, for one, would probably not like that.

And, of course- thank you to the men and women of our armed forces who have sacrificed so much for our independence. Thanks also to their families who have waited and worried while their warriors were gone. We owe you all a debt of gratitude we can never repay. THANK YOU!