Almost Time to Pick Cotton

   As you can see, it's almost time to pick cotton. Another week and we'll fire up the beasts and start picking.  The equipment is almost ready. We are busy with all the last minute details. We'll finish repairs and servicing this week.

   It's been a strange weather week. It cooled down and there was even a little rain. It's warming back up.

Another Death of Common Sense Experience

By Paul H. Betancourt

Copyright October 2012

                In the interest of saving the environment I had to drive one of the ranch trucks an hour out of the way for a smog check. The reason for this was some computer in Sacramento said the shop where the truck had been tested multiple times before was not good enough this time.

            Can you understand why we get a little crabby about the nonsense that goes on out here?

On one hand the enviros want me to lower my carbon footprint by cutting back miles driven- then they make me drive an hour out of the way. Maybe in town there is a smog shop every other block, but that ain’t the way it is out here in the country. 

This is just another ‘death of common sense’ experience. I am all for clean air, just like the rest of you. I live here, I raised my family here. But, if we are going to do this-let’s do it right. Driving an hour out of the way for a smog test isn’t even close to doing it right.

For the record, the truck passed with flying colors.

There have been some changes at the radio station. We are now ESPN sports news, but they still want to hear from this farmer so you can find me at-

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

I hope Y'all have a great week.

P

Homemade Tools

Another busy week on the farm. The weather finally cooled off. You know it's been hot when 81 feels cool. 
The pickers are almost ready. We have two weeks until harvest, so we have some wiggle room. Next week we have to clean and service the tractors and the module builders.

Homemade Tools

By Paul H. Betancourt

Copyright October 2012

                My favorite Clint Eastwood movie is Heartbreak Ridge. As Gunnery Sgt. Tom Highway Clint teaches his Recon unit to “Adapt, Innovate and Overcome.”

            That’s a great slogan for farming too-“Adapt, Innovate and Overcome.”

            One place we adapt and innovate is in the shop. The other day I made a tool for Ruben to use on the cotton picker. It wasn't anything big. We needed a wrench with a little more reach.  So I welded an extension for him.

            I have custom also made some other tools. I made a bearing extractor for our cultivator. That beat beating old bearings out with a sledge hammer. I also made a gig to trim shear bolts for the ripper.

            Sheryl asked why I didn't manufacture tools like this for other farmers. I told her there wouldn't be a market. These are things any farmer could make in his own shop. We Adapt, We Innovate and We Overcome.

            Farmers can be short of money, or time, or water, but we are never short of challenges. We can adapt and innovate in many ways. This is just one example. The goal is the same; We adapt and innovate so we can survive, so we can overcome.

I hope Y'all have a great week.

P

Defoliation!

Sorry I didn't have a post for you this past weekend. I was busy editing.
Here you go-

That is what we have been waiting for. Pretty isn't it?
     We started defoliating last week. It has been so hot we have had to cut back on material so we didn't burn the bolls shut. The warm weather does move things along though. My first few winters here we had already had two inches of rain and the temps were done in the 70's. This is better cotton weather. That being said I am waiting for things to cool off. It has been hot enough for long enough.

      In the Fall we also fertilize and irrigate the almond trees. This time of year they are getting ready to go dormant, so they are storing food. We put in some fertilizer now so they have food when they wake up in the Spring. The almonds also actually are putting out new growth right now and those are the fruiting spurs where next year' almonds will grow. So it is really important to keep the trees well watered.

The Satisfaction of Harvest
By Paul H. Betancourt
Copyright September, 2012

                You have heard me whimper and whine about a lot of farming and how tough it is. Sorry about that. This morning I want to talk about the satisfaction of farming. There is nothing like bringing in a good harvest: seeing the picker fill up p with cotton, seeing the wheat pouring into the trucks, seeing the almonds being swept up and shipped off. The satisfaction of a productive year’s work. That’s good stuff.

            Unlike many people farmers don’t see the daily result of their work. Right now we are waiting to see how this year’s cotton crop will turn out. We started working the ground last Fall. We planted in April. We have been tending the fields all summer, but we won’t know how it will turn out until next month.

            But, all that waiting has a payoff. I love Fall weather. It’s cool and crisp after the oven heat of the summer. And then we fire up the pickers and head into the field.

We still have work to do and bills to pay. But, there is a real sense of satisfaction seeing how the year’s work turned out.
http://www.940kyno.com/index.php?c=68

I hope Y'all have a great week.

P

The View from My Office

Wildlife on the Farm

By Paul H. Betancourt

Copyright July 2012

                Our environmental friends say that the presence of wildlife is the sign of a healthy ecosystem. In that case my farm is doing OK. From my back patio I can see and hear rabbits, coyotes, squirrels, mourning doves and blue jays. At night owls screech and bats squeak overhead. One day I looked up from my desk and there was a Cooper’s Hawk perched on the wisteria outside my office door. A while back there an adult Bald Eagle spent a few days camped out in the orchard behind our home. We have also had tri-colored blackbirds, herons, egrets, Western Meadowlarks and white pelicans on the ranch. Our farms do not suffer the Silent Spring of Rachel Carson’s fears. In fact, I wouldn’t mind a little quieter Spring; the sparrows wake me up at first light and that gets earlier and earlier as summer progresses. And, I know Spring is here because those blasted mockingbirds will not shut up.

            I appreciate the concern of those who are worried about our wildlife. I know we should accept our responsibility as caretakers of this planet and that requires constant vigilance. But, I can report that on our farm the critters are doing fine. Maybe too fine, when the budgies wake me up ‘by the dawn’s early light.’

This was on the radio last week. You can find the audio on the link below.

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

I hope Y'all have a great week.

P

Living in the Country

Living in the Country has its down side. Generally we love living out on the ranch. Our guests are amazed by the peace and quiet and we treasure it. But a couple of days a year I am not so happy about living on the ranch. This was the view out the kitchen window the other day.

The almond sweepers were going through and they blew dust every where. It took half of Saturday to clean the roses, the trees, the patios, the windows and the cars. Uff da.
   It's my crop and it's how we make a living, but it is still a pain. But, the almonds are up and off to the processor. Some day, in the not too distant future we'll start get a check and we can start paying bills. That will be nice. Remember, farmers get paid once a year. That can be a little nerve wracking.

from the radio this week-

We Do This to Ourselves

By Paul H. Betancourt

Copyright July 2012

We tie ourselves I knots don't we?

Let's use Highway 99 as an example.

We all agree that 99 needs to get fixed up. That's going to cost some money. The best way to get it fixed is have it declared an Interstate, which it is functionally, then we could use federal highway money. But, apparently to qualify to get federal money we would have to fix 99 up first! Excuse me?

We need to spend state money to get federal money?

Don't they'll work for us?

I don't know about you, but when I pay my fuel tax I pay state and federal taxes. Can't our tax dollars be used on our roads? The situation on 99 would look like some kind of comic standoff if it wasn't so sad.

The real target is 99 is only one example of us tying ourselves in knots. In Arizona the federal government sued the State of Arizona for enforcing federal law. Really ? Environmental and safety rules often conflict each other and common sense? We tie ourselves up in knots.

The Founding Fathers believed in divided government because they feared the concentration of power like they had under King George III. But, divided government shouldn't be stupid government. And, there are times we are getting stupid government.

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

In other news, I have signed with a publisher and my book on environmental issues should be out in December. I'll keep you posted.

I hope Y'all have a great week.

P

This Is What We Wait For

Isn't that a pretty picture? Can you see those pretty open cotton bolls?
There is still a long way to go, and plenty of time to screw up. White flies can infest the field and cover the open lint with honey dew. The mills don't like that. The weather can shift and start raining. I have seen some very wet Septembers. The cooler weather is nice, but it is hard on a cotton crop. But, for the moment things look nice.
   For the record, there are three open bolls in this picture. It takes a lot of bolls to make a bale of cotton. It takes over 125,000 bolls per acre to make one bale of cotton with Acala varieties. For Pima cotton, like you see in this picture it takes more.So, three look pretty, but I need a lot more bolls to open in the next six weeks to make a crops- millions more bolls, and that's just in my field.

Ill try to be a little less crabby than usual with this weeks radio post.

Covering Up
by Paul H. Betancourt
copyright September 2012

                When I first moved up here my father, with his fatherly advice, even though he’d never lived in a climate like this, said, “Make sure you wear a floppy hat and long sleeves.” I always have because we started working cattle so I wore cowboy hats and long sleeved western shirts.

            It’s easy to tell the difference between the people who work outside and those who play outside. People who work outside do cover up. People who play outside wear tank tops and shorts.

            Years ago my son asked, “Dad, why don’t you wear t-shirts to work. You would be much cooler. That week he actually came out to work for us.  After his first day out in the field he came home, BBQ’d,  and even before he took a shower he went upstairs took two of my new works shirts out of my closet. I never did get those shirts back.

            There’s nothing wrong with playing or enjoying the sunshine. You just have to remember sunshine in our area is strong. The same sun that turns grapes in to raisins can turn us in to raisins too. So, if you don’t want to turn into a raisin- cover up and keep hydrated.

Its still warm out there.

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

I hope Y'all have a great week.

P

Harvest

This is the kind of view a farmer waits all year to see-

-the orchard floor covered with almonds.
We have been nurturing the crop, praying, worrying, sweating and freezing all year and now it's time to bring in the crop.

The Satisfaction of Harvest
By Paul H. Betancourt
Copyright September, 2012

                You have heard me whimper and whine about a lot of farming and how tough it is. Sorry about that. This morning I want to talk about the satisfaction of farming. There is nothing like bringing in a good harvest: seeing the picker fill up p with cotton, seeing the wheat pouring into the trucks, seeing the almonds being swept up and shipped off. The satisfaction of a productive year’s work. That’s good stuff.

            Unlike many people farmers don’t see the daily result of their work. Right now we are waiting to see how this year’s cotton crop will turn out. We started working the ground last Fall. We planted in April. We have been tending the fields all summer, but we won’t know how it will turn out until next month.

            But, all that waiting has a payoff. I love Fall weather. It’s cool and crisp after the oven heat of the summer. And then we fire up the pickers and head into the field.

We still have work to do and bills to pay. But, there is a real sense of satisfaction seeing how the year’s work turned out.

I hope Y'all have a good week.

P