More Visitors to the Farm

    Last weekend we had four vans full of plant science students from UC Davis come out and visit the farm. The class was led by Dr. Jeff Mitchell who is one of the most innovative guys I know. Jeff is leading research on conservation tillage, which I think is the future of agriculture. 
   I tried to encourage the students that we need their help on the farm. There are still plenty of problems to solve and plenty of challenges ahead in producing food in the future. We need new varieties of plants to thrive on even less water. We need no generations of pest control that target specific bugs and are even gentler on the environment. As long as people want to eat we will need new innovations in food production. I hope these students were encouraged. We are going to need their help.

   Meanwhile, back on the farm...
The cotton stalks have been shredded and the roots cut. We have been busy preparing the soil so we can plant our wheat. There is no rain in the forecast, but we always hustle this time of year to get the ranch turned around before winter sets in.

from the radio this week-

Country Directions

By Paul H. Betancourt

Copyright October 2012

            When we moved up here it cracked me up when someone would give me directions: “go down the road to Uncle Ed’s place, turn left at the green mail box and then right where the big tree used to be.” Seriously? How could I possibly know where the big tree used to be? Just give me an address and I’ll find it.

            Growing up in San Diego we used city boy directions- you got an address and then drove to the address. If you needed a map you got a map out- and there you are.

            The funny thing is- can you guess how I give directions now? Yeah, you got it right. I don’t know anyone’s address. But, if you go down the road to Uncle Ed’s place, turn left at the green mail box and right where the big tree used to be…

            There just aren’t enough street signs out here in the country. Even with maps and modern toys like GPS and smart phones, sometimes the best directions are to navigate by land marks. A long time ago Solomon said there was nothing new under the sun. Maybe he was on to something.

I hope you all have a great week.

The Grandkids Visit the Farm

Ok, that's too cute.

   Heidi and Will brought the kids out last week while we were picking cotton. Sheryl brought pizzas. GG and Grandpa Walt came down. We know he came for the grand kids, not to check on the harvest.
A good time was had by all.

   Meanwhile, back in the field---We finished first pick and started second picking on Thursday. Monday was horrible, everything was breaking and I was coming down with a nasty head cold. Things stabilized by Tuesday and we got 'er done.

   Behind the picker we are shredding stalks. We will cut roots and disc behind that. We are trying to get the ground turned around and the wheat planted before the winter weather sets in.

   That sure is pretty. Those are cotton modules. Each holds twelve to fourteen bales of cotton. We store the harvested cotton at the end of the field. It will be picked up and ginned in the next few weeks.
   There is a certain satisfaction standing on the edge of a field and looking at your crop. There is a lot of work, a lot of planning, a lot of preparation and a lot of waiting to bring in a crop. We live in a world where instant coffee is too slow. We planted this cotton in April and it we still won't know what our yield will be until it is ginned off.
   You can ask Sheryl, I am not a naturally patient man. But, I have had to learn patience farming. Not only can you not fool Mother Nature, you cannot rush Mother Nature either.

   So, we are going to take a Sabbath rest and go back at it on Monday.

I hope you all have a great week.

P

Cotton Harvest 2013

We are off and running!

   The first field was a little disappointing. It looked better than it picked out. The second field is much better.
   Harvest is a combination of hope and heart attack. You always hope for a good harvest. This is the result of a year's work. There is a lot riding on this. Then there are the heart attacks. G. Gordon Liddy described a helicopter as /ten thousand nuts and bolts trying to fly in different directions at the same time. That would describe a cotton picker. One broken bolt and everything stops. The first night, right at sun down, the hydraulic pump froze right as the basket was being raised to empty the cotton. So, we were dead in the water for that night, and the next day. There were no replacement pumps in the area. I had to drive up to Modesto to pick one up. [ The navigator in the phone got me lost, but that is another story.] We got the pump on and found when the pump froze it sent a piece of shrapnel through the radiator. Arrrrrgh! Hope and heat attack.

But , it sure is pretty to see those cotton modules lined up as the day begins.

Counting Chickens…

By Paul H. Betancourt

Copyright October 2012

                  Right now we are watching and waiting for the cotton to open up. This time of year, my banker will ask what our yields are going to be. My father –in-law will ask what our yields are going to be. It is easy to start doing back of the envelope calculations trying to figure out how we are going to land this year.

            There is a famous saying about not counting your chickens before they hatch. Things look good so far, but until I get the last bale picked and ginned I won’t know how the year looks.

            Years ago I had a field that was picture perfect. The cotton was open all the way to the top, all the way across the field- it picked 1006 pounds per acre. A few years later I had a ratty looking Pima cotton field. The neighbors teased me, the banker asked what the fiddle happened to the field, my father-in-law shook his head. That field picked over 1800 pounds per acre. You couldn’t tell by looking.

So,  it’s just another reason you have to build up patience on the farm. You just gotta sit and keep from counting those chickens, or gotten bolls before they hatch.

 I hope you all have a great week!

Grinding the Orchard

The grinder arrived yesterday.

Actually it is pretty amazing. Two skip loaders feed the grinder, the trees are loaded and chips fly out. It will take two or three day to finish the whole orchard. It really looks barren out there after all these years of having trees wrapped around the house.

Cotton harvest starts Monday morning. The equipment is ready.Now we will see of the cotton is ready.

Flat

By Paul H. Betancourt

Copyright December  2012

                  Yeah the Valley is flat. But, at least my view every day is framed by the Coast Range on the West and the Sierras on the East. It’s beautiful.

            I can watch the sun creep over the Sierras and light up the Coast range in the morning as I head out to the ranch. And, I can watch the sun set over the same coast range and light up the Sierras with pink alpenglow.

            Yeah, the Valley is flat, but it’s flat and fabulous! We have wide open spaces that make up some of the best farmland on the planet.

I hope you all have a great week. Meanwhile, I'm gonna pick some cotton.

A Food Policy Catch-22

One week to cotton harvest. Lots of last minute details, but I think we'll make it.

In the meantime, here's a recent radio piece.

A Food Policy Catch-22

By Paul H. Betancourt

Copyright August 2013                                                                

                  An environmental group has done the math and calculated how much food we throw out and their numbers are astounding. They then translate that into how much water we “waste” and how much fertilizer, etc. we wouldn’t need to use if we just didn’t throw out so much food.

            Here’s the catch though- at the same time the enviros want us to throw out less food, food activists want us to eat more fresh food. Guess what? Fresh food spoils faster than processed food.

            If a farmer picks peaches when they are perfectly ripe they will get bruised between the farm and your store. Americans are notoriously picky shoppers. We don’t like bananas that have even a speck on them.

            I think the answer is fresher fruits and veggies and we accept a certain amount of loss. But, someone is going to have to explain that to our environmental friends.

I hope you all have a great weekend.

I am going to finish getting ready for harvest.

Opening Up

Recent winds have sure helped knock the leaves off the cotton. It's looking pretty good.
Now if we can only have some patience and let those top bolls open...

In the meantime we finished servicing the pickers. We have to replace the chains on one module builder and finish servicing the tractors. Then we will be ready. We've only got two weeks so we gotta keep at it.
   In addition to servicing the equipment we went to a harvest safety training meeting last week and we will go to another one this coming week. The whole crop isn't worth losing one finger.

Here's a recently recorded radio script. It should be on the air in the coming weeks.

I Don’t Think This is Progress

By Paul H. Betancourt

October 2013

                  The old timers will tell you that a generation ago they didn’t even lock their homes out in the country. Why I mention this is we had our mail stolen last month. Now we are thinking of getting a locking mailbox. Not only will it be a pain in the rear getting a key out every day to get the mail, but I am struck by the irony that Sheryl’s grandparents didn’t have to lock their house and now I have to lock my mail box. I don’t think this is progress.

            This isn’t the first time either. Some punk was smashing mailboxes with a baseball bat ten years ago and I had to armor up the mail box then.

            I know you have probably had something like this happen in our neighborhood. Since the time of the hippies we have talked a lot about social progress, but when the governor is letting car thieves out of jail and I have to lock my mail box-  I don’t think that I progress.

I hope Y'all have a great week!

It still hurts....

   It's been a week and it is still strange to see the house from the road. From the second story we can see lights and neighbors we have not seen for twenty years.

   The trees are drying out. A couple people have asked what happens to them. Years ago they would have been burned out in the open. But, that time has passed. They will be ground up and then burned at a biomass plant. The cost of removal goes up and down based on the price of electricity. Once again farmers are doing their part for the environment. 

   Elsewhere on the farm- we started defoliation of the cotton this week. It looks like it was just in time. It was 90 degrees and calm yesterday. Today it has been in the 70's and very windy. Now we wait. While the cotton plants dry down and the leaves fall off we are still working on equipment. We will have the pickers ready by midweek. Then we will start servicing the tractors and discs.

Seasonal Food

By Paul H. Betancourt

February 2012

            I wait all year long for the Naval Oranges to come in. Harvest starts in November but I wait until December when they are that much sweeter. Then it is fresh squeezed orange juice almost every morning until March. After that I really don’t drink much orange juice until the following December. There just is nothing like fresh squeezed orange juice and I am willing to wait.

         We have gotten kind of spoiled that last thirty years or so. We are used to having everything available all the time. When I was a kid we had to wait all year for fresh strawberries in the Spring. Now we can get strawberries all year long. I think we have lost something in the process.

         There are some foods I just eat at certain times of the year. For example, I eat a lot of soup in December, not so much in July. I eat a lot of salads in July, not so much in December.  It’s kind of like Christmas baking. I only make fudge during the holidays.

         It is said, ‘variety is the spice of life.’ Well, seasonal variety spices up my life.

I hope Y'all have a a great week!

P