View from the Cab: Hot, hot, hot

(Feet in the kiddie pool was a good idea last week at the Casson farm)

By: Kent Casson

Excuse me while I wipe the sweat from my brow.

It sure was hot last week and I don’t even spend all of my time outdoors like some do. Schools were forced to close early for the heat, games and practices were impacted and roads started to buckle. I felt for those construction workers along U.S. Route 24 working long days during the stretch of warm weather.

We made sure the calves always had plenty to drink by keeping the water tanks full and livestock fans on high speed. You know it is hot when our kids don’t even want to play outside very long and instead gravitate toward the air-conditioned house. Can these be the same kids we pleaded with over the summer to come in and cool off after their faces were so red from playing hard?

I’m tempted to start the Jeff Foxworthy-style jokes by saying, “it’s so hot that…” but I’ll stop there.

Many wonder what all of the heat did to the crops not sure if it was too late in the season to do much damage or if soybeans suffered since they could still benefit from a rain or two up until early September. We were fortunate to have plenty of rain during July to make up for our previous moisture deficit and drought conditions in the state. I’m sure many growers wouldn’t mind another rain or two to finish things out for potentially a strong harvest.

So far, the weather looks decent for the start of this week’s Farm Progress Show at Decatur which features the latest and greatest in agriculture. I hope to be there covering events the first two days of the show, doing live segments and getting interviews with various folks exhibiting and attending. It is always fun to catch up with my ag media colleagues and others from across the state I haven’t seen in a while.

Once the Farm Progress Show concludes, we will get set for this weekend’s annual Threshermen’s Reunion to be held at Threshermen’s Park north of Pontiac. The national Case show comes to Pontiac this year so expect plenty of visitors out there for all of the events. Look for our family riding on my father-in-law’s 1968 John Deere 4020 tractor during the Threshermen’s Parade Sunday at 1:15 which runs through downtown Pontiac. It is always our last big event of summer that we always look forward to.

One of these days, we will be out there harvesting corn and soybeans but we still have some time. I did notice a couple of soybean fields near Fairbury starting to turn the other day and we can expect to see more yellow leaves as time marches on.