Ever wonder what the grounds at the Farm Progress Show look like after the show is over and everyone has gone home? Usually it takes a few weeks for the few remaining pieces to be removed off the property, but after that, the show site is a ghost town. That is, except for this past Friday night. I was on my way up to Boone, Iowa on Friday afternoon when I got a text from my boyfriend reminding me that Lazerfest (a hard-rock and heavy-metal concert) was going on. He kindly reminded me of…

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Mother Nature is taunting us once again by bringing spring like days of 60s and 70 degree weather for a week, and then dropping a few 40s and 30 degree days and now a snow day. Colorado, Wyoming and the Midwest are seeing a round of wet snow. Some farmers were able to get into the fields, but not for long. In other news around the Nation: The Natural Resources Conservation Service's Conservation Stewardship Program will provide $175 in funding for up to 12.6 million additional…

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This past week was a busy week for news across the country. Monday started off with the Boston Marathon bombs, followed by ricin letters sent to Government official, ending the week with a fertilizer explosion in West, Texas. Now, a week later, communities are able to rest that the suspects have been caught for both the letters and the bombings. And investigators are continuing to look over the cause of the fertilizer plant explosion. Let's not forget those who lost their lives…

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Here is a local roundup of what is going on across the Nation in agriculture. Cool weather this year and lack of moisture last year are good reasons to delay your plans to run the cows out on pasture. Don't keep leaning on Cry3Bb1 hybrids only in continuous corn situations. You're just asking for trait failure. CME Group announces plans to add biodiesel, ethanol RIN trading in May, Bloomberg reports. During luncheon today with the North American Agricultural…

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This past Easter weekend, I went back to Nebraska to visit family. Telling stories and digging into history, I came upon an amazing story about my hometown, Dwight and how the farming families came together to help each other out in a time of need. Picture this. It's 1921, you live in a rural town of 310 farming families. A small, devout, resourceful, but comparatively poor Bohemian (predominately Catholic) town. Fulfilling the call and need for a new school, a building is built for…

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To everything, turn, turn, turn, there is a season, turn, turn, turn. You know how the song goes. It is officially spring. If you ask a high school student what the season it is, he would gladly tell you "basketball season".  Ask a banker, they would answer you "refinancing season" or a financial advisor, "tax season". But ask a farmer what season it is and he will answer, "calving season". Currently, in this blogger's life it is…

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Ever since I was a kid, I remember having an interest in building things. Some ideas were worse than others, while some turned out to be right on the money. To this day, my sister will not hesitate to share the story of when we were kids and I had the grand idea to build a kite out of dad's old 2x4's. So it just makes sense for me to do custom framing along with my photography. It comes naturally. I would be lying if I said my latest adventure was a "weekend…

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I am always one to enjoy a good road trip. Especially if this road trip is through the country on a nice and warm afternoon. Personally, my favorite days to road trip are early Saturday mornings or Sunday afternoons. Something in the air makes it perfect. And no, it's not the dairy farm down the road I am talking about. So, on my most recent road trip from St. Charles, Illinois, I wasn't able to take gravel road and enjoy the agriculture. However, I did manage to get lost on a…

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Once again, Mother Nature has been generous by blanketing snow across the Midwest and rural areas. Last week the meteorologist predicted a ginormous amount of 20+ inches to fall, low and behold nothing happened. As I was making my rounds through all the buildings at the Syracuse, N.Y. Farm Show I kept checking in back home to Des Moines, Iowa to see how the weather was and just how bad I would be stranded when I headed out. But to my surprise, we had received nothing. Sitting in the…

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[Back-story: We get many visitors into the Wallaces Farmer to say hello. Some just want to stop and say hello, others will talk about a potential story and some will be on a quest for a story written by a friend or family member. Since we have archives that date back to the very first publication of Wallaces Farmer in 1898, many people come in to look through them. My office is adjacent from where our archives are kept. I usually keep to myself as I am always on a deadline working online…

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