Hey Paul, How are you doing?

Hope you are drying out and your ok, you all have a bunch of water on your hands, We are no strangers to flooding and it can be a real pia!

Three trips to the box store to get the well going - pressure tank is in a pit, top of the hill, but fills with ground water in times like this. Stopped at the box store on the way through town, noticed they had sump pumps, got a new shipment overnight, but I have one no need. Got some other bits.

Dig out my sump pump I haven't used in 2 years, mouse chewed on the wire. Back to the box store.... Still had a few pumps.

Drew the water out, well still no go. Pulled the concrete lid off, crawled down, power to the pressure switch, but I get lost on which goes where. So back to the box store, got a pressure switch.

Up and down the pit ladder a few times and well worked.

Then looked at the washed out bridge - I have 2 bridges over the ditch, one washed out one side, the other a plank lifted up but did not float away for some reason. Concrete ends, I beam deck with white oak timbers dad put in in 1964 and 1978 I think. That's going to be a job.... The side that washed out had some cracks, was ok when everything in place but now don't think I can just haul fill in......

Looked at the pasture fence, water was over the top electric wire yesterday, ditch flows right along it. Started driving along to clean it up, but the UTV was squirrelly in the mud and I was knocking down the hay I should already have mowed if it would ever dry, so I walked the fence pulling the debris off the fence. The ground was just slippery and moving under my feet, like walking on a stick of slightly melted butter. Cornstalks and wood are in the bent over hay, making a mat. Real workout for the legs, especially coming back against the grain of the hay.

Cows are totally destroying that pasture, but it's where they are, the other 2 are equally wet and might as well save them.

At least the ditch is down some. Not much, but some, so my neighbors fields can start draining out. Their ground is a little higher than mine. Maybe tomorrow some of my ponds will go down. They got a little smaller, but still 2-3 feet deep, 3-4 of them 10 acres or so other small ones.

The cobwebs parted, and I thought of that high pond I sometimes get, has an intake but it gets covered with grass and corn leaves. Drove up with the UTV and a shovel, took off the shoes and rolled up the pants, and tried to shovel it out. Just was not cleaning out, couldn't figure it out. Finally got in with my bare foot, and it felt slippery - oh, I know! Took off my shirt and dove in, pulled out a square yard of someone's silage bag. Finally got the suction that pulls my foot down, so the tile was running. Be too late tho, that yard of plastic will cost me $500 of corn......

Getting really really tired of changing clothes by now.

Did some chores, getting corn out of my small 1500 bu bin, and a couple sprouts came out. Huh? Looked up, and the lid blew off. Not sure now if the storm before when all the trees came down. So, looks like I got about 900 bu of corn in there I better get moving. Sooner than later.

But called it a day.

We went up to the falling down bar/ restaurant a mile from me in the town of 47 people for their home style buffet, meatballs to die for, and was told the rumors of their closing are true, will be next week. That is disappointing but the owner operator is 85, he put in his time.

Drove back home the long way to look at the 8 acre slough that is supposed to dry off so I can make hay - must be 3 foot deep in there, as another 6 acres corn and beans around it is under water too. And I see the neighbors pothole is deep in water yet, we just put in a 15 inch tile that direction to get his and my water to move on out. So, my fields will be wet for a while, until his drains through.

Otherwise doing good, as one of my friends said, going to be a lot easier fall harvest with less acres. Always fun trying to farm a swamp, probably about as much fun as trying to farm a desert.

I think they are still working on the sewage system in my Aunts town of 500 upstream of me, as they put it on the TV interview, they had to go into bypass mode as well as the fire trucks pumping at every other corner. I have to smile, as I wonder how many town folk catch on to what bypass mode means....

Paul

Wow! and that's about all I can say, just hang in there, and take it one day at a time.

If that bypass mode was on a farmers manure pits he would be fined to high heaven.

The cities get away with that here as well during high water.


I have been where you are as well. 93, 08, 10 come to mind.

We had a mini rain storm that dropped 3 inches in 45 minutes on a one mile diameter circle about 3 weeks ago. Yup right over my rented fields with 2 potholes that total 5 acres or so. Glad I didn"t replant cause they are under again.

Hope you can get dried out to salvage something Paul.

Gary

I watch the NOAA national radar and all of your areas. Have to say Paul that your rain makes my small problem of just not being able to finish my first cutting look really small. Hope things improve up your way!
Animal, glad to see you and Kornfused in your area get some drought relief....no sure which is worse, although watchin something dry up and blow away ain't my favorite.

and I thought I had problems! Just reading this was enough to make me tired and discouraged. Hope things turn around quickly for you.

I'm trying to start first cutting. I made 4 round bales of alfalfa, 2 were smokers so wet. Made 2 bales a week later. They were tough but bales at least. Cut 6 windrows on my sand hill yesterday and baled one to feed green chop to the cattle.

Rained a 10th of an inch at daybreak, and a 10th of an inch at 6:00pm today. Made all the mud smeary again. Forcast is for isolated thunderstorms 4 of the next 7 days. Lot of humidity from all this rain we had.

Not going to be easy to cut hay. Most of my hay is the low ground, had 2-4 feet of water over the grass. That might not go for a while....

Near water is my pasture, ditch behind the far fence, the farther away water is about 12 acres 6 feet deep 1/2 corn and beans.

Paul