This time of year it is a bit tricky to say where we are, and what exactly we are doing. Lately, the weather has been teasing us with abnormal spring-like temperatures. It makes us want to work on getting things geared up to start working in the fields again. However, just like Kansas weather, Mother Nature has to remind us of cold temperatures again.

We love being able to spend time together as a family during this time of year. Ask any farmer though and we will all say the same thing—we’ve have had enough sitting inside or looking at numbers and paperwork.

I long to be back into the hypothetical saddle of things--sitting behind a steering wheel and fluffing the soil up for a new bed of corn; walking the fields of wheat that are still green, but looking forward to the food that will be produced here.  

During this time of year, we use our equipment to use a liquid form of fertilizer. “Top-dressing” is what we call it. Just like we give our children the nutrients in food to grow to their best potential, we give the same to our crops. Then we hope for a good, gentle rain. This helps the fertilizer soak down to the roots of the plant. Rain has eluded us lately. The last nice set of moisture we had was during the ice storm, more than five weeks ago.

Along with adding fertilizer to our wheat, we have started to clean up some tree rows that are in the fields. Sometimes these trees can have too much overgrowth and can cause damage to our equipment. Our family gets involved in the clean-up. No matter how small the particular family member is.