Chuck's Chat - Welcome to September 2023!
59 degrees here along the Northern Sycamore Urban Boundary is not a bad way to greet the morning of the first day of September. The doves should be swooping by anytime now. However, next week we’re forecasted to be right back in the upper 90’s with no rain in sight for SEK. The soybeans are suffering, ponds are drying, and there’s no surface moisture to germinate the wheat crop that may or may not get planted. According to our AccuRite Weather Station, we’ve received 21.31” of rain this year, and the average through August is 31.25”, per usclimatedata.com. We average 13.80” of rainfall over the last four months. We’ll need almost two feet of rain to get us back to our yearly average. Pray for rain.
The Montgomery County Farm Bureau annual meeting will be held October 3 at ICC West, with details to follow on our Facebook page as well as in the member invitational letter. We’ll be holding our 6th annual silent auction with the recipient still to be determined at the upcoming board meeting. If you’d like to contribute to this great fund raiser, contact Kathy O’Brien at 620-331-0826, bring items to the office at 217 W Myrtle in Independence.
Ag Academy is an educational program with the purpose increasing peoples’ levels of agricultural knowledge and to be exposed to the many facets of production ag, rural communities, and ag policy. The program runs from October to September. Focus areas are advocacy, leadership/service, education, and rural communities/farm families. The in-person sessions will be spread across Kansas to allow participants a first-hand view of the many components and faces of production agriculture across our great state. Applicants can be members or non-members of Kansas Farm Bureau. The application deadline is September 8, and is limited to 20 participants each year. The application can be found on the KFB website.
September 28 will be the annual Listening Post, held at the Greenbush Service Center at 6:30pm. This is part of the policy making process where the proposed policy changes for Kansas Farm Bureau will be discussed with an opportunity for voting member feedback. A meal will be served prior to the meeting. Watch for details.
I gotta be honest here, I’m a little sad. Orscheln’s is gone. Bought out and replaced by Tractor Supply Company. My wife used to tease me and ask if Orscheln’s had called wondering if I was alright if I hadn’t been there in more than a few days. I remember my excitement when they first opened in Independence. I knew where everything was, what they carried, and what they didn’t. Now, it's like starting all over again. Some call it progress. I’ve yet to make up my mind.
Pray for rain.
Until next month,
Chuck Voelker