Early Birds???

Well it has begun ...

It's a couple of months earlier this Saxon, but the seed catalogs have been coming in fast and furious!

So far I've gotten catalogs from Johnnys Seeds, Gurneys, and a few others ... Generally ones I don't order from

They must all be hurting from the poor growing season  this year ... Despite what the FDA/USDA say!

Haha to them though ...

Hubby has announced that we will not be buying seed this year ...

Of course that's mostly because we bought seed last year and never got it planted since the weather was so lousy ...

Most people don't realize that seeds are good for YEARS!

You will still get 90% germination some 3 years after it gets packaged if you take care of it ...  75% after 5 years ... 45-50% after some 10 years even ... Okay maybe not that high, but it can still grow.

It of course depends on thelant too.

Annuals/flowers don't seem to last as long

Veggies may need hydrating over night to break the dermis a bit ...

We will see though ...

I want to grow me some potatoes again ...

Reds, whites, and sweets ...

Of course ... I'm gonna have to figure a way to stir them though ... But that's a different post.

Anyhow ... The receiving of seed catalogs is how a farm wife tells the passing of the seasons ...

 I guess this means Spring will be coming early this year ...

Good ...

Maybe we can get in two corn crops ... One for selling & one for preserving!

Numerology Class

50,000 farms

Dairy herds of LESS THAN 100 head

(About 17%)

1800 farms

Dairy herds OVER 1000 head

But the number is still significantly lower than 135,000 farms some 20 years ago ...

I'm sure part of this is the fear of diseases beng wider spread by mixing milks from different herds ...

But then ...

 There's something to be said for diversity ...

20 years ago I started having issues drinking milk too ...

Hmmmmm

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(Do those look like cows?)

1,800 Farms

Dairy herds MORE THAN 1,000 head

This number has tripled during the last 20 years ...

Interesting ...

I wonder where their milk goes?

I mean that's a LOT of milk every day ... Each cow will produce about 10 gallons a day with those automatic milked machines ... 

What can you do with 10,000 gallons of milk?

They have to be using it for making cheese or butter ... 

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(Not sure those look like cows) 🐮🐮🐮🐮🐮🐮

Wonder how much milk is drank daily in the US ... 

Wonder how much is dumped because it past the "sell by" date ...

Hmmmm

Bringing in the sheaves

I have gotten the new crop numbers for winter wheat

Montana 73%. (last year it was only 53% at this point)

North Dakota 67%

Idaho 91%. 

Oregon 37%

Washington 23%

there are concerns of North Dakota about the winter frosts now doing damage to the crap that remains on the stalk - A good snow cover will help with this

And as you can see, the further west you go the lower the oats

These numbers are for the good/excellent category

I do not see any numbers for the fair/port category ... I guess AGday just doesn't want to share that information