Which hot political and economic topics would you like to read about today?
High inflation and the resulting higher mortgage costs and lower house values. President Biden’s growing disapproval ratings. Overwhelmed and overloaded sanctuary cities complaining about illegal immigrants. Republican Congressmen who can’t agree on a budget. The UAW and Hollywood Writers strikes. The United Nations infatuation with climate change. Donald Trump’s plan to skip the second Republican Presidential debate to concentrate on winning 4 trials. How to dress a Senator.
How about “None of the above?” Yeah!
Instead, how about if I talk about farming innovations and football victories? Yes!
The Farm Science Review, presented annually by Ohio State University was last week. We had perfect weather which helped attract over 116,000 participants to check out “what’s new” from 700 exhibitors. Demonstrations in the field included innovative futuristic equipment. You know about drones being used in our military. The 5 drones demonstrated here operate like a helicopter and cost about $35,000. They can apply crop protection chemicals and spread cover crop seeds. With mounted cameras, they can spot problems in crops and be used on ranches to check on cattle, determine forage availability and water supply.
You also know about driverless cars. A driverless tractor was programmed to mow an entire field after the boundary was established and any obstacles, such as trees or electric poles, were mapped. The autonomous tractor can also pull a tillage implement or a planter.
An autonomous irrigation machine was demonstrated in corn. The 3-wheeled, high clearance machine can run (very sloowwwlly) through tall corn, with no damage to the crop. It irrigates with water or liquid manure, covering 32 rows (80 feet) per pass. Dairy or swine manure adds nitrogen to increase corn yield.
New combines harvested corn and soybeans. One combine header for soybeans was 62 feet wide (30 feet is common today).
The goal, whether it’s with new machinery, improved seed genetics, plant protection chemicals, biologicals, or grain handling and processing, is to make farming more efficient and profitable, and keep food a nutritious bargain.
Moving on to football, this was a memorable weekend. For a special birthday gift, our son and daughter took me to a Cleveland Browns game. The weather was perfect and the Browns beat the Tennessee Titans 27-3.
On Saturday night, Ohio State beat Notre Dame in a classic thriller, 17-14. The Buckeyes scored a touchdown, barely reaching the goal line, with one second on the clock. And earlier, my alma mater West Virginia University beat Texas Tech 20-13. The Will Rogers statue on the TTU campus in Lubbock may be “dressed” in black today.
Historic quotes by Will Rogers:
“(a farmer) has to be an optimist or he wouldn’t still be a farmer.” WA #57, Jan. 13, 1924
“You got to do more than just live in the country to be a Farmer.” WA #196, Sept. 12, 1926
“Dr. Wilce, the Ohio State coach, just showed me their new stadium, seating 100,000, built by hard study and excellent scholarship. They can seat 200 students to every book in the university.” DT #139, Jan. 14, 1927
“Poor Knute Rockne [Notre Dame coach]! In his time he has lost games by bad umpiring, illness, failure to kick goal, and every ordinary known method.” DT #1348, Nov. 18, 1930
“Well, here we are in the famous Notre Dame. You know why these kids can play football?… here you are either studying or catching forward passes. There is a great spirit that makes this such an institution.” DT #2635, Jan.15, 1935