His Name Is Mud

Tall Todd & his custom cutter crew have 2 machines down in Vernon, Texas, this week on the Terry Bruce farm & 4 machines over in Oklahoma. It's extremely muddy in both places &the temperature is predicted to hit 100 in Vernon this week! A few days ago, a custom combiner got 2 of his machines stuck in the mud at around noon time 1 day & finally got them out the NEXT evening around 8! He had to get a caterpillar & a backhoe & when all was said & done, the total bill came in at a whopping $8000! The mud in Texas is red gumbo, or as the Texans call it, "tight clay." I call it being in a "Heap of hurts!" Todd reports that Terry Bruce's crop is running around 20 bushels & 62 pounds with no sprout. He said the crop is really fragile at this point & won't be able to stand much more rain, nor any wind. Oh, oh...Friday's forecast calls for rain. In Oklahoma, the crop is running 30 to 35 bushels per acre & 59 to 60 pounds test weight. Road diesel is $2.69 in Oklahoma & $2.60 in Texas. Todd says that they don't have to move to Parrington, Texas, until around the 20th of this month, but with the slow going in the mud, they probably won't be there any too early. Up here in Montana, a Golden Triangle farmer reports on his winter wheat from the Teton River to his shop, which is about 7 or 8 miles, that the frost damage in the same fields he & an adjuster checked out was anywhere from 20 to 80% loss, but on towards Great Falls, they couldn't spot much damage. To the east, north of Carter, there are winter wheat fields that have been adjusted out & are being hayed. It won't be long before Tall Todd & his custom crew are up in our Golden Triangle. I'll keep you posted on my Puffman Blog. Here's MUD in your eye!