Gut Check

We took a trip to northwest Iowa this past weekend to help my brother and family move into a new home.  And, as many of you may have noted, there has been some heavy rain in southern Minnesota, northern Iowa and Wisconsin over the last week.  The farm got a total of 1 inch of rain from these systems - which is quite nice.  But, even areas such as our that got less can have troubles because of the rain upriver!  A quick look at the Cedar River in Waverly confirms that. 

However, the thing that got both of us really thinking was what we saw up by Estherville.  There was a sizable pumpkin patch with a large number of ripe pumpkins.  This patch was going under water when we drove up - and was fully under water when we drove back.  Even worse, there were nearly 2 dozen bee hives that had been washed or floated down towards the river.  Very clearly, the hives were finished.  In either case, the bee keeper is out the bee colonies as they either drowned or swarmed (if they were lucky bees).  And, of course, the hives and all of the investment in them was likely lost.

From the looks of the patch, the worst thing the patch owner might have been dealing with was the fact that the pumpkins looked to be fully ripe at the end of September - a little early for sales - but salvageable from a business perspective.  I suspect they may also have been bemoaning a poor honey year.

And now?

It is doubtful that they will save any colonies of bees.  It is likely they will only salvage a fraction of the hives.  It is only possible that things will dry out to allow them to harvest at least some of the pumpkins.  And, we'll wager a bet that there is no insurance involved to cover the cost of the hives, the colonies or the lost income from this event. 

If there is one thing we've learned over the course of a few growing seasons - it's empathy for fellow growers.  Whoever put the work into those hives and fields, we wish for the best possible outcomes.