It Has Begun

Spray plane over our farm in 2012

The pattern for recent years on the farm is well known to us.
Dry in April, but too early to do much.
Wet in May, but you expect that and work around it.
June sets records for wet, herbicides are applied in the wind and the gnats are awful.
July gets drier.  The gnats aren't so bad anymore.  We start to remember why we like farming.

Then we head towards the end of July and....

Everything in Iowa has to get coated with insecticides and fungicides.

It doesn't seem at all fair.  We finally start to feel like we can make some progress.  Do some good things.
And the countryside begins to feel like we are in an old WW II movie with planes and helicopters swooping and diving over the corn and soybean fields.

Thus far, no one near us has done their late July application, but we know it will come soon enough.  We know it because a helicopter flew just over our house and treetops a couple of days ago. 

Apparently some of the fliers think it is funny to buzz our farm.

Well, we don't think it's funny.  And, we'll leave it at that.