View from the Cab: Change in the air

By Kent Casson

Change is in the air. In fact, it’s on the ground if you start looking around.

I noticed the first leaves in my yard the other day which came from our cottonwood trees toward the edge of the property. As a kid, I always recall our row of cottonwoods would be the first to shed leaves then came fall and all of the glory that comes with it.

A few trees are staring to barely change color but expect this to progress as we go throughout September and October. Many soybean fields have taken on yellow leaves in recent days while the early planted corn fields have a different look.

Locusts are singing just about every evening and those wooly worms have started to cross the road. They always said the darker they are, the worse our winter weather would be and guess what?  The one I saw the other day was pretty dark. I guess this means things could get interesting in the weather department over the next several months.

The Threshermen’s Parade has come and gone which signals another school year is well underway and harvest is around the corner. Our last big event of summer was a special one since we marked 10 years of driving that John Deere 4020 in the parade. We’ve waved to hundreds if not thousands from that tractor seat over the years and made countless memories along the way.

Our entire family has outgrown riding together on the tractor so Rebecca and Kaislee sat along the parade route and watched the two older kids and me drive the tractor. Kaislee was more interested in watching the parade and actually getting candy anyway. We need to invest in a restored wagon next. So, if anyone reading has an old barge wagon in decent shape, let me know.

Another sure sign fall is practically here is the fact that we are only down to a couple of calves out in our shed. A few were returned to their owners the other day since our show season is complete for the year and the remaining two will soon return to their homes. It is a bittersweet feeling to start cleaning out the shed and thinking about the “off-season” for our livestock farming.

Some recent 49-degree mornings really have me thinking ahead to the fall harvest. Nothing beats arriving to the field for the day with cool, comfortable sweatshirt weather, or “hoodie” weather as the young people like to call it today.

Enjoy the remaining days of summer because fall is knocking on the door.