This week has been nothing but fog, mist and a wee bit of rain, not conducive for combining. One man told me the crop that is out there will need some wind because it won't dry as the days are too short now. Good luck to all the people who still have their crops out.
On the home front, we have finished combining but, with three swaths left, da Devil burned up one of my good JD9600 combines. Now we are going to have to deal with the insurance. The combine is a total loss. It apparently started in the engine compartment and soon spread under the cab. In less than 10 minutes the combine was completely engulfed in flame. We were lucky in the sense that it was at the calm part of the day and we were fortunate we didn't have a prairie fire since we were doing canola. It was easy to put the burning stubble out.
The Maidstone fire department came but the combine was done. They sprayed water on the burning tires but there was no way the combine could be saved. Thank you, guys, for the help.
In grain buyer politics, no grain company is buying any wheat grain on spot price. They smugly tell you to sign a contract. I see no logic in signing a contract when they are not buying any grain anyway; all they're doing is trying to tie you up so that no one else can buy your grain. I don't like their game. I'm not gonna play.
What happened to the open market? Did the other shoe drop like I feared it would and now we are back to the pre-wheat board era where grain companies skinned the farmer for all they were worth? Why are the prices and discounts between companies the same? How are the prices and discounts arrived at? Who sets them? My suspicion there is collusion here is rising.
The grain companies all have the same excuse. They are full of wheat, they have no cars, and the railroad is too busy hauling oil tankers to haul wheat. Next week there will be an excuse that there is an avalanche in BC, or something else.
In politics, the Conservatives have decided to cancel all the small licenced medical marijuana growers and it will be only grown in large facilities owned by the government. I know from experience, from hiring marijuana users, they have some screwed-up thinking. But not even they could come up with something like this; only government could come up with an idea like this one. Leave the little guys alone, "butt out". Spend the taxpayers' money on a worthwhile cause.
I would like to welcome Chris Koch from South Africa to Canada. He is here on a work visa and is going to work for me. Since he arrived in late fall he will certainly notice the difference in temperature right off the bat. We will be traveling to Lloyd to purchase some warmer gear for the upcoming winter months.
Joke of the week: My friend's husband was cultivating the land right next to his wife's garden and, wouldn't you know it? He ran right over all the cabbages she had planted. Their six-year-old son ran into the house, exclaiming, "Mom, your sauerkraut is made! Dad just drove over all of your cabbages!"
