From the Fields: Stay safe out there

Storms passed through the area early last week. We received around 2 inches of rain and were lucky to miss the high winds and tornadoes that passed to the north, south and east of us. Those rains were saving rains for much of the corn and soybean crop that were showing severe signs of drought. I’ve heard from friends that have down corn in the DeKalb and Sycamore area along with reports of storm damage to crops in the Belvidere to Beloit area, as well. To the north in southwest Wisconsin, a tornado caused crop damage in the Boscobel area. The days following the rain were hot and humid once again, but a break in the heat and humidity came late in the week and over the weekend.

I traveled to Hillsboro, Wisconsin, to provide sound at the Hillsboro Charity Pull. It was a nice get away and a chance to see how crops are progressing in other parts of the Midwest. They have had much more rain up there the past couple of weeks, which was evident from water sitting in ditches and in some valleys there were remnants of grass and weeds hung up on bridges from flash flooding. It was a great weather for tractor pulling while I was there — highs in the upper 70s to low 80s with little humidity and quite the cool down at night. I was wishing I had packed a hoodie along with my light jacket on Friday night. The running joke among the announcers was that it was going to frost. With temps in the lower 50s and the dampness in the air, it was a huge contrast to the 90s with high humidity earlier in the week.

This week’s weather forecast looks great for those with hay down. I saw quite a few fields cut and down for drying on my way home today. Temperatures in the 80s with low humidity should help get that hay dried to bale and it will be great weather for the Winnebago County Fair this week in Pecatonica. One really neat display for visitors at the Winnebago County Fair is their large antique tractor display along the road connecting the grandstand to the barn area.

Last week there was a fire in our neighborhood at my relatives’ farm. Thankfully no one was hurt and it was far from the barns and their home, so none of that was damaged either. They were wrapping bales and the wrapper malfunctioned. This caught the straw bales on fire. There were five fire departments battling the blaze trying to save as many bales as possible. Accidents can happen to anyone at anytime and they were able to get help there quickly. I bring this up to remind you to make sure your address is clear from the roadway for emergency personnel. Also make sure your family members and employees know the addresses of all of your properties along with the procedure for calling 911 or emergency services. The more accurate information that can be conveyed to the 911 dispatcher, the better they can get help to you as rapidly as possible.

A huge thank you to the volunteer fire and emergency medical services personnel that drop everything to help those in their time of need. I know many departments in rural areas are recruiting more volunteers to be firefighters and EMS. If you have interest in serving the community in this way, please reach out to your local department for more information.