Our trip to Minnesota and the Midwest went well. We loaded the cattle on Sunday the 31st and had them at their new home the next morning. It was an uneventful trip but not one that I'd like to do every week or even month. 1200 miles is a long way even with two drivers.

The heifers were completely unfazed and walked off the trailer like they had just moved to another pasture. We looked over the cattle with their new caretaker and discussed the pros and cons of preparing them for to the Denver cattle show in January. After lunch and visiting for a while, we headed for the nearest motel. We were in the room by 3PM and sound asleep by 3:05.

We got up around 7 and went out to explore. Next to the motel was a giant Farm and Family store which is a Midwestern version of a Tractor Supply, Lowes, Walmart and probably some others all in one place. Apparently it is a family business and the family split up. So in some states, one side has Farm and Family and in other states the other side has Family and Farm.

The next morning we went off to visit my neighbor's son. He works on a crop farm about forty five minutes from where we dropped the cattle. They grow sugar beets, soybeans for seed and corn. His son was working so we went off to explore.

The son gave us directions to watch sugar beets be stockpiled. There were two piles of beets about the length of a football field and growing and tapered to fifty or sixty feet high. Trucks come in and get weighed and dump onto a moving conveyor which puts the beets on the pile. During the winter they reverse the process and move the beets about thirty miles to a processing plant in North Dakota. Sugar beets are about the size of a large turnip and weigh five or six pounds but look like a very large white beet.

Since we had time, we decided to drive to North Dakota. The neighbor is an ardent duck hunter and he wanted to see if there were any ducks. We didn't see any but did see a sign for a zoo. I offered to drive by but he said it wouldn't be necessary.

We headed back to town for lunch with his son. We noticed how every small town lists its population on their name sign. Invariably each small town looked neat and clean and prosperous.

After lunch, we had more time so we went duck touring to nearby South Dakota. We did see a bunch of ducks on a small pond thus giving hope for the upcoming season.

When we got back, we went to the neighbor's sons farm for dinner and the night. The son's wife is a school teacher and FFA adviser in the local school which expects to graduate six this year. Despite its small size, all amenities are offered.

After a good meal and good conversation and good sleep, we were ready to hit the road the next morning. One of my friends had emailed us directions to Lake Woebegone which was quite near. We wanted to get headed to Iowa State to visit Jim so we moved on.

After a six hour ride past unending corn and soybean fields, we arrived in Ames. Jim and the two classmates who had him visit their homes were ready for dinner. We were impressed at how knowledgeable each boy was and how well they represented their families and upbringing. There is still lots good to come from having a farm background.

We hooked up the trailer the next morning after breakfast with Jim and headed home. We spent the night in Ohio and were home Friday afternoon. After a fifteen minute rest and quick shower, Mary and I were off to our monthly beef group meeting. The intern from our host had to give her presentation. Her professor and thirty fellow students were present.

She did an excellent job. Likewise all the students were good representatives of their institution. I was tired so we went home early. When I woke up Saturday, I had a terrific head cold. Undoubtedly courtesy of almost 3000 road miles and several nights in a hotel with uncontrollable heating fans blowing on me.

I rallied in the afternoon when my combine friend showed up to do my remaining beans. We got around the one field Saturday and the other one Sunday. Yield on the first field was excellent and slightly better than last year which I attribute to the foliar feeding we did last summer. The Sunday field is the one we had to replant. I was pleasantly surprised that we were just under the county average.

I was able to round bale up some soybean stalks for bedding. Since the field was wet I had to leave a lot and kind of pick around the field. We washed up the round baler and mower and took them off to my neighbors barn to join the square baler for the winter.

The cattle have now begun to eat baleage which is a feed they relish. They have grown out their winter coat and are pretty much at ease with themselves and the world. The belties especially seem to be enjoying the cooler weather.

When we went on the trip, I was a little worried about having a flat with the cattle in the trailer but as noted the trip was uneventful. Monday night the electronic tire indicator in my truck went off and indicated low pressure in a rear tire. I checked it and it looked fine. Tuesday morning, I checked it with a gauge and it was down. I added air and by night it was going down slowly. The same thing happenned Wednesday. Thursday morning I decided to have it checked. I've owned lots of tires but I have never had one fail by becoming porous. The tire man put a soap solution on the tread and you could see bubbles forming all around the perimeter kind of like when you squeeze a soapy sponge as air oozed through the tread. The tires were getting close to their useful life so I wound up with a new set. There is a new charge of five dollars per tire for disposal. I wonder who gets the money and how the tired is actually disposed of.

We are also in the fourth day of excellent dry fall weather. All the leaves are down around home and chopped up and blown away. The weatherman says we will will have some showers by Saturday courtesy of the left over hurricane that has been inundating the middle Atlantic states all week.

My neighbor's son had called to report they had begun to combine corn since we left. The first field was two hundred seventy bushels. We are really happy to get one hundred fifty. They call the Midwest the Corn Belt for a reason.