June 28th already. It has been a pretty soggy last few weeks. We are one of the very few that got our first cutting hay in and that's only because we have a bale wrapper. We now have lots of baleage for next winter but very little dry hay.

The cows are on pasture but even with the wet weather they are getting ahead of the pasture. I am going to build some more fence. I have a nice hayfield that I'm going to fence in. I will still take the first cutting off it and then let the cattle in for the rest of the year. That should stretch out my pasture time.We do strip grazing and that helps a lot.

We are now at the breeding time of year. We have just put a bull in with the belties and he seems to know why he's there. We will be putting a bull in with the lowlines soon. In the past we have just used artificial insemination. We are beginning to see our market change with a steady demand for grass fed animals rather than pedigree.

We are AI'ing our two red belties to a red lowline. I think that cross will make an excellent grassfed animal and a very attractive one at that.

Our soybeans have been sort of spindly and wimpy due to all the moisture. There is an old saying that a "wet year will scare you to death and a dry year will starve you to death." All in all I'll take wet.

It is almost time to begin second cutting hay and the forecast for the end of the week through early next week looks very promising.

Jim is away in Wisconsin this week at his company's headquarters. He is shadowing various engineers to get a feel for what they do. Eileen is with the BMW in St. Louis soon to head for Indianapolis. She always has good observations. Last night she texted that Monsanto, the maker of Roundup, was having a seminar at her hotel.

Things are pretty slow with the diner crowd. Unfortunately, others have targeted the diner. Last night they were burglarized. It is hard to believe that there are those sort of people right here in proximity. I hope they get caught soon.

My friend in Florida is still unable to get back here due to health issues. I wonder if we borrowed an RV if we could get him back.