Wind machines and smoke pots

[Gman]

Yeah, this is a pretty cold stretch. I guess we have to pay for the 70+ and sunny weather we were having. I hope this freeze nips the fruit on my neighbors cottonwoods and willow.

I also hope the fruit crops on the western slope will be OK.

[Hummer]

Good luck to all the Grand Valley farmers. We missed getting a pump drained last night and had a leak this morning.

You made me check my pump this morning. I've been irrigating a dry land shelter belt with a 3 horse pump. It got to about 30 but not cold enough for long enough to do damage. But I've got the pump and cooler lines drained for tonight. Are you in farming, D_F?

[D_F]

I grew up on a bit of a farm/ranch here around Olathe, never made a living off it. Family business is agricultural support type affair. I jokingly say it takes a special kind of dumb to try to make a living off of farmers. But in reality it's been a pretty good run and I enjoy doing what I do. How did things fair down that way?

[Hummer]

Small world it is. I bought ag chemicals from an Olathe business for a few decades and the John Deere came from Delta Implement.

I talked with a neighbor who grows peaches and was planting more trees yesterday. Most of his apricots were lost three weeks ago. Even running his wind machines he thinks the bulk of peach blossoms are toast. Some on high ground or in the tree tops will survive. Front page news in the Daily Sentinel this morning covers the initial assessments of frost damage to the peach crop:

https://www.gjsentinel.com/news/west...7bbfa910d.html

This is a dramatic shift from last years unusual glut of peaches which caused some farmers to not harvest or dump thousands of pounds of fruit.

[Hummer]

The only crops of any interest here in the uncompahgre valley are pot and hemp. Plus looking like they will start at 60% water. It's going to be a wild year.

My next door neighbor was a Colorado pioneer in hemp and seed production for CBD oil. Last fall he got all of his crop harvested, dried and sealed but only today was able to get it fully sold and shipped. Apparently the majority of hemp growers here failed to find buyers and failed to harvest their crop. A lot of money was lost. My neighbor built greenhouses for hemp but this year he's starting tomatoes and plans to grow vegetables anticipating a greater demand for food this year.

[D_F]

Small world indeed!

Agriculture is such a wild ride sometimes. Hemp was pretty much a bust here last year too. I think veggies might be a good bet this year. Hope so. Have friends with a small dairy near orchard city. Milk is getting hammered as well. Won't take too many more dairy's to go under and then we will have a crisis there too. Then there is the sweet corn labor questions. Time to buckle the seat belt and hold on tight.

https://www.montrosepress.com/news/h...863e715a7.html

[colorider]

My next door neighbor was a Colorado pioneer in hemp and seed production for CBD oil. Last fall he got all of his crop harvested, dried and sealed but only today was able to get it fully sold and shipped. Apparently the majority of hemp growers here failed to find buyers and failed to harvest their crop. A lot of money was lost. My neighbor built greenhouses for hemp but this year he's starting tomatoes and plans to grow vegetables anticipating a greater demand for food this year.

Interesting about the vegetables. Farmers are plowing under their veg crops due to low demand. No restaurants are open to use veggies and people are buying less and less. They are buying canned goods.