June 12, 2010

Well, we are heading into midsummer already and it is hard to believe that we are this far into the summer so quickly. We had an early spring this year with all the snow gone by Easter which was early this year. A lot of crops went in early but it did stay cool for most of the spring. The corn and soybeans are looking good and the small grains really look good with all the cool weather and rain that we have been getting. This first part of June has seen a lot of rain with this past week seeing cold rain nearly every day. Some hay is down and has been rained on all week so it probably will not make good hay anymore.

I have been printing books as usual and especially the township books which people seem to like a lot because I can put their barn on the cover. I took copies of the township books to the annual Sibley County Historical Society Meeting which was held in New Auburn this year. They seemed to be a hit. It was a good meeting with one of our members - Steve Briggs - giving a really good presentation and slide show on a trip he made to New Guinea in search of MIA's and planes from World WarII. Rommie Petersen, the President pf the Society, always has a good program prepared for the annual meeting.

I also was invited to give a talk about the barn project at the old one room school house out at St. John's Lutheran Church in Bismarck Township north of Winthrop. Karen Klenk had invited me to bring some books and talk about what was involved in doing the Barns of Sibley County over the last 5 years. They have a celebration at the school house called "The Last Day of School" and open the school for a day for people to look at how children went to school in the county during the first part of the past century.

I still go out to take photos of the barns in the county and sort of update the photos that I already have. It also gives me a chance to visit with the farm owners and hear their stories. I do hope that people are writing down their memories of life on their farm. There are not so many left to tell those memories and it is sad to see that history go.

We also did a fun trip in early May when we drove to Arkansas to do a workshop that a great nature and wildlife photographer from that area offers to digital photographers. My 10 year old grandson accompanied me for the workshop and we both had a very good time and even learned a few things. I have a link to Tim Ernst's website on my website if you would like to look at some of his wonderful work.

Well, I do hope you all have a wonderful summer and enjoy the beautiful area that we live in. With the Good Lord's Blessing we will have good crops again this year and receive a good price for the crops and for the milk that the few dairy farms remaining in the county are able to produce. I spoke with a dairy farmer in Jessenland Township recently and she informed me that the number of dairies in Jessenland was down to two and there were only 56 left in the entire county last year. That is sad.

February 14, 2010

January of the new year has slipped by and we are well into February already. We have had a good bit of snow for the winter but not nearly as bad as some other parts of the country. Washington DC has been blanketed with a few feet as has most of the northeastern section of the country. Even Dallas has had record snow this winter.

I have been out and about only on a couple of ocasions and so I do not have many photos to add to the site today. I did go out about a week ago to deliver some books and visit with some of the great farm people that I had met in my travels while photographing the barns throughout the county. I learned that one of the barns that I had photographed several years ago in New Auburn Township had burned down on February 2nd. The barn was still in use with the owner and his family housing sheep in the barn. They lost over 70 sheep, including 43 new lambs. A very real loss for the family.  I will post a photo of the barn on this page today.

We continue to lose dairy operations in the county. The price received for milk continues to be quite low at under $15.00 average per hundreweight while the cost of producing the milk is much more than this amount. Dairy farmers work is never rewarded as well as it should be.

I will try to get out and about to capture some more of the barns in winter settings. But I am really looking forward to some warmer weather and green grass once again!!