Agriculture

FSA county election

process is under way

The USDA is seeking nominations for the Shelby County committee of the Farm Services Agency.

Nominations begin on June 17 and end on Aug. 1. An election will be conducted in November, and those elected will take office on Jan. 1.

Shelby County farmers anticipating more rain in the coming days are scurrying to get out their corn and soybean crops already delayed by an extremely wet streak.

Some were working late into the night and early morning to plant corn and try to clear one crop and place the other.
Farmer Ray Tucker posted on his Facebook page Thursday that he had planted corn until 3 a.m. and was planning to get at soybeans starting at 5.

The cool spring has finally ushered in May flowers! I love cut flowers from the garden. There is a simple, happy satisfaction that comes from picking a bundle of peonies for the kitchen work table. Just be sure to shake the ants off first. The other thing about a cool spring with adequate rain fall is that the weather is acting as a sort of preservative: all those beautiful blooms are lasting much longer than normal.

Last year I spent some time rejuvenating, if you will, our “Miss Kim” lilac. It had gone years without any maintenance pruning, just never making the priority list for chores out at the farm. Although “Miss Kim” is considered a dwarf variety and needs less maintenance, it was in need of some serious reduction.