[AT] Charlie Hill,

charlie hill charliehill at embarqmail.com
Sun Oct 4 17:53:40 PDT 2015


I don't remember exactly when tobacco farmers started planting
varieties that run so late into the fall and I can't for the life of me
figure out why except to increase equipment utilization.   When I
was a kid on the farm the old men said if you didn't have it in the barn
by August the worms would eat it up and it was true.  Of course now
there are better ways to handle the worms but still, I'd be scared to
death to have tobacco in the field in late October like I've seen here
many times in recent years.

Charlie

-----Original Message----- 
From: jtchall at nc.rr.com
Sent: Sunday, October 04, 2015 1:46 PM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group
Subject: Re: [AT] Charlie Hill,

Dad talked to a fellow at church today that has about 30 barns left in the
field, Unless something has changed since the last time I was at his place
he only has 6 or 7 barns. I will say most of the tobacco farmers around here
will stick together and as soon as one is done, he will open up his barns
and sometimes his workers to help someone else. I would imagine quite a few
guys are priming by hand today--its actually stopped raining! We've got a
fair amount of wind, that should help dry the corn so it may not sprout or
mold. As soon as I possibly can, I'm headed to the field, probably the end
of this coming week.

John

-----Original Message----- 
From: charlie hill
Sent: Sunday, October 04, 2015 1:05 PM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group
Subject: Re: [AT] Charlie Hill,

John it's about the same here.  I guess 1/4 or less of the corn is in the
field yet
and if it doesn't fall over it will probably be ok.  Early beans are
catching hell.
Cotton isn't fairing any better.  You pretty well summed up tobacco although
most in my area have quit farming tobacco so I haven't even seen any lately.
Some peanuts are harvested and laying on the ground and others still in the
ground.  I don't know that much about peanut farming but I think either way
they are in trouble because the ground is completely saturated.   If the
nuts
get molded they can't be sold for consumption for people or livestock.  It's
supposed
to be dry this time of the year!

-----Original Message----- 
From: jtchall at nc.rr.com
Sent: Sunday, October 04, 2015 8:21 AM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group
Subject: Re: [AT] Charlie Hill,

Charlie, good to hear you haven't washed away! Not only are you guys getting
plenty of rain but everything here is headed your way as well! The
reservoirs were only down a few feet, but at least they were able to hold
that much back--I'm sure they are all running over now. The farm pond has a
4" drain line, it was about a 1/2 " from the top of the line yesterday. We
got about 1/2" of rain yesterday afternoon and you would have thought it was
2" the way it ran off. Dad said we are up to about 10.5" in the last week.
The wind has turned to fairly strong gusts this morning--hope it doesn't
blow over any trees.

Only about 1/2 the corn here has been picked. None of the soybeans. Maybe
1/2 the tobacco still left? Those guys really needed to be in the field last
week. With so many of them running harvesters, its going to be a mess. They
have about 3 weeks to go before frost danger. For those not familiar with
tobacco, Too much rain this late in the season can make the leaves fall off,
wind can bend the stalks. When this happens the mechanical harvesters cannot
do a good job. One mechanical harvester can replace about 8 men to do the
job manually. Tobacco is like produce, it can't take a freeze/frost--and
that time of year is fast approaching here. Once it is out of the field it
still takes a week to cure it in the curing barns, so you have to leave
whatever is in the field out there until a barn is available. A lost crop is
a very real possibility for some of these guys.

Charlie, what's the story on peanuts? We are hearing they had been dug but
not combined, guess they are worried about them rotting in the field? Can
that crop be combined high in moisture and then dried? For that matter are
they harvested in the shell or are they shelled with the combine? Never met
anyone that raised peanuts.

Do we have any members in South Carolina? Weather reports a couple days ago
were predicting areas south and east of Charlotte to get 15" or more of
rain, I can't imagine that much rain in a couple of days.

John Hall


-----Original Message----- 
From: charlie hill
Sent: Sunday, October 04, 2015 4:36 AM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group
Subject: Re: [AT] Charlie Hill,

Hi Mike,

Yes I'm in Coastal NC in New Bern.  It's been raining almost every day here
for about 3 weeks.
It rained hard up until yesterday morning when it let off.  Yesterday was
nice and sunny and
I was able to get my yard mowed.  I think it rained during the night last
night but I'm not
sure how much.  Most of the water problems we are having are from
astronomically high tides
and wind.  The blood moon we just had was a good bit closer to earth than
the moon usually
is and that increased the tide height.  Also, when we get an east wind,
primarily North East,
it backs water up into the river here and prevents the creeks and rivers
from flowing out normally.
Some low, flood prone areas are slightly flooded but so far not as bad as I
feared.   We are high
and dry here at our place.

My sister lives N/W of Charleston.   They have a mess there but as far as I
know her house and
neighborhood is fine.

Thanks for asking.

Charlie

-----Original Message----- 
From: Mike
Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2015 8:10 PM
To: ATIS
Subject: [AT] Charlie Hill,

Charlie, are you getting any of the rain where you are, I thought you
were in NC?

Mike M

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