Yes it is winter time on the farm.  I have two big jobs as the year winds down.  First I have to make sure I have the correct income for the farm to balance income over the years.  Second I have to make sure the farm equipment is ready for next year. 

The income balance is a challenge as the price for wheat can vary so much from year to year and the yield can be so different year to year.  To help with the income balance I am looking at ordering fuel for next year and the price for a gallon of diesel is 60 cents less than last year.  The price of wheat is up from last year.  The yield is down just a little and overall I am doing well again this year.  This bit of good news is quickly swallowed up by the price of fertilizer which is up from 50 to 70 cents a pound of nitrogen and I use about 90 pounds of nitrogen per acre.    It doesn’t take long for this 20 cent increase to add up to major dollars in input cost over several hundred acres.   

The shop project list is always longer than I care to work on.  First I have the water tank and trailer repainted and out of the shop.  Next I am working on the tractor exhaust manifold and water pump.  The exhaust is leaking next to the block and over time this will ruin the manifold.  I have this apart and cannot see any reason for the leak.  I walked out of the Caterpillar dealer with about a thousand dollars in parts for gaskets and a rebuilt water pump.