The chatter for the last few days has been about soil condition, and this time we are not talking cover crops, but rather, moisture levels.
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Of course some would say the first will have an affect on the second, but the specific topic being discussed was the ability to plant.
"I'm on heavy soil, but the sand guys are ripping like crazy," was the type of comment I've been hearing, but the more areas that miss or only get light ones, the more will be ripping like crazy.
#plant15 is for many well underway, while for others it is still a waiting game.
The sales pitches of course are well underway.
I don't mean that in a dismissive way. Companies have the right to pitch their products especially new ones and many of us find it easier to compare products if those pitches are clear and concise.
But there are sales pitches and then there are sales pitches.
A quick survey of twitter finds everything being pitched, in this case with 140 characters or less from the need to use a particular seed, the favorite truck or tractor of the moment, or perhaps the favourite of 75 years ago.
Sometime we know they are pitches and sometimes it isn't so clear.
That's the point and sometimes, though it may be tricky to figure out whether it is a message from a satisfied customer or a sales representative, it's all in the game.
There are other messages as well which also are sometimes mixed. The need to be local, the need to be fresh, the need to be local fresh and exotic.
It's amazing how many epic epicurean adventures there are, out on a farm, or not.
It's amazing how many people are putting themselves forward as experts looking for the attention of the public and looking for you, me and everyone else to open their wallets.
So many of them have different pitches. Local is good, almost no one argues that one, although there have been a couple of books written that take a contrary view, but once you get past that, it's wide open.
Whether the pitch is for raw, vegan, low fat, high fat, flavour enhanced through slow cooking or fast cooking or whatever.
While I am not going to endorse or condemn anyone's choice of food or beverage, we do get back to the words science based.
We hear the phrase science based a lot. We'll be hearing it a lot more in future, both when talking about crop inputs and about food.
Whether you ponder that as you ride a tractor pulling a planter, or whether you just want to think about the process of putting the seeds in the ground is up to you.
Whether you get involved in the discussion or like me on the concept of the best way to cook an egg, sit this one out, it does affect you. And it will more and more affect the way you farm.
