Sturgeon Farmland News for March, 1997

March, 1997

THE LATEST SCOOP ON YOUR FARMLAND

Volume 9, Number 1

A Wet January

This past January was one of the wettest on record. A total of 3.94 inches of rain fell on our farmland during the month. This unusual weather made wheat planting nearly impossible. Our tenant could have planted wheat in the extremely unfavorable conditions, but the results would have been unsatisfactory. So instead, our tenant will plant the entire farm to cotton this year. One-third of the farm will have Pima cotton and the remainder will have upland cotton. Our tenant will be planting Maxxa to about 49 acres and a new variety, Phytogen 33, to about 49 acres. This variety is supposed to be better adapted to 30 inch rows and difficult growing conditions, such as the salty irrigation water our farm uses.

A Dry February

The wet January was followed by a very dry February. Our farmland received virtually no measurable rain during the entire month. This allowed our tenant to complete his tillage and listing. As this is being written, our tenant is doing the work needed to begin the usual pre-plant irrigation. Of course, if the weather enters another very rainy period, this irrigation won't be necessary.

More Internet Nonsense

With this issue, our Sturgeon Farmland News publisher is trying out yet another scheme. We have made two sets of changes: one for an enhanced appearance, and the other for ease of use. To improve the appearance of the "News," the banner is now a graphic and we have further refined the horizontal lines. And the "News" is being posted at our website with a link to it from the main Robert Sturgeon's Home Place page to allow easy access to it from the Web. Previously, we have sent the "News" as an attached file in e-mail. Unfortunately, some on-line readers were not able to use this "attached file" feature, apparently because of the limitations of their on-line service providers.

Special Photo Feature

This is a photograph of El Capitan, in Yosemite National Park. It is posted on-line at our web site. In future editions of the "News," we will have other photographs of both general interest and farm interest.

Robert Sturgeon
Publisher, Editor, Reporter, Ace Photographer, Newsroom Flunky, Webmaster
rsturge@inreach.com
http://www.vistech.net/users/rsturge