I just got back from a trip to IA from MI.  I drove across I80.  When I left last Sunday I saw a little tillage, mainly looked like they tried to till wet spots.  When I came back yesterday there were a lot of fields tilled and in Indiana and Ohio I saw some plant growth.  I believe it was beans but it could have been corn.  I was really surprised to see it this early.

I also spotted numerous AC.  Saw one on the front of a lowboy carrying other implements.  I saw a hundred series with a loader sitting out close the expressway.  I think a 200 and it may have broke down.  Also saw a WD/45 with a hyd loader and a 7000 series tractor.  Once I got to IA all I saw was green.  That's a really depressing state!

I also saw a lot of flooding, the old Mississippi is really high.  There were a lot of sand bagging along the river and it appeared to be working good.  I could never put up with that kind of destruction, year after year.

john(MI) wrote: I also saw a lot of flooding, the old Mississippi is really high.  There were a lot of sand bagging along the river and it appeared to be working good.  I could never put up with that kind of destruction, year after year.

It's not 'year after year'.  I was down in front of my dad's house this morning, it's probably only coming up another 2 inches, but the last time we saw that elevation of water was in 2001...  that's 18 years between high floods.

Having lived on the banks of the Mississippi, within clear sight of where you crossed on I-80, for better part of 35 years, I can say with experience that people who live in a place that requres occasional use of sandbags, plastic, and pumps, clearly understand what they've chosen, and have decided that the benefits of having waterfront access, a dock, boathouse, summer nights enjoying the breeze, fishing from their own front yards, by far outweigh the occasional visit of floodwaters.  As for damage, debris, and destruction... it comes with the territory, and for those who believe a yard full of silty mud is a nightmare to clean up... just walk away.  it'll be tall, green grass in 10 days. 

I didn't think cover crops would be in rows.  I couldn't tell exactly driving by, but would guess a foot or two between the rows.  Plants appeared to be 3 to 4 inches tall.  The further east I drove the more tillage I noticed.   It wasn't from last fall tillage, I could tell it was fresh.

Back in the late 60's / early 70's, we went through a wet spell in which we took our big grain truck up to my aunt and uncles' house to load up their furniture.......as the floods were coming.....did it several times. Also went up late one night to help do some sandbagging on the levee. When it looked like they were going to lose it, we were told to get out or risk drowning when the levee broke.

I asked my dad then why it was they would put up with that kind of lifestyle......crying and moaning about the floods. His response was because the rest of the time, they laughed all the way to the bank. The bottoms back then produced almost exactly double what our hill ground did. While it seemed like the flooding was frequent, in reality it was very rare.

We now have a bottom farm too and it has only lost a crop 3 times in nearly 40 years. The reward is worth the risk.