I have been up making campaign posters, as I am running for county commissioner from my District. Dennis baled the hay he cut yesterday, and Dave, our hired man, did the hog chores. The temperature was to get to 98 degrees today. We had planned on building a new house before the drought came. Another reason our house got put on hold was because Dennis became allergic to the hog dust. It was scary, because he couldn‘t breathe at night. Dennis wears a “space helmet” respirator that purifies the air. He looks funny, but it does work.

We sold one-and-a-half loads of hogs today. It will be good to get them out, because 200-pound hogs eat a lot of feed, and hogs don‘t grow as fast in hot weather. Dennis and I loaded them together. He was a bit sharp with me, and his language wasn‘t the best. I really think Dennis is aggravated because of the temperature changes (hot, humid days and cooler nights), and some of the hogs came down with pneumonia.

We have received only about 33 percent of our normal rainfall since April. It is a wonder there is anything growing. I feel guilty at times because so many families have lost their farms and we increased our equity. I asked Dennis what he thought, and he said that he doesn‘t, because we have worked hard, sacrificed and paid our dues by using second-hand equipment, paying for things as we had the money, etc. He says people need to know some success stories of small family farms so others will take the risk of farming.

We are weaning the pigs now and have a weaning rate of 10.15 pigs per mother. The national average is about eight per mother, so I’m happy. My bonus is getting extra hogs sold and paying off the feed bill. Maybe someday my new house will become a reality.