Thought I'd give writing a blog a try, see if anyone reads it. As Ally said, what a difference a week makes. This time last week I was in Somerset enjoying some really fine weather in the afternoon, then glued to the TV that evening, actually this time more or less horrified by the foot and mouth. Today I am stifled by the heat. 97F at the moment, our meteorologists developed something called the heat index to add in the humidity to tell you you actually feel more miserable than that(the actual temp was 84F last night at 10:30pm). I think at the moment it is about 105. Our crops look good as we had 4 inches of rain while I was gone, but in about a week or less with no rain they will start to show stress. The corn is really about made, but a rain wouldn't hurt, the kernels wouldn't shrink as much. The beans are much more critical. Most everyone is haying, we remember too well last winter when many of us ran out of hay, everything that can be baled is being baled. Most of the cattle from the double stock grass have gone, the remainder will probably be shipped next week(including mine).