On our Labor Day holiday with the memory of Katrina still fresh, our nation looks south today as our countrymen along the gulf deal with hurricane Gustav. Luckily the futures exchanges are closed today because they would be going wild trading oil. The big fear if you are not directly in the path of the storm is what it will do to the oil platforms and refineries in the area. I got a load of diesel Saturday morning to top our farm tanks, I got the last diesel our dealer had, apparently I was not the only person concerned about a price spike.
All government from federal to local is working hard to prevent a repeat of Katrina, and to the credit of Gulf residents, about 2 million of them have evacuated. The Louisiana National Guard was out on the streets last night in force with dire warnings to would be looters. All we can do now is watch and wait.
This far inland, we often see hurricanes as our salvation in a dry year, because once in a while we will get a crop saving rain from the remnant of a hurricane. This is supposed to be the case this year, and in spite of the fact that we have had enough rain this summer for 3 summers, we are now in need of a rain for the soybeans, and hopefully Gustav will provide that. As my grandmother use to say, "it is an ill wind that blows no one good". So, while those in the south are getting battered, I may actually see Gustav as a Godsend for my crops.