This year will be remembered for a long time on the farm for its challenges, rewards and heartbreaks. The March blizzard brought heavy snow to the area splitting some cherry trees in half from the weight of the snow, we were fortunate not to lose many trees to the blizzard. About 10 days after the storm hit we experienced a week of 80 degree weather which tricked the cherry orchards into thinking it was spring when we still had about 6 weeks of cold weather to survive. This of course was a recipe disaster as we our trees were prone to frost damage. That magic number for damage is 28 degrees for only about 2 hours, and this happened in middle April killing most of the tart cherry buds. At that point we still had a sweet cherry crop so we proceeded to set bees in the orchards so they could start pollinating the blossoms. Finally what came to be known as the "2012 effect" came into play and frost damage once again killed all our sweet cherry buds, essentially wiping out the entire cherry crop for the year.
Not all was lost. Corn planting comes every year in May which we plant to feed the cattle all year. The weather played to our favor in the spring and summer, giving us rain that seemed to miss everyone in the state. Our wheat crop turned out to be one of the best yields we have ever had. Our corn crop looked to be some of the best in the state until the "2012 effect" took over and in August we only received 1” of rain the entire month. The key to growing more corn & soybeans in our area is moisture and with no rain in August it decreased our highly anticipated yields. The drought of 2012 will be felt in the next coming months with slightly higher food prices, plastics and fuel due to the low yields and high prices of corn and soybeans.
Harvest season is the time to bring the crops in, pay the loans, fill our diesel tanks up and make another round. Fall is a favorite time of the year on the farm to harvest our crops and to see all the hard work of the summer payoff in crop yields. Our yields were good considering the years challenges and thankfully we were able to fill our silo’s and any obligated contracts.
Unfortunately the "2012 effect" revisited once more. In late October we received news that our beekeeper was killed in a semi truck accident. We were all deeply sadden of this news, he was only 26 and leaves behind a wife, two boys ages 5 & 2 and 6 week old baby girl. Jeremy Jelinek you will be missed.
As we walk away from the disappointment and heartbreak of 2012 our hope is restored for 2013. There's an old farm saying "There's only 2 good years in farming, they year you pay for everything and next year." Well we already have a lot to look forward to "next year", especially with the anticipated arrival of new members in the Shooks Family. RJ & Keegan are expecting in their fourth child in May and Jenny and I are expecting our third child in March. We are also looking forward the continued partnership with local restaurants that serve our beef including The Blue Pelican in Central Lake, Firefly in Traverse City, Friske Orchards of Ellsworth. We are also especially proud to serve our beef in our local school Central Lake Public Schools. Happy 2013 and May God Bless you this year!
