We're in the throes of the winter meeting season. We in agriculture get the opportunity to learn about the latest in everything agriculture. We can see the latest technology in equipment and educate ourselves about the latest agronomic issues and also thoughts on what the future holds.

Even so, the inevitable conversation among farmers is what happened last year and what the fears are about the upcoming planting season.

Many farmers were hard pressed to get their harvest finished in 2009 much less prepare for the 2010 season. As a rule on our farm we have sized equipment and available labor so we can plant our corn in six days and our soybeans in eight. In 2009 because of the weather conditions we planted 24 hours a day when we had soil conditions good enough to plant.

We traded off the night shift so no one had the night shift two nights in a row.

This process served us well to be able to finish planting in a reasonably timely fashion.

Having the lighting and the guidance technology makes it much more practical to work through the night than ever before.

When I talk to farmer friends around the country, they are very concerned with finishing the 2009 harvest or correcting the problems created from last years harvest and getting the 2010 planting accomplished at the same time. The long cold and wet winter has added to the stress. I think we are all ready for spring and better weather.

On our farm we are in the process of including our next generation in the farm business, everything we do and plan for has the transition process as a consideration. We try not to look at issues as a problem but rather as a challenge. It makes life much less stressful.

Looking forward to Spring!