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The following is a true story. For some of the farmers who read this,
there is too much detail, but I wanted it to make sense to the non-farm
folks who may read it.
The fields on our farm are identified by numbers or numbers and
letters. This story takes place in field W-1 about 12 years ago. The
highest quality hay is harvested when it is cut at the proper stage of
maturity and is harvested without being rained on. Before the technology
that we have today it would generally take 3 days of good weather to get
hay dry enough to bale. Generally I would never mow unless there would be
a forecast for at least 3 days without there being a chance for any rain.
I would faithfully listen to Accuweather and National Weather Service
before heading to the field to mow. Field W-1 was ready to cut, and there
was a good forecast for three days of sunny weather without any chance of
rain. Off I went to the field and I mowed W-1 on day one. Once I mow I
always keep a close check on the forecast since the weather folks have
been known to change their minds from time to time. The evening of day one
came and the forecast still called for nice, sunny weather for the next
few days.
On the morning of day two there was still no chance of rain in the
forecast. Day two was always the time to ted (fluff) the hay so it would
dry faster. I always like to let the dew get almost dried off before I ted.
I started tedding about 11:00 AM. It was nice and sunny. It didn’t look
like any chance of rain. There is a small town called Madisonburg situated
as the crow flies about 6 miles northeast of our farm on the other side of
a mountain. When I was about half done tedding I saw a little black cloud
over Madisonburg. I didn’t think much about it since there wasn’t any
chance of rain. Besides, what could one little black cloud do when it was
surrounded by blue sky? I kept tedding. As I did I kept an eye on the
little black cloud. It kept slowly moving to the west. Since almost all of
our storms come from the west, I really wasn’t concerned yet. At the
time I finished tedding, the little black cloud was now directly north of
our farm. There still wasn’t any cause for alarm. The sun was shining
brightly. I put the tractor and tedder away. Then the little black cloud
started moving to the south right toward our farm. About 10 minutes later
there was a downpour. We had about an inch of rain in 20 minutes. It didn’t
rain a mile east of our farm or a mile west of our farm, but it poured on
our farm and the hay in field W-1. All logic said that for a weather
phenomenon like that to happen was a once in a lifetime occurrence. It had
never happened before since my Dad had purchased the farm in 1947.
Now it is time to turn the clock ahead about 5 years. Field W-1 is
again seeded to alfalfa. Again the hay was at the right maturity to be
cut. Again, I had an excellent forecast from both Accuweather and the
National Weather Service for three nice days without any chance of rain.
Again I mowed field W-1. At the end of day one the weather forecasts still
said it would be nice for two more days without any chance of rain. On the
morning of day two the forecasts were still all good. Later in the morning
of day two I tedded field W-1. There were not any little black clouds to
be seen anywhere. The evening of day two came and the forecasts were still
good with no chance of rain on day three.
Day three came and the morning forecasts still called for no chance of
rain. I head to the field and rake the hay. There were about 5 loads to be
baled. We have three wagons, but I didn’t hire any help (we have a bale
thrower) since I could just throw two loads off myself on the barn floor
and then unload the rest of it and stack it all that evening when I would
have some help.
After lunch I headed to field W-1 with the baler and wagon. My Dad
brought the other two wagons out. It was a very pleasant sunny day. I
baled the first load. Everything was fine. When I was about half done
baling the second load, guess what? There was a little black cloud over
Madisonburg. As I continued to bale I watched the little black cloud. Sure
enough, it started moving very slowly to the west. I finished baling the
second load and hooked up the third wagon and continued to bale. As I
baled, the little black cloud kept slowly moving to the west. I kept
thinking to myself that it would be impossible for a second little black
cloud to visit our farm when there was no chance of rain, especially when
I had hay mowed in the same field as the first time. When I was finished
baling the third load, the little black cloud was directly north of the
farm. By then I wasn’t so sure that I shouldn’t start taking the
little black cloud seriously. Normally I would have just taken one wagon
load in, unloaded it, and taken it out and brought in the second wagon. I
decided that "just in case" I would back all three in the barn
before I started unloading. Just as I had the third wagon about three feet
from being in the barn, it started to pour. I got soaked getting the barn
doors shut and the tractor put away. The other tractor and the baler were
still sitting out in the field. About a half an hour later the rain
stopped. We had more then 1.5 inches. Again, it didn’t rain a mile west
or a mile east of our farm. About three hours later I walked up to get the
tractor and baler, and with every step, the ground went squish.
For quite a few years since then, field W-1 has been in corn and
soybeans. There have never been any more little black clouds. But, will
there be? In the Spring of 2000 I seeded field W-1 back to alfalfa!
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