“I keep meaning to drop by and ask David what he’s growing in that field,” says David Patrick’s neighbor – who farms several thousand acres. “I didn’t even know what it was.”

It may not be time to worry, but we definitely should be on guard. Grasshopper numbers (and their cousins the Mormon crickets – actually katydids) often explode following long, dry, warm fall temperatures.

It would be reasonable for most of us to assume median and average would be relatively the same when it comes to snowpack water equivalency, snow depth, streamflow volume and reservoir storage.

Maybe it isn’t going to help you fulfill a XXX-ton potato contract, or maybe it doesn’t work into your plans for providing dairy silage. Then again, a John Deere 9RT 570 or a New Holland CR1090 combine or a CLAAS Jaguar 990-930 just doesn’t work on every operation either.

“Just buck up,” “cowboy up” or “tough it out” are not adequate soundbites to help us deal with the stresses of agriculture. Based on the article title, I’ll bet if someone is “watching” you read this article, you’ll turn the page and pretend you’re not interested.