The next time you think manufacturing is a thing of the past in this country, think again. Certainly we have lost plenty of business to low-cost, offshore factories; however, there are plenty of factories here that are going strong.
Have I said how much I enjoy trade shows? The ones I attend are usually loaded with great tools and often some great looking machinery. The outside demos, when they have them, are especially interesting. I've got a show coming up that is always fun.
A farm surrounds our 3-acre lot. Hundreds of acres of corn and soybeans, plus more of pasture and woods. It belongs to my nephew, who farms it with his brother and father who have neighboring farms and rented land in the area. Ironically, while I write about large-scale agriculture all the time, I seldom get the chance to experience how technology has changed large commercial operations.
At our place, leaves are raw product. We gather them up and run them through a shredder for mulching perennials before winter. The problem is, of course, that we can't mulch until we've had a hard frost and the weather has turned cool, if not cold.
