On the home stretch!

Hi all!

We are rapidly approaching the end of the semester, and beginning to hear about final exams and term projects!  No need to sweat though, as it's just another part of being a student.   This is my final semester at Purdue, so while I'm naturally excited to be finished with school, I will certainly miss this place and all the great folks with it.  I came as a transfer student, so these past two years have gone fast, but have been extremely fulfilling!  The course work has been great, but I put the most value on the friendships and connections I have made throughout my time here in the agronomy department.  As I begin my career as a farmer in northern Indiana, I will carry these friendships with me long after I walk across the stage at graduation.

I am thrilled about spring coming on here in Lafayette, bringing with it fieldwork and planting.  I'm just a good ole farm boy, and I'm real excited about those smells of spring - namely fresh-tilled soil and first-cutting alfalfa.  I headed home over the Easter weekend, and folks are gearing up for planting up that way.  The rye cover crop is growing well, and approaching the stage of growth where it just explodes upon a streak of warm weather.  Because of this, we're making plans to kill that cover crop in the next week to ten days ahead of planting beans into the rye cover at the end of April.  I encountered a nice spring rain on my drive back down to campus on Sunday which will slow down fieldwork, but provides some needed moisture to fill the soil profile with water going into the growing season.

Amid the sadness of leaving this place that I know and love, I'm excited for what lies ahead.  I know that my education here at Purdue will see me through in the coming years though!