Listen up, everybody, because there’s a blizzard coming…in August. It’s a storm that will shut down roads and fill up the towns with strangers. Like any storm, you can weather it just fine if you are prepared, but it can also blow in a lot of trouble. Some might call it a typhoon, or a tsunami or a tempest, or you could call it what it really is…an ECLIPSE.
On August 21, Nebraska is going to be right in the path of a total solar eclipse. This is truly a once in a lifetime thing because the next one won’t happen for a couple hundred years.
Now I can hear all you farmers out there. “A once in a lifetime total eclipse? Cool! We’ll stop irrigating for a few minutes and check it out.”

But guys, I’m telling you, this thing is BIG. People are coming from ALL OVER THE WORLD to see it, and for a few days before and a few days after, those people have to BE somewhere. They are going to be in the convenience stores and in the motels and on the roads and maybe even in the fields. After all, if person comes all the way from Paraguay or Guam or Portugal to see this thing, they will naturally want to look around while they’re waiting for it, and what will they see? Us. They will see farmers and ranchers doing what we do.
Now this could be a good thing. You could meet people from places you have never heard of, and explain to them what you’re doing and they would be impressed and you would become lifelong friends. OR they might climb up on your pivot, drive on your alfalfa or get lost in your corn. Don’t just naturally assume that all the people coming will be smart and well behaved. They are people, after all.
Just be aware of what is happening. For just a few days, don’t leave equipment scattered around the fields with the keys in them. Don’t freak out when you see hundreds of strange vehicles driving around. Don’t plan to move cattle down the road during this time, and for heaven’s sake, slow down at intersections! Remember, just like a snowstorm, or hailstorm, or windstorm, it won’t last forever. It might be a big, fat pain in the neck, but it’s only for a few days, and if you’re prepared, you stand a better chance of riding it out!
So don’t get too busy this summer to prepare for a really big deal…the big August Eclipse Storm!