Carthage

Corn yields are below actual production history.

Well, Chris Harrell in Carthage, Illinois, finished beans on Monday.

His soybean yields are slightly higher than his five-year average.

He has about five days left of corn harvest, and his corn yields are lower than last year, but corn planted in May is yielding higher.

Okay.

So by the time Joseph Smith was killed in Carthage jail, there were already a lot of temple ordinances in Nauvoo that modern Latter-day Saints would be familiar with, and there would be a couple that modern Latter-day Saints would not be familiar with.

If we're trying to create a list of all the ordinances, we would start with baptisms for the dead, a key part of Latter-day Saint temple worship.

We'd also have to add baptisms for healing, rebaptisms for the remission of sins, which were also common in the Nauvoo period and beyond.

in the field today, and just this morning on Ag Day, we did continue our Whipple's Harvest Your Independence tour.

So our feature today was the Harrell family from Carthage, Illinois, and just yesterday, Chris Harrell told me that his family's about halfway done with corn there.

They're about a quarter of the way done with beans.

So corn yields are about 10% lower than their five-year average, and beans are slightly above that five-year average.

Here in town?

Uh, this was actually the one in Carthage, Illinois-

Oh, okay

...

Really positive feedback from farmers as well.

I can tell you personally, I was just, I come from a farm, West Central Illinois, Carthage, Illinois.

And I was a little, we were a little concerned originally of, we're asking for all this information, this intimate data, And that is the number one question we get is like, what are you doing with that data? But the more that we do it and the more we gain trust of farmers of providing them incentives and then some resources to help them as well, we get pretty positive feedback from farmers that they're happy that we're interested in what they're doing and the chances they're taking on their farm.

Because at the end of the day, almost all of them, when you ask them to define sustainability or region ag, they'll all tell you, When we invest in this land, it's not for us or, you know, our kids, it's our kids' kids.

They've been about 75 to 85 bushels per acre.

And then in Carthage, Illinois, Chris Harrell says that rain kept them out of the field early in the week, and he's about 30% done with corn.

Yields have been about 10% off last year, and they started combining beans on Tuesday.

And Derek Bernickel in Cresco, Iowa, typically starts harvest during the first week of October, so he's not quite behind yet.

Now each week, Cody and five other farmers will also give us their updates on their crops and their conditions.

Now this week, we're planning to visit Chris Harrell's farm in Carthage, Illinois on Thursday, but rain kept them out of the field earlier this week.

In Percival, Iowa, Pat Sheldon says that this was the earliest start to harvest that he's ever seen.

Rain has also put up harvesting there for a week.

Porter Rockwell does not go with him

to Carthage, and we don't really know why.

It makes things significantly worse for the saints.

Most people in Nauvoo found out that Joseph had been martyred because Porter Rockwell comes back riding on his horse.

Okay.

So...

With that to set the scene then, we should also note that the moment when this prophecy was given was only about six months before Joseph's death in Carthage jail.

Porter arrived back in Nauvoo Christmas of 1843.

And then Joseph Smith dies.

Joseph Smith was killed in Carthage jail on June 27, 1844.

There was no First Presidency without him.

His brother Hiram, who had also been designated church patriarch and assistant president, had been killed beside him.