Tag Archives: agriculture

Fired up

Posted on by
Reply

Sometimes I get a little hot under the collar. I know, a real big surprise to those of you that know me. (That’s sarcasm at it’s finest, by the way.)

This week I received a phone call from my mother-in-law (by the way, someday I will have to write a blog about that, because my MIL is wonderful! Truly!!!), who thought that I would be interested in an article that ran in our local paper.

It was a four-column article touting the wonders and great-deeds that “Meatless Monday’s” accomplish in the world. OK, so it wasn’t that flowery, but you get the point. Grrrrrrrrr…

Here’s the deal, if you don’t want to eat meat, fine, don’t…but please do not tell ME that I can’t enjoy my steak or burger. And to go into a school and demand that one day a week be meat-free??? Are you kidding me?

If a school wants to have a meal or two minus meat-based protein, and fill in that void with another protein, that’s fine. I LOVED grilled cheese and tomato soup day at school myself. But why do we need to restrict a school on their menu? Why should my children be forced to go without meat at least one day every week, when there is salad available for every meal?

Stay tuned for more on this subject…I’m just getting warmed up…

Slow on the draw

Posted on by
1

Sorry about the slowness in my posting, but I’ve had a busy few weeks. But I’m working on a doozy of a blog post now, so hold on to your hats!

Life is going grand, and harvest has wrapped up, I was able to shoot my deer, the cows have been moved closer to home and Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Where in the world did 2010 go??? I can’t be the only one who feels like the year has escaped, with hardly a ripple?

And here it is, nearing the end of November, and we still have no snow on the ground. This fall has been amazing! 🙂

Quick update

Posted on by
Reply

Things have been crazy around here. We finished harvest! Yay! Cows are on the way home as we speak, Halloween is over, parent-teacher conferences are done, Grandma’s house is now empty (a story I’ll have to share sometime…it’s a doozy!) and I’m getting ready to leave tomorrow for a fall Farm Bureau YF&R meeting in St. Louis. Yeah, and that is just the last 4 days!

Good news: Measure 2 was defeated – yay! I’d like to think that I helped educate a few people and had a small role in that.

Mediocre news: There will be lots of changes in the future for ND. We now are sending 2 new members to Congress. Good? Bad? We’ll see. Whatever happens, here’s to hoping that agriculture is at the forefront of their minds when voting. We will all need to be vigilant and loud when moving forward.

Bad news: Eh, why dwell on the bad. Lets skip it.

So, my next post will be in St. Louis (if the hotel has wireless…any suggestions on a carrier for traveling? Some of those are way spendy!). We’ll keep you posted!

Fantastic fall footage

Posted on by
2

I put together a video of chopping corn, but never posted it to my blog. Thanks to the wonders of YouTube, more than 100 people have found their way to it! LOL! But I meant to post it, so I still will…if you’ve already seen it, enjoy it again, or go check out some of my other videos. (Including one with the live birth of a calf!)

To explain the process, once corn reaches the stage at which boss man feels it would be ready to cut (or when we have help available!), we set out with the Gehl’s and start the job. The choppers cut the corn into bite size pieces, that will be mixed with ground hay and wet cake to make a yummy cocktail for our calving herd throughout the winter and spring.

The corn is dumped on a pile that is driven over, and over, and over by a big 4-wheel drive tractor. This packs it and makes it easier to cover and prevents extensive spoilage.

The chopped corn smells sweet. I, personally, am not a big fan of the smell, but my sister loves it! It’s just a part of fall.

The pile is covered with a thick plastic, part to prevent spoilage and part to prevent damage and loss from deer. Deer were a MAJOR problem last year. We had a herd of probably 200-300 deer that decided that our hay yard and feed were a GREAT way to spend the winter. They made a mess of everything, so this year we’re trying to nip that in the bud and make sure we’re prepared. (You can see the video on YouTube, if you check out some of my videos that I’ve posted. It’s not a great video, since it was my first ever, but you get the point.)

We’ll start feeding cows in the next few weeks. It will depend on when snow covers the ground and we’re able to get the cows moved home. It’s time to admit that winter is almost here!

Bad taste in my mouth

Posted on by
3

They did it. After swearing up and down that they weren’t accepting any funds from HSUS, the backers of Measure 2 sold out. Apparently someone, somewhere is pretty nervous that they’ll lose the battle, because they’ve brought in the big dogs.

What am I talking about? Well, this morning I caught a commercial on TV regarding Measure 2. Supposedly it was a group of hunters talking about the lack of ethics in a “canned hunt.” Comparing high-fence hunting to going to the zoo and shooting a buffalo. Funny part is that the measure doesn’t “technically” address buffalo, just farmed elk and deer. So according to the sponsors of the bill, shooting a buffalo in an enclosure is just fine. (Although I think the zoo may have a word or two to say about it! LOL!)

At the end of the commercial, those little words show up at the bottom: “This ad paid for by the Humane Society Legislative Fund.” I’m guessing that the measly $100,000 or so that the ads cost were a joke to them. I mean, they have millions upon millions at their disposal, so this would just be hardly a drop in the bucket.

I wonder how many people sent them money, thinking they were saving a dog or a cat at a shelter, only to find out now that they’ve paid for an ad in North Dakota to take away certain hunting practices?

I’ve already heard some of the sponsors of the measure claim on radio that they have no control over where HSUS spends their money. That they didn’t ask for them to come here and get involved. That they haven’t had direct involvement with the cause. Sorry if I’m a tad skeptical about all that, but it seems a bit of a desperate attempt to try to sway last-minute voters. And I hope they realize what they’ve started.

Once a group like HSUS gets financially involved in a fight, they don’t like to lose. Again, check out what’s happening in Ohio…or any of the other states that have issues that interest this particular group. Their website claims North Dakota’s Measure 2 as one of their projects…again, the sponsors of this measure should be wary.

The good news is that this particular ad will stop running in less than a week. But you know what they say, once the barn door is open…well, you know.

Oh, and by the way, vote NO on Measure 2.

Bright future indeed

Posted on by
Reply

Last week I attended the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis. Let me tell you, it was AMAZING! To see that many young people interested and active in an ag organization is encouraging and inspiring, to say the least.

I was there in a “professional” capacity. My husband and I serve on the Farm Bureau Young Farmer and Rancher committee, and on that committee, I serve on the Promotions Subcommittee. One of the great privileges I had was the chance to attend the FFA Convention. We spent hours talking to kids, giving out prizes, conducting our quiz bowl and having a blast!

(Read more about the convention from Will Gilmer’s point of view here:  http://www.fb.org/blog/index.php/2010/10/23/ffa_contestants_set_a_great_example )

Since returning home, I’ve been thinking about the future of agriculture. To tell you the truth, I think about it a lot. Lets say that some drastic piece of legislation is passed, and somehow our way of life is deemed obsolete. Or rules are enacted by the EPA that makes our farm too great of a liability. What would we do? Where would we go?

The only way we can guarantee these things don’t happen is by educating those that aren’t here with us on the farm. Show them what we do, why we do it and why our operations are important to their future. The good news is, that with more than 50,000 people attending the National FFA Convention last week, we have the opportunity to have a LOT of voices out there!

No, it won’t be easy, but we have the tools available…and the resources are all around us. Preparing the next generation to continue what we’ve started is key. I can’t wait to see where they take us!

Welcome to our herd

Posted on by
Reply

A few weeks back, I promised to explain the history of our herd…and I thought today would be a great time to do that!

As I had mentioned a few weeks back, our herd is what would be considered a closed herd. My husband explains it this way: “Well, the only new women on this farm were you and Mom.” Yeah, he has a way with words.

Basically, every cow on this farm is traced back to another cow on this farm…all the way back to the original herd started in the 1950’s. The only new blood (necessary, to prevent in-breeding and defects) on our farm are bulls that are bought periodically. We also use artificial insemination…but I’ll get into that in the future.

Now, this type of ranching may not work for others, but it works for us. We are able to trace back any genetic issues, match up heifers to better bulls for their ease of calving, and have a very detailed history of each calf that is born on our farm.

So, our herd started out as polled Herefords…and now we are Red Angus with Simmental cross. We changed things up when we needed to, made careful choices throughout our history and were able to survive through today. That, in itself, is something to be proud of!

 

This is an example of a polled Hereford.

 

It also goes to show that agriculture isn’t just about setting a goal and being strict in your path to get there. Sometimes along the way you need to be willing to veer off the path and try something new, be willing to be flexible and willing to work with whatever is thrown your way.

 

This is our herd today.

 

And with four boys coming up, I’m hoping that there will be at least one new woman coming my way!

Land of the free?

Posted on by
1

I love my country. I love everything about it. I would not want to live anywhere else…ever. Saying the Pledge of Allegiance chokes me up. Hearing the National Anthem brings tears to my eyes. Yeah, I’m a sap, but I’m a patriotic sap!

One of the greatest freedoms we take for granted in our country is the freedom of choice. We have choices every day. You choose to go to work, you choose how you get to work, you choose what you eat, you choose where you get your food from…our choices are abundant and overwhelming if you think about it.

And yet there are people out there wanting to take those choices away. There’s a movement trying to dictate where your food comes from…taking the choice away from the one person who should make it…YOU! There are groups and organizations trying to pass legislation and regulations that would determine where your food would come from, or whether or not you should have to raise the majority of your own food. And that should disturb you…actually, that should shake you to the core.

Agriculture is under attack, and in the end, what is being demanded is a lack of choice for the consumer…creating an even larger problem then the one we are currently facing.

My example for today is a call for people to be raising their own food…namely chickens. There has been a great uproar over the egg recall and people are being pushed into thinking that the only safe egg is one they pick out of their backyard. And although I understand the thought process, the follow through is a tad ridiculous.

For me, my eggs will come from someone who knows what they’re doing, and who enjoys doing it. My chicken will come from the same types of places. I have no desire to raise chickens…in fact, the thought sends chills down my spine. (And for those of you that know me personally, I’m sure you’ve heard me say it time and time again!)

But, you know what? That’s MY decision, and since I live in this country, I get to make it…so far.

Until there is not one single person in this country that goes to bed hungry, there is room for all types of agriculture. Small, large, in-between, organic, “natural,” conventional, etc., etc. Whatever buzz word you want to use, we need all the food we can get. And somewhere, there’s someone who went without a meal today who will agree with me completely.

They can sense it…I know it

Posted on by
2

Our bulls have ESP…I just know it.

Yesterday boss man pulled out of the yard with the semi to go get a load of hay from our land about 20 miles west of here. Just as he pulled out of the yard, the bulls headed west across our alfalfa field to take a little walk.

They pretended the fence wasn’t even there and just kept right on walking. And there was nothing I could do about it. I don’t know if they enjoy watching my little mini-van trying to round them up, or they just like to make me seem like a crazy woman who can’t stand to see her husband leave the yard, but whatever it is…it works.

By the time boss man got back to the yard, they were mostly back in, making it seem as if I had either a) dreamed up the whole thing, or b) over-exaggerated the whole escape. The answer was closer to c) the bulls are trying to drive me over the edge.

Sad thing is…they’re beginning to win!

Sure sign of fall

Posted on by
Reply

I’m not ready for today…but then again, I never am. No, I’m not talking about the first days of school or the first snow fall, nothing that simple. Today we start chopping corn. Ugh.

Now, I know that it’s a good thing. This means that we’ll be prepared for winter, have plenty of feed for our cattle, be able to provide for them the nutrients they need. That’s all great!

It’s what it means that makes me say, “Ugh.” Silage harvest is closely followed by winter. No matter how you look at it, you can’t escape it. And when you live in a state like North Dakota, winter is kinda a big deal.

So this morning, I’m getting lunch ready to put in the oven, my canning stuff put away, some laundry done and a very excited little boy ready to go. If you’re looking for me, I’ll be in the silage truck, hauling corn to the pile…and not very excited about it.