tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67578210603029458222024-03-05T06:57:28.355-06:00Faces of AgricultureJ.Rhoadeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08279391530302988346noreply@blogger.comBlogger92125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6757821060302945822.post-82866037715917848182014-01-03T17:20:00.000-06:002014-01-03T17:20:41.914-06:00JNP Ranch of Castle Rock, Colorado<em>Let's hear it for the first post of the New Year! Today we welcome Keith and Karen Penry. They have a heritage breed ranch in Colorado!</em><br />
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We began livestock farming in 1998. My husband always wanted to farm. He spent his summers on his grandparent's farm in Iowa and still returns to Iowa each fall to help with harvest. Although both of us come from strong agricultural stock (my family settled and ranched the west and his farmed on the plains), I was wary of the life. I wanted my kids to grow up with more. I didn't want to be dirt poor, which is the view I had of farmers. It's not that I didn't love the idea of living off the land--living off the land was my dream--but I was practical, reasonable, realistic, and just plain scared of losing everything.<br />
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In 1995, we moved to Douglas County, Colorado. Large portions of the surrounding area were still rural. The move seemed to unleash the farming monster in my husband. He had opportunities to connect with land owners and that's exactly what he did. While he was making connections away from home, at home he was wheedling away at me.<br />
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Finally, in December 1998, after much crying, I gave in. We leased some land from a local native and JNP Ranch was born. We'd been married for nearly 9 years and had 3 young children. I was scared, but excited too. First we had cattle. We were raising them for beef, but that quickly turned into a breeding operation. And the kids were right there, working along side us every step of the way. We loved teaching our children about the sanctity of life and giving back to the earth. We loved teaching them about where their food really came from and what it means to work hard. We loved allowing them to see livestock up close and personal from birth to death.<br />
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Soon, we had friends and neighbors asking us if we would take their kids out to see the animals and work. When my husband broke his ankle, the young men from the church helped me feed and clean over the next several weeks. What started out as an opportunity for us to give our children a chance to experience a bit of country life soon turned into an adventure for friends, children of friends, neighbors, extended family, and now grandchildren. We feel so fortunate to have built a lifetime of memories that involve so many people we hold dear.<br />
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Over the years, we've ebbed and flowed, trying to find our place in agriculture. We wanted to make it work very badly, but we weren't allowed to make improvements or really possess the land we farmed on. Finally, in the fall of 2012, we bought our own place. We own 40 acres in southeast Douglas County. When we made the move, we basically started over. We have had one trial after another--predators, disease, weather--but we also know that this is it. This is our last chance to have a go at making a life in farming.<br />
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From the beginning, we always wanted to raise "natural" meat products on a small family farm. I wanted to farm like my grandfather. He was diversified and old-fashioned, but successful. Much of what we do is modeled after our grandfathers' operations. Our adventure in Ag eventually led us to heritage breed animals. It just made sense--raising animals adapted to our drier climate with distinctive seasons. We currently have heritage breed hogs, turkeys, and chickens. Our sheep are a Suffolk-Hampshire cross. Eventually we may move over to heritage breed sheep as well. Only time will tell.<br />
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Our children are grown now. Two of them still live at home. All three of them are still involved on the ranch. We all have to work off-farm, so it takes all of us to run the farm. I teach part-time at a local school. On the days I'm not teaching, I am trying to catch up at home. That may include making a feed run, getting other supplies, cleaning pens or coops, fixing fence, or simply working on my household duties. A typical day for us starts off with a morning run for my husband. Then, he comes to get me to do chores. I usually do the poultry chores and he does the hogs and sheep. We both head off to our jobs until evening. On winter evenings, when the sun sets early, our children usually do evening chores--either together or alone. Invariably, we spend a day or two each week fixing something, rounding up renegade animals, or moving animals. Invariably, somebody has decided that they want to go wandering away from home.<br />
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Summers and Saturdays are huge work times for us. I work outside all summer long. I'm feeding, building, fixing fence, cleaning up debris, or attacking daily emergencies. Saturdays are always busy for us. My husband always has a to-do list longer than the day is long.<br />
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I don't know if we have a favorite part of the ranch. I love the poultry--especially the turkeys. As soon as I say that, though, I think about how much I love the pigs, too. How can I describe it? We love our Colorado farm life--the beautiful scenery (that is my front yard), lots of sunny days, animals that come running when they see you, animals that talk to you and wait for you to scratch them on the head, babies galore, blue and brown and white eggs, ducks quacking, chicks and piglets exploring, and lambs frolicking. We are blessed with joy in some form every day.<br />
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Farm life is hard. We work hard all day and come home to put in another full day's work in the evening. We see lots and lots of tragedy--especially death. We've pitched hay in snowstorms, dug ditches in the springtime so the muck will flow, swatted flies and mosquitos, fixed miles and miles of fence, picked up the carcasses of chickens drowned in a flash flood, freed various vehicles from ditches and snowbanks and mud, nursed dying babies, rescued animals soaked from a leaky roof, walked around with a chick or a turkey poult or a piglet stuck in our shirt in hopes that our body heat can save them from imminent death, and cried in anguish proclaiming we cannot take one more day. Still, here we are. We're here because as hard as this life is, it's worth it. It breaks us down and yet it's rewarding at the same time. We love our life, our animals, our family. We can't imagine a better way to spend our time. On most days, we feel blessed.<br />
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I'm not sure that I need to say more, but if there is one thing I'd like the world to know, it's that we are not monetarily wealthy. We don't do this for the money. Every penny we make (and then some) is dumped back into the ranch. So, when you ask to buy from us, don't question our prices. Believe that we are giving you a fair and honest price for fair and honest work. I say on our website that it's about conservancy, stewardship, and sustainability. It is. We are here to partake in and preserve a way of life, but we need customers to find value in quality farm products at a fair price. If customers demand lower and lower prices, eventually all that will be left is fake food like CoolWhip and Twinkies. <br />
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<em>Thank you for a great post! To learn more about JNP Ranch be sure to visit their website </em>(<a href="http://www.jnpranch.com/">www.jnpranch.com</a>), <em>follow their blog</em> (<a href="http://www.jnpranch.com/our-blog/">www.jnpranch.com/our-blog/</a>), <em>twitter account</em> (<a href="http://www.twitter.com/JNPRanch">www.twitter.com/JNPRanch</a>) <em>and like them on Facebook (</em><a href="http://www.facebook.com/JNPRANCH">www.facebook.com/JNPRANCH</a>)<br />
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<em>What's your story? How are you involved in feeding the world? We want to hear from YOU. E-mail us at <a href="mailto:foafeature@gmail.com">foafeature@gmail.com</a> to learn how you can be the next Faces of Agriculture Feature! </em></div>
Mrs. Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02615275504960721261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6757821060302945822.post-39735090938708799602013-11-20T12:40:00.001-06:002013-11-20T12:40:30.699-06:00Kellie Gregorich - Farm Strong<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<em>Today we welcome Kellie!!! She has a passion for agriculture and is FARM strong! </em><!--EndFragment--><br />
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<br />
My name is Kellie and I hale from the eastern part of Iowa! I grew up on a small cow/calf operation. We’re a start to finish cattle farm so I got to see every aspect there was to raising cattle. We raise around 60 Shorthorns, Herefords, and I just purchased my first Miniature Herefords. We used to have more, but because it’s just the two of us, I work full time, and dad is 60, we’ve cut back to make things easier.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Nd_24v7EWKk/UoQTnmto-JI/AAAAAAAAE4g/D8S6C5Hi-o0/s1600/farmkellie1.jpg"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Nd_24v7EWKk/UoQTnmto-JI/AAAAAAAAE4g/D8S6C5Hi-o0/s400/farmkellie1.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
Agricultural has always been a part of my life. It means everything to me. If I’ve had a bad day, a day on the farm can take away all the worries, concerns, and bad feelings. Ever heard of ‘runner’s high’? Well I have ‘farmer’s high’. It’s been in my blood for generations. It’s something I thrive on and enjoy doing. Most women don’t get excited about feeding calves, having a bottle calf, grinding feed, or raking hay, but this one does. Farming will be something that I do for the rest of my life. In 3rd grade we had to draw what we wanted to be. I drew “Farmer Kellie”. Someday I hope to be a full time farmer and make 3rd grade Kellie’s dream a reality.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jzEYgWbejHo/UoQTmJz3WsI/AAAAAAAAE4c/xOz56Po7bgY/s1600/farmkellie2.jpg"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jzEYgWbejHo/UoQTmJz3WsI/AAAAAAAAE4c/xOz56Po7bgY/s400/farmkellie2.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
A typical day for me is advocating for agriculture. I am a board member for the Iowa Women in Agriculture, member of Iowa Agri Women, member of American Agri Women, and writer for my own blog on what really happens on the farm. Once I’m done with that I go to work on the farm. As most of you know, there never is a typical day on the farm. We go from grinding feed, hauling manure, sorting cattle, feeding calves, planting crops, harvesting crops, and picking the eggs from the chickens. Every day on my farm is an adventure. <br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z0cwBgOdUNQ/UoQTp3JfA1I/AAAAAAAAE4s/JuAzOmDhXHA/s1600/farmkellie3.jpg"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z0cwBgOdUNQ/UoQTp3JfA1I/AAAAAAAAE4s/JuAzOmDhXHA/s400/farmkellie3.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
My favorite thing about living on the farm is the environment. That sounds funny doesn’t it? The fresh air, the wind through my hair, the smell of my tractors exhaust, the cows bellowing, the smell of fresh cut alfalfa, and many other great things that others don’t ever get to experience. It’s such a relaxing and comforting place to be. It’s all mine and it’s my favorite place in the entire world. My family knows that if they can’t find me, I’m out in the pasture petting my cows. <br />
<br />
One thing I wish people would understand about is animal rights. I’m going to make this short and sweet. Our animals are our livelihood. They feed our families. Animals that are better cared for bring more money to our home. We treat our animals better than our children. Why would we treat our animals poorly knowing that we get less money? Think about that. <br />
<br />
I’m farm strong and am loving my life as a women in agriculture! If your interested in learning more about my life and what I do, please follow me on <a href="http://www.instagram.com/kellieforag">instagram</a>, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/kellieforag">facebook</a>, <a href="http://www.twitter.com/kellieforag">twitter</a>, and on <a href="http://www.kellieforag.wordpress.com/">my blog</a>!<br />
<br />
<em>Thanks Kellie for a great feature! Be sure to check out her blog!!! </em><br />
<em></em><br />
<em>Are you FARM STRONG? Tell us about it by becoming the next feature! E-mail us a <a href="mailto:foafeature@gmail.com">foafeature@gmail.com</a> </em><br />
<em></em><br />
J.Rhoadeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08279391530302988346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6757821060302945822.post-73297428513962778712013-11-05T22:00:00.001-06:002013-11-06T15:34:48.992-06:00Missouri Farm Boy in the City <span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<em>Today we have a bit of a different post. Meet Colby of <a href="http://myaglife.com/">My Ag Life</a>. He is a farm kid living and working in the city. He writes about his passion for agriculture and what he misses most about the rural life. </em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">You Can Take the Boy Out of the Country: What My 5 Senses
Miss Most</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifcw4HoughGcFQssebl7CdKtSONLskJPtDDXDz72Q809AVkqkYGT1B-wQEeIao3eKZvPKY_tPWPwCwnlcQS5vTjx1aITpzgavl4YcRN_G3VI3XABftrdPIUtV1yIfJ0kSFcD06l5fmez0/s1600/_DSC8928+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifcw4HoughGcFQssebl7CdKtSONLskJPtDDXDz72Q809AVkqkYGT1B-wQEeIao3eKZvPKY_tPWPwCwnlcQS5vTjx1aITpzgavl4YcRN_G3VI3XABftrdPIUtV1yIfJ0kSFcD06l5fmez0/s400/_DSC8928+copy.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">It’s often been said, “you can take the boy out of the
country, but you can’t take the country out of the boy.” I am walking, talking,
breathing, blogging proof that your roots always stick with you. I was told to
go where the wing would blow, but it blows away. </span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I grew up in the northwest corner of Missouri, near a little
town called </span><a href="https://maps.google.com/maps?q=helena+mo&ie=UTF-8&ei=ZZlyUojyLqmuyQGG4oDQCA&ved=0CAoQ_AUoAg"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Helena</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">. The town itself has two hundred or less people. I had nine
kids in my elementary school class and lived about two miles down a gravel road
from the old school house. That sweet, simple, small town way of life has stuck
with me to this day. </span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I went to college at the University of Missouri, and I
thought that was plenty big enough. After graduating I landed a job in Saint
Louis, working in agri-advertising for Dekalb, Asgrow, Channel, and other
brands. Staying connected to rural folks and that way of life has become more
and more difficult, which is why I started </span><a href="http://myaglife.com/"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">MyAgLife blog</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> and reaching out to
those who come from backgrounds like mine. I don’t want to be one who carries
on about their self, so I am gonna to get to it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHIhhC4dUZVryVMqGBOkleUm-thfKXmQ3WnJzWSG6_X0B5wnrea8AId7FdpQvXUQ0UXzKTH5eN8pT2EiEqxu_FKaZP9Z83544gEfbleZixnn2GYGDPXQsgp262i8ZrXFtZutlr7vlposQ/s1600/IMG_0032+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHIhhC4dUZVryVMqGBOkleUm-thfKXmQ3WnJzWSG6_X0B5wnrea8AId7FdpQvXUQ0UXzKTH5eN8pT2EiEqxu_FKaZP9Z83544gEfbleZixnn2GYGDPXQsgp262i8ZrXFtZutlr7vlposQ/s400/IMG_0032+copy.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></o:p> </div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I miss big skies, starry nights, coyotes yipping, frogs
croaking and crickets chirping. I miss dropping a line, gravel roads and grain
dust. I could go on forever, but I am going to keep this list in relation to
the five senses. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Without any ado, here is what I am missing most about home
and country living:</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">-<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The smell
of Grandma’s fresh vegetables, with the earthy aroma staining my hands. If I close
my eyes I can still feel the grittiness of the cucumbers piled in my shirt,
used as a basket. The rough, prickly feel of the vines and leaves, and the sun
baked garden soil digging into my knees.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">-<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Mom’s
flowerbeds, and the perfume that drifted in through open windows when the wind
blew on summer afternoons. Vibrant oranges, purples, reds, pinks yellows and
whites decorated the front porch and areas around the house.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">-<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Silage. For
some reason, I love the smell of silage. Being at my dairying families’ houses
and smelling the thick, damp, heavy, pungent scent of warm silage. Winter winds
would swirl and bite at the fingers, but tarped over silage would steam up and
warm the hands.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">-<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The smell
of burning leaves in the fall that would cling to jeans and sweatshirts. A
smoky aroma of its own, burning leaves in crisp fall air that nips at the skin
and raises hairs when the wind blows. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">-<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The smell
of line-dried laundry. A scent so refreshing that I would actually be excited
to go to bed, dive nose first into the pillowcase and press my skin against the
cool sheets.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">-<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The sight
of a harvest moon coming up over the east pasture and fields. The only sounds
coming from nature, and that bright, rustic orange ball climbing higher into
the darkening sky<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">-<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The gilded
autumn afternoons during the reaping season. I loved watching grain dust
drifting through an ember evening air during harvest.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">-<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Stars. In
town, there are no stars. I miss the nights of gazing deep into clusters of
star soaked emptiness, and feeling wonderfully small.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">There are limitless things to list that can only be found in
pastoral lifestyle. I could have listed the cordial nature and togetherness of
close-knit communities, or family, or anything else (of course those are very
important), but it is the subtleties and things often overlooked that really
make a place unique and even more worthy of homesickness. It feel it is
important to remember the details of home and a good way of life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span> </div>
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<em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">You can follow Colby on his blog </span><a href="http://myaglife.com/"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">My Ag Life.</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> And follow him on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/myaglife?fref=ts">Facebook!</a> </span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span> </div>
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<em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Tell us about your Ag Life!!! We need your story! E-mail Elizabeth and Jamie at </span><a href="mailto:foafeature@gmail.com"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">foafeature@gmail.com</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></em></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span>Mrs. Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02615275504960721261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6757821060302945822.post-37442095479254621202013-10-18T18:18:00.002-05:002013-10-18T18:22:03.203-05:00Utah Ranchers - The Cox Family <em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Today we welcome Dustin and Harmony Cox of Alton, Utah. Dustin and Harmony are raising several little cowgirls and have a passion for taking care of their animals and the land they live on! </span></em><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaXlyg52QVzKF_Rwpl0Au8lMHtN1A_7HNJ8NH2lf6dqvydDDlyHfeKfTpLyPnRUhT_Rdbhyk3_DVmFVa2hHXkJWzW1rgYtEe6QnUb6_-rO1zRyILUV_3lzW57ofmLwnRCUDHHLb26S8OM/s1600/photo+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaXlyg52QVzKF_Rwpl0Au8lMHtN1A_7HNJ8NH2lf6dqvydDDlyHfeKfTpLyPnRUhT_Rdbhyk3_DVmFVa2hHXkJWzW1rgYtEe6QnUb6_-rO1zRyILUV_3lzW57ofmLwnRCUDHHLb26S8OM/s400/photo+1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We are located in southern Utah in a small town named
Alton. There is about 117 people half, of which are under the age of 14. It is
located right in the middle of three major national parks: Zion National Park,
Bryce Canyon National Park, and the Grand Canyon National Park. Our summer range is on
National Forest ground through a private lease which is near Bryce Canyon National Park.
Our winter range borders the Grand Canyon. Basically our location is just a little bit of heaven</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We have a cow calf operation and a hay brokerage
business. We broker hay to dairy's across the nation. Our beef cows run in the
high mountains of Utah during the summer. In mid-October we wean our calves and
we process our cows and then we take them to northern Arizona near the Grand
Canyon for the winter. Around the first of June we brand and move them back up to
the mountains of Utah. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We retain our own heifers as replacements. The steers
are sold on contract every year in July for an October delivery right off the
cow. Heifers that are not replacements are also sold on the contract. On the
ranch we are able to get by without any employees at this time - except for
ourselves and our five wonderful cowgirls. For our hay brokerage business we buy hay
from Utah, Nevada, southern Idaho, Arizona, and Nebraska farmers then we sell it to
dairy's in California, Texas, New Mexico and Iowa. I am responsible for sampling
the hay, marketing the hay and the finding the transportation of the hay.
Harmony does the accounts payable and accounts receivable and makes it all run
smooth.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Harmony grew up on
1,000 head cow/calf operation and a small hay operation right here in Alton. She spent her youth pushing cows, branding calves, fixing fence stacking
hay. Her dad didn't buy a big baler till all the kids were gone. I grew up in Orderville working on a 500 head cow calf ranch
called the Corral Ranch. I went with my brothers on and off during the summer. The summer I turned 11 I was full-time in the summer and before
and after school the rest of the year up until the time I turned 19. Then I served
a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. My pay
for the summer wages in 1991 when I was 11 years old was a dogie Herford
heifer. I was able to keep that perfect heifer and run her in the herd with the
guy I worked for Norman Corral. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKVitr8FApKL5SLLdAhECwILXTOkyYzErGMfRHDVfc5P7ZXIRhMAa0yetXtmZM4natZV-TJQlyWwyaxF6jpUlrWmUFcCo9I1D4tuAk-Kq4SZFjm6y6GQj01Lq1fbWezIV1M9ccFbyG-rU/s1600/photo+2+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKVitr8FApKL5SLLdAhECwILXTOkyYzErGMfRHDVfc5P7ZXIRhMAa0yetXtmZM4natZV-TJQlyWwyaxF6jpUlrWmUFcCo9I1D4tuAk-Kq4SZFjm6y6GQj01Lq1fbWezIV1M9ccFbyG-rU/s400/photo+2+%25282%2529.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Each summer after that I received a heifer and
a steer. I got my pick of the heifer and my pick of the steer. The heifer was
to be kept as a replacement and the steer I would show at the county fair. When I was
17 years old Norman allowed my brother and I to run a total of 25 head with him
as a bonus. So with the heifers that I had and the cows my brother had, we got a
loan from a local bank and bought 10 head of pairs which brought us up to 25. Then we bought a bull from a local bull sale. In 1998 we were able to get those
cows paid off and neighboring ranch came up for sale where we could run 75 head
year-round we got another loan and bought 75 first calve Hereford heifers<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>off Superior Livestock video auction for $550
a head out of Nevada and expanded our operation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Harmony and I grew up
together, in different towns, but the same school. We served on the religious council and FFA council together in high school. We never dated, but we
were great friends. When I was on my mission for the LDS Church we
wrote to each other every two weeks and then when I got home we started dating
and four months later we were married in the St. George LDS Temple. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Shortly
after we were married we split off our cattle operation from my brother and we
expanded ours by buying a winter place out by the Grand Canyon and our summer
place by Bryce Canyon. Through the most recent years we have expanded that we
have now 100 head cow calf operation paid for and financially sound. Each of
our girls have a cow that they care for along with
the others and they can keep the heifer that she has or a show steer at
the county fair.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC-OCdgGQU23dnjzfZwAegqbQN0zF2agwkDsMa69Iw62opU-uUrNZ4BvrHAXhEiE8gcgGT7ImdMvxLT7T34FtNMrPNAQn1ItfxYUGGuozX2cqbB3XUpARXr1J1RwkEGGzza_AtvwRPGR4/s1600/photo+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC-OCdgGQU23dnjzfZwAegqbQN0zF2agwkDsMa69Iw62opU-uUrNZ4BvrHAXhEiE8gcgGT7ImdMvxLT7T34FtNMrPNAQn1ItfxYUGGuozX2cqbB3XUpARXr1J1RwkEGGzza_AtvwRPGR4/s400/photo+3.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Right after we were married I began working for a
construction company of the family that Harmony knew. Through the school of
hard knocks and a very hard, very good employer I was able to run equipment and
drove a dump truck most of the summer. I began going to college at Southern Utah
University where I received a Bachelors in Agriculture Business - graduating Magna Cum
Laude. Harmony received her degree in Dixie State University with a minor in
music.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">It was kind of a hard challenge deciding what to do in college. I knew I
wanted to raise my family and be involved in agriculture but how was I going to do it? How was
I gonna make a living was a puzzle. I started my college education in ag business and then
switched to secondary education to teach Ag. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">After a year of doing this I followed
my heart and went back to ag business. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I'm now making a living and involved agriculture.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The experiences I had working in the construction
company, driving a dump truck, enabled me to feel confident to go to work for a
hay broker and driving a hay truck from Utah to California. After nine months
of working for the hay<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>broker my brother
and I bought the truck. About a year and a half of owning the truck I
sold my share of the truck to my brother and I began working in the office
managing the Hay company. After managing the company for several
years the time came to start out on our own in the hay business. The first
several months were very nerve-racking and frustrating and downright scary, but
through the faith of my great wife we were able to push through and we have
become very successful and have great clients made up of dairies farmers and trucks.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">A typical day for us on the ranch is: we rise between 6:00 and
6:30. During the school days we have scripture study from the Bible, from the Book
of Mormon and prayer's before breakfast then send our kids to school. The younger girls, Harmony and I go do chores around town and check on cows as needed during the summer.
Our cows are only 15 miles away which is pretty easy to get to. One wonderful thing about a beef herd is you don't have to check them every single
day<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>unlike a dairy herd. Although we
still do have a milk cow name duck because she's a bad influence on the other
cows from the famous book Click Clack Moo. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">During the winter months our cows
are 100 miles away. We have put in
several more pipelines and drinkers to have adequate water and to maximize the
grazing area of our ranch. One very unique thing about our ranch is after we
breed our heifers, our cows never see a bale of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>hay, They are<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>on the desert range in
the winter and on the summer range grazing and performing on their
own; without any input costs from feed. Another unique thing about the ranch is that we
help Harmony's family on their ranch and we still do a ten day cattle drive in
the fall moving from the summer pasture to the winter<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>pasture in northern Arizona. We go about 100
miles in 10 days camping with them right along the way that's been a unique
opportunity for us to do with our family to keep the spirit of lifestyle alive in our home.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">In our hay business our number one priority is I always have my cell
phone. I love technology! I love Bill Gates, I love Steve Jobs. I love the guys who
make these phones work as it has enabled me to go to my kids school plays, to be
on a horse, and do business as long as I have service. With the hay business
were are constantly on the phone calling farmers looking at hay, driving sampling, lining up trucks and doing
what we say we're going to do. When we tell the farmer, dairy or truck something
we stick to it. Harmony does all the accounting accounts payable receivable for
the ranch and a business.</span></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Working with family and being with family and teaching the
family that is the number one best thing about being on the farm and ranch.
My favorite time of year on the ranch what ever time it is that day. <span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">My wife and I's love for each other and agriculture and our family allowed us to always work together. We started from scratch, from ground zero and built a life doing what we love. Of course we couldn't do it without our heavenly father. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We are blessed to have the experience of growing up on ranches and blessed that the</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> hay broker gave us a job driving a truck. I've always wanted to ranch. My sixth-grade teacher brought my mom a paper that I had written on what I wanted to do for a career. As I read through that at the age of 12 and then today being 33 my desires and my love for a career to work with the family on a ranch hasn't changed. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I wish people understood more of the products that we grow
and raise on farms and ranches. We feed our families also. The same things
people put in their mouths and bellies, we put in ours. We are confident with
them, we trust them, we trust the partners with those who sell a seed, who sell our
cattle, who sell us milk. We are confident. We sit down at the dinner table and the
things we eat are safe, delicious and wholesome. We hope the families across
America feel the same way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Being involved in animal agriculture brings up many issues about
animal welfare and how we care for the animals. We have a
fundamental core belief that God created all things for the use of man. As a rancher we care about our animals, we
take care of them. We understand that they have a purpose<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and that purpose is to feed our families and
the families across the world.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span><br />
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<br />
<em>Thank you Dustin and Harmony for a GREAT feature!!! </em><br />
<em></em><br />
<em>How are you involved in agriculture? What is your story? YOU can be our next feature! E-mail Elizabeth and Jamie at <a href="mailto:foafeature@gmail.com">foafeature@gmail.com</a></em></div>
Mrs. Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02615275504960721261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6757821060302945822.post-68570366031515132492013-09-25T16:41:00.001-05:002013-09-25T16:41:20.521-05:00Taylor Short - Missouri Agvocate! <i>Today we welcome Taylor Short from the Missouri Ozarks. Taylor is passionate about agriculture! </i> <br /> My name is Taylor Short and I am senior majoring in agriculture communications at Missouri State. I am proud to be from Missouri more so from the Missouri Ozarks. <br /> <br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPkhEu2xRyZiZHL7iWgn7AgMP0cZ2WwflMMGDVDcjsHJbYWr69c_4a1vQVzpsQJFVGrQDyOe63lou8UXGETsD5_KFj-Um6xVcPZOGIZ3SZF0MP7pGY985fYhzY1wiHRtHt1kxqhwjBOrA/s1600/photo+(3).JPG"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPkhEu2xRyZiZHL7iWgn7AgMP0cZ2WwflMMGDVDcjsHJbYWr69c_4a1vQVzpsQJFVGrQDyOe63lou8UXGETsD5_KFj-Um6xVcPZOGIZ3SZF0MP7pGY985fYhzY1wiHRtHt1kxqhwjBOrA/s400/photo+(3).JPG" width="400" /></a> </div>
<br /> I am a third generation Angus breeder; our family has raised Angus cattle for almost 50 years qualifying us for the distinction of Historic Angus Herd in 2014.<br /> <br /> Our farm has been in our family for 5 generations. During the summer I show my cattle at various state and national shows/fairs. this has allowed me to make lifelong friends and awesome memories. I write blogs for I love Farmers they Feed my Soul as the lone catalyst for conversation in Missouri – I love being involved in this movement because it gives everything a new light making it cool to talk about agriculture. I am also involved in Farm Bureau at the local, college, and state level.<br /> <br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixCdt6GlWleVUZHrJuu5z_Rl9TLnCIDVDc6flh69Vi5qbhQmB8b0xV02v_FW98E9VtFDgJVCiu99klnld85FXvsnbKXrW8PFHQ_NpfaEWGthrfLgsTGTKCtQoeYWJTCq-KQ0lGeISb9mI/s1600/photo+(1).JPG"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixCdt6GlWleVUZHrJuu5z_Rl9TLnCIDVDc6flh69Vi5qbhQmB8b0xV02v_FW98E9VtFDgJVCiu99klnld85FXvsnbKXrW8PFHQ_NpfaEWGthrfLgsTGTKCtQoeYWJTCq-KQ0lGeISb9mI/s400/photo+(1).JPG" width="300" /></a> </div>
<br /> A typical day since I am still a student involves learning all I can about agriculture. <br /> <br /> I live and breathe agriculture. Agriculture is awesome- I mean where we would be without agriculture. Agriculture is my passion. Therefore it is my goal to be an agvocate for my fellow agriculturists and educate anyone who will listen about who works to provide for their food supply as well as other products that are raised by farmers and ranchers. If we don’t agvocate our “services” then those with less experience will – like the media. As agvocates we want the true story from farm to market to enlighten the consumer. Advocacy needs to be progressive in order to attract consumers and be able to answer their questions.<br /> <br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5v135bxGB_DvoSNZ7cehhfK8wiVXCboFa9CT-2K6_T4mXLZwplVj3dqTOjvHsZ29vAtKsPXxcGFw3Yp5dBplDc_flg0uAfU05u9USLtLSnbcepQ1rvTYfD6pBteGjAMxTrV45qmzD0mk/s1600/photo+(2).JPG"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5v135bxGB_DvoSNZ7cehhfK8wiVXCboFa9CT-2K6_T4mXLZwplVj3dqTOjvHsZ29vAtKsPXxcGFw3Yp5dBplDc_flg0uAfU05u9USLtLSnbcepQ1rvTYfD6pBteGjAMxTrV45qmzD0mk/s400/photo+(2).JPG" width="300" /></a> </div>
<br /> Agriculture is my passion and I want to share my passion with everybody. I was told if we don't tell our stories someone else will tell our stories. agriculture means the world to me I want people know that.<br /> <br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHyAdqgydQQ3oDp2qHKwvRy5tlNjJZjwaNOapK5GgludUkYt6gAqvAAiSPIDvkJS7oUK3n_I0XW1c8Jv2KxkVOVBJOgCJyjVPtPcbjpIT6Q6U7FLxP3EvRcLlPD-Tj7SvM7oIq3V4KAdM/s1600/photo+%25285%2529.JPG"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHyAdqgydQQ3oDp2qHKwvRy5tlNjJZjwaNOapK5GgludUkYt6gAqvAAiSPIDvkJS7oUK3n_I0XW1c8Jv2KxkVOVBJOgCJyjVPtPcbjpIT6Q6U7FLxP3EvRcLlPD-Tj7SvM7oIq3V4KAdM/s400/photo+%25285%2529.JPG" width="300" /></a> </div>
<br /> I run into a lot of misconceptions on certain areas that I think a lot of people just are scared and confused about issues...but the whole telling you story is important.<br /> <br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuI5waAnKH408QxXh-TiD4AfwRx_Jm9KgLQi_tlHNoIs2inn8oyC1_cppjQn3cMed_TTN_JqDFwC4y66abSWGOAim0azBRA1yplV2GwfzT3LUF0YBy7Xb_klwC1uxoYDcIh4ZEA01Ukt4/s1600/photo.JPG"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuI5waAnKH408QxXh-TiD4AfwRx_Jm9KgLQi_tlHNoIs2inn8oyC1_cppjQn3cMed_TTN_JqDFwC4y66abSWGOAim0azBRA1yplV2GwfzT3LUF0YBy7Xb_klwC1uxoYDcIh4ZEA01Ukt4/s400/photo.JPG" /></a> </div>
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You find me on acebook <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheAggieHipster">The Aggie Hipster</a> and on my blog at <a href="http://theaggiehipster.wordpress.com/">http://theaggiehipster.wordpress.com/</a> <br /> I am currently working on a vegetarian diet for 15 days to gain a different view on agriculture. <br /> <br /><i> Thank you Taylor for the work you do and good luck with your vegetarian adventure! <br /> Be sure to follow her <a href="http://theaggiehipster.wordpress.com/">blog!</a><br /> <br /> You could be the NEXT feature!! E-mail us at foafeature@gmail.com today to learn more! </i><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCwX0bdt42tLhW-1iW1asB-TRYM65PO91MMc6fK5bvTBjs5fkURqUbpicQqVdt7FhMYFOeaIQKs0vUo0iPTNZ0EIsv3DbatCFgVS9jorvDDLwf6YHDy96_DCZxxT1uhFzAs4B0JgZMRvI/s1600/photo+%25284%2529.JPG"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCwX0bdt42tLhW-1iW1asB-TRYM65PO91MMc6fK5bvTBjs5fkURqUbpicQqVdt7FhMYFOeaIQKs0vUo0iPTNZ0EIsv3DbatCFgVS9jorvDDLwf6YHDy96_DCZxxT1uhFzAs4B0JgZMRvI/s400/photo+%25284%2529.JPG" /></a></div>
Mrs. Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02615275504960721261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6757821060302945822.post-16381277759419430282013-08-21T16:15:00.000-05:002013-08-21T16:15:59.790-05:00Greg Lemke - Arkansas Cattle Producer <i>Today we welcome a post from Jeralyn Stephens of the <a href="http://www.beefmasters.org/">Beefmasters Breeders United</a>. She has shared with us the story of Greg Lemke a cattle producer from Arkansas. </i><div>
<br />Greg Lemke of Gentry, Ark., always had a passion for cattle. However a hog hunting accident in 2007 followed by a layoff as a result of downsizing in Latco in Lincoln, Ark., fine-tuned the passion into a livelihood necessity. Greg found himself wheelchair-bound, out of work and unable to use his engineering design degree but not his intelligence and determination.</div>
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<br />Greg has 130 acres on which he runs 50 <a href="http://www.beefmasters.org/">Beefmaster</a> mommas. Greg is very partial to the Beefmaster breed. Greg said, “I always liked the breed and already had a small cow herd when I was young. Then I talked with a guy who raised Beefmasters. Many years ago we traded my labor for painting his truck for a heifer. Then I bought another and started my Beefmaster herd with two. I have never looked back at that decision.”<br /><br />According to Greg, Beefmasters are the top momma cows in fertility and milk production with a higher weaning weight. The cows also have good fertility, longevity and can also be successfully bred at 14 to 16 months. Because calf weight can vary from 60 to 80 pounds and because Greg wants to take advantage of the latest refinements in the breed, he pays very careful attention to EPDs (expected progeny differences) and carcass scan data. He scans his cattle and matches them to bulls for his AI breeding program. In addition, he has a particularly good momma cow that he flushes twice a year before breeding her back. He then uses some of those eggs in his cows and freezes the rest for his personal use and for sale.<br /><br />Greg said, “The Beefmaster Breeders United Executive Vice President Dr. Tommy Perkins, has done amazing work with EPDs and scan data.” Beefmasters are a three-way cross between Hereford, Shorthorn and Brahman. As a result of a strict culling process, and a sever Texas drought, three quarters of the original Lasater herd was sold off. The result was that the remaining animals had a higher fat content in the rump area, which has given them higher fertility and drought tolerance. Later Dr. Perkins began to pay careful attention to the technical data. Now many Beefmasters have higher marbling with enhanced taste and tenderness.<br /><br />Greg said, “When you’re in the business of selling meat animals, EPDs are far more important than pedigree. You want the highest quality and weight animal with the least amount of expense and intervention. That means careful breeding.” The final critical component in Greg’s breeding program is his cleanup bull. It is the brother to the Grand Champion Bull at the 2012 Beefmaster Breeders United National Futurity. Greg leaves nothing to chance.<br /><br />While Greg feeds his cattle sweet grain a couple of times a month to keep them docile and comfortable with the corrals, his cattle are mostly grass fed with free-choice minerals that contain high magnesium in the spring to offset Fescue poisoning and high potassium one month before breeding. Because of his heavy dependence upon grazing, Greg pays as much attention to his land as he does his cattle. He hays about 40 acres of mixed grass. The drought over the last two years caused a loss of 80 percent of his forage with the dominant survival species being Bermuda. One of the reasons Greg was able to survive the drought was being able to send most of his herd to Oklahoma on water rich creek-fed land that belonged to the man who originally introduced him to Beefmasters. Nonetheless Greg planned extensive replanting this fall. He explained that the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) recommended fall replanting because more moisture and lower temperatures for a longer period of time promote better and stronger germination.<br /><br />One of Greg’s choices during replanting was the use of a strain of Fescue called Jessop Max Q. It is entophyte free thus eliminating most of the Fescue toxicity problem. Greg said, “The intent is to bring up the conception and production rates because regular Fescue is hard on cattle.” In addition Greg mixed clover seed with his fertilizer this year to add nitrogen which for better grass growth and because cattle love clover.<br /><br />Greg said, “I love what I do. I catch myself in the middle of the night thinking about which cows to cull and new ways to optimize my operation and income. Cattle is my passion." Greg's accident has led to two additional changes. Because he needs the extensive, but willing, help of neighbors and friends, he has recently purchased a new cattle chute for better safety, efficiency and ease. He has also started an online business featuring a wide variety of Beefmaster semen. The business helps fill in a void in the accessibility of those Beefmaster materials. <br /><br /><i>Thank you Jeralyn for sharing this great feature!!! You can learn more about Beefmaster and cattle producers by checking out the United Beefmaster <a href="http://www.beefmasters.org/">webpage</a>, and check out their <a href="https://twitter.com/bbucattle">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BBUCattle">Facebook</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/BBUcattle">Youtube</a> and <a href="http://beefmasters.org/blog/">Blog</a>! </i><br /><i>We need to hear your story! How are you involved in agriculture? To become a feature e-mail Jamie and Elizabeth at foafeature@gmail.com</i></div>
Mrs. Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02615275504960721261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6757821060302945822.post-7851693882439271742013-08-07T12:00:00.000-05:002013-08-07T12:00:24.116-05:00Mackinson Family Dairy Farm<i>Welcome to Mary Mackinson Faber as she shares with us about her family's dairy farm! </i><br /><br />Hello! My name is Mary (Mackinson) Faber and I am proud of my family’s dairy and grain farm located in Pontiac, Illinois. Where is Pontiac? Pontiac is in Central Illinois about 100 miles south of Chicago on Interstate 55. If you are ever traveling Interstate 55, it cuts our farm in half at mile-marker 203. You can call it living in the country but Interstate 55 and Historic Route 66 are the north and east borders to our home farm. We also have an airport and railroad tracks within 5 miles of our farm.<div>
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We cannot talk about where we are today without going to back to how Mackinson Dairy Farm (MDF) was started. MDF began over 100 years ago with a handful of cows and 161 acres. My great-great grandfather Daniel Mackinson was the original owner of our farm. Today our family continues to live and farm those same acres plus about 2,000 more. The dairy has grown to include about 165 milking cows and over 140 head of heifers and calves. We are proud to own a great herd of Holsteins, Ayrshires and one Brown Swiss! In addition to our cows we milk another’s family’s small herd of Milking Shorthorn. </div>
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<br />The farming operation is owned by my parents, (Donald & Rita) my uncle (Roy) and my brother (Matt). Donald and Roy are great-grandsons of Daniel, the original owner. I am confident to say that farming is all my Father, Uncle and Brother have wanted to do and they truly have a strong passion for the soil and cows. I am the oldest of three children. While I don’t work on the farm full-time, I am still actively involved. My husband, Jesse and I are proud parent’s of a one-year-old daughter. I work as the controller of a local cooperative that provides farmers in our area with feed, crop inputs and is a grain storage facility. Jesse is from a beef and grain farm and one of the agriculture teachers and FFA advisors at our high school. Matt is the middle child. He married Amy almost one year ago and she is a Registered Nurse and is also from a swine and grain farm. David is the youngest and lives with his partner Pato in Santiago, Chile. David is an economist and recently graduated with his Master’s in economics and Pato works as a family court clerk. We also have two employees. Dan Jones has been with us full-time for over three years and is getting married to Mallory this fall. Aaron Jenson started working for us last fall and just graduated from high school and is starting at the local community college this fall. Both are great assets to our operation!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption">Rita, Pato, Grandma Theresa, David, Matt holding Ava, Mary, Amy, Jesse, Donald</td></tr>
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We milk our cows 2x a day (4:30 a.m. and 4 p.m.) every day in a double 6 parlor. The parlor was constructed in 1975 and remodeled in 2001. Our milk is picked up every other day and goes to the fluid milk bottling plant in Peoria, IL. We are proud members of the cooperative, Prairie Farms Dairy. The cows and heifers (older than 6 months) are fed a total mixed ration (TMR). TMR means we mix and blend a certain number of pounds of corn silage, haylage, soybean meal, corn gluten and other necessary minerals together. The milk cow ration consists of 11,600 pounds of feed! Our TMR is just like your Kitchenaid mixer but much bigger! The heifers are grouped according to age. In 2011 we constructed a new heifer barn which has 4 separate areas that can house 70-90 heifers depending on age. In the summer, we are able to utilize some pasture for the heifers, dry cows and milking herd. We have two free stall barns (almost 16,000 square feet) so the cows have a choice of where they choose to spend their time. The newer freestyle barn utilizes sand bedding. Yes, it’s just like the beach and the cows enjoy putting their hooves in the sand. </div>
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<br />Our crop rotation is corn, soybeans, wheat and alfalfa. We do grow a majority of the crops we feed our cows, the only exception would be the soybean meal and additional vitamins and minerals which we purchase. The excess grain is sold to grain storage facilities and is either moved via rail, barge or turned into ethanol. We try to utilizing minimum tillage and no-till on the highly erodible soil. Cover crops have also been implemented into the rotation. In the fall of 2011, we built a manure storage facility that is adjacent to the dairy. This storage facility holds 2.8 million gallons of manure which is applied to our fields in the fall. On a beautiful summer day it is not uncommon to find us baling hay, scouting fields, maintaining equipment or other jobs that require our attention. </div>
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I asked my brother what is a typical day consists of and he laughs and says that every day is different. I will try to offer a glimpse into what we routinely do daily. Milking the cows, feeding animals (calves, heifers and cows), and cleaning the parlor and barns must be done every morning and night. Matt takes responsibility of the mating choices for the cows. A majority of the cows are bred through artificial insemination but we do have a bull if that is necessary. Heifers are bred for feet and legs, the first time around 14 months. All calves are house in individual calf hutches and are vaccinated twice and receive semi-annual boosters. MDF currently works closely with 3 veterinarians and a nutritionist to keep our cows healthy and comfortable. We are currently utilizing embryo transfer with a few of our top cows. Growing up, we showed our cows through 4-H and today are still competing at a few shows. You might see a few of our animals at the Illinois State Fair, All-American Dairy Show in Harrisburg, PA, World Dairy Expo in Madison, WI or the North American Livestock Expo in Louisville, KY. </div>
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<br /> My Dad, Uncle, Matt and Dan put in a lot of hours every day from sun rise to sun set. Never once have I heard them complain (too much) because they are all doing a job that they love. We are committed to providing the consumer with a safe, high-quality milk and products. Our commitment to quality means taking good care of our cows and the land. Thank you to Faces of Agriculture for asking us to tell our story on your blog. If you are ever in Central Illinois, we would love to meet you and show you our farm. I encourage you to find us on social media - <a href="http://www.facebook.com/MackinsonDairyFarm">Facebook</a> or on <a href="https://twitter.com/mtmacki">Twitter</a>.</div>
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<i>Thanks Mary for the look inside your dairy! Be sure to check Mackinson Dairy out on Facebook and follow Mary on Twitter! </i></div>
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<i>Could you be the next Face of Agriculture! We're looking for new features now! <a href="http://facesofagriculture.blogspot.com/p/contact.html">Contact us</a> for more information! </i></div>
J.Rhoadeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08279391530302988346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6757821060302945822.post-90008324924087801792013-08-01T09:42:00.000-05:002013-08-01T09:46:04.426-05:00Stauffer Dairy<i>Please welcome Krista & Brandon on the blog today from Stauffer Dairy in Washington! Brandon & Krista have a small family farm where everyone helps out to make their dreams come true! </i><br />
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Hello, we are Brandon & Krista Stauffer of Stauffer Dairy in Washington. Brandon is a third generation dairy farmer & I (Krista) is a second generation dairy farmer. We have three kids under 6 years old & milk on average 150-180 jersey/Holsteins/crosses.<br />
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Brandon was born & raised in Whatcom County which is well known as a dairy community. At a young age he worked for his uncle Craig & other local dairy farmers. He knew that when he grew up that he wanted to be a dairy farmer & nothing else. His senior year in high school he had them put in his year book that he wanted to be a dairy farmer!<br />
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In 2008, he decided that it was time to make his dreams come true. His grandfather & father no longer dairy farmed so he would have to figure out another way to get in the industry. He began the process & started seeking out potential dairy farms to lease. After going through all the motions he had found a dairy farm, had the startup loan, found some cows to add to the 20 he raised himself and it was go time! He moved away from everyone & everything he had ever known. In May 2009 he started milking cows. He worked endless hours, battled tremendously low milk prices & all with moving to a county where he knew only a couple people.</div>
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I was not born on a farm & knew next to nothing about farming especially dairy farming. My great grandma was a dairy farmer, but I knew very little about what she did or how she did it. I was just a kid when she was still milking cows. She did pretty much everything on her own. I met Brandon the summer of 2009. I was actually trying to set him up with one of my friends. We began dating the end of August. I had a daughter from a previous marriage & we found out we were expecting in May 2010. We had our son May 2010 & were married July 2010. I dove in head first into the world of dairy farming. I took on the books, the calves, helped with milking & basically anything to help take some work off Brandon. There have been plenty of times where I have had a baby in the front pack & carrying two five gallon buckets of milk or a stroller in one hand & a bucket of milk in the other. We had our youngest son in May 2012. I have taken on the task of agvocating for the dairy industry. I have a Facebook page & <a href="http://adayinthelifeofthefarmerswife.blogspot.com/">a blog</a>. I try to post daily on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/StuafferDairy?ref=hl">Facebook</a> but find it hard to make time for the blog. In addition to everything, I have taken a job off the farm two days a week. I felt it necessary to have something of my own.</div>
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Brandon is the brains of the operation. He is very business orientated & is the main laborer. An average day for him is up early in the AM to feed cows. He also feeds the calves as we have a new program & not too many calves right which means feeding calves doesn’t take much time. He fixes anything that needs fixed from fences to tractors. He tends to any cattle that may be sick or calving. Pretty much anything & everything on the farm he does it. Then most nights he milks the cows. When the kids are cooperating we help with the night milking. We are very fortunate after four years to have some reliable help. We have two part time milkers that do all the morning milkings so Brandon can feed cows. With the exception of 2013 the last couple summers we had all our hired help quit in the middle of silage season leaving everything to us. We got creative & made it work. If the weather was bad the kids watched a movie during milking in the milk house. If the weather was good, they played in buckets of water or a pool in the milk house. Our youngest son slept in the swing in the parlor or a pack on mommy’s back. Makes milking really fun! ;) We have chickens & love our farm fresh eggs! AND of course we have plenty of beef!!</div>
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What we both wish people understood about farming is everything! We wish that people understood what it takes to farm & that is not for the money. The public tends to think dairy farmers all abuse their cows & that we do not care about them. It’s simply not true. Dairy farmers simply cannot afford to not take the best care of their cows possible. Happy, healthy & comfortable cows produce milk. The cows have to be able to pay for what they eat & then some and in order to do that they have to be happy & healthy. We spend 24/7/365 taking care of our girls. Also we would like everyone to know how important it is to support all farmers from organic to conventional. From hobby farm to “corporate” farms. Every farm & farmer has something to offer & we need everyone to feed the growing population. There is not one way of farming that can be applied to everyone, to every farm or every part of the world. Farmers need support more than ever. Know your food, know your farmer.<br />
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The past four years have been tough as a new dairy farm especially operating on a cash flow only basis. We have amazing support & great relationships with our local farmers in which we buy feed from. Time spent with family & the way of life is why we do it. It’s not for the money, well because there is no money to be made in dairy farming. It’s 2013 and we are still going strong. Everyone said it would be over in the first year & we are not ready to give up. We have dreams of owning our own farm & plan on making that a reality some day!<br />
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<i>Thanks so much to Stauffer Dairy for the great feature! Be sure to keep up with Krista on <a href="http://adayinthelifeofthefarmerswife.blogspot.com/">her blog</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/StuafferDairy?ref=hl">Facebook page</a> & <a href="http://pinterest.com/kissta15/dairy-farming/">Pinterest account</a>! </i></div>
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J.Rhoadeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08279391530302988346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6757821060302945822.post-14745811132983288832013-07-16T14:43:00.000-05:002013-07-16T14:43:05.367-05:00Hewitt Farms Inc. of Minnesota! Today we welcome a great farming family from Minnesota! Meet Sara and Mark Hewitt! <br /><br />Welcome to life as a young farm wife in rural, southern Minnesota! My name is Sara Hewitt and I farm with my husband, Mark, his brother, Ray and my in-laws on a 3,000 acre corn and soybean farm called Hewitt Farms, Inc. in Le Sueur, Minnesota. My husband and I were just married in September so we are still newlyweds on the farm! <br /><br />I am a 5th generation farmer, growing up on a soybean, corn, cattle and hog farm. My husband and I currently rent the land that my parents used to farm. My parent's farm has been in our family for over a century now and was inducted into the Century Farms program! In fact, my family lives in the same house my great-great grandfather built in 1906! My husband is a 3rd generation farmer growing up around crop farming. Farming has a special place in our hearts as we continue the traditions our grandparents and great-grandparents started.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />I grew up with all kinds of animals. I don't think my mom was too happy that I insisted this baby lamb come into the house with me.<br /><br />Both my husband and I have jobs off the farm. My husband is a diesel mechanic for Ziegler CAT, working on farm equipment and heavy machinery. I work as an intern for the Minnesota Farm Bureau. My job at the Minnesota Farm Bureau involves working on the Ag Cab Lab. It is a tractor cab and a combine cab that allow children to get in and virtually plant or cultivate a field. It is really exciting to watch the kids interact with the game and the discussion that is sparked with their parents. Hopefully one day, some of these children might find themselves working in agriculture too!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br /> This is an applicator, a piece of equipment we use to help combat weeds and bugs in our fields. We also do custom application for other farmers. <br /><br />Something unique out about our farm, is our agriculture business that we have too. Hewitt Drainage Equipment specializes in water management for farmers all across Minnesota. We sell tiling equipment, Golddigger tile plows, tile stringers, and do custom tiling. We do a lot with GPS technology and mapping tile lines as well, making it a lot easier for farmers to know where their tile is and fix it when a problem arises. We think it is pretty cool that through agricultural tiling, we help the soil act like a sponge, soaking up more water preventing run-off, soil erosion, and reducing flooding. <div>
<br />Our jobs on the farm change on a daily basis. I do a lot of marketing and media for both our farm and for Hewitt Drainage Equipment. I do everything from managing our Facebook pages, to updating our blog <a href="http://www.hewittfarmsinc.wordpress.com/">Hewitt Farms, Inc.</a>, to designing banners and flyers for the many farm shows we attend throughout the year. I also help during planting and harvesting season by driving combine, tractor and rock picking with the skid loader. My other job during those two seasons: professional sandwich maker. I can pack a lunch or supper for the guys complete with hot coffee and fresh baked brownies like no one's business. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of my jobs on the farm is driving the combine.</td></tr>
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My husband does a lot of upkeep on all of our equipment on the farm. He does routine maintenance work, but also fixes the combines, tractors and planters when they break down. During planting season, he is usually out cultivating fields. Planting takes us about two weeks if the weather is cooperating, and three to four if Mother Nature decides to throw some rain our way. During fall, he is often driving combine, working to harvest our crop.<br /><br />Ray, can often be found driving semi and hauling our crop to be sold to the local elevators. A lot of our corn crop goes to the local ethanol plant to be made into fuel. Ray also has his applicators license so he is our fertilizer and crop protectant guy on the farm. Ray also sells seed corn, so he is out delivering seed to local farmers to help them get their crop in the ground. <br /><br />Kevin, my father-in-law, is usually busy with our agricultural water management business. He does many farm and trade shows throughout the year selling tile plows and other tiling equipment. He drives all over Minnesota and often into other states, delivering Golddigger Tile Plows. He makes his way into the tractor during harvest to help pull the grain cart. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br /> Last summer our U.S. Senator, Amy Klobuchar visited our farm to learn about our farming operation, agriculture business and some of the issues and problems we face today in agriculture. Pictured are Mark, Kevin, Jeanette, Ray and our hired-hand Nathan with Amy.<br /> <br />No farm is complete without animals. We raise a small flock of chickens so we have plenty of fresh eggs for our own family and friends. We also raise a pig or steer every other year to help feed our family. We take very good care of our animals making sure they have fresh water and plenty of food at all times as well as adequate shelter. We also have three dogs running around the farm: Cass, Denali and Charger. We have one Lionhead rabbit named Waffle. We also have plenty of farm cats. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />We are constantly checking our fields, soil, and crop. Crop health is very important to us. <br /><br />I am currently working on my Masters degree in Agricultural Education and Communication. At Hewitt Farms, we never stop learning. We are always looking to improve our practices and become more efficient and effective. We embrace technology on our farm because we know it is an important part of our overall farm's operation. Technology allows us to be even better stewards of the land because we can pinpoint areas where our soil needs more nutrients or reduce overlap or only use a select amount of fertilizer. <br /><br />My favorite thing about farming is being able to work outside and always being busy. I don't have much down time and I enjoy that. I have to be productive with my time and farming allows me to do that. I love being outdoors so being able to work in an environment I love means a lot to me. I love looking out the tractor cab window to see a bright blue sky with a hawk soaring back and forth in front of me and a doe with her fawn standing off into the prairie grass curiously watching while I cultivate the dark, rich soil beneath me. There is nothing better than the views you get from the seat of a combine or tractor. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />This is my husband Mark & me with one of the many dogs running around our farm. His name is Charger and he is a chocolate lab. The tractor in the background is a 1949 D Case that we are working on restoring. <br /> <br />You can find us on Facebook both at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/HewittFarms?fref=ts">Facebook</a> or<a href="https://www.facebook.com/HewittFarms?fref=ts#!/HewittDrainageEquipment?fref=ts"> Facebook.com/HewittDraingeEquipment</a>. You can also follow some of my stories about farming, life and work at <a href="http://www.hewittfarmsinc.wordpress.com/">www.hewittfarmsinc.wordpress.com</a>. <br /><br />Signing off from rural Minnesota! Don't be afraid to stop by for a visit! <br /><br />Thank you Mark and Sara for this great feature! Thank you for all your hard work! Good luck with the 2013 crop year!! <br /><br /><i>YOU could be the next FOA feature! Contact us today!!!! </i> </div>
Mrs. Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02615275504960721261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6757821060302945822.post-61620677590190381422013-07-16T14:25:00.002-05:002013-07-16T14:25:54.189-05:00Chad & Anna - Feeding pigs & the world<div>
<i>Please welcome Chad & Anna Wastell who share with us about their unique family business and love for agriculture, family & pigs. </i></div>
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Hi! We’re Chad & Anna – Team Wastell – and we feed pigs to feed the world. This is our story.<div>
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<br />I’m a small-town Kansas girl. Population 1200; wheat fields and milo as far as the eye could see. My high school had a nationally recognized FFA program and the school parking lot filled with farm trucks each morning. But I was a town kid, a drama and music kid, and I never participated in 4-H or joined FFA. I loved the county fair mostly for the snow cones and cute cowboys. <br /><br />I attended a small liberal arts college in Kansas and lived in Eastern Europe for a while. I climbed the corporate ladder in the hospitality industry wearing high heels and a suit, and my marketing skills were further developed through a job as Director of Communications at our megachurch. But I always loved visiting my hometown; staring out at a wheat field and open sky filled my heart with a sense of total calm. </div>
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<br />My husband grew up in suburban Omaha. He was raised in the <a href="http://gromaster.com/">family business</a> selling Crystal Spring hog feeders. From a young age, he spent time in hog barns, sat in on manufacturing meetings with his parents and celebrated his birthday each summer at World Pork Expo. <br /><br />Chad left for Northwestern University in Chicago to pursue the field of computer engineering, but after graduation, he decided to come back to the business and his family in Nebraska. It wasn’t an easy choice; his classmates were transferring into jobs with glamorous, fast-paced consulting firms, and more than a few friends and mentors flat out told him he was crazy to choose the family business. <br /><br />But it was the right choice. Armed with a desire to rebuild his relationship with his parents and fueled by the passion that drives everything Chad does, he threw himself into the business of feeding pigs to feed the world. He committed himself to extensive training, completing an internship with a hog production company and traveling to Europe and South America to understand of the needs of an international market. His engineering background provides the right skillset for product development with Crystal Spring Hog Equipment and the complex technical service of the Pro-Sort large pen auto sort system. He knows his products inside and out and is passionate about the benefits they can deliver to a producer.</div>
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<br />As Chad and I were <a href="http://teamwastell.com/2011/05/21/anna-story/">falling in love</a> and <a href="http://teamwastell.com/2011/12/30/wedding-pictures/">getting married</a>, I once (or twice…) declared that I would never work for the family business. I want my own thing, we need work/life balance, hog barns are really smelly, I’m just not gonna do it. No thank you.<br /><br />But when Chad was offered an expanded Business Development role that would require him being on the road several nights a week to meet with dealers and customers, we remembered all the conversations we’d had, all the "If Onlys". If only we could travel together, if only we could spend time together out on the road.<br /><br />It became clear that I could fill a role at Gro Master as Director of Marketing, handling advertising and developing training materials for dealers and redesigning the website and <a href="http://gromaster.com/blog">blogging</a> and all the things I love to do. And I could travel with Chad. I should probably learn not to say “never.”</div>
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<br />Now, as we travel around the country and solve problems for farmers and producers that use our products, I meet the people and families that work so hard to care well for their animals and provide safe, nutritious food for the world. I have learned so much about the industry visiting hog farms and talking with the growers. The barns are still smelly, but I want to learn as much as I can about how pigs are raised and the needs of our customers so we can provide the best products and the best solutions for them. <br /><br />I love traveling with my husband. I love rural America and the small towns and big skies. I love that through blogging and social <a href="http://twitter.com/adetrich">media</a>, I get to help tell the story of feeding pigs to feed the world. At the end of the day when we're tired and smelly and road-weary, Chad and I love being part of the bigger story of agriculture.</div>
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<i>Thanks Anna for the fantastic feature! To learn more about Chad and Anna and their family business you can check out their <a href="http://gromaster.com/">website</a>, <a href="http://teamwastell.com/">blog</a>, & <a href="https://twitter.com/adetrich">twitter</a>! </i></div>
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<i>If you or someone you know is interested in becoming the next Face of Agriculture please <a href="http://facesofagriculture.blogspot.com/p/contact.html">contact us</a> today to learn more! </i></div>
J.Rhoadeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08279391530302988346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6757821060302945822.post-32850800298204737912013-06-26T12:51:00.000-05:002013-06-26T12:51:40.494-05:00Beckstead Family - Custom Harvesters & Ranch Operators <div>
<i>For our next feature, please welcome Tana Beckstead and her family as they share with us their unique agricultural story! </i></div>
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Our agriculture story is made up of Beckstead Harvesting LLC, Mount Oxford Ranch and Oxford Mtn. Ranch LLC. We are Doug and Tana Beckstead and our three children are, Wiley age 17, Savannah age 14 and Hazen age 8. <div>
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<br />We live in southeast Idaho in a small town called Swan Lake (about 45 miles south of Pocatello, Idaho and 45 miles north of Logan, Utah) along Oxford Mountain.<br /> <br />As a family we operate and manage two separate farm and ranch operations owned by different corporations and businessmen. Mount Oxford Ranch in Downey and Preston, Idaho is a cow/calf operation with 350 Black Angus beef cows and calves as well as alfalfa and irrigated grain crops. Oxford Mountain Ranch, LLC in Swan Lake, Idaho is a cow/calf operation with 100 head of Black Angus cows and calves as well as the alfalfa, irrigated grain crops and dry land grain and safflower. Our oldest son Wiley pretty much runs the Swan Lake place by himself - he does all the pipe moving, field work and runs the cattle on his own - with a little help from Grandpa Beckstead occasionally in the summer. All together we farm close to 4500 acres.</div>
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<br />In addition to operating the two ranches we also started our own custom harvesting business as a family. Two years ago we purchased a John Deere 9560 combine and we custom cut grain crops for farmers in the local area. Our little business is growing and last year we were able to buy a semi and a grain trailer to haul grain. We also own about 10 good ranch horses and the kids like to participate in local rodeos and jackpots in the summer time. Our older children, Wiley and Savannah both got youth loans through our local FSA office and purchased their own Angus cows and heifers and raise them along with the bigger herds. The kids plan on attending college with the money they make from selling the calves.<br /> <br />Doug and I (Tana) have been married for 18 years and have been involved in agriculture our entire lives. I was born and raised on a small dairy and beef cattle operation in Downey, Idaho and was active in 4-H and FFA while growing up. I was the Marsh Valley High School Chapter FFA president in 1994 and the District FFA President in 1995. Doug started working for a dry farm in the Preston, Idaho area when he was in his early teens and grew to love every aspect of farming. He worked the dry land hills and fields with old D-4 caterpillar machines and John Deere hill side combines. His blood runs green and nothing compares to John Deere when it comes to farm equipment! </div>
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<br />A typical day for our family is long and busy! Right now it is summer time so there is a LOT of pipe moving going on and we are just finishing up 1st crop hay. Wiley takes care of the pipe at the Swan Lake place and Doug, Tana and Savannah move the pipe at Mount Oxford Ranch. (Our little Hazen likes to play in the water and get the end plugs for us-pretty soon he’ll be big enough to lift the pipe!) We work together every day as a family. YES, we all have to work on the ranch! Whether we are calving cows or doctoring or branding calves or cutting or baling hay or disking or drilling a field, we all have important jobs to do! Doug hires a part-time hand to help out in the summer at Mount Oxford Ranch and also hires on temporary help from January to April for calving and branding season, but for the most part we do it all as a family. <br /><br />My favorite part of working and living on a ranch is getting to raise my kids here. There is no better way in my opinion than growing up and working on a farm or ranch! Our kids have learned the value of a hard day’s work and they are responsible, knowledgeable kids for that very reason. We get up early and go to bed exhausted, but I know my kids aren’t out making trouble or doing drugs or worse. </div>
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<br />We do like to have fun too! Our favorite time of year on the ranch is branding season. We make a big day out of the brandings and I cook a big meal and we make a party out of it. We have great friends that love to help us brand and we never have to pay them to help. <br /><br />When our youngest son Hazen started Kindergarten they had to give him a test to see what level he was at and the teacher asked him a series of questions and one of the questions was “What are the four seasons of the year?”. Hazen answered just as cool as could be, “Well there is calvin’ season, brandin’ season, farmin’ season and huntin’ season!” The teacher thought that was the cleverest thing she had ever heard. In his world these are the seasons on the ranch. Our local FSA agent heard the story and has a poster hanging in her office with the Four Seasons by Hazen Beckstead.</div>
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<br />The one thing I wish people could understand about our particular ranching and farming story is that just because we work for a corporation doesn’t mean the money for the ranch is just flowing free at our disposal. Many times we hear people say “You have it so easy because the owners just buy everything you need or you don’t have the stress because you don’t have to worry about the bottom line.”. This is so not the case! If anything we worry more about making things work and being in the “black” at the end of the year. Doug and I have to put together a yearly budget and operating expense account and we have to pencil out how things will work and run smoothly. If we are short or don’t pay off these expenses we have to answer for it at the end of the year. We run these ranches just like we would our own if we had our own ranch.
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<i>Thanks for the great feature Tana! Agriculturalist come in all shapes and sizes - just like you! If you or someone you know should be featured on Faces of Agriculture please <a href="http://facesofagriculture.blogspot.com/p/contact.html">contact us</a> today! </i></div>
J.Rhoadeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08279391530302988346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6757821060302945822.post-76797506202726429342013-06-18T14:04:00.001-05:002013-06-18T14:04:49.733-05:00Brandi in John Deere Green<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><i>Today we welcome Brandi who shares with us about the mechanical and repair side of agriculture and what it takes to keep her family's business running year round. Welcome Brandi! </i></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">My name is Brandi and I am the blogger behind <a href="http://injohndeeregreen.wordpress.com/">In John Deere Green</a>… I blog about my life in smalltown Iowa.</span></div>
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<br />I haven’t always live in the country, but I’ve never really lived in the city either. I spent most of my life on a small acreage right on the blacktop outside city limits. We didn’t farm or raise cattle or hogs. We did however have a couple of horses and cows throughout the year and baled about 20 acres of hay. We never owned and new or fancy equipment because it wasn’t necessary. We cut, raked, & baled our hay with a JD 70! My grandpa used to farm before my grandma wanted to move to town so I’ve been around farming for most of my life.<div>
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<br />I met my boyfriend in 2010 and we fell in love. I was working on a nursing degree and he was right off the farm working on a degree in ag power technology. He is now a fulltime ag mechanic at the family shop and helps out with the family farming operation and hog buildings. I am a part-time RN and secretary at the shop. In 2012 he bought a house so I moved to the country to live with him. We also adopted a black lab-mix puppy who has become a big part of our life. I’ve live in the country for over a year now and have learned so much. I love living out here and wouldn’t change it for anything.</div>
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<br />Since moving to the country and moving in with my boyfriend I’ve “joined” a 5,600+ acre corn & soybean farming operation, hog building operation, and ag repair shop business. I do help out with the farming operation but it generally doesn’t involve operating the equipment, I pick up parts, drop off food, and move trucks around to different fields. I do however enjoy riding in the tractor or semi with my boyfriend. The operation owns the hog buildings, but not the hogs. We rent out the buildings. But that also means that we are responsible for repairs. And I have spent far too many hours helping weld gates and slap-patch the floors in the hog buildings. The ag repair shop is what takes up most of my time. I am a part-time secretary at the shop, besides all of the bookwork, phones calls, etc. that means service calls, getting parts, and helping work on tractors. My boyfriend also has an ag repair business on the side, so I do all of that bookwork, taxes, etc.</div>
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<br />Tractors have now become part of my daily life. And although I’m not in the tractor farming daily or out feeding cattle at 5am, agriculture is still a big part of my life. During the spring and harvest the shop gets VERY busy. Often I am there on my own taking phone calls and helping customers, while my boyfriend is off on service calls. During these times my boyfriend is in charge of the shop while his father is in a tractor. It’s a busy job and takes a lot of work. During harvest we get much more field time then in the spring, that’s just how things work out.</div>
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<br />I’m definitely an agvocate. It’s important that farmers get the public’s support. People don’t understand how much work farming takes or how farmers are the reason they have food on their plates. I hate when people say how farming is easy and a lazy person’s job because you only farm a couple months out of the year. This isn’t the case at all though. In fact in our case, everyone besides one person who is in-charge of all off-season farm related stuff, has a job outside of farming: mechanic, business owner, manager, nurse, jailer, lawyer, and some others! It’s nice to see kids that are just graduating high school going into farming or ag-related industries.</div>
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<i>Thanks Brandi for the great feature! Be sure to check out her blog, <a href="http://injohndeeregreen.wordpress.com/">In John Deere Green</a>, and also be sure to look her up on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/injohndeeregreen">Facebook</a>! </i></div>
J.Rhoadeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08279391530302988346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6757821060302945822.post-73271230409185159172013-06-15T11:54:00.000-05:002013-07-16T14:36:02.173-05:00Analyzing from the Airwaves with Trinity Lewis <i>Today we welcome Trinity Lewis - an Ag Broadcaster! She is doing her part to share her view on agriculture!</i> <br /><br />Hey everybody and welcome to the Country Café of the Airwaves, well at least that’s how I begin my day! My name is Trinity Lewis and I currently reside right on the border of Western South Dakota and North Eastern Wyoming. I am the fifth of six kids, and our family reaches back as far as we can date as agriculturists, either farming, ranching or extension work of some kind. I was raised on a commercial cattle ranch where we had a large emphasis on sheep production as well, today though my life is slightly different.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />When I was a junior in high school I had the opportunity to intern an ag broadcaster in Sturgis, SD. This experience allowed me a platform to discuss some of the real issues facing agriculture at the time. After that I was hooked and throughout the next bit of high school I grabbed a mike every chance I got and loved to share my passion for agriculture with anyone and everyone. <br /> <br />Following high school I had some unique opportunities that further solidified my faith in the greatest industry in America. I was able to travel every inch of my state as a Wyoming State FFA Officer and then I had the opportunity to cover a lot of the US as a collegiate livestock judger. Every operation visited in that time had something unique about it. One cow-calf operation we visited raised cow dogs too. Another unique facility that sticks out in my mind was a cattle operation that had hogs and corn and the thing that made it different was the numerous generations who had lived there. The family running the place then had the same last name as the family who had originally settled there centuries ago. Is there anything more American than that?<br /> <br />Speaking of families and generations, I am now married to a Western Wyoming guy who spends his days as a logger. We started Lewis Log Cutting and Clearing almost a year ago and we are blessed to be able to say it continually grows. Justin’s hard but close work with forestry has opened a whole new part of agriculture for me and I love to research and speak on behalf of keeping our forests sustainable and healthy now as well. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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Today I have the opportunity to host a 54 minute daily radio program, “The Country Café of the Airwaves”, that reaches from Canada to Colorado, Bismark to Billings, Midwest Wyoming to Marshall Minnesota. I’ve heard it said that agriculturists do a great job of raising everything except their voice so that is my goal every day when I pull the mike down and click the “on air” button. I have to tell you, this longstanding program was started by a radio great in our region and he has fashioned the program to be a smorgasbord of topics. To keep our listeners tuned in I do the same but make it a daily goal to add a bit of agriculture, stir in some American patriotism and sprinkle some God talk on top of all the rest. <br /> <br />Although radio and speaking are my passions I also have the opportunity to do some freelance writing and blogging as well. You would be welcome to join me online anytime <a href="http://www.analyzingfromtheairwaves.blogspot.com/">www.analyzingfromtheairwaves.blogspot.com</a> where I do my best to share all of the good ag life brings and the ways that country people are some of our country’s best assets. <br /> <br /><i>Thank you Trinity!!! Be sure follow her blog and check her out on Facebook <a href="http://www.facebook.com/AnalyzingFromTheAirwaves">www.facebook.com/AnalyzingFromTheAirwaves</a>! <br /><br />As Trinity said - we need all of our farmer and ranchers to raise their voice! You can tell your story next! E-mail us at foafeature@gmail.com to be the next FOA feature!</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span>Mrs. Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02615275504960721261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6757821060302945822.post-58145501538835362792013-06-12T19:21:00.000-05:002013-07-16T14:37:27.697-05:00Linda - Texas Ranch Girl <i>Today we welcome Linda – a Texas Ranch girl. This busy gal is busy agvocating and living life to the fullest on with her husband on their ranch in Texas. </i><br /><br />From my childhood in Texas to my travels around the world - my heart has always belonged to my family and the ranch. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />My family farmed rice and raised cattle in Katy, Texas - when Katy was a small farm town. Dad always told the story about his biggest decision on the school board was to buy a second school bus for the kids in the Addicks area to get to Katy High School. And now for those of you who are familiar with the area, I think there are five AAAAA high schools. My Dad was a great cattleman - my Mom a sweet Southern lady. So my childhood went from guns, horses, working cattle to piano and ballet. But I can tell you now - the horses and cattle won out and stole my heart. <br /><br />We lived in the country on the ranch - my grandparents lived on either side of me. My family and our neighbors were my world and my extended family. We were so loved - so protected. We were also disciplined and had chores, but our world was so safe and secure. That did not mean we did not have trouble - but when you did - neighbors pitched in and helped - loved you through. They were all God-fearing, hard-working family oriented people. Integrity was everything - land purchases, farm deals, cattle purchases and sales - all done on a man's word and his hand shake. Life was real on the ranch - life and death - disappointments and victories - successes and failures. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />I was always into mischief - but I made good grades - graduated from Katy High School - then on to The University of Texas in Austin for my B.B.A. with a major in marketing. Foleys Department Store (now Macys) hired me for their executive training program - Fashion Merchandising. <br /><br />I am married to Gary and I have two sons, Scott and Christopher. So my life has been filled with all the love, laughter, and drama of two sons - and a career in fashion merchandising - and the ranch. But my travels - the famous personalities I met - the social engagements - the boys many activities - football games - fell short with my Dad the rancher. Believe me when I tell you that ranchers were way ahead of the times in the women's lib movement - you always got to work just like the guys on the ranch. The week-ends belonged to the ranch and there were always cows to work - hay to haul - pastures to mow - fences to mend - and any other project Dad could think of to accomplish while you were at the ranch. So I spent Monday through Friday in a fast paced world of fashion - many weeks in New York - but home was always back at the ranch. It certainly kept me grounded. I would go from whistling down cabs to whistling in my horses – skyscrapers to barns – executives to cowboys – delis and 4 star restaurants to campfires – drivers and limos to pick-up trucks and trailers – fast talk to slow talk – Broadway stars to star studded night skys.<br /><br />If you have spent most of your time in a high stress office and not had the opportunity to saddle up and work cattle in 100 degree temps - from sun rise until the sun sets - with a bunch of cowboys who know no pain and fear is out of the question.......then you have missed the true meaning of "sweat equity". And you have missed some great stories. And that is what I want to share with you. I have traveled the road of board rooms - designer clothes - stiletto heels and I want to take you on the trail where our board room is open pasture with cows grazing - our jeans are Wranglers - and it's all about the boots and spurs. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />I want you to know what really happens on a working ranch - how we work hard and play hard - how a good cup of coffee with friends and one of Gary's chuckwagon meals is better than any 4 star restaurant - how 24-7 is a way of life - and how we are always available for each other and we really do leave the light on for you.<br /><br />So saddle up and join us for the ride of a lifetime. That's what it is - life!! This is one trail you don't want to miss. So let's ride out.<br /><br /><i>Thanks Linda for a great feature!! You can follow her on her blog <a href="http://texasranchergirl.com/">Texas Ranch Girl.</a> <br /><br />How did you become involved in agriculture? What's your story? We need it! E-mail us at foafeature@gmail.com </i><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
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Mrs. Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02615275504960721261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6757821060302945822.post-77015914778612906892013-06-10T20:35:00.000-05:002013-07-16T14:39:41.987-05:00Mandy and Brian - Aussie Farmers Today we welcome a special guest from Australia. Mandy and Brian are cattle ranchers in New South Wales! <br /><br />G’Day Mob,<br /><br />Greetings from the Land Downunder. I have been greatly enjoying reading through these profiles on Faces of Agriculture and learning a little more about farming in the USA; and I thought I could lend an Aussie perspective.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />My husband, Brian, and I own a 2,000 acre property in northern, inland New South Wales (NSW) where we run a cattle trading business. The country here is undulating woodland with plenty of rocks and spring-fed streams – hence the property name “Rocky Springs”.<br /> <br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />Brian grew up on high country stations(ranch) in New Zealand and worked as a head-shepherd before coming to Australia. I spent my early years on a dairy farm in southern NSW and then on small acreage (14 acres) while at high school but I wasn’t a farmer. I went to university and studied geology and met Brian on a drill rig in the deserts of Western Australia. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />We both harboured a dream of getting back to the land so after making some money from the mining boom of the early 1990’s, and after a few detours, we bought our first real farm in 2004. And hasn’t it been a learning curve.<br /><br />2004 – 2010 were drought years in Australia so we learnt the hard way. We started with a steep, rough block with hopes of breeding Santa Gertrudis cattle but the drought and the hills shunted us towards the tougher Brahmans. Then we moved to Rocky Springs and in 2009 realised that breeding was not working for us. It was about this time that we happened upon a methodology developed by your very own Bud Williams, which taught us how to be profitable in any market. So now we are principally a trading operation (I still have a breeding herd of 2 Brahmans!) running anywhere from 200 to 900 cows depending on the season. With a bit of work we are confident in any climate, whether it be drought or flood. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<a href="http://stockmanship.com/">Bud Williams</a> also developed Low Stress Stock Handling, which we employ on our farm. With Brian in the sale yards (sale barns) a lot of the time, I find myself often working our cattle alone and using LSS methods has given me a confidence I may not have otherwise had.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />One of my most satisfying moments in the last few months was taking eighty unweaned angus steers (bought out of different sale yards), weaning them at Rocky Springs, working them through our yards and selling them a few weeks later as one mob. I loaded the steers onto the semi-trailer truck and the driver commented “Gee, you’ve done a good job with these, the buyer is going to love them”. The whole exercise made me proud of what we are doing – in this case taking unruly cattle, and being able to sell them as a quiet, well behaved mob a short time later.<br /><br />We are not rolling in gold coins on the farm yet but we have a strong idea of what we want to achieve:<br /> <br />Make this farm profitable without outside income <br />Manage our cattle quietly and to the highest possible standards <br />Enhance the pasture quality and the environment<br />Employ from and contribute to the local community.<br />I blog at <a href="http://www.rockysprings.wordpress.com/">www.rockysprings.wordpress.com</a> and the focus of my writing is not so much the technical aspects of what we do, but the soul, which is my passion for rural Australia.<br /><br />Thank you for the opportunity of sharing my agricultural story with you.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl4tjxD_mA7adPR3W6s_tzBFTEcklhFENotHPINBDryTuqyubh1nquDVbbM7oOmkr7mYfzEX_TvWb8oRvd4_Vpi15yQeHsPnxye8MJ2jTHw9CC_O8vnhHBm7TwEeV4_5iNWDWWj1bPOTU/s1600/Tank+Paddock+-+good+season.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl4tjxD_mA7adPR3W6s_tzBFTEcklhFENotHPINBDryTuqyubh1nquDVbbM7oOmkr7mYfzEX_TvWb8oRvd4_Vpi15yQeHsPnxye8MJ2jTHw9CC_O8vnhHBm7TwEeV4_5iNWDWWj1bPOTU/s400/Tank+Paddock+-+good+season.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pasture in a good year</td></tr>
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Thank you Mandy and Brian for giving us a taste of Australian Agriculture!!! Good luck to you and keep up the great work! Be sure to follow this ranching couple on their <a href="http://www.rockysprings.wordpress.com/">blog</a> and learn more about Ag Downunder! <br /><br /><i>What's you Ag Story? Tell us about it! E-mail us at foafeature@gmail.com </i>Mrs. Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02615275504960721261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6757821060302945822.post-39603952591591627832013-05-30T20:13:00.001-05:002013-05-30T20:13:33.467-05:00Guy and Rachel Living in the Sagebrush Sea <i>Today we bring you from the Sagebrush Sea. Rachel and her family care for a herd of cows out in Southwestern Idaho. <br /><br />You can find me at <a href="http://thesagebrushsea.wordpress.com/">The Sagebrush Sea</a> and <a href="http://www.facebook.com/TheSagebrushSea">Facebook</a>.</i><br />
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I was raised on the Quarter Circle U Ranch on the Tongue River in South Eastern Montana, where my father’s family has been raising commercial cattle since the 1880s. My brother and I, split our time between Montana and Northeastern Wyoming, where our mother ran a herd of Registered Red Angus with her family. <br />
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When I reached high school I was fed up with cold weather and uncooperative animals, so I turned my attention to academics and polo ponies. When I left home to attend college, I thought I was escaping ranching for good. I graduated four years later; I couldn’t get back to the ranch quickly enough. <br />
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A few months later, I met my husband Guy, who was starting colts and cowboying in Wyoming. We’ve spent the last eleven years working for ranches in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. Additionally, my brothers’ and I have a herd of our own cattle.<br />
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Currently, we are employed in Southwestern Idaho. My husband is the lead-off cowboy on the JS and TM ranches, owned by Simplot Land and Livestock. He is responsible for a cowboy crew of three, 1,800 head of mother cows, and a broodmare band. Our cattle travel nearly 60-miles from the winter range to the summer range and back again. So Guy spends most of the year at various cow camps along the way, while the kids and I visit over school breaks.<br />
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A commercial cow-calf operation is unique, because your responsibilities change from season-to-season. In the spring, we are calving heifers, feeding, and fencing, until the grass catches up with us. As the grass greens and the weather warms in the Summer, we finish up branding calves, watch our water closely, and ride often to prevent the cattle from damaging sensitive, riparian areas. As fall rolls in, the cattle reverse course and we begin weaning and shipping the calves. This is my favorite time of year. Not only is there a lot of horseback work to be done, I swear you can see those momma cows kick up their heels and celebrate as their calves are loaded on the truck. Winter is typically a slow time of year, with fewer responsibilities. If the weather isn't bad, we feed some hay and keep the water free of ice. Then the cycle begins again.</div>
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I am pleased that my children are a part of this lifestyle. I enjoy the interaction with animals; achieving a moment of perfect feel with your horse or witnessing the arrival of a new life into the world during calving. We ranchers measure time by the change of seasons and make a habit of watching the sky. Whether my kids continue to ranch is not important to me, but I want them to develop an appreciation for the lifestyle and its’ unique connection to the natural world.<br />
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<i> Thank you Rachel for the feature!!! You can follow this cowboy family at <a href="http://thesagebrushsea.wordpress.com/">The Sagebrush Sea</a> and on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/TheSagebrushSea">Facebook</a>!<br /><br />How are you involved in agriculture? We need your story today! E-mail us at foafeature@gmail.com and learn how to become our next FOA!</i></div>
Mrs. Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02615275504960721261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6757821060302945822.post-13291228872777676922013-05-22T21:25:00.003-05:002013-05-23T10:03:40.045-05:00First Generation Farmers <i>Today we welcome Shea Lowe. Her family are first generation farmers in Kentucky! With hard work they are making their dreams come true - being involved in agriculture! </i><br /> <br /> We are located in Murray, KY (Western KY, just west of the Land between the Lakes area KY lake). Our main cash crop is Dark Fired Tobacco (which is all labor intensive) but we also grow corn, soybeans and wheat while running a small angus cattle herd.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />I have a Bachelor of Science and Masters of Science from Murray State University. I always planned to work in the business field (I love skirts and heels), but God had another plan for me in 1998. I met the love of my life and in 2002. I married a farmer! From there on it was dirty clothes and hair. We are a FIRST GENERATION FARM FAMILY!!! My caps are happy caps because we are so proud to be able to work God's Land and raise our girls within the FARM LIFE!! I am hoping my blog creates some awareness and education about agriculture. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />Every day is a great day outside, with our "<a href="http://handsinthedirt-heartsatwork.blogspot.com/">hands in the dirt - ourHEARTS are at work</a>!" This is the drive and slogan that started my <a href="http://handsinthedirt-heartsatwork.blogspot.com/">blog</a>; this is my life as the farmer’s wife. The drive is the easy part. My husband grew up a typical small boy, playing with tractors and trucks. His father worked for TVA and his mother is a house wife. My parents were school teachers, and I lived in the school/sports area since birth. Neither one of us grew up on a farm nor had anyone in our families farmed for a living. To our parent’s surprise, we are proud to say that we are a first-generation farm family. <br /><br />We started our farm, Lowe Farms in 2002 when we married, but it actually started in 2001 as our neighbor leased us two acres worth of dark-fired tobacco pounds. We split the crop 50/50, he paid for all the inputs and we paid the labor. The profit from this crop allowed my husband to buy an engagement ring for me and put a down payment on a double wide mobile home and two acres of ground. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />We are blessed by supportive family and friends along with community relationships that keep us thriving. We were turned down in 2002 by a loan officer that said we would never make it as a farm owner and operator. That incident put a drive in us to work hard and achieve the goal of being a first generation family. Thanks to a new loan officer in 2002 at a different bank and our faith in Gods works, we still operate Lowe Farms- a dream still in the making. Our dream was to raise a family in agriculture and teach them the lifestyle that feeds the world, and that nothing is greater than calling ourselves AN AMERICAN FARMER! <br /> <br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />Typical day is MOM first. Normally it’s getting kids up and out the door to school. Next is to the herd to feed for the morning and make sure all are accounted for. Then I head to the tobacco field where I manage our h2a migrant workers. I drive the setter during setting time and tractors during cutting time. My duties are to see the work schedule is achieved each day and the guys are on task. You will normally find me right with them, I can’t stand to ask someone to do something I wouldn’t do myself. My husband tends to the larger crops (corn, beans and wheat) when they are in season and I take charge in the tobacco field. On days where we are caught up I work in the office and catch up on paperwork and tax information. And all days are spent working between field and family being that there are 3 meals and a house to tend too as well. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />Everything is my favorite thing when it comes to living on the farm. I guess not growing up and living the farm life as a child, makes each a new day. I love the smell of the fresh air, the sounds of the tractors in the distance, and the animals that we raise. I love how they meet me as they see me coming to feed them. I love my kids barefoot and carefree. I grew up in town on the cement and heard the hustle and bustle of the college students to and from school. It was so hard to move to the country where street lights weren’t every 10 feet but maybe seen every 10 miles. Now, I have the passion of teaching and spreading the importance of hard work and the fiber that feeds this great world.<br /><br />Farming isn’t a way of life IT IS MY LIFE!! It is what feeds my family and yours. From the care and compassion of the cows that we hand raise for beef, to the education of how food is properly produced for the world. Farm life if hard, and like everything in life can make you or break you.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />Thank you Shea for a great post! Farming and ranching is a great life! Good luck and we wish you much farming success!!! You can follow this farming family on their <a href="http://handsinthedirt-heartsatwork.blogspot.com/">blog</a>! <br /> <br />What is your story? Are you a begining farmer? A 5th generation farmer? We need your story! Email us at foafeature@gmail.com and learn how to become the next Face of Agriculture!<br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
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Mrs. Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02615275504960721261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6757821060302945822.post-64542927972414884132013-05-13T13:59:00.001-05:002013-05-13T13:59:14.731-05:00Luella from Luella's Front Porch <i>Today we welcome Missouri native and farm girl Luella! Luella shares with us her typical day working in social media with the Missouri Soybean Association and Missouri Farmers Care, and how being raised as a farm kid made her who she is today. </i><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<br />Hello from Missouri, a state rich and diverse in agriculture! Missouri is ranked in the top ten for beef, hay, turkey, corn, dairy, rice, soybean, cotton, ice cream, and watermelon production. With a variety of climate and soil types, Missouri is ranked second in the number of farms in the U.S. I am proud to be involved in one of the nearly 106,000 farms in the state. Missouri’s diverse landscape is home to many fruit orchards, vineyards, crop, livestock and diversified farms. <br /><br />I grew up on a fifth generation row crop farm in east central Missouri. My passion for agriculture began early on and as farm kids. Little did we know, that it would be one of the greatest gifts we could ever be given and most influential part of my life. Looking back now, I thank God every day that we were raised to understand work ethic, self-sufficiency and the common sense values that I believe truly lead to success and happiness. I only hope that I can provide my family with the same experiences someday. <br /><br />Growing up, we raised corn, wheat, soybeans and hay on our farm. My brother sells seed and has a specialty hay business that supports the St. Louis area. Today I am more involved in beef cattle production and enjoy livestock in addition to crops and hay. My grandpa has Hereford cattle on pasture, which has neighbored our house for as long as I can remember. I am constantly inspired by my 90-year old grandpa’s clear mind and memories of agriculture growing up in the 30’s. A lot has changed. But the honor and integrity of a farm family will always remain the same. <br /><br />My typical day begins with managing social media, posting visuals or doing some writing in response to common questions or inquiries. However, every day is different. Some days are spent in the classroom and at other educational events, where I talk to students about agriculture and products they use every day. Other days are spent responding to media stories, or consumer questions about agriculture, maintaining public relations within our industry through grower communications and other communication tools. <br /><br />As Manager of Communications for the Missouri Soybean Association and Merchandising Council, I have the opportunity to promote agriculture in many ways. I work on a variety of projects, maintain social media sites, lead efforts within our CommonGround consumer education program, as well as do layout for the Missouri Soybean Farmer magazine. Within the publication, we focus on stories that can benefit Missouri soybean farmers, including crop and weed management, ongoing research projects, the economic value of soybeans to Missouri as well animal agriculture, biodiesel, policy issues that impact the industry and consumer advocacy. <br /><br />Missouri Soybean is an active member of a collaborative effort and organization, called, “Missouri Farmers Care.” Missouri Farmers Care is made up of many of the state’s agricultural groups and was established to promote the continued growth of Missouri agriculture and rural communities through coordinated communication, education and advocacy. <br /><br />Within Missouri Farmers Care, I have been involved in influencer events, including “Safe at the Plate,” educational campaign with the St. Louis Cardinals. We also organize farm tours and other educational experiences for grocers, restaurant owners and dieticians, in an effort to provide a direct source for information to build trust with the consumer. <br /><br />One of my main focuses is a third grade agriculture education program, entitled “Ag Education on the Move,” through Missouri Farmers Care, where we engage students with interactive and hands-on activities, like bread in a bag and garden in a glove. <br /><br />I think it is so important to plant a seed early on while children are open-minded and excited to learn. The hands-on program allows students to develop an understanding of where their food comes from over a ten-week period and includes lessons on beef, dairy, pork, poultry, soybeans, wheat, corn, soils, nutrition and careers. I have endless positive stories to share from the classroom, where agriculture has left a lasting impression on a child. . Educating children about agriculture continues to be one of my most fulfilling endeavors. It is crucial that we teach our children that their food doesn’t appear on a grocery store shelf.<div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Teaching children about agriculture and products they use every day.</td></tr>
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When not involved in ag advocacy work, I enjoy being as involved on the farm as possible, by feeding, raking hay and doing other various chores. I have always enjoyed gardening and canning. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Feeding silage to calves.</td></tr>
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<span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">In my downtime, I enjoy writing stories for my blog and creating visuals for my social media and website, and am currently working on agricultural focused children’s books. I also love to go fishing, mushroom hunting and do freelance writing. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Type of visuals I enjoy creating for Luella's Front Porch website and social media.</td></tr>
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<span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Through my personal website, </span><a href="http://www.luellasfrontporch.com/" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">www.luellasfrontporch.com</a><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> and blog, luellasblogspot.com, I address common misconceptions, while sharing heartfelt stories and visuals about farm life and the thousands of farm families who share the same passion and lifestyle. I also develop greeting cards that promote agriculture. Cards include Christmas, Notecard sets and other holidays. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mother's Day Card</td></tr>
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Along with addressing concerns, my love for cooking allows me to share ag facts through favorite recipes within the recipe portion of my site. When selling baked items, I take the opportunity to remind consumers that “Life is sweet, so thank a farmer.” You will often catch me baking bread or creating a new pork or beef recipe on most week nights. It is like my “therapy.” I enjoy being able to cook from scratch and tie my love for ag advocacy to the mix. <br /><br />I have always said that farm life is not an easy life, but it is a rewarding life. Farm families make many sacrifices to ensure their livestock, land and natural resources are cared for and protected for future generations. I think, often, one of the greatest misconceptions or unknown facts is the upmost care a farmer has for their crops and livestock and that the majority of farms (98%) are family farms. Farmers work endless hours while making sacrifices others take for granted. At the end of the day, we are upholding family traditions passed down by generation after generation. Farmers work 365 days a year. There are no snow days or paid holidays. Livestock eat before we do. Christmas morning waits until after the livestock is fed and date night is a tractor ride or picnic in the field during planting, harvest and caving time. I think it is often difficult to express just how much time and care is put into providing food and everyday products we often take for granted in this country. <br /><br />We face a harsh reality that we no longer can assume that agriculture is understood. For farmers, who are too busy on the farm to always tell their story have realized that they must begin or their story will be told for them. We are constantly being targeted by a variety of topics and we have to pro-active in providing resources and answers to top concerns. <br /><br />I believe that everyone can make a difference and everyone has a story to tell. With a world full of technology and communication tools, we often forget how to communicate effectively. We need to be as transparent as possible. I am proud to be a part of the most important industry in the world and the values learned as farm kids have taught me many things. One, being that when you love what you do, you’ve hit the jackpot. There are some things in this life you can’t put a price tag on. Typically, those are things that are worth the most. <br /><br />Thank our farmers today. For recipes, stories and rural life, visit <a href="http://www.luellasfrontporch.com/">www.luellasfrontporch.com</a>. Follow me on my blog at <a href="http://luellafischer.blogspot.com/">http://luellafischer.blogspot.com/</a>. Find me on facebook and Pinterest at Luella’s Front Porch, I always enjoy hearing from other ag enthusiasts, I would be glad to hear from you! <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
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Luella’s Easy Pulled Pork Sliders & Homemade Buns- great for farm families who never know when they will be in for dinner time. The pork stays warm nicely. Serves 4. <br />
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Crockpot Pulled Pork <br />
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3- center cut pork chops<br />
1 cup favorite BBQ sauce<br />
1/3 c. brown sugar<br />
1 medium onion, chopped<br />
1 clove garlic, minced <br />
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Put all ingredients into crockpot on high. Cook until meat is cooked through. Reduce settings to warm. Great for farm families, when you are not sure when the guys will be into eat! <br />
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Homemade buns: <br />
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2 tablespoons active dry yeast<br />
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm water (110° to 115°)<br />
1/3 cup vegetable oil<br />
1/4 cup sugar<br />
1 egg<br />
1 tbs. honey<br />
1 teaspoon salt<br />
3 to 3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour <br />
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In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add oil and sugar; let stand for 5 minutes. Add the egg, salt and honey, and enough flour to form a soft dough. <br />
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Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 3-5 minutes. Do not let rise. Divide into 12 pieces; shape each into a ball. Place 3 in. apart on greased baking sheets. <br />
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Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Bake at 425° for 8-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to <a href="http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/40-Minute-Hamburger-Buns">wire racks</a> to cool. Yield: 1 dozen.<br />
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<i>Thanks to Luella for this great post! Be sure to check out her <a href="http://luellafischer.blogspot.com/">blog</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Luellas-Front-Porch/148512541922704?fref=ts">Facebook page</a>! </i><br />
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<i>Remember - to keep these great stories coming we need YOU! Contact us now to find out how you can be the next Face of Agriculture, we need your story today! </i></div>
J.Rhoadeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08279391530302988346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6757821060302945822.post-68253087588426450012013-04-15T18:08:00.000-05:002013-04-15T18:08:52.669-05:00Lara Durben and Minnesota Turkey Growers! <i>Please help welomce Lara Durben of the Minnesota Turkey Growers Association. Lara grew up on a farm and her passion for agriculture has led her to an exciting career promoting the poultry industry in her home state!</i><br /><br />Greetings from Minnesota – home to more turkeys than any other state in the U.S.! I grew up on a crop farm in western Minnesota and knew absolutely nothing about raising turkeys (or chickens, for that matter) when I applied for a job nearly 18 years ago with the <a href="http://minnesotaturkey.com/">Minnesota Turkey Growers Association</a>. In fact, I had never even been close to a poultry barn. But, I had a couple of things going for me – I was a farm girl, which provided an instant connection with the turkey farmers hiring me, and I loved communications. Nearly two decades later, I’m still working for Minnesota’s turkey farmers and I love to help share their stories in a variety of ways. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDIikNrYozXb4RtQWNIgqY2ECAwHBeGLME4PtgpQL3G16nXdzCIWSYjnME5neg2x1szqTl1IxO9xkicNgaiULvB8hUc-SmhG4Q6SebNvOJXyG9hVmNkPq8PXgGS7n9BVzFIifp-ttNc-I/s1600/Lara+Durben.JPG"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDIikNrYozXb4RtQWNIgqY2ECAwHBeGLME4PtgpQL3G16nXdzCIWSYjnME5neg2x1szqTl1IxO9xkicNgaiULvB8hUc-SmhG4Q6SebNvOJXyG9hVmNkPq8PXgGS7n9BVzFIifp-ttNc-I/s400/Lara+Durben.JPG" width="268" /></a> </div>
<br />As the Communications Director for my organization, I wear (as the saying goes) many hats. Truthfully, it’s probably too many to count some days, but that’s why I love my job – the variety is amazing, I am always learning (seriously – every day!) and I feel like my extended family has grown over the years to include so many of the farmers I work on behalf of. <br /> <br />I coordinate all of the communications efforts for Minnesota Turkey as well as two other poultry organizations – the <a href="http://www.mnchicken.org/">Chicken and Egg Association of Minnesota</a> and the <a href="http://midwestpoultry.com/">Midwest Poultry Federation</a>. I often refer to our office as “Poultry Central” because, well, it is – at least in Minnesota.<br /> <br />On a daily basis, I am trying to keep with all of our social media tools, including (deep breath, here) four Facebook pages, three Twitter accounts, one Pinterest account and two YouTube channels. Plus, we have three different websites to maintain and keep updated. From a sheer time standpoint, it can be daunting (I won't lie about that!), although I can tell you I am ridiculously enthusiastic about social media and love trying to keep up with it all.<br /> <br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia8DF9fXSKRkJ5vbx18jzvUA6XJ__yGLZZMCMI-6UGXYFTzvCA77okSE618zXP-EBZZW-95IyxDLnG2DtIZ_lYQmBUJCAZblrKjAkzuX6O5UnkNU4MqSF4HbA0JiXMqj1xLOHMzJmsj6Y/s1600/In+my+office.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia8DF9fXSKRkJ5vbx18jzvUA6XJ__yGLZZMCMI-6UGXYFTzvCA77okSE618zXP-EBZZW-95IyxDLnG2DtIZ_lYQmBUJCAZblrKjAkzuX6O5UnkNU4MqSF4HbA0JiXMqj1xLOHMzJmsj6Y/s400/In+my+office.JPG" width="365" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lara in her office. </td></tr>
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I also coordinate a monthly printed publication, Gobbles magazine, for our Minnesota Turkey members that’s been around since 1945 and a weekly email newsletter for nearly 1,000 of our members and friends of poultry who like to receive updates about what’s going on in our organizations along with various links to poultry and general agriculture news from around the world. I am also the first point of contact with reporters who call or email, looking for stories and answers to their poultry-related questions. Because Minnesota ranks #1 for turkey production in the U.S., we do get media calls from all around the U.S. – especially in November.<br /><br />Oh, and did I mention that at Thanksgiving, my job rocks?<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTeyNitEltzl3s-1Av4IrWD9Oh1L6bRsSKVcpjad4alV26dB8k3oHqzoQx9OaSNo5OkOzY0F2mAHx9Gq8zjj5fWlZLYPwYa8eAVGcuV9HwjD07HYWVO7vSvWJZZSmxxqBmYKEohj3ZHHM/s1600/One+of+my+favorite+turkey+photos.jpg"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTeyNitEltzl3s-1Av4IrWD9Oh1L6bRsSKVcpjad4alV26dB8k3oHqzoQx9OaSNo5OkOzY0F2mAHx9Gq8zjj5fWlZLYPwYa8eAVGcuV9HwjD07HYWVO7vSvWJZZSmxxqBmYKEohj3ZHHM/s400/One+of+my+favorite+turkey+photos.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br /> Beyond that, I have several other career passions, including coordinating an annual trip for some of our members to Washington DC to meet with our Congressional leaders and attend the <a href="http://www.eatturkey.com/">National Turkey Federation</a>’s Summer Leadership Conference. I actually get energized every time I visit our nation’s Capitol and I find it gives me a much broader perspective when I am able to meet with our leaders to talk about the issues that are important to us, both turkey-related and agriculture in general. <br /><br />My other big passion is coordinating the details for the largest regional poultry convention in the U.S., the Midwest Poultry Federation Convention, held in Saint Paul, Minnesota in March every year. Our office works with many volunteers to bring over 2,100 people together to learn from experts on a variety of poultry-related topics, network with other farmers and colleagues, and visit with companies in the exhibit hall. The details that go into making this show a success are mind-boggling and I am so fortunate to work with amazing team of four other people in my office to get the job done. We love this show – and we especially love to arrive onsite and see all of our industry friends connecting with each other. Farmers, I have learned - both from my own father and from the poultry farmers I work with on a daily basis - are constantly learning and evolving and improving what they do.<br /> <br />My newest adventure is the debut of my blog last fall – <a href="http://www.myothermoreexcitinglife.wordpress.com/">www.myothermoreexcitinglife.wordpress.com</a>. It’s been a personal goal of mine for a quite a while, but it wasn’t until I attended a conference with some amazing role models – the <a href="http://www.agchat.org/">AgChat Foundation’s</a> Agvocacy 2.0 Conference last August – that I truly realized I could make this happen. It’s always a work in progress, of course, but I like to include a mix of topics – from living life as “MNGobbleGal” (my Twitter handle, by the way) to sharing “my other more exciting life” as a wife and mom who is a bit shoe-obsessed; loves running, gardening, wine and shopping (not necessarily in that order); and also happens to Instagram way too many photos of our senior citizen pug dog named Earl. I think a blog is a great way to connect with a variety of people about poultry, agriculture and my daily life – and I love how I can show all the different sides of “me”.<br /> <br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Q7SuLu1Dwkiio8ss8BvNYHrK-rJDNGfcon0qWsJsQqlepTvkpJQDwU_5YaDhLYNmZGYJreQ5PqUps5EVgndFFedFtniL2xrBV5Uzw8JvveoaYvL7seOedl1hgomGBEp8_G01BZlac3A/s1600/Lara+-+with+husband+Jerry%252C+son+Joe+and+pug+Earl.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Q7SuLu1Dwkiio8ss8BvNYHrK-rJDNGfcon0qWsJsQqlepTvkpJQDwU_5YaDhLYNmZGYJreQ5PqUps5EVgndFFedFtniL2xrBV5Uzw8JvveoaYvL7seOedl1hgomGBEp8_G01BZlac3A/s400/Lara+-+with+husband+Jerry%252C+son+Joe+and+pug+Earl.JPG" width="392" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Family!</td></tr>
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As long as we're on a personal note here, I live in Buffalo, Minnesota – about 25 miles west of the Twin Cities – with my husband (“Teacher Man” so-named in my blog) and our nine-year-old son. I am still a farm girl at heart and am glad to see my brother continuing the crop farm in my family, along with my Dad who isn’t quite ready to retire fully yet. They raise nearly 2,000 acres of corn and soybeans in western Minnesota and we visit often. My mom is a former home economics teacher, gourmet cook, quilt designer and master gardener - she keeps the farm looking beautiful all year-round and I like to think my green thumb for gardening comes from her. <br /><br />I can’t tell you how many times someone has jokingly asked me, “Do you want to talk turkey?” or “Are you the princess of poultry?” But the truth is, I never get tired of it. When I was in college, the professor of my very last journalism class found out I grew up on a farm, pulled me up in front of the entire class (mostly urban kids) and told the class: "Farmers are true gamblers. They gamble every year on the weather, on the bank, on their animals and on their crops. What they do is amazing." To be honest, I had never really thought about it in quite that way and I am quite sure, at that time in my life, I took my own farm upbringing for granted. But his comments struck a chord with me then and I've never forgotten what he said. I'm very glad I am able to work in agriculture today, and I am grateful, after all these years, for the opportunity to help share the stories of an amazing group of farmers. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA54I8Eu5rMANiYsqW7yj7Y6YS014s0c3RNUHKs48nbgmIdSjVlZbcN7jNcA2FLXSLhn1zby41Mz1gv5llXTUeagPFqs39uY1yL09besbeQZbYEo9zxxhT36CO7aZjgrX80NLTjNQVRSs/s1600/Lara+-+on+the+farm+in+early+the+1970s.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA54I8Eu5rMANiYsqW7yj7Y6YS014s0c3RNUHKs48nbgmIdSjVlZbcN7jNcA2FLXSLhn1zby41Mz1gv5llXTUeagPFqs39uY1yL09besbeQZbYEo9zxxhT36CO7aZjgrX80NLTjNQVRSs/s400/Lara+-+on+the+farm+in+early+the+1970s.jpg" width="285" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lara on the farm as a child. </td></tr>
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Thank you Lara for the great feature! You can learn more about Turkey production by visiting <a href="http://minnesotaturkey.com/">Minnesota Turkey Growers Association</a> webpage and the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/facesofagriculture?ref=hl#!/minnesotaturkey?fref=ts">Minnesota Turkey Facebook page</a>. You can also follow Lara on her personal <a href="http://www.myothermoreexcitinglife.wordpress.com/">blog</a>, twitter(MNGobbleGal) and check <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/mngobblegal">Pinterest </a>account! <br /><br />How are you involved in agriculture? We need your story next! <br /><br />Contact us at foafeature@gmail.com!<br /> Mrs. Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02615275504960721261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6757821060302945822.post-17239459668070984272013-04-10T08:26:00.000-05:002013-04-10T08:47:10.475-05:00Mark Anderson - Anderson Harvesting LLC<i>Good Morning! Today we welcome Mark Anderson. Mark is the owner of his very own harvesting business! </i><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhuf6JTS2Jmm3d8QPaMeJ7SkyCf1qp0F-ALxIAkfpeOpDVEVo9xqQ0LX8sJRqNG7qIy6LNlYTQF4BJ9prvKGOPYcRLTYi9QgS0rTqXtZoAiK4zMo-legYHbNFOY1qaioX6T6TZy8c6mhI/s1600/NPpic5+nodate.JPG"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhuf6JTS2Jmm3d8QPaMeJ7SkyCf1qp0F-ALxIAkfpeOpDVEVo9xqQ0LX8sJRqNG7qIy6LNlYTQF4BJ9prvKGOPYcRLTYi9QgS0rTqXtZoAiK4zMo-legYHbNFOY1qaioX6T6TZy8c6mhI/s400/NPpic5+nodate.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Greetings everyone, my name is Mark Anderson. I’m twenty-seven years old and run my own custom harvesting operation in Western Nebraska also known as the Panhandle of Nebraska. My business is headquartered out of Bridgeport Nebraska, a town of about 1,500 people where I went to high school.<br /><br />I have always had a passion for farming and I’m sure that comes from my family’s history in the business. My great-great-grandfather homesteaded along the North Platte River in the late 1890’s in an area South-east of Broadwater, Nebraska. However, when he settled in the area the town of Broadwater had not been established yet. Broadwater did not come into existence until the railroad came through in 1909 and was on the north side of the river. <br /><br />In those very early days, my great-great-grandfather had to travel via horse to the town of Sidney, Nebraska, about 40 miles south. I can’t even begin to imagine what things were like in those very early days. Over 100 years later the original Homesteaders dead hangs in my grandfather’s office and the land is still part of the family’s farm, ranch, and feedlot operation. Today the family operation is run but my grandfather, my dad, and my uncle. Two of my brothers, one cousin, and I are also involved with the family business. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvHyH-Avqft9PlnjGUJ3H9tfy2rCvChV29SGEIxYn-BbReDNFFxzuE2UC7j37Vvq7GRVeO6-tYWnkVXdn33NIGCHdbUdFFiiK9THz6VRhKSg3TwQxIHmrHPSERv5ciASerMLhEsNoemjY/s1600/100_2323.JPG"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvHyH-Avqft9PlnjGUJ3H9tfy2rCvChV29SGEIxYn-BbReDNFFxzuE2UC7j37Vvq7GRVeO6-tYWnkVXdn33NIGCHdbUdFFiiK9THz6VRhKSg3TwQxIHmrHPSERv5ciASerMLhEsNoemjY/s400/100_2323.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />After I graduated high school, I went to a technical college in the Denver, Colorado area. For about five years I lived and worked in the Denver area. I spent about four years working a corporate job which was a very good learning experience for me, but it was obvious to me that I missed the farm. Growing up I watched my grandfather dad and uncle make the big decisions for our operation over coffee every day. I was never able to grasp the seemingly endless meeting process it took to get equivalent decisions made in the corporate world. <br /><br />In 2009 one of the individuals that had been cutting silage in Western Nebraska retired. This was the opportunity I had always been looking for. With a loan from my dad and John Deere I started Anderson Harvesting.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk7SseQ0Lxved4ds_2bPYNlPi7WWkPb_ofLRyUCCD6-cfbRFCe78KUjWHIzq3uXheH9UpjPE3PZPWwqEjYYJP5XGGvAarx7v3_pv1KLom5MKNA9l8lGnGXV_BEKeDFh0uOfdOGVlFsqAI/s1600/IMG-20120914-00050.jpg"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk7SseQ0Lxved4ds_2bPYNlPi7WWkPb_ofLRyUCCD6-cfbRFCe78KUjWHIzq3uXheH9UpjPE3PZPWwqEjYYJP5XGGvAarx7v3_pv1KLom5MKNA9l8lGnGXV_BEKeDFh0uOfdOGVlFsqAI/s400/IMG-20120914-00050.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Growing up in the area helped me get on my feet because I knew most of the feedlot operators in the area. The first few years were definitely a learning experience for me. Learning how to manage people as well as my time took some time. I had taken classes in college related to time and people management, but nothing really prepares you for managing both in harvest. Those of you in agriculture I’m sure can relate to what I’m saying. <br /><br /><div>
In 2011 I added a second forage harvester to my operation which brought on a completely new list of challenges. I soon found out that trying to manage one machine from the cab of another was a brand new game. I still enjoyed all most every minute of it because now it was a new level of logistics management. Plus both machines were always in different locations.<br /><br />In 2012 my business continued to grow and I upgraded my original machine to my first Claas forage harvester. With the onset of the drought that we are still currently suffering from the demand for silage was incredible. For the first time since I started the business I had to turn work down. I never thought I would utter those words,“I’m too busy.” I had lost jobs in the past because the competition got there first, but never had I told someone that I couldn’t get there.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQA4QWsELcBYNTSbIXXgxwy-3ZvxCK3v23af5tMu5Vrw7qhEUGS_xN8FP-8FgrDkjm8mgBl_c4-dUvx2hzsynhVYcL6Ur7x3xxBzQvKX6d9-ytrlTqToWGmiMItiT3hhDEV8LSOSRUiVs/s1600/100_2388.JPG"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQA4QWsELcBYNTSbIXXgxwy-3ZvxCK3v23af5tMu5Vrw7qhEUGS_xN8FP-8FgrDkjm8mgBl_c4-dUvx2hzsynhVYcL6Ur7x3xxBzQvKX6d9-ytrlTqToWGmiMItiT3hhDEV8LSOSRUiVs/s400/100_2388.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Last year was the first year that I really ever had a major problem with one of my forage harvesters and over the course of a week I had a major problem with both of them. On Monday my machine had a bearing failure. Not that uncommon on these high horsepower machines. By Tuesday the issue was resolved. Tuesday night as I was relocating my machine a piece of weather stripping went through the radiator fan on my machine taking ever blade off of the fan. Buy Wednesday night we had a new fan installed and got back to work on Thursday. Friday my machine had an engine failure and had to be shipped back to my dealer for repair. Sounds like a rough week, but unfortunately, the week wasn’t over. On Saturday my second machine fell in a sinkhole and broke the front axle. It too had to be sent in to the dealer for repairs. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH-aZIBGuozFSR-VUONI96OJeTwfZHBCARo9UYTM-N1KjBOh04VgROUCUZiLdJ5dxza5obGckBqkVwoJYzGTZXre8YEYg_uIikXVYOOK0ZbAz6es0TFlO0-M4gdyNU4RpDdNnIBpDu1TY/s1600/NPClaas4+nodate.jpg"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH-aZIBGuozFSR-VUONI96OJeTwfZHBCARo9UYTM-N1KjBOh04VgROUCUZiLdJ5dxza5obGckBqkVwoJYzGTZXre8YEYg_uIikXVYOOK0ZbAz6es0TFlO0-M4gdyNU4RpDdNnIBpDu1TY/s400/NPClaas4+nodate.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />In the course of two days I had gone from two machines to only one. I still had my second machine from the year before and with the help of my dealer, I had a loaner machine by Sunday to replace mine. That week was probably the most trying week I have had since I started this business. Looking back now it’s funny to laugh at it and smile knowing that we made it through. <br /><br />A typical day in harvest begins around 5-6 in the morning. Having serviced the machines the night before we normally like to be in the fields cutting by 7-8 a.m.. Most of my mornings involve calls from customers wanting to know when we’ll be at their place and truckers trying to figure out how to get to the next field. By mid afternoon everything settles down and a natural rhythm to harvest sets in. The trucks are all in sync and everything just flows. This is the time of the day I absolutely love. The main reason I wanted to be in this business, to drive forage harvesters. At the end of the day the equipment is blown down, fueled up, and service ready to go again the next day.<br /><br />The one thing I hope people understand about my operation and farming/ranching in general is how much time, effort, and money people in these business have to devote to their operations. Ranching especially is a year round job. There are no holidays, sick days, or vacations. The livestock have to be cared for by someone every day. The work involved in raising a successful crop, be it food or livestock, is tough work. It commonly involves long hours and tough conditions. It has to be done in the heat of summer and the cold of winter. The money involved in agriculture is also a factor. It takes large investments every year in the hope that it pays out in the end. <br /><br />I really hope that by telling our stories that we can give people a better understanding of where our food comes from and what it takes to get it to your table. That’s why I’m proud to share my story in hope that it gives you a better picture of modern farming practices and encourages you to thank a farmer when you have the opportunity. Thank you for reading. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIFyBZIlo_VVCXzx3lIqDN2CvgOJc35AwTHi7F3kEDN_H4O0iX0Axf8nay92I6mCrIiAMYW7L2h5axthR7ae9uSz5SLSbTMtdGnL0t-C4L6-TsZyr1SbASNbI5Q994uoAwiBoEsfI9Dbs/s1600/photo+5+nodate.JPG"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIFyBZIlo_VVCXzx3lIqDN2CvgOJc35AwTHi7F3kEDN_H4O0iX0Axf8nay92I6mCrIiAMYW7L2h5axthR7ae9uSz5SLSbTMtdGnL0t-C4L6-TsZyr1SbASNbI5Q994uoAwiBoEsfI9Dbs/s400/photo+5+nodate.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br /><i>Thank you Mark for a great feature! We wish you much success! You can learn more about his operation by checking out his <a href="https://www.facebook.com/AndersonHarvestingLLC">Facebook Page </a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/andersonharvesting">Youtube Channel</a> and visiting his <a href="http://www.andersonharvesting.com/">website</a>. <br /><br />How are you involved in agriculture? We want your story. YOU could be the next FOA feature! Contact us today!</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div>
Mrs. Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02615275504960721261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6757821060302945822.post-40282826668319906332013-04-08T09:43:00.000-05:002013-04-08T09:43:22.652-05:00Love Crosses Borders - Alyssa's Story <i>Today we welcome Alyssa. Alyssa is a Colorado native who lives in Mexico with her fiance on their 15,000 acre cattle ranch!</i><br /><br />Hola from north Mexico! My name is Alyssa; I am 25 years old, a Colorado Native and author of, <a href="http://lovecrossesborders.org/">Love Crosses Borders</a>. Much like the title suggests a fairy tale story led me to Mexico and to a 15,000-acre cattle ranch I now call home. My fiancé and I met years ago, and were great friends, while attending college at the University of Colorado in Boulder. However, that is not when we started dating. Some time after college we ran into each other while he was in Colorado for a summer vacation in 2011. Since that summer day bumming into him, after not seeing him or talking to him for four years, I knew instantly I was going to marry him. So that is more or less of the, how I got here and involved in the cattle industry, as sappy as it may sound! With that said, if you are further interested in our story you are welcome to check out my blog and go under the “Our Story” tab. It is quite cute if I can say so.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />Let’s get down to the real topic at hand: cattle, agriculture and my life. Until I moved to the ranch in January of 2012 I had no previous experience or knowledge of ranch life. I grew up a city gal, lived in the suburbs of Denver, and enjoyed my morning Starbucks visits. Needless to say those days are long gone. The nearest city is an hour and a half away from us, we totally live of the grid, meaning we have no electricity and actually operate solely on a generator and batteries. Some folks might think that sounds scary, but it is actually not bad at all and things are quite normal. We even have the internet! We only run the generator at night so often times during the day we are without power, which is fine because if you know anything about ranch life there is plenty to do! Since day one of stepping foot on the ranch it has been an adventure! The whole reason I developed my blog was to more or less document my day-to-day life and to be able to share it with my friends and family. Not to mention I have taken a real knack for photography and use my blog to share some of my favorite pictures. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1XYDH6WEZQmvxTC9vPDpca-Hq_8AF2coa2pQalSfHo5_NiXtCE2KUX_9PUwc_MWjNuBuIqAV14C3knKvqGaFCavEf_XcCcMfAye6yL5EyNeQEtRbnBTh989fx7AWdkDS9Jdk1Qr-v7U4/s1600/DSC_0256.JPG"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1XYDH6WEZQmvxTC9vPDpca-Hq_8AF2coa2pQalSfHo5_NiXtCE2KUX_9PUwc_MWjNuBuIqAV14C3knKvqGaFCavEf_XcCcMfAye6yL5EyNeQEtRbnBTh989fx7AWdkDS9Jdk1Qr-v7U4/s400/DSC_0256.JPG" /></a></div>
<br />As I said our ranch is 15,000-acres and is located in north Mexico. We live in a desert climate that is very similar to west Texas or New Mexico. With that said, the drought that the States has been experiencing has also drastically effected us. We are going on year four of hardly any rain and things are bone dry. Before the drought began we had 800 female cows. That figure does not include the bulls, steers and female yearlings. However, over the last few years the drought has forced us to destock little by little. <br /><br />My fiancé is the 5th generation to take over and manage the family ranch. The ranch has predominately been a cow calf operation. We export all of our yearling steers to the United States and keep all of our females as replacements. We put our females into production once they are two years old. We then sell our cull cows, which are usually not pregnant, old, or in rough condition, to a local butcher. We have a saying that once a mother cow does not get pregnant her time at the ranch is up, they must pay their rent and there is no free lunch here.<br /><br />When my fiancés father got the ranch from his father nine years ago it was a bit of a mess. There were wild cows everywhere and no one knew how many animals were on the ranch. Not only were the cows wild there was no uniformity at all. The ranch had every breed imaginable, some cows with horns and some without. There were also 75 wild donkeys roaming the land. It took almost three years to get things cleaned up, cows herded, donkeys sold, ect. So our operation is fairly young under our management style.<br /><br />We utilize Holistic Management, which is a decision making tool, and it has helped us turn things around rapidly. Over the last six years we have been focused on genetics, animal handling, pasture and land improvement, intensive pasture grazing and rotation, and fencing/dividing the ranch into several small paddocks. Holistic management has also helped us establish several goals and shapes our quality of life.<div>
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<br />The breed we are focused on is Beefmasters. Beefmasters are a cross between Herefords, Brahman and Shorthorn. We have found that they are very heat tolerant and also a good meat-producing animal. Not to mention, I find them to be particularly adorable with their brown and white coloring. The calves are absolutely divine. We still have a mixed herd because we have used the animals the ranch inherited. We purchased a few Beefmaster females and bulls four years ago and through natural breeding our herd is becoming predominantly brown and white. Now all of our bulls are Beefmasters. We only keep them for four to five years. We find that bulls are most productive and effective when they are young.<br /><br />Our rainy season is cyclical and dependent on storms in the Atlantic Ocean. Therefore, July thru September are usually our wettest months. We find that a pregnant cow needs the most nutrition two months before calving, which leads to the next topic. Our breeding season begins in November and lasts for 60 to 70 days. We separate the bulls from the ladies in January, then just like clockwork we can expect calving season to begin in August. This allows the mother cows to get the nutrition she requires in July and to be in great condition when she gives birth. We also time calving around the rainy season so there is plenty of grass and vegetation for the lactating mother. Our expectation is also that there is plenty of grass and feed for the calves to eat. We do not supplement or give feed to our animals they are strictly free-range animals. <br /><br />We keep our bulls and steers separate from the female mother cows and heifers. We have five smaller pastures we use and rotate the bulls and steers on. We then have nine larger pastures we rotate the females on. As I mentioned fencing and separating the ranch into smaller paddocks is a huge goal and project for us. When we inherited the ranch there was only one fence that separated the mountain area from the flat land. I guess you could say there was two pastures. In the last six years we have divided the ranch into 14 paddocks, the five for the bulls, and the remaining nine for the females. Fencing is quite a task especially when the ground is rock hard. Our goal is to continue to divide and separate the pastures. Ideally we would like to have around 25 pastures. This will help with our management style and we can better utilize an intensive grazing and rotation system. We also find that having more pastures allows us to give parts of the ranch a break and they are able to rest and recover for longer periods of time. Needless to say, land management and improvements are also a big objective for us and we find fencing to be a great tool to help us achieve this. Or as my fiancé says, “Cows are the best bulldozers I know.” We also try to use animal impact from the cows to help us with land management and grass growth. <br /><br />We really value and pride ourselves on calm animal handling practices in the corrals when we are working cattle and also when we are rounding up animals in pastures. We try not to yell and scream at the animals, because as those in the industry know, it does no good anyway. We also do not use lassos or ropes. We find that eliminating some of the old practices of roping an animal has really made our cows and herd calm and approachable. Over time this makes herding, roundups, and pasture rotations a lot easier. In fact, some times the cows just walk strait into the corrals with little struggle because we have eliminated the stressful aspects and experiences in the corrals as best as we can. We have doctors and veterinarians comment on how well our animals, herd, system, and animal practices are. Many of the vets love working with us because we are very efficient. This is also due to a very well thought out corral design. We find it to be much more effective, accurate and less traumatic to use a cattle chute and press when working cattle instead of roping the animals. <br /><br />We do all of our dehorning, branding and castrating. Typically we wait until the animals are six months old and have been weaned before we start working them. Once again their health and condition determine the timing of the necessary steps. For example, this year we just finished weaning and branded the calves from the fall season. We will wait a while to dehorn and castrate because the condition of the land and grass supply is not great and the next three months will be the most difficult and we do not want to put any additional stress and strain on the animals. <br /><br />On a relevant topic for some ranchers affected by the current drought, we have found it to be a blessing at the same time. With our grass supply and capacity of the ranch decreasing over time we have had to destock. We have used this opportunity to keep the best of the best. Our thoughts are that it will of course help us speed up our genetics and help us have a very strong, hardy, and heat tolerant herd in the future. Essentially you could say this is a “natural” selection process. We have gradually been selling all the old cows that are in poor condition, and did not have a calf. Ironically enough, the breed that seems to look the best and is repeatedly pregnant are the Beefmasters. This is great news because all of our old Charolais, Angus and Brangus, amoung other breeds, that we inherited with the ranch are disappearing. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />Even though times are tough we have stuck to our guns and model when it comes to our operation. We have continued to export our yearling steers, sell our old mama cows and retired bulls, and have kept all of our female calves as replacements. We know several ranchers in our area that have not been so luckily and have had to destock and sell almost their whole herd. Including their female replacements. In my opinion this is very scary for the future of the cattle industry because cattle prices will be too expensive in years to come for ranchers to buy back heifers and establish a herd again and that’s if there is any cattle available.<br /><br />Fortunately because of our management style, we did not have to start selling at the first sign of the drought. We actually had enough grass and reserves to host the herd for a while and we continue to have enough natural grass to host our current herd of 220 mother cows. We have tried to be very conservative and conscious on the capacity of the land and to make sure we are not keeping too many animals and that there is enough grass for the animals to be comfortable and meet their nutrition requirements. </div>
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<br />One last comment about the drought that I find interesting and maybe those in the industry might be able to relate or learn from, is how the price of beef and sticking to our model has really helped us financially. We have been able to stay afloat in these difficult times and actually reinvest in a few winter ranch improvements. What I mean by all of this is that we have not seen a huge financial burden during the current drought because we have been able to sell our cattle at record prices. As most know cattle prices are almost double what they were two or three years ago. Therefore, we have continued to see a steady source of income from our exported steers, and selling our old cows and retired bulls to a local butcher at outstanding prices. In fact we just sold 30 animals last week to our butcher and he is already begging us for more animals. There are no cows left in our region and our animals, considering the tough times, are in great shape. Not only have we profited during this tough time, we have kept our animal count and inventory steady. We also have replacements for all of the old cows we are selling. Thus, we have not had to see a huge decrease or loss in our herd. The only loss has been planned and we consider it to be “destocking.” Plus, we will not be struggling to find heifers in the future when times get better. Great management practices and planning for natural disasters and to credit for this! <br /><br />That is more or less our cattle operation summed up. I briefly wanted to talk about our lifestyle and upcoming projects. Like I mentioned holism has become a life style for us and we really value our quality of life on the ranch. Therefore, we have a large garden and grow most of our own vegetables when the seasons allow. Once again, gardening was a totally new concept for me, but I quickly got the hang of it. You name the vegetable and we grow it, have grown it, or have tried to grow it. Desert gardening can be a little tricky and you really have to plan things out and plant them at exact times because there are three months during the summer that it is to hot to grow anything except for melons and squash.<br /><br />Some of you might be wondering how the heck we can grow anything in the desert. Luckily, there is no shortage of manure around here and we also compost and have a large worm “farm.” We have a large bed lined with plastic and filled with corral dirt that we cultivate earth worms in. We also use the bed to burry our compost. We then put the worms into our garden beds and also collect some of the liquid moisture the bed collects and use it as fertilizer. This project has been very helpful and successful for us. <br /><br />Last year I even gave canning a shot, which was once again a first, and a total success! We made some incredible dill pickles, hot peppers, salsa, marinara pasta sauce, and a tomato broth that I use to make Spanish rice. Cooking is also one of my passions and the guys at the ranch are very grateful for my skills. We have planned this year’s garden around some of our favorite canning recipes and experiments from last year. I also grow all of my own herbs that I use for canning. Last year I had more dill than I knew what to do with. In fact, I tried drying it in one of our bedrooms and the poor room still smells like dill!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />A ranch, or farm, would not be complete without chickens or dogs. I absolutely love chickens and often joke that I am the mother hen around the ranch. We currently have 27 chickens and continue to expand our flock. We are interested in selling the eggs to a local store to continue to supplement our income and help us live of the land as best as possible. I also have three black labs that I refer to as, “The Boys.” Their real names are Wrangler, Stetson, and Levi. A ranch dog had a litter of puppies last summer and I kept three of the males. We also have a family yellow lab named Max and he is the father of the boys. So it is never a dull moment around the ranch with four dogs. <br /><br />One final project that is in the making is an orchard, vineyard, and larger garden. With the current drought it has really forced us to think outside the box and brainstorm other ways we can continue to diversify ourselves and continue to be fully self supporting and sufficient. Therefore, we recently cleared an acre of land and just planted 34 different fruit trees. It is more or less of a pilot to see what desert fruits do the best. We planted figs, pomegranates, apples, pears, apricots, peaches, quinces, and even a pecan and olive tree. In the same area of land we will be planting seasonal vegetables that do well in the area. Our ambition is to sell our produce to a local market. In fact, we will be planting 1,000 sweet corn plants next week. We are very excited and look forward to the results of the plants and what does.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />Like I said, I am new to this lifestyle and one thing is for sure, I would not trade it for anything in this world. I am very grateful the family has let me get my hands as dirty as I want and has been very patient and encouraging of my involvement. I adore every minute on the ranch from collecting fresh eggs to helping the guys in the corrals to gardening and everything in between. The serenity, simplicity, and genuine life I have found at the ranch is one that I can not describe. The morals, values and lessons you have the chance and opportunity to experience are so precious. I speak for my family and myself when I say we treasure our life on the ranch and love working together. We would not trade it even in the toughest of times because we love the freedom it gives us. At the end of the day we are solely responsible for the consequences of our choices and decisions. Anyone that knows a thing or two about ranch life knows there are good times and bad times, mistakes and triumphs, highs and lows but we are accountable and remain open minded and learn from all experiences. My family and I work hard to persistently improve our livestock, land, and quality of life because we cherish and take great pride in them and want to make sure the ranch and its future is around and in good hands for years to come. <br /><br /><i>Thank you Alyssa for telling us about your life!!! You can follow her story on her blog <a href="http://lovecrossesborders.org/">"Love Crosses Borders"</a> - and Like her on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Love-Crosses-Borders-Life-on-a-Ranch/420239304684373">Facebook</a>! <br /><br />Do you suddenly find yourself on the farm and ranch? What is your story? Contact us today on how you can be the next FOA feature!</i><br /> </div>
Mrs. Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02615275504960721261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6757821060302945822.post-63794561091755084472013-04-05T08:17:00.000-05:002013-04-05T09:37:45.579-05:00Blake and Julie Hurst - Missouri Farming Family! <i>Today we welcome Julie and Blake Hurst of Northwest Missouri. This farming family owns and operates a thriving greenhouse! Julie and Blake are very passionate about agriculture and their way of life. Blake is currently serving as president of the Missouri Farm Bureau.</i> <br /><br />So....it's suppertime in many households this April Fool's Day; the sunlight is diffuse through the two layers of plastic and the air is cooling outside. I'm at the business end of a water wand and a 150'piece of 3/4 inch garden hose watching the spray fizz out from 400 tiny holes. The greenhouse is in that magic quiet moment between the clatter of the ventilation fans and the roar of the propane heaters. Yes, Virginia, solar power will warm you only....when the sun is shining!! This is one of the questions I answer ruefully: 'Do you need heaters in your greenhouses?' I'm afraid so. Winter is a long dark season and Spring is just a breath for us bedding plant growers in Atchison county, in the very northwest of Missouri. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br /> Lewis and Clark came through: <br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>The Lewis and Clark Expedition camped along the Missouri in what is now Atchison County, 1804, and Clark, impressed by the bare hills rising from the river plain, named the area "Baldpated Prairie." Lewis explored nearby Nishnabotna (Indian--Canoe making) River and call the country handsome.(from the historical marker in Rock Port, Missouri) </i></blockquote>
Geologically, our landscape is just a babe. The Missouri River is lined with those striking "bald pated"bluffs William Clark mentioned; they are cliffs of loess, an undifferentiated soil profile of wind blown silt gathered up in the last glacial age. When the Indians were in charge of the landscape, these bluffs were prairie grass from bottom to top, but without the cleansing torch of prairie fires, trees have dug in and forests have grown up. <br /> <br />This isn't the case in the eastern part of the county, where we farm. The glacial soils thin from the Missouri River eastward, but we are still blessed with a marvelous landscape of rolling prairie soils that encourage the roots of our corn and soybeans to venture as deep as they care to grow. Yes, you can pick a few rocks as you combine, but most of the rocks left by the glacier are immense pink quartzite erratics that either wind up in someone's front yard as a landscape feature...or are pushed into a ditch so they're out of the way of tillage implements. <br /> <br />We are western Corn Belt through and through. Sure, over on the Missouri River bottom, the water table is close enough to the surface you'll see some circle rigs as you drive through. But our rotation of corn and soybeans must prosper on what falls from the sky during the months of June-August....and some of the years we've been farming, that's been a pretty iffy proposition. The land in Atchison county is as good as much of the land in Iowa....but the rains aren't. <br /> <br />It was partly the risks of crop farming, partly low corn prices, and partly youthful indiscretion that led Blake and me to build a small greenhouse on the farm we had purchased with his family. Many of our friends who graduated from college when we did were leaving farming or agriculture altogether. High interest rates, crushing debt loads, low crop prices, and brutal droughts left agriculture's next generation battered and discouraged. Diversification was the newest game in town; with nothing but sweat equity and weekend work, we built a couple of homemade greenhouses on the hill south of our house and declared ourselves in business.<br /> <br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ5Srkiy3VWHot7kDjIEn8yOJMADelcbJw6bb9cPMB-uxYjLMzXbnKgEGji0cnYjolPtHMewN_7fwh_SxifQUrZ0NUbk7LPMp2TCVrjtmqY-tqvJHLsAenymiRnZFSR1o7EcalVxEDFOk/s1600/Ben%2527s+pictures+004-2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ5Srkiy3VWHot7kDjIEn8yOJMADelcbJw6bb9cPMB-uxYjLMzXbnKgEGji0cnYjolPtHMewN_7fwh_SxifQUrZ0NUbk7LPMp2TCVrjtmqY-tqvJHLsAenymiRnZFSR1o7EcalVxEDFOk/s400/Ben%2527s+pictures+004-2.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our first sign - Blake and our son Ben.</td></tr>
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Thirty years later, our kids tell us, teasingly, that they are planning an "extravaganza" to celebrate the survival of Hurst Greenery. After some artful bulldozing, we have 2 1/2 acres of assorted freestanding and gutter-connect greenhouses on top of the hill. The whole hill thing was rather short sighted on our part; what Lewis and Clark neglected to mention, but other settlers certainly noticed, is the unrelenting wind . In the winter, it plunges down from Canada or sweeps in from the Front Range of the Rockies. From late spring into summer, the prevailing south easterlies bend the trees to the north: viewed from the side, our trees often resemble Elvis' pompadour. That wind is damaging to 48x100 foot pieces of poly. When the spring winds howl, the baskets hanging overhead sway like they are at sea and the plastic coverings of our greenhouses shake, rattle and roll. <br /> <br />In so many ways, a greenhouse business like ours is what many people imagine farming was like in some long ago era. Instead of precision farming, think imprecise farming, or, as we prefer to describe it, growing as an art form.....Well, in truth, putting together the pieces of our greenhouse year is more akin to a puzzle in 3D than the 2 dimensional landscape of our crop farm. Our growing year begins in January, when we first fire up the propane heaters, hook the alarm system back up, and thaw enough potting mix to fill trays for the unrooted geranium cuttings that arrive the second week of January. We buy 10 foot tall compressed bales of peat and perlite and tip them into a bale grinder which tears them up and delivers the expanded mix to the 'dirt machine' Day after day from January through April, this machine runs while we fill hanging baskets, 606 flats, 804 flats, 1801 flats, 4"flats, gallon pots, two gallon pots, three gallon pots! Thousands and thousands of containers are stacked into crates made of old pallets, then delivered to a greenhouse where someone will carry them inside (out of the wind!) and tuck in some infant plant with a bright future. <br /> <br />But I get ahead of myself. What makes our greenhouse business a throwback? Like farming in the bygone days, it is very very labor intensive. Despite a transplanter, two irrigators, a skid steer, and modern transportation, most of the elemental factors of growing are done by human hands: transplanting, watering, picking orders, delivery. The bedding plant business is over built, suffering mightily from the slow economy, and highly competitive; we are small, personal, and willing to grow what you want, when you want it, in whatever size container you desire...and then we'll pick it up, put it on our trucks and help you unload it. Planting it .....your job. Our rural county has a mere 5000 people; to have a viable business, we do what American agriculture has always done to expand; we export.<br /> <br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />Fortunately, what we have NOT had to export is our family. Our crop farm has grown to accommodate not just a third, but a fourth generation of Hursts with great grandchildren a plenty for Blake's mom to cuddle and spoil. Blake and I are fortunate souls to get up in the morning and work with our children, then watch our grandchildren get off the school bus and come out to play and work with their parents...and their grandparents. Four of us work day in and day out in the greenhouse, Lee and her husband Ryan,son in law Matt, and me while Blake splits his time between overalls at the farm and his work as president of the Missouri Farm Bureau and our other daughter Ann joins in after hours to help in the busy season. We do hire help; the crew changes from year to year, but we rely heavily on the ladies who come back to work long hours every spring. <br /> <br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />The whole process is a ballet of sorts. Ryan divides early spring between filling containers in the "dirt shed"and fixing whatever part of the critical heating and ventilation happens to have malfunctioned. Matt runs the transplanter, a contraption with fingers for picking, dibbles for punching and electric eyes to tell each when to do what. He'll look at the spread sheet of this week's plug order, separating one customers' pre-order from another, choose his plug trays of flowers, from alyssum to zinnias, tag the flats, push the button, fill the misses the machine leaves, then stack his flats of 606s high and tight on hand carts. <div>
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Some of the flowers are already sold, but a certain number are what we call "ours", meaning they are for "spec"and will be waiting 5, 6,7 or 8 weeks from now for Lee and I to pick them up and put them on a rack for Ryan and Matt to deliver to garden centers or grocery stores from Norfolk , Nebraska to Kansas City, Missouri and even the stadium of a certain sports team in red in St. Louis. Lee and I are in charge of the "art"part: deciding how many petunias the good people of Lincoln will desire on April 21st this year or when the masses around the Midwest will flow like lemmings into garden centers to purchase and plant their tomatoes? Some years the season starts in March; more often cold temperatures linger well into April. Part of living in this continental climate is the abbreviated, compressed nature of the season, spring. </div>
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Everyone, and I mean, EVERYONE, buys all their flowers and vegetables between April 1 and Mother's Day. This is a marked contrast to raising corn or soybeans; semi imperishable product can be sold throughout the year; it can also take us three months to harvest . But not only is time of the essence in the toasty atmosphere of a greenhouse in February, space is too. Early in the winter, we make elaborate logistical plans...these baskets here, these gallon vegetables there. Perhaps we can open up this house a week later and save that much propane...or maybe we'd better assume we have more time now than we will have in May. Alas,' the best laid plans of mice and men oft run awry'; at Hurst Greenery, flexibility is right up there with godliness. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />That's what I'm finding out this evening. In response to last year's drought, we invested in a 15,000 gallon concrete reservoir. I've always wanted a water tower of my very own, but this is the next best thing. Two acres of greenhouse flowers under plastic, on a sunny 80 degree day, can develop a powerful thirst. Unfortunately, our stoneless glacial soils have a dirty little secret; they are dry. No rock; no aquifer. Our wells cluster in sand points at about 60 feet below the surface. We are fortunate to have a well on our farm that will comfortably support a household and garden. But that volume is so very far from the 10,000 gallons we can easily use on a sunny day in April. Our little corner of Missouri is starting 2013 with no water in the soil profile and that translates into the news I dread to hear: the wells are dry.It has been ten years since we had to haul water to get through the peak demands of spring. Over that time, we've accumulated an eclectic number of tanks, pumps and even an old Westboro Fire <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />Like farmers under open sky, we growers under polyethylene are subject to pests, diseases, disasters and deprivations. We watch the sky for hail in the summer and ice in the winter; we worry about our customers'satisfaction and credit worthiness. We epitomize the pursuit of beauty and happiness with what we grow, but to do that, we need the most basic elements to survive and thrive: sun, heat, nutrients.....and water. This year I am singing those old dry weather blues at the end of my rubber garden hose; a love hate relationship in three quarter time. <br /><br /><i>Thank you Julie and Blake for the great feature!! You can learn more about their greenhouse on their website <a href="http://www.hurstgreenery.com/">Hurst Greenery</a> and be sure to follow their blog <a href="http://tarkiodirt.blogspot.com/">Dirt Under My Fingernails.</a> <br /><br />Do you have a passion for agriculture? How are you involved in ag? We need you for the next FOA feature!!! E-mail Elizabeth and Jamie at foafeature@gmail.com to learn how you can be our next feature! </i></div>
Mrs. Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02615275504960721261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6757821060302945822.post-69397007297669835912013-03-11T10:24:00.001-05:002013-03-11T10:24:52.947-05:00A Ranch Mom - Kay & Cliff <div>
<i>Please welcome Kay and Cliff as they share with us what it's like to live and work on cattle in Wyoming! </i></div>
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Howdy folks! I'm Kay, from <a href="http://www.aranchmom.com/">A Ranch Mom</a>. I live with my husband and our 4 kids on a ranch in SE Wyoming. The ranch is located along Horse Creek. We run Black Angus cow/calf pairs. We are about 25 miles from the nearest town, so I've learned how to keep milk in the fridge! But we enjoy living out here, away from the city. We are too busy to get bored! My husband (Cliff) and I both grew up primarily in the Midwest. We had been married 5 years when we loaded up our horse trailer with a few household items and one horse, and moved to Pueblo, CO, where we learned to do care on yearling cattle. We moved to WY 6 years ago, and really enjoy life here.<div>
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<br /> I home school our children - they love to finish early and go play outside! They spend a lot of time playing down by the creek or riding their bikes. They are also great helpers with the chores, and they enjoy riding with their dad when he moves cattle. We believe that ranch life is a great way to raise kids - they learn hard work, responsibility, neighborliness, and so much more.</div>
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<br />We usually calve out heifers in late winter. We keep them in corrals close to the calving barn, so they can be taken inside during the brutal winter storms we get here. The heifers get checked every 2 hours around the clock. That takes a lot of time, as you might imagine! Sometimes they have some trouble, and then Cliff has to pull the calf. After the heifers are done calving, the main herd of mama cows start calving in early spring. We just leave them in the fields, but keep them close to the ranch headquarters. They get fed hay and 'cake', which is cow feed in the form of large, pressed pellets. They generally have easy births, and take care of their babies, unlike the first-time heifers, who sometimes don't know what to do with their babies.</div>
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<br /> After calving is spring branding. This is my favorite part of ranch life! There is a lot of ranches around here, and whenever we have a branding, there's plenty of neighbors to help out. Even so, it takes 3 days of branding to get them all done. Then we go help the neighbors when it's their turn to brand. I don't help a lot with the branding - I'm too busy cooking for the cowboys and taking photos. Summer is haying time...or at least it was until the drought hit last year. Summers here are quite lovely - temps don't top 90 too often, and there's usually a breeze. I enjoy gardening, and working in the yard in the summer. In the fall we gather the cattle, process them, and sell the calves.</div>
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<br />Cliff and I own a small leather business, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/CK-Custom-Leather/194752510547132?fref=ts">CK Custom Leather</a>, which we do on the side. Cliff makes custom saddles, tack, and chaps. I weave traditional mohair cinchas. We do have a Facebook page for our business.</div>
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<br />Most people don't realize how committed you need to be when you live and work on a ranch. The cows don't stop eating, drinking or getting sick on weekends. They never heard of holidays, either! You have to enjoy this lifestyle to put in the time and energy that it takes. But watching a new baby calf begin to breathe after a rough start, or watching the sunrise through the trees, or roping a steer - makes it<br />all worthwhile.</div>
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<i>Thanks so much for the great feature Kay! Be sure to follow along with Kay and her ranch life over on her blog - <a href="http://www.aranchmom.com/">A Ranch Mom</a>. You can also check out the page for their custom leather shop - <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/CK-Custom-Leather/194752510547132?fref=ts">CK Custom Leather</a>. </i></div>
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<i>Remember - if you or someone you know would like to help spread awareness about agriculture and the real people behind the cows and combines (and everything else as well!), please <a href="http://facesofagriculture.blogspot.com/p/contact.html">contact us</a> today to learn how! YOU could be the next Face of Agriculture! </i></div>
J.Rhoadeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08279391530302988346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6757821060302945822.post-42107950838937114512013-03-01T08:19:00.000-06:002013-03-01T12:42:30.302-06:00The Fuhriman's <i>Today we welcome Emily Fuhriman. Emily and her husband live in Utah. This hard working couple enjoy life on the ranch; tending the cattle, horses and the land! </i><br /><br />We live in Grouse Creek, Utah. It's in the upper most north west corner of Utah. It is an hour every direction from cell service and paved roads. Our nearest neighbor is over the border in Nevada about 8 miles away. We live so far out that they just barely got a phone line and internet ran in here last year.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />My husband and I both work for Simplot Livestock in Grouse Creek, Utah. We run about 1500 head of cattle, mostly Angus, Brangus, and Charolais cross cattle. During the spring, summer and into the fall our cattle run on private and BLM ground in the mountains near Grouse Creek and during the late fall and through the winter they winter out on the desert in Pilot Valley near Montello, Nevada. So our job is brand, doctor, gather cattle and trail to different feed areas, fence, and so on.<br /><br />We use to have a full time horse training business in Idaho. When the economy caused the horse market to slow down we started day working more and taking other jobs that would let us stay horseback. Then we found out about a ranch job with Simplot last year we decided that sounded like a nice change. It's a great job, in an awesome location and we get to work together everyday still.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />A typical spring day for us would be gathering pairs off the spring pasture, branding calves and turning them out on the summer range. Summer days are salting, pushing cattle out of a grubbed out area into an area with more feed. All fall is gathering the summer range, weaning and shipping calves, preging and culling cows then trailing cows to the winter range in Nevada. Normally during the winter all of our cows are turned out on a winter range and calve out there. This winter, because we had such a dry summer last year, only 500 head went to the winter range and we kept about 700 in Grouse Creek to feed hay to through the winter. This worked in our favor because we have a couple work horse teams, so we hook a wagon or sleigh everyday and feed our cows by hand and then saddle a horse to ride through and check the new calves.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />Our favorite part about the lifestyle we have is getting to work together everyday, living in a remote area, and being able to make a living horseback. We can still train a few outside horses and in the summer we get time go show our horses and pick up at rodeos. We are very lucky and neither one of us could ever imagine doing any different.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />One of the things that people don't understand about working and living on a ranch is that, yes we get to ride our horses everyday, live in the mountains, but it's a hard life. It doesn't pay much, we live a long ways out, you can't just run to the store for a gallon of milk, summers are hot, winters are cold, you may not see another person for a week, if you run your truck off the road in the winter, there is a good chance another truck won't come by till the next day, and sometimes you have to be here everyday for weeks or months to take care of the animals that you are responsible for. Not to many vacations. Sometimes ranch jobs are short term, you never know when you have to pack up the whole house the next day and move.<br /><br /><i>Thank you Emily for this great feature! You can follow the Fuhriman's on their <a href="http://fuhrimanranch.blogspot.com/">blog</a>. <br /><br />Are you passionate about your way of life? Do you enjoy working with the land and animals? Then we need your story! No blog required - all are welcome to be the next FOA feature!! Contact us at foafeature@gmail.com! </i><div>
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Mrs. Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02615275504960721261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6757821060302945822.post-42973853820424813582013-02-27T19:49:00.000-06:002013-02-27T19:50:21.932-06:00The Showman - Myron Saathoff<i>Today we welcome another feature from our friend Brittni Drennan Communications Coordinator for the <a href="http://gobrangus.com/">International Brangus Breeders Association</a>. Meet Myron Saathoff a true showman! He began showing cattle in FFA and his career in the ring continues today. </i><br />
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Myron Saathoff enters the show ring grasping a lead rope in one hand and a show stick in the other trailing a line of perfectly fitted Brangus heifers. At the other end of the halter, Pearl glides alongside Saathoff following his directions. After getting set, Saathoff anxiously awaits the judge’s selection, knowing his heifer is bound to receive the prized purple banner.<br />
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Saathoff has stepped foot into many show rings over the last 40 years and is no stranger to the winner’s circle. He initially began showing heifers and steers in high school through FFA while growing up in Hondo, Texas. Now after two back surgeries, one hip replacement, and countless ribbons and awards won, Saathoff is unsure of how many more times he will be able to return to the show ring.<br />
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The earlier account was one of the most memorable moments of Saathoff’s show career. Pearl was the offspring of a champion that Saathoff bred and raised at JLS, Pearl’s dam, Tally, was awarded Show Heifer of the Year in 2003-2004, winning three of four major shows that year. Pearl was named International Champion and Show Heifer of the Year in 2009. The very next year, Tally had another daughter, Kelly, who was also an International Champion.<br />
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“I like being able to work with show cattle and demonstrate what you’re breeding and what you’re producing,” Saathoff explained. “It’s a way to advertise and showcase your operation to the public and showcase your best cattle.”<br />
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Upon graduating from high school, Saathoff attended Texas Lutheran College in Seguin, Texas, on a baseball and football scholarship and finished at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. He then began working at the local auction barn where his father worked before transitioning to the ranch management sector. He first worked for Larry Blackman of B2B Farms at 20 years old. He got involved in showing again this time in open shows. It was at B2B farms that Saathoff used Big Sir 75/6 and Justana 40/8 as clean up bulls, two of the Brangus foundation sires of today. Big Sir was the grand sire of Titan, who was the sire of Transformer, Big Sir also sired General, one of the maternal foundation sires of the breed. Justana was the foundation sire of Robert Vineyard’s 100 family. Both of these bulls can be found somewhere in most pedigrees popular today.<br />
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After working for B2B Farms, Saathoff managed several other operations including Escoba, T Diamond, Star J Ranch, and Star Creek Ranch owned by Curly Taylor where all the Brinks 392 progeny was developed. Saathoff tried his hand in sale management and consulting before settling in at JLS International owned by Jeff Smtih located near Devine, Texas. Now almost 13 years later, Smith and Saathoff together have more than 70 years of experience in the Brangus seedstock business.<br />
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Saathoff has built an outstanding reputation breeding numerous champion heifers and bulls. To date, JLS is the only operation to win the Futurity three times. JLS was also recognized as the IBBA Breeder of the Year in 2007, and Saathoff has been honored as Herdsman of the Year twice. However, Saathoff still has goals for the operation and feels like he still has more to learn.<br />
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“I’m still going. Nobody has produced a perfect animal yet, but we’re getting closer,” Saathoff said. “Show animals and breeding stock are becoming more similar and are looking more alike than they did several years ago.”<br />
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With approximately 550 head of cattle plus bulls and heifers, JLS is still expanding and trying new techniques. Having obtained the most desirable cattle and some of the best performance cattle in the industry, Saathoff’s primary goal now is to improve genetic consistency in the registered herd. In order to achieve that goal, JLS recently generated five cloned heifer calves from the original 915C cow. Saathoff said the only way to tell them apart is by their ear tag number, and they even came into heat within three days of each other without using synchronization. Saathoff attributes the 915C cow for contributing to the success JLS has experienced over the last 13 years with last year marking 115 descendants from the 915 family.<br />
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JLS is also expanding their operation to include red Brangus cattle and now have seven red Brangus females. Saathoff showcased their red Brangus program in the show ring last year and received Red Brangus Show Heifer of the Year. JLS has implemented a breeding up to Brangus program in order to introduce new genetics and avoid line breeding. When it comes to genetic selection, Saathoff knows what to look for, and the success JLS has had is a testament to the extensive knowledge and experience he has gained.<br />
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When selecting cattle and making breeding decisions, Saathoff’s number one priority is performance. He wants a bull that can work in the South Texas climate and tough, rugged environment, which is the ultimate reason why he likes the Brangus breed. <br />
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“I’ve had experience with Angus, Brangus, Braunvieh, and from experience, Brangus by far out did everything as far as adaptability,” Saathoff said. “Brangus were the most fertile and had the best performance and best milking ability across the board.”<br />
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Saathoff said infusing Brangus into a herd will improve milking ability and mothering ability, and he compliments the Brangus female for being the best in the industry. He believes Brangus can improve the beef industry with the breed’s tremendous adaptability qualities as long as purebred breeders produce bulls the commercial man needs and can use. The biggest challenge Brangus breeders face involves marketing.<br />
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“They need to believe in the product they are producing and market their own product,” Saathoff said. “If you believe in what you have and are knowledgeable about your program, you can sell it.”<br />
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Saathoff said it was important for the Brangus breed to obtain more accurate data and genetic markers in order to improve consistency within the breed, but also to improve the market and increase the demand for Brangus cattle. With the constant change in marketing trends, Saathoff is still trying to learn new tricks.<br />
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“I definitely still have room to learn more about marketing and how those trends have changed,” Saathoff said. “The Internet is one really good tool that I need to learn more about.”<br />
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Saathoff said he follows examples by others who were successful marketers like Glen Brinkman and Joe Reznicek, who were both very involved and knowledgeable about their respective programs, but the Internet is a marketing tool breeders can easily take advantage of. It is accessible to everyone from businessmen to cattlemen, and all it takes is getting the information out there to the people who are looking for it, and Saathoff is one who continually looks for opportunities to keep growing.<br />
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“If you’ve got the information in front of them, you’ve got a better chance of selling them something,” Saathoff said. “Like live Internet auctions are an area that we can grow in, and it’s beneficial because people can view and buy cattle without travelling.”<br />
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Saathoff’s new goal for JLS is simple- to keep improving by increasing consistency. Maybe Saathoff is slowing down, but he is not done yet. He and his wife, Neva, are supporters of the junior association, IJBBA, and Saathoff said he enjoys watching juniors show his cattle as much as he liked showing. He likes the opportunity to give youth the experience they might not otherwise have been able to enjoy. Having two children who grew up involved in the IJBBA, Tanessa Sawyer and Tate, Saathoff knows how beneficial the youth organization is.<br />
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After 41 years in the cattle industry, Saathoff knows how to seek out and take advantage of the opportunities before him. He has made a name in this business and created a reputation built on integrity, and his reputation alone is what markets his cattle, selling close to 200 bulls on the ranch each year.<br />
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“Honesty is what has made JLS successful,” Saathoff said, “and everyone is treated the same regardless of experience in the breed or business.”<br />
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Among a library full of memories made in the show ring, Saathoff recalls another memorable moment in 2004 when the National Western Show was first hosted in Phoenix, Ariz. That year, JLS brought back both big prizes of Grand Champion Heifer and Grand Champion Bull. Another outstanding memory was in 2003 when JLS won Grand Champion Heifer at the Futurity for the third time by the same breeder. This third win allowed Saathoff to be the first person to take home the Brangus Futurity trophy engraved with all the past Futurity winners. This trophy had previously been displayed at the IBBA office and is now proudly displayed at JLS.<br />
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Saathoff is a true cattleman and showman!<br />
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<i>Thanks Brittni for bringing us this great feature! To meet more Brangus producers check out their <a href="http://gobrangus.com/">webpage</a>, <a href="http://gobrangus.wordpress.com/">blog</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/GoBrangus?ref=tn_tnmn">Facebook page</a>.<br /><br />How are you involved in agriculture? We want to hear your story! Contact us a foafeature@gmail.com for more info about being the next feature!</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span>Mrs. Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02615275504960721261noreply@blogger.com