Upgrading In The Farm World

Well the busy season is here!

Winter went by quickly and I don't know if I was mentally or physically ready for spring, yet. I got a bit lazy this winter!

A few key notes of some things that have happened over the last several months:

-We had a dry, warm winter. We only got one significant snow and it came in March.
-We made a few new purchases and additions to the farm
-We are so thankful to still be able to do this life and our prayers go out to all the farmer's and ranchers that were affected by wildfires. We only had smoke come through and no fires close to us. It is amazing how many farmers and ranchers (and others) came together to help those in need. It is so tough to hear/see those losses.

Now back to planting time, we recently upgraded our tractor and purchased a much larger planter. It has 24 rows!! That is 24 rows being planted at one time. It is also central fill for the seed! My mind is blown! I am so use to the 12 rows and filling boxes! I am still wrapping my mind around this new equipment!

Times have changed so much from when I was kid and definitely from how my grandpa grew  up! My brothers new tractor is so fancy, you can call from your phone via Bluetooth from the cab of the tractor! Mind blown. I have a love/hate relationship with technology. I, personally, feel as though we (a society) rely too much on technology these days and have lost some of our very basic foundations. But that is another feeling for another day. I understand how important this new technology is that we utilize for many reasons.

-GPS and autosteer help us to use the whole field to the best we can. The more we can get planted and grown in a field the more crop that is produce. This means more food for you- the people. If it isn't a food products, it is something to help us. We have to feed millions of people just here in the United States. Without it we don't use every bit to produce the most we can for YOU. It's not for us or a profit, sure we need that to keep farming but really it is for YOU! People are so far from the farm these days they wouldn't even be able to produce the food they need to survive, that's why you have hard working farmers trying to produce the most for YOU. Some individuals need to realize that just a bit more.

-It doesn't matter if you are a GMO farmer, non-GMO farmer or an organic farmer. We all have the same goal. To help feed the world. We have to find new ways to keep feeding the ever growing world. Thankfully technology has evolved to help us do that. That is larger equipment producing more efficient time management and a greater amount of acres we can produce for... You guessed it... YOU!

-I guess what I am trying to tell you, even if you don't quite understand or even know what exactly a farmer does/is go find one, ask questions and do me a favor. Don't bash one over the other. Respect. Everyone. All farmers. You may have opinions about why I should be an organic farmer, but I have studies and research to show you why we plant GMOs and back them up. To each their own.

We got a much needed rain this past weekend. A blessing for our wheat and corn. That is my update for this month. 

Cheers! 

The Milkmaid 

April Showers Bring May Flowers- Or Grass We Hope!

Ah, April.

Such a pretty month one of my favorites really. Spring is showing up, the grass is green, trees are getting their leaves and the temperature (while it goes up and down and changes every 15 minutes it seems, it is Kansas you know?) is nicer than winters but cooler than summer. Ahh. Spring. My favorite time of the year.

Spring brings new life. New life is important to any farmer. Whether it is a new baby calf, horse, sheep, goat or pig-- you choose your fancy, or seeing your wheat green and growing, corn once it is planted sprout or whatever plant you raise in the ground ready to come up and produce. It is a time for many housewives or househusbands, single ladies and gents to get their gardens started and flowers planted and to start the mowing season. Ah Spring.

Many people do not understand why agriculturists like ourselves have to burn our pastures and fields. There are many benefits to doing this for our type of work. As for many ranchers and farmers it is to keep the nutrients needed to help our animals grow and to keep weed and tree problems low.

Here are a few good posts explaining pasture burning:

• From The Pioneer Woman: Why We Burn Our Pastures
• From Rain Cow Ranch: Why Would A Grass Farmer Burn Pasture?
• From Backyard Ranch: Pasture Burning

All of these blogs describe why pasture burning is a necessity for farming operations. I understand that many are concerned for the environment and general safety of the public. But I can assure you that we work with EPA and the regulations in agriculture every day and we obtain our burn permits with our local fire stations and counties to help better your food. Plain and simple. We have to do things to help produce enough food for all of us to eat and these are just some of the ways we can effectively do just that. Every year the amount of food needing produced raises and even if you are a vegan or vegetarian, someone still has to produce your food and a lot of it. So next time you are eating whatever it may be, please do not just criticize us for how we do it and how you believe it is wrong. Take some time to find a farmer/rancher ask them questions and get the real advice from the person working every day to grow that meal for you to consume.  Many of you would be surprised to find out the #truth behind what really goes and on and why we burn pastures or use certain chemicals (that never reach you or I) in order to produce enough wholesome great tasting food for both of us to enjoy.

We have been blessed with some rain showers already and we were lucky enough to have all of our corn in the ground for that rain as well. A few of the pastures that were burned in our area are already turning green and beautiful with new fresh lush grass- and I can't wait to watch ours join them and the corn to sprout!

Sorry for all those that have those nasty allergies-- I know you hate spring, but as for me-- I'm getting my camera out and loving this time. Happy Spring!



The Milkmaid 


(P.S.- This is all from the beginning of April-- sorry for the late upload!)

Farming is Dangerous-- And It Can Hurt.

The other night, I was going to write this but I just could not manage too. I had a horrible headache, felt dizzy, a little nauseated and just wanted to go to sleep. So I did.

Here is the real life of being a farmer. You get hurt. And it happens-- most days in some way.

Usually it is a small wound, no doctor needed and you either just ignore it or you give in to your wife/sister/daughter telling you to go inside, clean it up and bandage it. Thankfully, we have never had to many major injuries on our farm-- but there is a HUGE chance every day. I know there is a risk at every job but folks lets be honest-- I know way to many other farmers that can tell you about personal injuries or even death of a family member from working on the farm. Did you know that in 2012 there was 374 farmers/farm workers that died according to the CDC (link here). Many more injuries and accidents occur every day-- this is a serious deal.

(Here is a good article about farm accidents and how serious they are on Modern Farmer: Death on the Farm.)

Today, I am thankful that I am alive. I was very lucky to not get more seriously hurt the other night and that I walked away with just a slight concussion. I was opening the gates into the holding pen to let the cows in for the evening milking. I tapped a cow with the gate to get her to move out of the way so that I could hook it in front of the alley way-- well apparently she did NOT like that. She kicked the gate and before I knew it this heavy metal gate went straight to my head. Right above my temple. Thank the Good Lord that it did not hit any harder or any lower and I may not be here to write this blog or spend another day alive.

However, me being me, I did not go to the doctor, I iced it for a bit made sure it was not cut opened and after 15 minutes of so went back out (lucky me, my sister is a nurse and happened to be there when this happened so she checked it over) and did the whole milking and the milking the next morning before taking the night off. I still have a few minor headaches but it could be the weather. The moral of the story is-- in the matter of seconds everything could change and it is a dangerous world. I am thankful for being alive and that it was not worse. Be thankful-- for every one and every thing.

I had thought that from my morning milking that things would go ten times better that day. I had already slipped and fell, causing a huge bruise on my hip and then a cow kicked my hand up in the panel and cut it open in two places. Minor injuries to what would happen that night. Let's just say my new nickname on the farm is proving itself more and more. "Cow Boom" started because of my many small injuries and because I started a tractor on fire-- yeah that was a fun night! (no worries the tractor is fine and running still) here is too hoping nothing worse happens!

Be thankful my friends-- you never know what will happen tomorrow!



The Milkmaid 

Here is some pictures I took-- doesn't really do it
justice but still the best I could get!
And sorry for the faces-- I didn't exactly
feel the best.

Luckily for me-- it is just black and blue now
minus the headaches

Working Hard and Hardly Working- And counting our Blessings.

It seems as though there is always some new project going on at the farm. Whether it is fixing fence or equipment or building something to help something else. March was busy with many different activities. We had some fun, we gave back and we worked hard.

A few things that went on during good ol' March. We sprayed numerous fields, dealt with many sprayer issues (frustrating and annoying is all I have to say about that darn sprayer), moved some corn and built a few things. But we also took some time off and gave back to the community.

At the beginning of March, Josh sold his corn that we stored in the new bin on the farm, so we got to test out the unload system to empty the bin. The guys hauled several loads of corn to a local feedlot.

Inside of the bin with the sweep auger moving through the corn

Coming from the sweep auger into the other auger bottom

And finally into the semi trailer

I was so lucky to help sweep the last bit of corn into piles for the sweep auger to carry out for the last load. At least farm work has some health benefits of making you sweat and keep in shape!

We got a new sprayer, I have nothing nice to say about it. I don't like it. It makes me frustrated therefore I am not going to blog anymore about that darn thing!!! However, it did give Handyman a good excuse to get out his welder and make a stand for the shuttles so that it is easier to unload the shuttles and switch them in and out when needed.

AJ welding in our garage the new shuttle holder thing

The finished product holding shuttles

Handyman really likes welding and wants to teach me but  I always tell him, "It can wait" I will learn some day but I kind of have a motto when it comes to certain things. If I learn it and no one else is around then I have to do it and well if I don't know how to do it, I guess one of the guys has too! -- I will just stick to milking cows, managing cows and breeding cows-- that's more my thing!


Those were just a couple of the things going on during March on the farm. Off of the farm, we went to Oklahoma with hubs parents and we went Spoonbill fishing. It was my first time ever catching that big of a fish! It was a lot of fun and was well worth the trip down there! I was lucky enough (and it was on St. Patricks Day! Luck of the Irish!) to catch the first fish. It only weighed 29 pounds so I threw it back and kept trolling on. I caught the second fish and it was a beauty! I kept this big fish weighing in at 62 pounds! After that I just enjoyed riding on the boat watching hubs and my father in law fish. They had a lot of fun and the best catch of the day was my father in law got a whole whooping 5 pounder! Boy, was it cute!! Overall, it was a great trip and nice to take a small break from working for some fun.

AJ and I with our catches

My father in law with one of his fish

Lastly and one of the most important days of March came where we, as a family, donated $2500, to the St. Anthony's Family Shelter in Wichita. It was a true blessing. My grandfather had his name entered into a Monsanto Grant Program where they generously give a $2500 grant in different family farms name to a place the family chooses. He was selected for Sedgwick county and my grandparents chose to give the money to a family homeless shelter. It was a privilege to be there as they presented the check and we got to tour the facilities. We are so proud that we can help others in need and it is very important for our family to give back to the community.

This program helps many families in their time of need and get back on their feet after so many different situations. I encourage you to go to your local homeless shelter or any other organization- ask for a tour, volunteer or just give back in any way possible. It is truly life changing experience helping others in their time of need. I know one of my many goals for this year is to do more volunteer work and I can't wait to get started with another program that I found in Wichita.

Many blessings to you and your family, we hope your March was a great as ours!


The Milkmaid

The Good Ole V-Day...Bull.

By now all the Valentine’s Day candy has been ate, the flowers have died and life is back to the grind. Another holiday down and I could not be more thankful. I am not one of those big holiday people. I do not enjoy Valentine's Day at all. Even though I have one, my heart goes out to those that do not and I can remember when I was that single girl and hated the holiday even more. Luckily for me, the whole love thing grows in my heart every time a new calf is born cause who can’t resist the sweet face of a little baby calf? It just got me thinking about the change that came that first Valentine’s Day with my hubs. The one where I asked that we do not celebrate it cause shouldn’t we celebrate our love every day? Yeah. I asked him to keep it pretty simple. So we did and still do very minimal celebrating goes on for the love day but we still show it every day and take the time to go out on "dates" when we can.

Now....

This is my love. Finding a new baby calf early in the morning and showering it with love and care. Meet Miss Little Red (for now, until I think of a good name anyway) 

I found her not long after she had been born, her momma #19 did a good job and cleaned her up for the most part but had her in a bad spot. She was shivering cold and needed dried off a bit more. So for the first time in over a year (usually hubs or dad are around for this part, but it was just me this morning) I picked her up and carried her into our bulk tank room. There I placed her in front of the heater and on some used feed sacks so the concrete wouldn't be so cold. I took some towels and rubbed her down and used a hair dryer to warm her up and dry her off. She was a good calf and just laid there for me after having bawled as I carried her causing every cow to become momma cow and follow me up to the barn bawling back... Quite the chatter this morning! 

Finally she was cleaned up for the most part and by then my dad had showed up to help me with the milking. I placed a calf coat on her and went back to milking. I milked her momma to get her that nice good colostrum that every baby needs. She was a happy camper for sure and I was happy for her but had to go on and finish my chores instead of just sitting there and playing with her all morning. Work must be finished and my other R&Ws would probably get pretty jealous of me not paying attention to them. 

My dad and I were thrilled to see she was a Red and White Holstein. We purchased a R&W bull last spring and hoped we would get some out of him even though we don't have many R&W cows. Well #19 is not a R&W, she is black and white so we were beyond thrilled to see Little Red. I, however, do not like Red Bull. He is a typical Holstein bull. If you have never been warned here it is, stay clear of Holstein bulls as much as possible. I don't know why but they get pretty feisty and are not so friendly after a while. Now that is not true of all Holstein bulls, we have had bulls that we can pet and our just little sweeties. Red Bull and I have a day to day relationship. Some days he just watches me and leaves me alone to get the cows in and other days he is kicking up dirt, hollering and following me or stirring up the cows and being a pain in the bull. My dad usually gets to get the cows in on those days cause he just doesn't mess with the man in charge. Men. Hmmph. 

Unfortunately, dealing with cold calves and feisty bulls are just part of the job description. A job I wouldn't change for anything. Just sometimes you wish others could understand all that goes into being any type of farmer and how big our hearts are full of love. 

My love for my cows and job goes on twice a day every day. My cows see love every time they are milked, fed or just go out to check on them. My favorite part of the day is petting my cows Annabel and Pineapple. They are my red and whites, my prize and joy, and now this sweet little girl... Even though she looks too much like the bull! 

Until next time,

The Milkmaid

P.S. - no sweet resolution update 50 days strong! 100 more to go! 

A Monday Morning Surprise!

This morning, I headed to the farm thinking about the mud, water and unhappy cows. Since it rained last night, I was a little late showing up for work in the first place and dreading the mess I would be after milking. The cows have a love-hate relationship with rain. While it cools them off, they also get messy and bring their little dirty hooves into my milking parlor and like to get me just as messy.

Little did I know my dad would find a nice little surprise when he went out to bring the cows up for milking.


Twins, again!

We usually do not have twins, even though there is a one in seven chance of twins, we haven't had a set in a couple of years. This year we have been blessed so far with two sets. You may remember reading, The Scandalous Cow and Tale of Two Calves, where we had a rare set of twins born from two different sires but from the same dam. Well this may look like the same situation but it is not!

The dam (or mother cow) is a Jersey/Holstein cross and Miss Brownie looks like her. The sire (bull/father) is a pure bred Holstein and Miss Penelope looks like him. They just happen not to be identical twins but sure are cute and fun to play with.

Brownie was born smaller than Penelope, not by much but she is the smaller of the two.After we milked No. 61 (their mother) this morning, I took out a bottle to feed them. They both did a really good job drinking for the first time and then they had their navals sprayed to help not get an infection.

Miss Brownie

Miss Penelope

Both little heifers are doing well and happy in their new little shed and each other.


Happy Monday!



The Milkmaid

Wheat Harvest is coming fast!

Wheat harvest is right around the corner. Therefore, it is really about to get busy around the farm.

Thankfully it has rained in the last week and we got some needed moisture for our corn and soybeans.

Yet, with the moisture we are still not done spraying and planting soybeans but we will not complain as rain is a tick more important!

AJ and Josh washed combines to get them clean again for this years harvest. Then, they cleaned out the cab and greased the circuits. Afterwards, they went through and check all the chains, belts and bolts. Needless to say they will be checking over every little part of each combine multiple times before harvest to make sure they got everything checked thoroughly.

Last week they worked on the headers to get ready to hopefully try to harvest some barley and wheat. They did get the barley harvested and attempted to do a wheat field but it was still too wet. Today, they are going out to try another field and see if it is ready to go. 

This week's plan... harvest wheat, plant soybeans, spray the rest of the fields, harvest some more, plant some more, spray some more, oh and milk! You get the idea, it will be a very busy week needless to say. 

Here are a few pictures of the combines being looked over and getting ready to go. Unfortunately, I still am in a bad habit of not having my camera with me so I take pictures on my phone and well my phone decided to see what water was like the other day. Therefore, I got a shiny new phone and I have not be able to recover my photos from my old phone, so I tried to take a few more of them. 

Working on a header

This is what it looks like under one of the covers 

This is the back end where the stalks come out

Inside one the cab of one of our combines

This is through the back glass of the cab, this is where the grain comes through an auger
and is held until it is unloaded onto the grain cart 

The auger which the grain falls from after being harvested from the plant or cob

Josh working on tightening some bolts on a header

Until next time,

The Milkmaid

Soybean Planting

I am writing from the fields again. It seems this is my only free time to write sometimes and sometimes the only time I get into the writing mood when I am in the action of the farm life.

This week we have a chance of rain! Hallelujah! We are in a pretty rough drought right now and are praying some of the storms bring rain to our fields. Some storms get so close and we watch them go by. It gets rough but we keep our faith and keep praying that we will get some rain too. My brother even got to do an interview with some of our fields about the drought on the local news.

The wheat crop is looking pretty rough this year. Last year we had 60-70 bushel crop where this year we are hoping for 30-35 bushel an acre. Remember we are an all dry land crop farm so we do not irrigate our crops since we don't have any water sources to do so. We wish we had some though!

Since we do have a good chance of rain, we have been trying to get all of our soybean fields planted and the fields sprayed. The other day my dad and I had to unload a semi with seed. The fertilizer truck came and at the same time the tractor needed fuel and was in the way when the feed truck came all while we were trying to clear the driveway so the milk truck could come. To say we were busy on the farm is almost an understatement. Oh and we were filling the sprayer to get back out in the field. We managed as always and I always think this is one of the most fun times because it is almost a thrill running around trying to get everything done.

Here are some pictures from this morning getting ready to start a field. Josh is filling the planter with soybean seed that has been treated. AJ is running the seed tender and adding talc to the soybeans as they exit the tender. I got to drive the truck with the nurse tank full of liquid fertilizer. We had quite the little parade this morning traveling to one of our far fields. Josh was in the tractor with the planter, I was behind him with the fertilizer and AJ last with the seed. Also, this isn't the same corn field but one planted close to the same time and how much the corn has grown since my last blog.

Have a great Memorial Weekend!

The Milkmaid

The Gift of Giving

Every year we like to give back to our land lords, customers, friends and family. It is important to show how much we appreciate each of them. This is what we do during the holiday season.

The last few years we have just given them some cheese and a Christmas card, but this year I took upon myself to make some goodie bags. In these little goodie bags, I put some chocolate chip cookies and candy. According to hubs, “Everyone will obviously be able to tell there is a woman working on the farm.” Next year, I am going to strive to make some candies and chocolate covered pretzels but this year I had limited time because of my parent’s trip.

Delicious Cookie Dough!

Baking in the Oven

188 cookies later...

Now, I have to tell you all about my love for baking. It all started several years ago, when my grandmother taught me all I know about baking. She was my inspiration for many things, including learning how to play the piano, milking cows and reading Amish books. We spent quite a few hours together in the milk barn when I was in middle school and high school talking about the Amish and our love for learning about them and many other things. She taught me so much about hard work and giving back to others. If you ever need pop or cookies, you can go into the house and if you are there for lunch she always has enough for everyone (including all our friends and workers that may just show up unannounced!). Well, the recipe I made is my grandma’s and I will not lie, she makes them way better than I do and they look neater. But as I was taught by her and my mother, “they were made with love” and that makes them the best.

My love for agriculture, helping feed the world and giving is the love I put into these cookies to share a little holiday spirit with our friends.

Cute little Snowman bags

Candy

Cookies (Which have taken 1st Place
at the State Fair a couple of times :) )

                  It is always important to give back 

and it is always a joy to see it spread a smile on others faces.

Hubs was nice and helped me put the goodie bags together.

My gift of giving every year is giving every day of life to agriculture. Working sun up to sun down, long hours and short hours, hot and cold, wet and dry, morning and night, healthy and sick, whatever it may be. My “love of giving” is helping others be fed, clothed and so much more that you get from agriculture, along with every other farmer. What is your love of giving?

Finished Product along with a card!

Here is to hoping you had a wonderful holiday season,

The Milkmaid