Steers on the Loose

Stinkin Raccoons

The little *(&#Q*#! are getting in the chicken coop and taking out my girls. If any of you know and effective way of getting rid of them PLEASE let me know.

Pigeons & Farmers

“The only difference between a pigeon and the American farmer today is that a pigeon can still make a deposit on a John Deere.”

- Jim Hightower

Gloves

When the farmer walks in the backdoor waving a pair of plastic gloves at you and says, "Here, can you put these on and help me out by the grain bin for a minute?" RUN - RUN THE OTHER WAY!!!

Making Bedding

We just made large bales of cornstalks out of the stubble left on the fields after the fall harvest. It provides nice bedding for the cattle to lay on. It acts as insulation to keep them warm & dry. Darrell loads all of the bales onto the wagon and then we drive them out of the field and down the road to the various barns & sheds we store them in until we need them. Once there, one of our guys unloads and carefully stacks the bales using a skidsteer. Meanwhile, another person is tilling the fields that were already baled to get ready for spring planting.

Just because you see it in the paper...

Eating can be energy-efficient, too
By Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY

With Americans looking to reduce their "carbon footprints," food seems an obvious place to start.
Choosing a diet with a smaller carbon footprint means choosing foods that are processed in ways that emit less carbon dioxide — a heat-trapping "greenhouse" gas — into the atmosphere. In general, experts say, it breaks down to these guidelines:

Cut down on meat. "That doesn't mean never eat meat, it means eat less of it," says Gail Feenstra, a food systems analyst at the University of California-Davis Agricultural Sustainability Institute.

Meat is less efficient because we eat the animal that eats the grain instead of eating the grain ourselves. It takes about 15 pounds of feed to make 1 pound of beef, 6 pounds of feed for 1 pound of pork and 5 pounds of feed for 1 pound of chicken, the Department of Agriculture estimates. For catfish, it's about 2 pounds of feed per pound of fish.

Add to the feed the cost of raising, transporting and producing cattle, and beef is by far the least energy-efficient meat. Nathan Fiala, a doctoral candidate in environmental economics at the University of California-Irvine, estimates it requires about 15 pounds of carbon dioxide to produce 1 pound of beef.

"A family of four that gives up eating beef one day a week has basically traded in their pickup for a Prius," he says.

You will probably see articles like this in several places today. Unfortunately, the numbers they are using to try to make their point are wrong. For example, they are saying that eating beef leaves a large carbon footprint. The author claims that it takes 15 lbs of feed to make a pound of beef. If that was the feed conversion rate for cattle in this country, no one could afford to feed them. Cattle will normally convert between 6 and 7 pounds of feed into a pound of beef. Also, if you want to reduce the carbon footprint left by transporting beef - BUY & EAT LOCALLY! In order to make informed decisions, consumers need accurate information. It’s the job of producers to make sure that happens.

Earth Day

For a farmer, every day is Earth Day.

All Righty Then...

We were at an agricultural workshop (I won't say which one), but at the registration table there were two lines - one for "Farmers" and one for "Non-farmers". The lady in front of me turned to me and said, "well, I'm not sure which line I should be in, ya know - whether we're considered "farmers" or not." I said, "What do you mean?" She said, "Well, we just bought 35 acres of land to build a house on, but don't actually work it." I couldn't help but laugh out loud, while a few other people inched in closer - grinning & mumbling under their breath (they were in the "farmer" line). I said, "Ahhh...well, I'd say unless you have sworn at a tractor a time-or-two, picked rocks for days & and lose sleep when your crops are flooded out & you're not sure if you'll have enough feed put up for the winter...you are NOT a farmer." She looked a bit shamed (which was not my intention), but got the point. She quickly moved over to the "Non-farmer" line. The old man behind me (wearing an old seed cap) let out a chuckle, raised an eyebrow at the lady and said, "All righty then..." which in old farmer lingo translates into, "Seriously....right???"

Best Song of the Year

Technology

Years ago, farm women used to call the men in for their meals by ringing the dinner bell. I just sent Darrell a text message on his cell:

"Clang, clang, clang clang...DINNER!"

Oh, how times have changed...

Why the chicken crossed the road

Of our 7 hens, one (a buff orpington named "Paris") keeps crossing the road to wander around in the woods.

Usually, all 8 chickens trot around the farm in a giant flock - until lately. At early dawn, Paris likes to slink across the road like a moonshiner running whiskey. She's constantly on watch to see if anyone spies her, as she makes her run for the first stand of trees. Then she'll stay hidden in the woods all day. By evening, we go after her to lead her back to the coop (we have some coyotes around here that would love a chicken dinner). If she is "uncooperative" we sic our four year old, Grady, on her. He's quick and fearless. Last week, when I was driving straight into the woods, he flanked left - came around from due West, slid under a low-hanging white pine and tackled her. All you could see were feet and feathers, until he emerged from the underbrush - scratched up, but grinning. Yesterday, when it was about time to go and fetch her again...she came back to the farm, trotting low & cautious along the feed bunk. She zigzagged her way to the coop, and was just about to round the corner when the rooster caught site of her. He came out flapping and pecking at her furiously. She managed to dodge him (I think all that practice trying to evade Grady helped) and she made it to the feeder. Alas, we now know why the chicken crossed the road... to get away from that bully rooster. I don't think we'll be seeing that much of him in the future.

National Agriculture Week

This past week was National Agriculture Week. It is a week in March, set aside to to draw attention to the importance of agriculture and provide consumers with a reminder to think about the nation's farm families.

Did you know that agriculture generates 20% of the United States Gross Domestic Product? The farther away Americans get away from direct ties to the family farm, it is easy for them to forget just how much farmers do in the way of providing food, fiber & fuel for the general public. At present, each farmer produces enough to provide for 144 people. Compare this to the 1960's when each farmer provided enough for 25 people.

Americans only spend 9% of their income on food, compared to 22% in the UK, 26% in Japan, and 55% in Indonesia. In Wisconsin, agriculture generates more than $51 billion in economic activity and provides jobs for 12% of the state's workforce.

Just a little food for thought...

Not all cows are "Cows"

People are surprised, when they come out to the farm, that we do not milk our "cows". That's because we don't have any. We raise steers. What's the difference? Well, here's a little Farming 101 for you. Let's start at the beginning.

1. Calves are either "bull" calves (boys) or "heifer" calves (girls).
2. Bull calves are either left alone and become full fledged "Bulls" or, they have their lifestyles "altered" (banded/castrated) and become "Steers". Steers are way less agressive and easier to handle than bulls.
3. Heifers when bred once, and pregnant are called "Spriging Heifers".
4. After a Springing Heifer has had her first calf she's called a "Cow".

It's not hard to understand why people get confused, what with movies for young viewers like "Barnyard"
where they stuck udders on the steers. What were those people thinking? We had the joy of sitting in a packed movie theater when our kids (not so quietly) asked, "Why do those steers have udders? They didn't put udders on the bull?" Thank you Paramount & Nickalodeon for introducing the notion of transgender cattle to the general population.
Anyway...to answer the question once and for all - this is why we don't milk our "cows". I think the boys would get a bit mad at us if we tried.

Cowpooling

You Herd it Here

You grow much of your own produce, visit your local farmers' markets for the foods that you can't grow yourself and have even started participating in a food co-op, but you're still left high and dry when it comes to purchasing a decent steak.

Enter Cowpooling, the latest buzz term for the practice under which a group of friends, family or co-workers team up to purchase a whole cow (or steer) from a local farm. The steer is then butchered to order and the various cuts divvied up among all the folks.

So, now that we've got the "what" down, lets take a look at the who, why and, most importantly, how of this whole cowpooling thing!

Who?
Currently, the practice is gaining popularity with "locavores," that is, those who choose to practice food sustainability by eating only food from local farms. However, essentially anyone with a few family members of friends (or the ability to find some!) can participate. Another criteria for participation in cowpooling? You really have to like - and more importantly, eat - a lot of meat and have the capacity to store it. Now, we're not talking about having access to a full-scale meat locker, but if you're living in a cramped city apartment with nothing more than a fridge-freezer combo, cowpooling probably isn't going to work out for you.

Why?
There are a couple of reasons you might want to consider cowpooling:

1. Buying Local: There certainly is something to be said for buying locally. Not only do you support your local farmer, but you also support your local butcher and your local meat packer. Not bad, ey?



2. Keeping Control: Want to avoid purchasing hormone-laden, antibiotic-fed beef or make sure that the beef you're buying comes from a happy cow? Cowpooling allows you to shop around for a local farmer that can accommodate your request.



3. Health Helper: You've heard the horror stories about people ingesting contaminated beef, but purchasing a side of beef - as opposed to the composites of meat sold in grocery stores - significantly reduces the risk of cross-contamination.



4. Wallet-friendly: Ok, we'll be honest here - sometimes it is more expensive to cowpool than it is to purchase meat from your supermarket, especially if you're a whiz at clipping coupons and shopping the sale section! However, in today's economy, where the cost of food can fluctuate so drastically, it is nice to purchase enough meat to last you a few months at a flat rate.

How?
Call or email us! We'll be happy to walk you through it.
You'll want to consider how much meat you want to purchase. Cowpooling doesn't have to necessarily mean that you buy the whole steer. Rather, your cowpool can choose to purchase a side (or half a steer in laymans terms!) or even a quarter and then split it up among your fellow poolers. Essentially, you've got to look at your storage capacity, examine your own meat eating needs and then work with your group to come up with a purchasing situation that will suit everyone.

The final step?
Get cookin'!