“Bbbrrrrrr!” you say as the thermometer dips past zero and the wind whistles and blows, snow swirling in drifts across the driveway. “I’m not going out there in this weather!”
As winter firmly sets in across the Midwest and other parts of the country, farmers and farm workers know that adding another layer of clothing and gearing up to brace themselves against the wintry weather is just “another day at the office.” Hot, cold, rainy, snowy, blowy, icy or whatever weather elements Mother Nature decides to dish out, milking cows is a 365-days-a-year job. The cows must be milked at the same time every day, twice or three times a day, day in, day out. The same goes for other chores – feeding, making sure pipes are still delivering water to the water tanks, cleaning out pens and alleyways, and making sure clean sand or other bedding is ready for the cows to lay in.
In other words, even if “the weather outside is frightful” (or not), farming must go on!
Yes, farming is a labor intensive job and one has to be committed to it, but it is a rewarding lifestyle. Farmers take great effort to care for their animals in all types of weather. They are always at the ready to do what it takes to make sure everything is working (not too many farms are void of a generator in case the electricity fails), the animals are comfortable and the routines are practiced at the same time every day.
Winter is just another season on the farm. Stop by a local farm for a visit and learn how farmers do their jobs during the blustery winter months. Just remember to dress warm!
What comes to mind when you hear the words “agriculture,” “buy local,” or “support our farmers?”
Christmas trees may not even be listed among your top ten, but indeed this crop does fall under the heading “agriculture.” It’s also one of Michigan’s most important agricultural crops.
According to the 2007 Census of Agriculture figures released this past Feb. (2009), Michigan ranks third in the United States for the total number of Christmas trees harvested. In 2007, the last year for which numbers are available, Michigan Christmas tree growers harvested nearly 1.6 million Christmas trees. The state ranks second in the country for the total numbers of acres devoted to Christmas tree plantations with just under 42,000 acres. Only Oregon grows more acres of trees (66,816 acres).
Christmas trees are also more than green in color. They’re also a renewable and recyclable natural resource.
What are the most popular varieties of Christmas trees? In order of popularity, they are: Balsam fir, Douglas fir, Fraser fir (the one you want to select if you don’t want to be picking up fallen needles from the floor every time you turn around!), Noble fir, Scotch pine, Virginia pine and, the Michigan state tree, the white pine.
If you are interested in locating the choose-and-cut or retail lot nearest to where you live, visit the Michigan Christmas Tree Association Web site for a complete listing of locations.
That’s right, it’s official!
The 2010 Breakfast on the farm – the second annual – is scheduled for Saturday, June 19. It will be hosted by Albert and Els Steenblik at their family dairy operation located at 3844 N. Hubbardston Road near Pewamo.
Planning for the 2010 event will begin soon, so if you want to share any ideas, comments or suggestions, please forward them our way so the planning committee can consider them.
This may not be agriculture-related, but it does have to do with animals and learning about a fascinating topic: Black Rhinos. Plus, it sounds like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hear from an expert on a topic unfamiliar to the majority of us here in Michigan and, dare I say, outside the safari world.
I recently received this announcement for an event taking place at the Potter Park Zoo this Thursday, Sept. 24 at 7 p.m. and thought there might be others out there who wanted to take the bull by the horns – no pun intended! – and learn about another topic (similar to agriculture and food production) that many folks may have preconceived notions about.
Here’s what the announcement said:
“Potter Park Zoo will host guest speaker Daniel Kasoo, Maasai Warrior, village elder and assistant manager and head guide for the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya, at 7 p.m. on Thursday, September 24 in the zoo’s Safari Room. The event is one of only four presentations Kasoo will make during his U.S. tour.
Kasoo’s presentation, titled “An Evening with a Maasai Warrior,” will focus on the issues and concerns surrounding the conservation of Black Rhinos. He will also be discussing what life is like as a Maasai Warrior, his experiences as a guide, and a brief history of Lewa’s transformation into a rhino conservatory. Attendees will also be treated to a fascinating array of animal images from the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy. The presentation will conclude with an opportunity for guests to ask questions.
The Lewa Wildlife Conservancy is an organization dedicated to the conservation of wildlife and its habitats. Kasoo has spent more than ten years helping to support the mission of Lewa by educating visitors and people from around the world on the importance of conservation.
The event is open to the public. Tickets are $10 each for zoo society members and $12 for non-members. To reserve your tickets, call (517) 342-2718. Tickets can also be purchased at the zoo or online. All proceeds from the event will benefit the zoo’s Rhino Yard Expansion Project.”
The Michigan State University (MSU) Dairy Store is known for a lot of things. Among them: they have some of the best tasting ice cream around these parts (and don’t forget the Big Ten flavors that serve as just one more delicious way to root for your favorite sports team!), in addition to a variety of cheeses, milk, yogurt and grilled cheese sandwiches hot off the grill for a quick lunch or snack. But eggs?
Yes, the MSU Dairy Store has added another staple item to its refrigerator shelves: eggs. Eggs delivered fresh daily from the MSU Poultry Teaching and Research Center on campus.
The eggs come from layer hens that the university raises for research projects. Instead of trying to purchase age-appropriate laying hens every time researchers want to embark on a project, they have birds ready to use right here on campus. No eggs are sold from birds being used in research projects, however.
Selling the eggs through the MSU Dairy Store is a win-win situation, according to Darrin Karcher, MSU poultry Extension specialist and faculty coordinator at the MSU Poultry Teaching and Research Center.
“Already having a flock of laying hens available and ready to go is more efficient and saves us the time it would take — a minimum of 18 weeks — growing chicks to the point where they could be used in a project,” he said. “We also have the added benefit of knowing how the birds were fed and raised.
“The farm also has a responsibility to be good stewards, so it just didn’t make sense to dispose of the eggs,” Karcher said.
This is when the decision was made to market the eggs through the MSU Dairy Store.
Karcher said that an added benefit is that now folks can have a jumpstart on dinner preparation by having all of the ingredients needed to make an omelette at their fingertips.
In addition to taking pride in knowing that eggs are being purchased from a local producer, consumers will also be supporting MSU, the MSU Department of Animal Science and, more specifically, the MSU Poultry Teaching and Research Center. All proceeds from the sale of the eggs is invested back into the poultry program.
Now that the university is back in session, the MSU Avian Science Club will take control of the project with the resulting profits used as a fundraiser for the students to take part in various activities and events.
Currently, only white eggs are available for purchase, but plans are to eventually offer brown eggs and then potentially expand into other value-added products, such as hard-boiled eggs.
Eggs cost $1.50 per dozen and are available during regular MSU Dairy Store hours of operation. The MSU Dairy Store has two locations on the East Lansing campus: Anthony Hall and the MSU Union Building. Eggs can also be purchased directly from the MSU Poultry Teaching and Research Center between 4 and 6 p.m. on Wednesday’s. Large egg orders should be placed directly with the poultry farm manager Angelo Napolitano by calling 517-355-0360.
Fresh eggs…what an “eggs”cellent idea!
The public grand opening of the new pasture-based robotic dairy milking facility at the Michigan State University Kellogg Biological Station near Hickory Corners takes place Weds., Aug. 19 from 1 to 4:30 p.m.
The public is invited to stop in to see the latest innovative technological advances at the new facility, which was funded by the help of a three-year $3.5 million development grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
The new facility will support a 120-cow milking herd, plus dry cows and heifers. It also includes a new freestall barn equipped with two Lely Astronaut A3 Robotic Milking Systems located in the middle of a 160-acre irrigated pasture.
Representatives from MSU, KBS and Lely will be stationed throughout the facility and available to answer questions.
No RSVP is required to attend the public grand opening event.
Live in west Michigan? Mark Aug. 22 on your calendar for ice cream social fundraiser at Hickory Gables Farm
If you enjoyed attending Breakfast on the Farm, then you may want to mark down Aug. 22 (2009) on your calendar. Hickory Gables Farm, Hickory Corners, will be hosting an ice cream social fundraiser to support the Gull Lake Quality Organization. Monies raised will be used to support Gull Lake water quality monitoring programs.
In addition to serving up ice cream supplied from Prairie Farms, the MAEAP-certified Hickory Gables Farm will offer farm tours and host educational stations for visitors to learn more about the dairy industry. Visitors will learn about raising calves, be able to see the milking parlor and learn how milk travels through the pipeline from the cows in the parlor to the milk tank, where the warm milk is cooled to the proper temperature.
The ice cream social takes place from noon to 4 p.m. at the farm, which is located at 9175 Cressey Road (3/4 mile west of Lockshore Road).
The cost is $10 per family or $3 per person.
For more information, send an e-mail to info@glqo.net or call Marina at 269-720-1340.
I’m one of those people who still subscribe to a newspaper – actually two of them – and relish the half hour I spend every morning sipping my coffee and paging through a real newspaper at 5:30 a.m.
One of the newspapers I subscribe to is the Argus-Press, a small-town daily printed in neighboring Owosso, Mich. This week marks the one week every year that I enjoy most – the week that the newspaper covers the annual Shiawassee County fair.
Every day the Argus-Press is filled with photos of 4-H kids and their winning entries. Actually, they don’t just feature the winners, but down to fourth or fifth place, AND they list the placings in every class you can imagine, from horticulture to open canning to novice swine showmanship to four-per-pen rabbits, and everything in between. The paper takes great pride in recognizing the accomplishments of the youth in the community and the variety of character-building opportunities these young people experience. Anthony Cepak, the paper’s photographer, does simply an excellent job capturing “the moments and memories” that so many of us remember from our youth.
As I savor the paper each morning, I’m taken back to that “feeling” I associate with fairs growing up. The smell of freshly-made caramel corn wafting from the food vendor’s trailer or the scent of the various farm animal species housed in the livestock barns to the sight of youngsters giggling as they hosed down their peers on the washrack instead of directing their attention to the animal that needed a bath.
Fair time is a special time. It’s about making friendships that last a lifetime, learning the value of hard work, commitment and integrity, and just having plain, old-fashioned fun.
Have you taken an afternoon or evening and attended your local county fair? If not, time is a wastin.’ Another fair season will soon come to an end, and you’ll miss out on enjoying one of the highest quality and fun family events around.
This title may startle you because it’s not dairy-related, but I ran across it in the July 29 edition of the “Farmers’ Advance” agricultural paper and thought it might be of interest to some of you. Plus, agriculture needs to stick together and tell its story, whether producers plant corn, harvest dry beans, grow cucumbers, milk cows, finish off steers or work as a supplier for an agricultural enterprise. Too, if you’ve been to any of the recent county fairs and witnessed the character-building opportunities and educational projects that young people experience through 4-H, you might have been thinking about getting involved and started to wonder where you might learn more about raising livestock or how to purchase one before next year’s fair season.
“The 2009 Michigan Angus Field Day will be held Sunday, Aug. 23 at the home of Lawrence and Pam Bryson, 9255 Jones Road, Bellevue, MI.
If you are an Angus breeder or cattle enthusiast, we hope you will join us for a day full of good friends, good food and learning how to improve your cattle business!
Beginning at 9 a.m., you are invited to view cattle at Steve and Cathy Fitzner’s Farm at 6653 Sherwood Highway, Bellevue, MI.
Then on to the Bryson’s at 11 a.m. for a judging contest and networking. A complimentary meal will be served at noon followed by an educational program, more networking and hospitality. The day’s events end at 3 p.m. with a drawing for a registered Angus heifer. You must be present to win!
There is no registration fee to attend the field day, but pre-registrations are appreciated to accurately plan for the meal.
To pre-register or for more information, contact Pam Bryson, Michigan Angus Association secretary, at 269-763-2130, or e-mail her at pkbryson@aol.com. Please RSVP by Aug. 10.”
St. Johns-based companies, Agro-cultural Liquid Fertilizers, Smith Oil & Propane Company Inc. and Searles Construction, decided to bid together after seeing Caleb with his calf at the Clinton County 4-H Fair last week. They purchased the black Angus for $71 per pound.
Always avid supporters of 4-H, my husband and I and another couple we’re friends with opted to purchase a beef animal in partnership. The big beef didn’t sell until the very end of the evening, however, so there was time to kill while we waited. Along the way, we also purchased a pig in the auction, took a walk over to the food building and then toured around the grounds a bit while we waited for the 130 lots of prospect beef to sell.
It was during this time that we overheard a lot of noise coming from the auction ring. One could tell that something positive and exciting was happening, so we shifted our direction so we were back along the sidelines of the auction arena.
An excited woman with calculator in hand was passing it, face up, to anyone who would look at it. This was taking place while the crowd erupted into applause and shouts and whoops filled the air.
About then it was our turn to have the calculator jammed in our face. “Can you believe it?” the woman asked excitedly. “Those buyers paid this much for that prospect beef! They paid $71 per pound! Can you believe it? Isn’t that wonderful for that young man?”
The figure on the calculator was 19525, or $19,525. And then she was off to another section of the crowd.
We looked back into the arena, and now everyone was on their feet clapping and hollering and, in the center of the ring, was a young man in a wheelchair holding the halter to his young black Angus calf. Always an emotional person when it comes to seeing people do the right thing and a good thing, tears started welling up in my eyes, too, as I joined in the applause.
As the evening wore on, I learned a bit more about the young man. His name was Caleb Kiesling and he had been struck by a vehicle five years ago and left physically disabled. Apparently this was his first year showing prospect beef in 4-H, but previously he had used a walker to exhibit a horse in showmanship. He had also benefited from another 4-H opportunity, the experience of working with therapeutic horses.
I called my colleague that night at 9:30 p.m. or whatever time it was, and I’m sure she thought I’d lost my marbles. I was very excited about telling her this success story about 4-H – she’s the communications manager for Michigan 4-H and also a St. Johns resident – and the support offered up through the local community. I also pledged to myself that I would fire off an e-mail to the Lansing State Journal the following day, which I did. I wanted to make sure that I had made the attempt to share this good news with others, realizing that media does what it wants to and that a good, warm-hearted story doesn’t always make the headlines. I was just tickled to death that I had been able to experience this wonderful sight firsthand.
Needless to say, the story did make the newspaper, featured this morning on the front page of the local section of the Lansing State Journal. It was a great article and can relay the full story much better than I could ever do in this posting.
Trust me, it’s worth the read. It can’t possibly offer the full effects that the “goosebumps” moment of experiencing it firsthand could, but boy, did it ever provide a dose of human kindness, empathy and goodness.
Thank you, St. Johns and all of the local businesses, family and friends who came out that night to support this young 4-H’er, but also thank you for making an impression on the rest of us, too. It still gives me goosebumps.
