Raising grain, livestock, and family – with technology and tradition.
April 22nd is Earth Day. Having lived on a farm nearly all of my life, I feel a strong connection to nature on a daily basis. Whether it’s the spectacular sunrises and sunsets of the Great Plains, the landscapes that change with the seasons, acres of healthy growing crops, cattle grazing in the pasture or the red-tailed hawks flying overhead – there’s always something beautiful to be discovered.
It’s really important to me to that we have access to effective antibiotics when needed to address health issues, both in my family and in our livestock.
It’s pretty exclusive to get an appointment for a style at 11:15 p.m. on a Saturday night! Some girls are SO high maintenance…
It was way after midnight on Sunday morning when we got home from helping out this sweet little heifer (female) calf.
What we do for our cattle during a storm is definitely not news to any of my friends and neighbors from near and far who raise livestock. All of us are just doing what needs to be done. It’s common sense. I imagine many of them would read this blog and say, “No kidding, this isn’t our first blizzard!”
However, if you don’t have a connection to the farm, you might wonder about what’s being done to care for the animals when Mother Nature turns nasty. While every farm and ranch is different, one thing is the same – we’ll always fight the elements to the best of our ability and plan ahead to give our livestock the best care we can.
With no travel plans, this year’s Christmas vacation may not have been flashy, but it might have been the most relaxing.
Bright morning sunlight on a landscape touched by frozen fog is one of my favorite winter scenes.
Are farmers busy in the winter? Yes. We may be outside of the growing season, but there’s plenty of winter work, especially on a grain farm with livestock. Here’s what the season looks like on my farm:
It’s very important to me that our family sits down around the table together for our evening meal. That’s not always possible with everything that needs to get done on the farm combined with our kids’ busy activity schedule. However, it’s always our goal.
After a few seemingly endless months of winter on the Great Plains, the sight of green on the landscape is a beacon of hope that warmer days are just around the corner.
Although a few cool season weeds in my yard almost sneak past my attention undetected, it’s tough to ignore an entire field of winter wheat greening up. It seems to take at least another month for the rest of the countryside to come back to life.
The local county fair is always a highlight of summer for our family. Nestled in the outskirts of a small prairie town, folks meet up to support the local youth's efforts in 4-H, sit back for three nights of rodeo entertainment, brave the carnival rides, take in the mud drags, and enjoy the best of concession stand specials. The kids explore the fairgrounds with their old friends and make new friends along the way.
Behind all of this fun is a lot of work - mostly volunteer work. By the end of the fair, eyes are heavy after days of early mornings, late nights, and weather that can range from cold and rainy to blistering heat. But this work is fun.