Branding 2015

We had our branding this past weekend. Branding is an important part of ranching. By branding our cattle we ensure the our calves do not get lost or stolen. The cattle brand helps folk identify cattle that may have gotten out. With the high price of cattle these days, I am ever so thankful that if our calves are lost or stolen they can be properly identified and brought back to the correct owner.

With a brand we also give our calves a set of vaccinations that help to prevent any viruses they might pick up during the summer. These vaccinations are much like those that you give to your children before they attend school. We also choose to implant our steer calves. We band our bull calves at birth therefore making them steers. All of our calves get an ear tag at birth as well. Each ear tag has the mother's tag number, the date of birth, and the AI sire if there is one.

Here are some photos from our branding this year.

My brother-in-law was in charge of the branding iron. 

Waiting on the branding iron. 

Our neighbors are awesome!

My mom with Clara. She was loving the action.

My brother-in-law and nephew from Eastern Nebraska. 

Our brand an upside down TV. 

Don't let him go! 

Ready to go back to her Momma. 

How do you do your branding? Do you use any practices to prevent illness in your calves during the summer time?

"So God made a Farmer"

Being the AgNerd that I am, I follow numerous Facebook pages and Twitter accounts related to agriculture. And I just happen to have a few hundred friends who are just as passionate as I am about the agricultural industry; just about as soon as the commercial aired last night, my news feed started flooding with the Dodge Ram's Super Bowl commercial "So God mad a Farmer"  If you have had a chance to watch, do it! It is very powerful, and features a poem by the late Paul Harvey. I am quite impressed with Dodge Ram's dedication and passion for an industry that so often gets forgotten about by the many that live off the farm. The ad is not a sales pitch, and not another attempt to wow the American audience. The sole intent is to highlight a way of life this is very near and dear to my heart.

The ad serves as a call to action for the public to celebrate 2013 as the Year of the Farmer. Ram will contribute up to $1,000,000 to the National FFA Foundation based on the views of the video and activity on the website. The bulk of the new funding will be dedicated to supporting the FFA hunger initiative "Feeding the World-Starting at Home."

I owe much of my success to the FFA Organization! In High School, it was my main extra curricular activity, where I served on many committees and on the officer team. Some of my fondest high school memories stem from FFA State Conventions and FFA Meetings.

Please help in sharing the positive message about the American Farmer and help to raise awareness for the National FFA Organization.

Potato Farming

Wednesday I had the chance to put on a training session with a large potato producer, who actually grows a large amount of the potatoes for Frito Lay potato chips! Before starting on this project, I didn't know much about the potato world. So here are a few quick facts!

One medium sized potato, eaten with the skin on:

• Is just 110 calories.
• Has nearly half of the Daily Value for vitamin C.
• Is one of the best sources of potassium and fiber in the produce section.
• Is a great way to eat your veggies
•  Preserve the most nutrients by keeping skin on. If you must peel, be sure to keep the peeling very thin, since many nutrients are found close to the skin.
•  Steam or microwave potatoes instead of boiling them, because water naturally leaches some of the nutrients from the potatoes 

Each year in the US there are more than 1 million acres of potatoes planted-that's like filling hte whole state of Rhode Island with potato plants. It's the leadinvegetable crop in the Us with a total Production of 41.3 billion pounds!

And a little History:

In October 1995, the potato became the first vegetable to be grown in space. NASA and the University of Wisconsin, Madison, created the technology with the goal of feeding astronauts on long space voyages, and eventually, feeding future space colonies.

During the Alaskan Klondike gold rush, (1897-1898) potatoes were practically worth their weight in gold. Potatoes were valued for their vitamin C.  And gold, at that time, was more plentiful than nutritious foods!

French Fries were introduced to the U.S. when Thomas Jefferson served them in the White House during his Presidency of 1801-1809.

Some of the most famous potato dishes we enjoy today were created by mistake Collinet, chef for French King Louis Phillipe (reign 1830-1848) unintentionally created soufflés (or puffed) potatoes by plunging already fried potatoes into extremely hot oil to reheat them when the King arrived late for dinner one night. To the chef's surprise and the king's delight, the potatoes puffed up like little balloons.

Potato Chips In 1853 railroad magnate Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt complained that his potatoes were cut too thick and sent them back to the kitchen at a fashionable resort in Saratoga Springs, NY. To spite his haughty guest, Chef George Crum sliced some potatoes paper thin, fried them in hot oil, salted and served them. To everyone's surprise, Vanderbilt loved his "Saratoga Crunch Chips," and potato chips have been popular ever since.
(Source: potatogoodness.com)


In honor of all this potato talk I think I am going to make bacon wrapped pototoes on the grill tonight for supper. How do you like to cook your potatoes?

Farming and the Weather

With all the adverse weather in my area lately I decided to write a quick post about the risks in farming, mainly the risks associated with Mother Nature.  Every year farmers take a gamble with mother nature, they all hope for plenty of rain at all the right times and to avoid the severe weather; but Mother Nature doesn't always work that way.  Farmers are dependent on the weather everyday, one can get an abundant amount of moisture all year long, but that one final severe storm that brings baseball size hail just a week before harvest can be devastating. Some farmers are fortunate to have irrigation and can help control moisture to their crop, but it never seems to be the same as rain water. Plus with more restrictions in irrigation areas and higher energy cost irrigation can become quite an expense and a lot of work.

The following are just a few photos of how bountiful mother nature can be to crops, and how devastating it can be as well.

A gorgeous gravity irrigated corn field.

And the ugly, a corn field that was hit with golf ball size hail in mid-July.

 

Another angle of the field. The ears on the cornstalks were only partially developed once the corn hit and the ears will have damage. The corn will still be able to harvested, but the kernels will be damaged and not of very good quality.

I hope this post helps to relate the constant worry, stress, and gamble that a farmer may experience everyday while they tend to their growing crop.