National Ag Day…

If you had asked me 20 years ago what the letters Ag stood for, I would not have been able to tell you.  Those initials represented a community of people that I seldom ran across in the swimming pools of South Florida.

This week our country celebrated National Ag Day and many social media posts thanking farmers permeated the cyber sphere.  I have no memory as a child of being any more aware of National Ag Day than the term Ag.  Today, I wonder how many people outside of farmers celebrated this special day?

Sometimes you just have to take the plunge…

As I think about our farm and what Matt and I have worked for over the past 16 years, I feel a myriad of emotions.  Most of all, I marvel at the maturity and the insight that I have gained.  I find myself struggling to remember the 22 year old young woman that moved to Nebraska and set out to learn how to be the Boss Lady at the cattle feed yard.

He teaches me compassion and compels me to understand his needs…

While I am sure that parts of me (namely the stubbornness and determination) are still relatively prominent, I look at the world very differently today than I did when I moved to Nebraska in 1997.  As I remember the girl with unusual dreams and stars in her eyes, I marvel at her confidence.

I have loved him more than half my life…

Youthful optimism is a powerful mental tool—Just as I never doubted that Matt and I were meant to build a life together, I also never doubted that I could learn to be a good cattle caregiver.  As I became successful at the feed yard, I began to broaden my spectrum and to work in a volunteer status to improve cattle care practices through the Beef Quality Assurance program.

My belief was so strong that I never looked back…

Quite honestly, it never occurred to me that I would fail.  That is the beauty of youthful passion and faith.   Through the years, it seems as though maturity has replaced that youthful confidence. Today, as I look at agriculture from the eyes of a 38 year old mother of three, there are days that I can no longer find the stars that used to inhabit my eyes.  A myriad of challenges threaten to replace those stars with doubts.

• Mother Nature
• Volatile commodity markets
• Pressures from both increased government regulations and activist groups
• Lack of unity within the agricultural community
• Lack of trust between farmers and urbanites

In particular, the last three weigh heavily on my “not so youthful” optimism. Quite frankly, I worry about this at night when I should be sleeping.  I find myself imploring both farmers and non-farmers to open up the needed conversation regarding food animal production practices.

Caring for our animals is much easier for us than sharing how we care with you–it is the nature of the cowboy to be introverted…

I feel the tremendous need for this conversation at the same time that my heart is concerned that it may be too late, or that we will not be able to see through the emotion clearly enough to respect each other and have a meaningful conversation.

When I look at her, I see the optimism and confidence of youth…

As I celebrate National Ag Day in 2013, I look to my faith and to my children to give me the needed strength to keep moving forward.  I look into my girls’ eyes and draw on that optimism that so closely resembles what I used to see when I looked in the mirror.  I recharge my soul with the knowledge that this challenge is too important for us to not be successful.  I pray that we can come together as a country to find a sustainable and appropriate blend of food production systems in order to ensure the security of our future.

We must always look for the beauty in one another…

Today, in honor of National Ag Day, don’t just thank the farmer—ask questions and help start the conversation.

Empowering Myself as a Woman Entrepreneur…

I remember vividly as a child listening to my grandfather say, “Anne, strive to be unemployable!”  My grandfather’s definition of a successful entrepreneur was someone who owns and operates a personal business.  He wanted me to be my own Boss Lady.

December 2012 at age 91 with my girls…

Last week when I was speaking to a group of young women involved in the Engler Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Program at the University of Nebraska, I was asked to define a successful entrepreneur.  While my grandfather’s words circled around in my head, they were not the ones that came out of my mouth when I answered the question.

Answering questions at the panel discussion…

While I have most definitely followed my grandfather’s advice by running my own business, that is not what drives me as a woman.  Consequently, I found myself giving the group of young women entrepreneurs different words of wisdom.  I told them:

Figure out what your talents and strengths are, then, go out and find the best way to share them in order to be a positive contributor to your community and your country.

I continued with:

When my life is over and I leave this world, I do not want to have any part of myself left.  I want to have used all of my gifts and talents in order to have made a positive difference.

This is my goal in life and my definition of success.  It explains why I spend so much of my time working on volunteer projects while also owning and managing a small business.  As one of only a small number of women who owns and manages a cattle feed yard, it is likely that others would define me as a unique entrepreneur, but that’s not all that makes me tick…

I often speak my mind but it is only because I want to invoke positive change…

I am indeed proud that I am the boss lady at the feed yard; however, I am most proud of the work that I do to both advance cattle welfare and make improvements in the beef community at large.  I do this while simultaneously being an active member in my community and raising my children with the core values that they will need in order to be positive contributors.

That’s what really makes me tick…

 In my heart, I am a determined woman who believes in making my life journey be one of hard work and outreach.   That’s what makes me get out of bed in the morning.

Winter Chores…

“Mama always prays for a nice, pretty, brown Christmas”.  These were the words of my middle daughter when she was about 4 years old.  She was solemnly telling a friend that her Mama did not like it to snow on Christmas.

It is hard to believe that she used to be this little!

In Nebraska during the winter, there is a choice of two colors outdoors: brown and white.  While the white can be very aesthetically pleasing, snow brings extra work.  While the brown color is not as pretty, it makes chores a lot easier to do!

Six years later, she spends many sunrises with me helping to exercise calves at the feed yard…

During my years in New Hampshire at Dartmouth College, I loved the snow.  As a native Floridian, it fascinated me.  When I moved to Nebraska, my perception changed. Snow no longer represented simple beauty, it’s presence brought added work!

My winter “outfit”…

Being the boss lady, it is my responsibility to ensure that our cattle receive good care every single day.  In particular, the feed yard is busy during the fall and winter months when animals are moved off of grass pastures as the natural growing season comes to an end.  As the days get shorter and the temperatures get colder, good animal care takes more work.  Providing fresh feed and water, along with good living conditions for the cattle, is a priority for me.

Our goal is exceptional care—every single day…

Last week I was asked by a reader to talk about “winter chores”.  Here is a quick run-down on what my crew and I do each day during the winter as we don our coveralls and layers of clothes in order to care for our cattle.

Cattle huddled up and waiting for the feed truck on a cold winter morning…

Reading bunks and feeding cattle:  My foreman (Doug) and I both read bunks about 6:00am every morning in order to determine how many pounds of feed each animal will receive on our farm that day.  Feed trucks are running by 6:30 and breakfast is delivered by 9:00am.  My daughters call our afternoon feeding linner (a cross between lunch and dinner), and it is delivered between 2:00pm and 4:00pm.

The Breakfast Wagon!

Exercising calves:  I exercise and acclimate newly arrived cattle at the feed yard for the first 4-7 days in order to help them become accustomed to living in a new setting.  I do this in the morning before the cattle receive breakfast—during the winter it is usually dark outside! The following video shows the beginning of an exercising session where I ask the cattle to leave the home pen and enter the alleyway.

Processing/vaccinating newly arrived cattle:  Newly arrived cattle are vaccinated, ear tagged, and sometimes given a growth promoting implant within the first few days of arrival at the feed yard.  My crew and I do this in the middle of the day to try and take advantage of the “warmest hours”.

Jared, cleaning a pen using the tractor and box scraper…

Scraping pens: At our feed yard, Jared is in charge of cleaning or scraping pens in order to keep the home pens clean and provide good living conditions for the cattle.  The manure that is scraped off of the surfaced is used for fertilizer on our farm ground.  During the winter months, each pen is scraped 1X per month or more frequently depending on weather conditions.  With 24 pens, that means that he is scraping a pen almost every day.

When it’s reasonably warm outside we use the horse to “ride pens”–when it is cold many times we walk through the cattle checking health instead…

Riding pens or checking cattle: My cowboy or I check the health of all of our animals every day.  Depending on how cold it is, we either ride a horse or walk through the cattle on foot to check individual cattle health.  If an animal is sick, it will be pulled out of the home pen for further evaluation and most likely treated with an antibiotic.  Somewhere between 2- 5% of our cattle require antibiotic treatment for an illness.  We have a consulting veterinarian who helps us to ensure good cattle health and responsible antibiotic use.

These red angus steers are a few days from shipping to the packing plant. I look pretty small next to them!

Shipping cattle: We ship cattle to the packing plant approximately once every two weeks.  My crew and I load the cattle onto semi-trucks to travel to the packing plant.

A semi-truck used to transport cattle…

Receiving cattle: We get new cattle into the feed yard periodically as other cattle are shipped to the packing plant.  The new cattle come from neighboring ranches in Nebraska where they were born and spent the first 8-18 months of their lives.  I am my own cattle buyer so I travel to the home ranch to help load the cattle onto stock trailers or semi-trucks to bring them to the feed yard.

Newly arrived cattle on “stock trailers”…

My crew and I (there are four of us total) each spend an average of 50-60 hours a week during the winter providing care to our animals.  We all love what we do and strive for excellence every day.

Only as high as I reach can I grow, only as far as I seek can I go, only as deep as I look can I see, only as much as I dream can I be.

Karen Ravn

Caring With Greatness…

Greatness isn’t a product of luck or chance.

Greatness doesn’t occur by accident.

Greatness isn’t even a result of superior talent.

Greatness is simply wanting something more than anyone else and working harder than anyone else to achieve that goal.

Greatness takes immense amounts of dedication and desire to be achieved.

My favorite 7^th grader’s club basketball coach posted this last weekend.  He wrote it several hours after my daughter completed her goal of shooting 10,000 baskets (the basket tally began in November).  I do not know if he thought of AG when he wrote it, but I certainly thought of her as I read it.

My face mask has gotten additional use this winter…

My daughter is an Achiever —she comes by it honestly.  Her personal drive mirrors my own and is fascinating for me to watch.  This week, AG is basking in the glow of accomplishment knowing that she completed more basketball shots in the last couple of months than she ever dreamed she would.

You might be wondering—Is there another reward?

Apart from the confidence and skill gained by completing the baskets, my daughter is also enjoying the knowledge that her basketball coach will spend an afternoon running 5 X 1 mile repeats with her.  You see, that was the deal.

10,000 completed baskets = 5 X 1 mile repeats.  The fact that her motivation for shooting 10,000 baskets was the ability to run 5 X 1 mile repeats with her coach says a lot about my daughter… I think that her coach is envisioning a nice leisurely pace—I can assure you that AG is planning to run fast enough to reach the finish line before he does!

The drive to want to be better today than you were yesterday is a great gift…

We all search for greatness in our lives and we all have different motivations that drive us to pursue that greatness.  My genuine love for animals drives me to care with greatness on my cattle farm.  This is my vocation and I strive to achieve it each and every day.

Good animal care is a daily requirement at a feed yard–the cattle’s health and the quality of your beef depends on it.

Caring with greatness takes dedication.

Caring with greatness takes discipline.

Caring with greatness takes empathy and attention to detail.

Caring with greatness ensures healthy animals.

I am proud to grow your beef while caring with greatness.

Proving That We Care…

Just a couple of weeks ago, a social media friend forwarded me an email that she had received from a reader.  The email was a cry for help from a fellow mom.  It seems that her daughter, after repeatedly watching horrific videos of animal abuse on the internet, had refused to eat any animal products.

I do not have that added parenting challenge with my daughters because they help to raise the beef that we eat.

Concerned about both her daughter’s nutritional needs and the abusive videos, the mom was reaching out to online farmer bloggers in an attempt to find out the truth.  When I sent a link to several videos of my farm to the mom, she responded “Why can’t I find these when I search on YouTube?  These are the types of videos that we need to see!”

The short answer to that question is that search results on YouTube are ranked according to number of views.  This means that the more views a video has, the more likely that it will show up when you search a topic.  I have uploaded four “home-made” videos to YouTube over the last year—they have a total of only 1500 views.

This one is my favorite–it is my 10 year old cowgirl/chef exercising cattle at the feed yard to the tune of her favorite song “Fly Over States”.

• I love this video because I am proud of my daughter and what a great cattle caregiver she is becoming.
• I love this video because it shows the simplicity of good cattle handling.
• I love this video because of the calf with the white spot on his head that kept asking Megan “do I have to” when she asked him to move.  Megan frequently looks at me asking the same question…
  

  Where did the trust go?

Twenty years ago, trust existed throughout the food production system.  Farmers were viewed positively, and those outside of the farm believed that farmers had integrity.  Today, that trust is gone.  I believe that this loss of trust is one of the biggest travesties currently affecting our great country.  Quite simply, it hurts my heart to know that many people do not trust that I care.

My brain recognizes that it is my duty to not only care, but also to document that care in an attempt to rebuild that trust.  The daily care that I offer to my animals is now accompanied by record keeping and documentation that will verify that I not only care, but that I am competent in that care.

My other job—paper work!

Animal Care is the second pillar of the Progressive Beef program.  It is one that I believe in with every fiber of my being.  Outstanding animal care is a trademark of my feed yard.  Progressive Beef has provided me with both a documentation trail, and also a third party independent audit to bring additional integrity to my promise of high quality animal care.

Rest assured that you can feel good about feeding my beef to your family—it came from healthy and humanely raised animals.  You don’t have to just take my word for it!

I feel the capacity to care is the thing which gives life its deepest significance.

Pablo Casals

Together We Are Stronger…

I was first introduced to the concept of consumer outreach when I received the National Beef Quality Assurance Producer of the Year award in 2009.  I did not realize it at the time, but the award was actually the first catalyst to the creation of this blog.

Shortly after winning the award, I participated in the Farmer Goes to Market initiative which led me to the National Grocers Convention to speak with retailers about animal welfare.  What followed were a series of trips around the country (California, Texas, New York City etc.) speaking to groups of people that were interested in where their beef comes from.

As I sharpened my public speaking skills, the number of invitations to engagements rose until one day I realized something very important.  As much as I loved to share my farm and speak to others about how I raise beef, I loved my family and my farm even more.

They are the light of my life…

When I traveled:

• I missed the crooked half smile that lights up my husband’s face when I tease him.
• I missed the laughter of my girls as we shared our day.
• I missed the quiet dawn at the feed yard when it was just me and my animals and the work that soothes my soul.
• I missed burying my head in my horse’s mane and breathing in his scent.
• I missed home.
  

  She’s a lot like her Mama…

This realization put me into a real quandary.  I knew that reaching out to others outside of my farm was important, but the passion that I felt for raising food was contingent on being at home with my family on the farm.  It was at this point that I began to blog—blogging was a compromise—I could still share my farm, but I could do it without leaving home…

We are all in this together…

The lingering question, then, becomes “is that enough?”.  Can I and other farmers create transparency regarding food production through social media?  I do not know the answer to that question but a group of diverse agricultural organizations have come together to help figure it out.

How is he cared for and how does he make beef?

This alliance, USFRA (U.S. Farmer Rancher Alliance) is working hard to offer people, like me, some additional savvy and support as we look outside of our farms and into your living rooms.

Currently, the USFRA is searching for the “Faces of Farming and Ranching” in the United States.  This is a nationwide search for a few individuals who are excited to share the story of their farm or ranch with those folks that have interest.  USFRA is in the final stages of choosing the “faces” and has it narrowed down to 9 finalists who have expressed an interest in traveling across the United States to share the story of agriculture.

Janice and her family…

I am proud to say that Janice Wolfinger has made the final cut of finalists.  Janice and her husband, Jake, together with their two daughters have both a cow herd in Ohio and a small cattle feed yard in Nebraska.  Janice is currently taking a hiatus from teaching (she is a certified FFA instructor/teacher), and is looking to continue her love of education in a different role—as a Face of Farming and Ranching.

I would like to ask you all to go to
http://www.fooddialogues.com/faces-of-farming-and-ranching/janice-wolfinger
and vote for Janice.  You can vote for her every day between now and December 15^th.  Please help me to help Janice to have the opportunity to share her wonderful story through USFRA!

I am so thankful for Janice and her willingness to give of her time to participate in this program.  I am proud to call her a fellow cattlewoman and look forward to all of her great work on behalf of myself and the other hundreds of thousands of beef farmers in the United States.  You can also check out her blog at
http://www.fortheloveofbeef.blogspot.com
.

Thank you for taking the time to help!

Beef Quality Assurance: Holistic Care…

Enjoying a beautiful sunrise while helping her Mama Thanksgiving morning at the feed yard…

This Thanksgiving holiday, my daughter Megan spent every morning with me at the feed yard.  I love it when the girls have a break from school because it makes my day to have one of them tag along with me.  I had a couple of new pens of cattle, so Megan got to help me exercise and acclimate them each morning.

I remember a few years ago when she asked me why I exercised new cattle at the feed yard.  We had a really interesting discussion about mental and emotional fitness and how each ties in with physical fitness. In the 5+ years that I have used exercising sessions to help my animals transition into a life in the feed yard, I have become a believer in the importance of this holistic care.

While the low stress handling and the cattle acclimating protocols that I use at the feed yard are not mandated in the Beef Quality Assurance program, I believe that the HACCP (hazard analysis critical control point program) which provides the basis of BQA lends itself toward a philosophy of holistic care.  HACCP dictates that protocols be in place on the farm to ensure that good consistent animal care is provided—This leads to a fewer number of challenges for the animals during their lifetime.

Quite simply, BQA is all about minimizing stress (challenges) and maximizing good health which ensures safe and healthy beef that comes from animals that have been raised humanely…

Apart from feed ingredient selection, two additional core BQA fundamentals related to animal welfare are processing/vaccination treatments and general animal husbandry.  Animal husbandry does not mean that I try to marry my animals, it is simply another term for animal welfare!

Sending cattle off the farm/ranch of origin and into the feed yard is a bit like sending your child to Kindergarten.  They will be exposed to new experiences and cattle outside of their birth herd which may cause transition stress.  In addition, they may be exposed to new diseases that have the potential to compromise health.

It is incredibly important that my animals have strong immune systems that have been properly stimulated through routine vaccination paired with good nutrition.  This begins on the home ranch and is continued once the animals arrive at my farm. I am a huge proponent of preventive care, and I trace the vaccination history of my animals throughout their lifetime.  It is imperative that my ranchers and I both keep good animal health records so that this trace back is plausible.  It is also imperative that these vaccinations be properly administered and given in a timely fashion.  BQA provides templates and educational tools for this.

My favorite 7th grader recording animal health information for a calf. BQA teaches her why this is important…

Outside of routine vaccination, another important component of preventative health is a good worming (or deworming) program.  My animals spend most of their lives eating green grass in a field.  There are many parasites that live in that grass who are happy to take up residence in the digestive tracts of the cattle.  Routine worming is a very important part of good health—it needs to occur on the ranch of origin as well as upon arrival at the feed yard.  We use an injectible wormer (given under the skin in the neck region) to take care of internal parasites and a topical wormer (spread across each animal’s back) to rid the animal of external parasites.

If you are interested in reading more about the Beef Quality Assurance program, you can find electronic documents for the program at
http://www.bqa.org
.  You can even be like Megan (and the rest of my crew) and go through the training and become certified!

I am going to take a brief hiatus from BQA with the next blog post before transitioning into the food safety side of BQA.  I am currently making some exciting management changes at the feed yard regarding food safety and will spend most of December talking about them.

Eat, Drink, and Be Merry!

I am assuming that all of you had a tasteful and enjoyable Thanksgiving holiday that included a large quantity of food and drink.  There is something about the holiday season that makes us all focus more on food!  Knowing that, it seems appropriate to do a post on what my cattle eat and how I incorporate good feed ingredient selection following BQA protocols to ensure high quality feed for them.

Cattle have different digestive systems than humans (they are ruminants), but—like us– they also are the healthiest when they eat a consistently balanced diet at regular intervals.  Providing a well-balanced casserole of grains and forages to my cattle is incredibly important.  It is also imperative that I provide this casserole of feed at consistent times during the day.

My two favorite blondes holding Casserole #5 which is the feed that my cattle eat for the last 100 days prior to harvest…

The need for fresh water and good quality feed is basic, but incredibly vital to maintaining good health.  We test the quality of our feed routinely (taking it to a laboratory to be analyzed), and also diligently clean our water tanks to ensure good drinking water quality.

One of our water tanks at the feed yard…

The mix of grains and forages in the casseroles that we feed to our cattle are formulated by our consulting nutritionist.  We choose from 7 different casseroles depending on the cattle’s age, weight, and how long they have been in the feed yard.  Additionally, we vary the amount of pounds of casserole that the cattle receive according to same three components.

My nutritionist who earned a PhD in ruminant nutrition from the University of Nebraska.

One of my favorite things to do with my girls at the feed yard is to “read bunks”.  Reading bunks involves driving around the feed yard early in the morning and looking to see if the cattle “cleaned their plates”.  Each one of our pens is numbered (there are 25 total), and we record a grade for each pen according to how much feed is left in the feed bunk at 6:00 am.

The feed bunk in Pen 23…

My youngest daughter, Karyn, learned her numbers by helping me read bunks when she was in preschool.  Today, she not only knows her numbers but she also understands the system that we use to determine how much feed each animal receives.  One of her favorite things to do is to ride with her head out of the back window of my vehicle assessing the feed bunks and making bunk calls.

Karyn’s bunk reading position…

Feed ingredient selection and delivery are paramount in my search for the best welfare for my cattle.  I use protocols developed by the Beef Quality Assurance program to document and audit both of these to ensure that my crew and I do a good job.

We strive to keep our animals thriving day after day so that they can make high quality beef for you to enjoy.  Now that we have made it through Turkey Day, I hope that each one of you will have a great tasting beef meal to kick off the up-coming holiday season.

To help inspire you, I am including one of my favorites: Beef Stroganoff!

Slice a partially frozen Sirloin Steak (1-1 1/2 pounds) into bite sized pieces.  Brown and cook the beef in a frying pan with minced onions (fresh are best) over medium-medium high heat.  You can also add sliced mushrooms if you like them.  I add a touch of black pepper to the meat for seasoning.  I prefer a choice grade or higher marbled piece of beef to ensure tenderness.

In a separate bowl, combine 8 ounces of sour cream and 3 tablespoons of flour (I use whole wheat flour).  Then add one 10 1/2 ounce can of beef consume soup to the sour cream mixture.

When the sirloin is finishing cooking pour the sour cream/consume mixture into the skillet with the beef.  Stir constantly over medium heat until the sauce is bubbly and thick. 

Serve over steamed brown rice with your favorite vegetable!