Why Blog?

I read a blog post this week that spoke to me so much that I am going to deviate from my Sustainable Spring series to tell you all about it.   The author of the post is Aimee Whetstine who blogs at everyday epistle.

Aimee

Aimee was one of my very first “virtual friends”.  Although I have never met her in person, I value the relationship that we have built over the past year and a half.  I faithfully read her words each week because she respectfully inspires me to think even when we look at issues from different perspectives.

You can read Aimee’s post at http://projectunderblog.com/debunking-8-rules-of-blogging/ or visit her at http://everydayepistle.com/.

This week, Aimee tackled the issue of “Why Blog”, and what rules a blogger should live by.  It took me back to the weeks preceding my leap into social media in the spring of 2011, and also inspired me to rethink my current goals.

We’re in this together…

Aimee did this with two short pieces of excellent advice:

• Publish when you have something to say.
• Your blog is a reflection of what matters to you.

I began blogging because I had something to say.  I wanted to open up my farm in an effort to have a respectful conversation about how I care for cattle and raise beef in a feed yard.   I believe in transparency and I believe that every consumer has a right to know how their food is raised.

Over the past 16 years I’ve become a farm girl, and the days that I spend in the processing barn “working cattle” are some of my favorites…

I continue to blog because I love to write.  I am a naturally reserved person, but I have found that I love to share my life through pictures and the written word.  From the challenges that I face — to the joys of raising my daughters in rural America, blogging is truly a personal journey that brings me joy.

Because I am not good at separating my life between raising cattle, parenting my girls, and sharing our story; my blog is a reflection of what matters to me.  It is a voluntary “labor of love”, and one that I am very proud of.  While it is sometimes easy to get caught up in the social media hype of blog statistics, I believe that blogging is truly about sharing, conversation, and personal growth.

Conversations come in many types, but they must all be based on respect…

There may be times in the future that I *temporarily* may not have anything to say (my favorite teenager would like to go on record here to say that she doubts it!); but I will always come back because Feed Yard Foodie is an extension of me—a creative and intellectual outlet for the Ivy League educated psychologist turned cattle caregiver.

They are not just a number, they are animals that deserve to receive good care and will give their lives to nourish many very special people…

Hat’s off to Aimee and the countless other people that inspire me daily to be the best that I can be.  Thank you for respecting the individual that I am, and for choosing to join me in my adventures.

Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.

Vince Lombardi

The Teacher in Me…

I love to learn.  I love to teach.  When I was young, I had the notion that I wanted to spend my life being a classroom teacher.   This idea never materialized, but I do still hold true to my love of sharing what I know.

My love of knowledge is only as powerful as the amount of times that I choose to share it…

Not a week goes by that I do not get a request to do a public speaking engagement.  Because of my loyalties to my family and my farm, I have to turn down 75% of the requests.  It always hurts just a little when I have to say “no” because of my personal love of educating.

The traveling aspect is far more difficult for me than sharing my thoughts…

This week, I had three invitations that I felt compelled to honor.  I left home at 5:30 am Wednesday morning and drove 3 and ½ hours to Omaha, Nebraska where I spent the morning speaking to a high school class at Bryan High School, and the afternoon with a class of 3^rd graders at Edward “Babe” Gomez Heritage Elementary.

The Bryan High School students…

The 3^rd grade class was my family’s Agriculture in the Classroom Pen Pal (AITC) class and we have been writing letters and sharing pictures with one another all throughout the school year.  What a wonderful class of children and what a great teacher!

Our Ag in the Classroom students…

The AITC program is a nation-wide outreach program that connects farm families with urban classrooms so that children can better learn about agriculture.  Interacting “first hand” with these students is a truly gift.  Our family gets to know some wonderful young people every year, and the students are able to better learn how we grow cattle and crops on our farm.

The kids were fascinated with the cattle ear tags!

On Thursday morning, I headed back to Lincoln, Nebraska to participate in a series of discussions with woman students involved in the Engler Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Program at the University of Nebraska.

The Engler Entrepreneurship panel discussion…

I love to interact with college students—their passion and excitement is contagious, and it is one of my greatest joys to be able to mentor young adults who want to become involved in the beef community.  I am always thankful for the opportunity to share my knowledge with the next generation of cattle farmers.

Where my heart is…

Today as I return home, I am thinking of the future and all of the ways that I can continue to work for improvement both on my farm and in the larger community.

  I know that the personal sacrifices that I make to reach out to others are both my responsibility and my gift.  And, I am thankful for my family and my crew for picking up the “extra chores” that result from my temporary absence from our farm.

Waiting for breakfast…

We should not judge people by their peak of excellence; but by the distance they have traveled from the point where they started…Henry Ward Beecher

Winter Storm Q Turns The Feed Yard Foodie Farm White…

What was brown on Wednesday is now white…

Removing snow from the feed bunks before dawn so that we could get breakfast to the cattle…

Since the Florida girl is the worst at running the tractor, she gets to use a shovel to clean the ends of the bunks that the tractor-sweeper can not reach…

Getting breakfast delivered is important because the feed helps them to stay warm…

Thanks to an early start and my diligent crew, every animal on the farm was fed by 8:30 yesterday morning despite the challenge of the storm…

Poco was glad for breakfast too…

The ground isn’t the only thing that turns white with snow and ice…

I think that this young hawk wondered where his feed bunk was…

A very special thanks to my three guys for their dedication and hard work. It is a joy to work with you–thanks for putting up with me

Winter Storm Q…

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned…

I always think of this quote every time that we prepare for a bad storm.  Mother Nature has a wonderful way of keeping me humble, and keeping my world in perspective.  With Winter Storm Q currently hitting our area, we are glad that we spent the first part of the week preparing.  The goal is to never interrupt good animal care and that takes planning in the event of a large winter storm.

Cattle resting comfortably before the storm…

So, how do we prepare for a winter storm on the Feed Yard Foodie farm?

• Check cattle feed supplies to ensure that we have several days of feed “on site” and easy to get to.
• Check the water tanks to make sure that each one is operational and in good repair going into the storm.
• Check both generators to make sure that we can hook them up quickly and easily to provide needed electricity if we loose power.
• Check the equipment (feed trucks, tractors, pay loaders) to make sure that all of them are full of fuel and ready to run in order to move snow and keep the feeding system operational.
• Park all necessary equipment inside the shop or the feeding barn to ensure that it is more likely to start when you turn the key.
• Change the cattle ration (casserole) that we feed to our animals to include more forage/roughage which helps them to generate heat from within and stay  warm despite poor weather.
• Make sure that everyone knows the plan so there is little disruption to the regular routine.
• Adjust schedules so that there will not be any cattle traveling to or from your farm during the storm.  No matter how bad it is on the farm, it is worse out on the roads!
• Pray that God will help you in your chores and keep your crew safe.
• Remember that the sun will eventually come out and things will get better.
  

  Rolled corn, ground alfalfa, and ground corn stalks inside of our feeding barn…

  

  A further out view of our feeding barn and feed storage area…

  

  A semi-truck delivering wet distillers grains feed…Before a storm we want to make sure that we have several days of feed in inventory so that feeding will not get interrupted in the case that transportation or commerce gets disrupted…

  

  We have two generators at the feed yard (one is pictured here) to ensure that we can continue to deliver feed and water in the case of a power outage…

  

  Here we are fueling the feed trucks–it’s no fun to fuel equipment in the middle of a blizzard…

  

  He will need more care to try to mitigate weather stress during the storm, so my crew and I do everything that we can to accomplish that…With a reported 12 inches of snow headed our way with 35 mile an hour winds it may be a long couple of days…

  

  While I am anal about preparing the feed yard for a storm, sometimes I forget to go to the store and stock up my own kitchen.  Fortunately, I have an organized teenager who isn’t shy about reminding me to feed her too!

   

Growing Food: The Truth, The Way, The Life…

Over the past couple of weeks, I have had the opportunity to expand my perspective by interacting with some new and wonderful people.  It is experiences like these that allow me to broaden my spectrum and think critically about my farm.

Understanding them is critical to providing quality and appropriate welfare…Being about to articulate all of the things that go into that understanding and care is even more challenging.

Have you ever tried to explain your life’s passion to someone that you have never met?  Can you greet strangers who share different food philosophies and find common ground and respect?  If you can, what results is a beautiful sharing of ideas and a cascade of personal growth.

Today, I would like to introduce all of you to John Suscovich of Connecticut.  In 2011, John and his wife Kate left their jobs in New York City and journeyed 5500 miles across the United States from NY to Seattle to San Diego on their bicycles in order to learn about family farms.

John and Kate on their trek…

John followed his passion as he ventured across the United States gaining knowledge about farming, so that he could return to Connecticut and live out his dream.  John and Kate personify the American Way and I have so much respect for what they have done.

John, at work on a CSA…

• Many of you Feed Yard Foodie followers have a slow foods philosophy:  You grow some of your own food, try to locally source the food that you do not grow, and have reservations about modern food production systems.
• Many of you are also curious about how a feed yard operates even though it is a modern food production system.
• Each one of you gives of your precious time to try to understand the perspective of this cattle feed yard boss lady.
  

  You all motivate to always do my best…

I want all of you to know how much that truly touches my heart.  I understand the leap of faith that each one of you has taken and I am humbly grateful.  Your quiet respect and interest gives me hope, and compels me to achieve excellence with every passing day.

I have to admit that John is ahead of me on this one–I prefer my quarter horse!

John is currently building his own pasture-raised chicken and herb CSA farm.  At the same time, he is recording weekly podcasts about farming to help others to gain the needed knowledge to be able to begin a life in agriculture.  A couple of weeks ago, John asked me to participate in a podcast.

The slow foods CSA farmer meets the cattle feed yard boss lady…

It proved to be a meeting of minds, and an incredibly rewarding experience.  I hope that each of you will take an hour out of your busy lives to listen to John and I as we search for common ground and talk about what it takes to grow food. Click on the link below to go directly to the podcast.

http://www.farmmarketingsolutions.com/?powerpress_embed=552-podcast&powerpress_player=default

Or click on this link to see both the written introduction and the podcast.

http://www.farmmarketingsolutions.com/gfp-007-anne-burkholder-of-will-feed-traveling-outside-your-comfort-zone-to-gain-perspective-and-reduce-stress/

The Heart of “Where Your Beef Comes From”…

Mike and Peggy Coffman live “just north of Halsey, NE on the oil road”.  If you stop within 50 miles of Halsey to ask for directions to the ranch, those are the instructions that you will likely receive.  There is only one paved road that goes north out of Halsey so it is actually pretty hard to get lost as long as you watch for the ranch sign.

Angus cattle and quarter horses are the heart of the Coffman Ranch…

I met Mike and Peggy almost eight years ago.  We were introduced by Al Atkins when Mike was looking for a feed yard that was interested in buying his cattle.  Many of you will remember Al and Sallie Atkins from a little over a year ago when I traced calf #718 from birth to harvest (see the category “Beef Life Cycle-Calf #718 if you missed the series).

I have  a soft place in my heart for Mike and Peggy because not only do they produce outstanding cattle, but I also purchased my beloved quarter horse (Dandy) from Mike in 2005.

I love this big guy…

So, what exactly happens on the day that Mike and Peggy send their cattle down to the feed yard?

Last Thursday, after my quick trip to Denver and before I watched my favorite Cross Country team at our Conference Championships, I spent the morning at Mike and Peggy’s loading their calves.  It takes me just under 2 hours to drive north to the ranch.  Mike started the morning early by gathering the cattle off of grass pastures and trailing them to the corrals.  About the time that I arrived, Mike and his neighbors who came to help that morning were sorting the steers and the heifers.

The cattle are brought down the alleyway one at a time, and the steers are sent through the gate one direction while the heifers are sent the other direction through another gate…

In addition to separating the steers and the heifers from one another, Mike and his cowboy crew also sorted off about 50 “replacement heifers” that will remain on the ranch to become mama cows.  It is important for the ranch to keep good heifers to use in the breeding (reproductive) herd so that they can continue to make outstanding calves year after year.

The horses’ jobs are finished now that the cattle are gathered off of the pastures. They get to take a rest while the cowboys sort the cattle in the corral…

After the cattle are sorted, they are counted and brand inspected by an employee of the Nebraska Brand Committee to ensure that all of the cattle are eligible for shipment.  Then the trucks are weighed at a local scale about 5 miles north of the ranch both before and after the cattle are loaded to determine the weight of the animals.

Here, Mike adjusts the balance scale to weigh the trucks…

After the truck is weighed, he travels back to the ranch to load the cattle. Then he returns to the scale again to be weighed a second time…

It is important to weigh the cattle because I purchase part of them from Mike and Peggy as they move from the ranch into the feed yard.  Mike and Peggy also retain ownership on some of the cattle so that we become financial partners in addition to being joint caregivers for the cattle.

The calves quickly find the prairie (grass) hay, wet distillers grains and corn stalks that are in the feed bunk…

While Mike and I settle up the bill and our plan for the cattle, Peggy serves us a great tasting hamburger casserole.  At the same time, the trucks and the cattle travel to the feed yard where they are placed in their new home pen with a feed bunk containing a tasty casserole for cattle.

The casserole and dinner plate look different than what I have at my house, but the meal is still a healthy and appropriate blend of nutritious food…

Mike and Peggy’s cattle easily transition into a new life at the feed yard.  They are a joy to care for and I am very thankful for the good care that Mike and Peggy provide them with on the home ranch.  That care sets the calves up for success and makes my job at the feed yard much easier.  Come the spring, the calves will make high quality beef that I am proud to feed to all of you!

Playing Peek-A-Boo…

It is an old wives’ tale that the phases of the moon determine how easily calves wean.  Although I am a stalwart believer in science, I put great faith in the wisdom of the “old timers”.  I also have weaned enough calves over the past 15 years to realize that there are some things that cannot be explained by textbooks…

We weaned our first group of calves the day after Labor Day.  They weaned so well that I was feeling like a genius.  The second set of calves (weaned last week) brought back a little bit of humility into my life…

Both sets of animals were “set up for success” with minimal stress and an excellent preconditioning health and nutrition history.  They also both originated on ranches only about 20 miles away from my farm.

Sometimes the calves arrive in stock trailers like these, and sometimes they come on a semi-truck…

My cowboy attributes the difference in weaning ease between these two groups to the phase of the moon—I think that he is a smart guy…

So, how do I tell an easy weaning experience from a more challenging one?  Here is a list of things that I look for in order to make an accurate decision.

• How long did the calves display anxious behavior and “search for mama”?  Or, when looking at it from the other side, how long did it take for the calves to achieve contentment in their new surroundings?
• How easily did the calves learn how to eat out of the bunk and drink out of the water tank?
• Did the calves maintain good health during the weaning period? (The first 2 weeks are critical and we watch them closely for 4 weeks.)
  

  He’s calm and he’s comfortable in his new home…This is the goal.

The answers to these three questions not only determine the success of the weaning transition time, but they also determine the stress and fatigue level that my guys and I experience during each weaning episode…

When newly arrived calves are not yet completely acclimated, they can be very difficult to keep in the home pen—they want to leave the pen to search for mama.  I laugh that they play a very determined game of Peek-A-Boo…

She’s good help…

I was thankful for my two favorite blondes last week because the three of us took the “sunset shift” at the feed yard babysitting the newly arrived cattle.  The time of day that the animals search the hardest and are most likely to try to leave the home pen are dawn and dusk.

She’s good help too…

I solve the dawn challenge by exercising the calves during that time which begins by allowing them to leave the pen to search, but ends by showing them that the home pen is where they will find feed, water, and comfort.  It works very well and shortens the length of time that the calves “look for mama” because they learn quickly that they can take care of themselves.

The beautiful promise of a new day…

Dusk is a bit more challenging.  I do not like to exercise the calves at that time for two reasons: 1. It does not correspond with one of the two feeding times of the day, and 2. If something goes wrong I do not have time to fix it because darkness falls and impedes my ability to see!

The setting sun draws the day to a close and reminds me that darkness will soon prevail…

The first night that the calves were at the feed yard last week, the majority of the steers were able to escape from the home pen to play a rousing game of Peek-A-Boo.  It took me a while to figure out how they were getting out of the pen, but it turns out that they were able to squeeze in between the gate and the fence post and also underneath the gate.

Some extra dirt underneath the gate and a chain put an end to most of the Peek-A-Boo game…

I am happy to report that the calves are now thriving in their home pens and are fully acclimated into the feed yard.  I have to admit that playing Peek-A-Boo with calves can be tiring and make for long days. I relish the successful feeling that I get when my animals settle in.  This victory carries me forward to the next bunch of calves!

We will wean a set of calves each week for the next three weeks.  Each weaning experience will be unique, and also ensure that there is never a dull moment on the Feed Yard Foodie farm!

Weanin’ Calves…

I remember when I weaned each one of my girls.  It was a transition time and while it was not always easy, it was definitely necessary.

My youngest daughter on the day of her birth–it is hard to believe that she used to be that little!

Time passes, things change, babies turn into toddlers and before you know it they head off to school.  The next day (it seems) you wake up and your “baby” is taller than you…

Almost 8 years later, she is the tallest child in her 2nd grade class–she has a few more inches to go to catch me but not very many! Her oldest sister already has several inches on me which she considers very cool…

While animals are undeniably different than humans, there is also a time to wean.  This time is contingent on available nutrition (for both the cow and the calf), and the age of the calf.  The drought of 2012 has necessitated earlier than normal weaning for many calves in Nebraska.  The availability of nutrient rich grass is scarce as Mother Nature has not provided well for us this summer.

This little guy was only a couple of weeks old when this picture was taken—he will come to me next week as an 8 month old calf that weighs about 500#…He was weaned on his home ranch about 6 weeks ago due to lack of grass for his mama to graze.

The nutritional requirements for a nursing cow are high, and it is a more efficient use of our current limited supply of natural resources to wean the calf from the cow.  Both animals will prosper more efficiently without being dependent on lactation.

The milk requirements for this calf increases as he gets larger with age. When he gets to weighing about 500#, it becomes hard on the mother cow to continue to nurse him. This is a good time to wean the calf…

Sometimes calves are weaned on the home ranch in neighboring pastures from their mamas.  Sometimes the necessary feed is not available on the ranch so the calves are weaned on another farm.  Weaning is undoubtedly a stressful time for both the cow and the calf—it is a time of transition and change.  During this transition time, it is important to teach the calf how to satisfy his own needs without his mama.  There are things that I can provide and teach my animals as their caregiver to help them make this transition.

The water tank and mineral licks shown here are similar to what the animals had on the home ranch.  This familiarity is vitally important during the transition phase…

Through the acclimation process, I teach the calves where the feed bunk and water tank are in addition to helping them realize that everything that they need is in the new home pen.  Acclimation is a very powerful tool for me as I wean calves—by helping the animals realize that a pen with fresh feed, water, and their herd-mates is a good place to be, my calves experience less stress and stay healthier.

The prairie hay we feed to them is also very familiar to the calves as it is the same grass hay that they ate alongside their mama’s before weaning…The added wet distillers grains gives the calf the protein and nutrients that he needs to take the place of mama’s milk…

It is very rewarding for me to watch my calves quickly reclaim contentment and begin the new phase of their lives in the feed yard.  Content calves that look for the feed truck with anticipation as it delivers prairie hay, wheat straw, and wet distillers grains grow well and will ultimately make great tasting beef!

sept. 2012 weaning calves 035

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Over the next couple of weeks, I will talk in more detail about the care that I offer to these younger (an average of 8 months old) animals as they move off of the ranch and into the feed yard.  Keeping them content and healthy as they move through the transition is incredibly important (and time consuming).  I will do my best to continue my bi-weekly posting, but if I miss a post please know that it is only because long hours at the feed yard kept me from writing…