glenda – Page 10 – Forest Hill Farm

Farm Quiz

glendaNovember 6, 2013February 13, 2014Leave a comment

Here's a little farm quiz to test your agricultural knowledge. Have fun!

Q. In 1945, the farmer got $0.45 out of every food dollar spent. In 1952, the farmer got $0.49 of each food dollar spent. How much will the farmer receive in 2013?

A. Farmers and ranchers receive only 20 cents of every food dollar that
Consumers spend on food at home and away from home.

Q. Does the last milk drawn from a cow have more butter fat than the first milk drawn? Or is the milk the same start to finish?

A. The first milk drawn is the lowest in butterfat.

Q. True or false: Your milk cow and dairy goat got into your garlic patch, now their milk tastes and smells like garlic.

A. True

Q. In 1950 the average American ate 4.3 pounds of food daily. How many pounds did the average American eat in 2012?

A. 4.7 pounds daily (this does not include soda or juice)

Q. Not including land prices, how much money does it cost a farmer, per acre, to plant corn or soybeans?

A. In 2012 farmers spent $513 per acre growing corn and $301 per acre growing soybeans. An additional $230 per acre is added for land costs. Bringing cost per acre to $743/corn and $531/soybeans.

Q. Which farm animal was used by the Canadian government to detect West Nile virus on the U.S./Canada border?

a. Rabbits

b. Chickens

c. Sheep

d. Goats

A. In the year 2000, the Canadian government used chickens as an early warning system to detect West Nile virus entering from the United States. About 600 chickens were placed in special cages along the U.S. border from Maine to Montana. The chickens were tested weekly for the disease.

Well, how did you do? Are you ready to start a farm?

Out to Pasture

glendaNovember 4, 2013Leave a comment

There are a couple of aging cows on the farm, numbers 049 and 005 are the oldest. Both are in excellent health, there's nothing to worry about, but I worry anyway. The issue is; Can they withstand a harsh winter?

A couple of years ago the winter was severe. One of the cows, 9143 slipped on the ice during a storm that started with freezing rain and ended in fifteen inches of thunder snow. We made a skid to bring her into the barn where she was blanketed, tube fed, and, using a hip hoist lifted onto her feet. Every hour she was raised up for ten – fifteen minutes, then flipped onto the opposite side from the one she'd been laying on for the previous hour. The vet said her age was working against her. In the end she didn't recover.

Garrett joined me on my walk out to the pasture. On the downward slope of the hillside he noticed the slight limp in my gait. “What's up with your leg?”

“It isn't my leg, it's my stupid butt muscle. I pulled it planting bulbs.” Earlier in the day I'd transplanted shrubs, tilled an area in front of the house and planted one hundred-fifty tulip and daffodil bulbs. It was a great effort which was ruined by turkeys, ducks, and dogs digging up the bulbs and scattering them. It will be a great surprise if any make it until springtime.

The single strand of electric fencing was moved aside so the cattle could graze the next paddock in the rotation. “Despite their ages 005 and 049 are moving well. They could give some of the younger cows a good run.”

“Why wouldn't they move as well?” Asked Garrett.

“They're getting old. They'll be fourteen this winter, which is old for a cow.”

“Oh. Hey mom, that reminds me - did you know that of all the kids in my class you're the oldest mom.”

“What!?”

“Yeah, you're the oldest. Me, Brian, and Colten were talking about how old our parents are. You're the oldest.

“It's Brian, Colten and I, by the way. And, your dad's older than I am.”

“Yeah, but he's not the oldest dad, but you're the oldest mom.”

Damn. Throwing Keith's age into the mix didn't help me. “Great. Thanks for sharing, Garrett.”

“The guys like you, they were just surprised that you're so old.”

“Don't you have anything else to do? Maybe you should spend time taking that enormous size fourteen foot out of your mouth.”

“Are you mad?”

“No, I just need muscle cream, aspirin, and Botox along with a good geriatrics program. Then I'll be fine.” Subtle sarcasm is lost on a sixteen year old boy.

“The cows look good, mom. I don't think they'll have a problem this winter. I'm going back to the house, are you coming?”

“No. You run ahead. I'm going around the field then I'll head up the lane.” I didn't want him to see me limping along. These 'old bones' need time to heal before they can kick that sixteen year old's a**.

Parents are the bones on which children sharpen their teeth. - Peter Ustinov

The saving grace for the cows; their calves will be weaned soon and calves can't talk. My son's going to be here for a while, a long, long while. It's a blessing and a curse.

Fall

glendaOctober 29, 2013Leave a comment

On our regular walk through the timber Keith and I noticed signs of the changing season. The color change of the leaves is obvious, but there are subtle signs, too. The wooly bear caterpillar's color range of reddish-brown to black is an indicator of the severity of the coming winter, if you believe the folklore. According to The Farmer's Almanac the legend is; the wider that middle brown section is (i.e., the more brown segments there are), the milder the coming winter will be. Conversely, a narrow brown band is said to predict a harsh winter.

Maisy and Spike are staking out hollow trees looking for raccoon and opossum. Spike cornered a momma coon, at our urging he backed down, she wouldn't have.

The canopy overhead is sparse now. The natural windbreak of the ravines shows signs where deer have bedded down for the night. Young trees have fresh rubs where bucks are marking their territory. We've seen large bucks in the timber and larger gatherings of doe. In another month the area will be overrun with men in orange blasting away at anything that moves. The cattle will move closer to the barn during hunting season, the dogs instinctively know to stay close. For us, this is the most stressful time of year.

Last year a neighbor was surprised to see a group of hunters in his timber. He asked them to leave, but they insisted they had hunting rights granted by the landowner. They continued driving deer towards other's in their group waiting for the animals to get within firing range. Every year we're amazed at the techniques used to bring down deer. Hunters waiting on two different hillsides will shoot into the valley as another group runs the deer through the draw. Generally these aren't local folks. They come from different counties and states, all hoping to take home a trophy buck. This season our neighbor has a preventative plan to avoid the situation. He's implementing something along the line of the old adage, 'walk softly and carry a big stick.' In this case it will be a very big and powerful stick.

Pigs Love Pumpkins

glendaOctober 16, 2013August 12, 2015Leave a comment

The pigs were pretty happy when we brought them pumpkins this morning, pigs love pumpkins. The turkey's love pumpkins, too. Our Gloucestershire Old Spots and Berkshire's are rotated through an area planted with buckwheat and turnips for fall grazing. Pastured pigs make the best pork.

Grass-Fed, Is It Really?

glendaOctober 11, 2013February 12, 2014Leave a comment

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse...
Monsanto is receiving the Nobel Prize for agriculture! In June 6500 genetically engineered sugar beet plants were destroyed in Oregon by unknown individuals. The sugar beets were the property of biotech giant Syngenta AG. The FBI is investigating. There's a backlash to big agriculture, consumers want to choose what they eat and how it's been grown. The 'Just label it' project is still collecting signatures, if you haven't signed their petition yet, now is a great time.

BUYER BEWARE! At the recent Grassfed Exchange Conference buyers and producers of "Grass fed" cattle defended their policy of selling steers who've been fed distillers grains and soy hulls (these aren't non-GMO or organic grains by the way. There's no reason to feed any grain to grass fed cattle!). You might be surprised who is selling this beef in Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, and at many co-ops in the area. At Forest Hill Farm we don't source our beef steers, we raise them. All the beef sold by Forest Hill Farm is 100% grass fed, rotationally grazed, dry aged and is raised on this farm.
If you are interested in finding out who's selling this beef? I'll send you the article, email me, you might be surprised! You might be even more surprised to find out who buys these steers and sells it as 'grass fed beef' direct to consumers.

This summer we've had a beef shortage, for that, we apologize. The demand has outpaced production. This fall we bought a few heifers from a friend who bought one of our registered Red Angus bulls, 'Combine' a couple years ago. The Heifers have outnumbered the bull calves born on the farm. The good news is the herd is growing steadily. The beef shortage will be resolved next summer.
Warmest wishes and food for thought.

Understanding Instructions

glendaOctober 7, 2013Leave a comment

I'd like to start using a different milker with our dairy cows. Currently we're using a Surge bucket style milker. Clarisse has a very low udder so the bucket doesn't work well for her. With only four cows to milk, two at any given time, I've been researching claw style milkers. For every new thing I start there's a host of research involved. Reading manuals has become a hobby. Sometimes I think about taking shortcuts, just jumping in and getting started, but then I think of Mary.

Several years ago I decided to breed my mare. My friend, Mary has a breeding facility. Mares from around the country come to her farm for breeding. She has beautiful stud horses of her own, and several others brought in for the breeding season. She uses artificial insemination to breed regardless whether the mare is on the farm or product is being shipped across the country. For years Mary used an older collection system. It worked well but she wanted a more modern one. Mary upgraded to a phantom collection system with a reservoir that held warm, sterilized water to simulate a mare's body temperature. It was padded in all the areas a real mare would have padding. It was fancy.

A couple weeks after Mary introduced her stud to the phantom she noticed breeding problems. Soon the stud refused to go near the phantom, let alone mount it. Unable to resolve the issues on her own, she called the veterinarian. After a thorough examination the vet couldn't find any physical issues with the studs. She asked Mary to walk her through the collection process. Mary excused herself and went to get sterile water for the reservoir. Returning, she showed the vet her procedure. Mary placed the collection tube along with the sterilized water sleeve into the phantom. The teaser mare was brought in, the stud was led into the barn, too. When the mare was positioned near the phantom, the stud mounted the phantom, screeched, jumped off, and lashed out. When a stud doesn't behave in a gentle manner he's returned to his stall for a 'time out' where he's supposed to think about his behavior and make a change. After a few minutes he was brought in again. This time he mounted the phantom, let out a louder, longer screech, turned and kicked. He wouldn't cooperate. The vet gave him a brief exam. She looked over the phantom. No sharp edges, nothing unusual. Then the vet noticed steam vapor rising from the reservoir. “Mary, what did you put in the reservoir?” she asked.

“Boiling water.”

“Boiling?”

“Well, close to it. I run distilled water through my coffee maker to sterilize the collection cup, then I pour the rest into the reservoir.”

“Mary, sterilizing the reservoir doesn't mean you pour boiling water into it!” The vet gave Mary clearer instructions.

So, to avoid being burned, I thoroughly research all the instructions. Thanks to Mary I learned from someone else's mistakes rather than my own.

The Distance of Local

glendaOctober 4, 2013February 13, 2014Leave a comment

The distance of local

About twenty years ago the University of Missouri Southwest Center experimented with a 'close planting' garden. On a 30' x 30' plot one ton of vegetables was grown using only 27.5 hours of labor. Today it takes 4 hours, per person, of a five day work week to pay for purchased food. An estimated 70% of processed foods on the grocery store shelves contain genetically engineered ingredients, and then there's the distance that most food travels before getting to your store. Whole Foods Market defines local as within 700 miles. For Kroger stores, it's a two state range. Giant Eagle defines local as from the same state the store is located. This graphic from 1919 compares 'Vegetables Grown For Home Use Only' and 'Vegetables Grown For Sale'. So, what is he distance of Local?

You can't get more local than your own backyard. This is the time of year to start planning for next year's garden. Cover crops of green manure ( buckwheat, annual rye grass, clover, etc.) should be planted now. They'll add nutrients, aerate the soil, fix nitrogen, and feed the microbial life of the soil. Adding chopped leaves, from deep rooted trees, will mineralize the soil. Bare ground is the enemy of garden productivity.

Thank you to the staff of Farming Magazine for allowing me to use this graphic. It appeared in the Fall, 2013 edition of their great publication.

Life is Peachy 4

glendaOctober 3, 2013February 12, 20144 Comments

Life is Peachy

Yesterday the weather was perfect for picking peaches. The unseasonably warm weather is forecast to abruptly end. I'm not sure how I get caught off guard every year, but I get lulled into a sense of never ending autumn. Reality hits me with cold, rainy winds every fall. The peaches ripened late this year, one tree has been picked, nine more trees to go. The peaches are small but unbelievably delicious. For years we've heard that peaches don't grow in Iowa. The same rhetoric deafened us in Illinois. Fortunately we're too stupid to listen. That's why life is peachy.

Pollinator Protection

glendaSeptember 30, 2013April 22, 2015Leave a comment

Friends of the Earth has releases a new study by The Pesticide Research Institute. In the study they found that many “bee friendly” plants sold at Home Depot, Lowes, and other large garden centers contained neurotoxic pesticides known as neonicotinoids which could harm or kill bees and other pollinators. 7 of 13 sample garden plants purchased at top retailers contained these toxic compounds.

The EPA is taking action to protect bees by developing new pesticide labels that indicate ingredients that may harm bees. The new labels will have an advisory box and icon with information on routes of exposure and spray drift precautions. The labels will contain warnings for products containing the neonicotinoids imidacloprid, dinotefuran, clothianidin and thiamethoxam.

Here's a great TED Talk by Marla Spivak - Why Bees Are Disappearing

Praying Mantis Aren’t welcome Here

glendaSeptember 27, 2013February 13, 2014Leave a comment

Praying Mantis Aren't welcome Here Keith came into the house wearing his work boots, as a general rule we don't wear work boots in the house. I thought he must have something very important needing immediate attention. He was carrying his phone and asked if I could guess what he found in the tall grass. Since I've lost a fence post pounder, and a collection of other tools, over the years, I figured he'd found one of them with the hay mower. Luckily, that wasn't it.

Keith likes for me to guess things like, “Who do you think I got a call from today?” Or, “Guess who I ran into?” Then there are the, “Guess what I found in the pasture?” questions. He also likes to stump me with trivia, too. He'll ask me,“Do you know how many kernels there are in a bag of seed corn?”

“Eighty thousand,” I'll answer casually. I'm smarter than I look.

“That's right, you're pretty good.”

Actually, I'm not smart. I have a great memory. He's asked me the same trivia questions over, and over, again.

He started telling me about the swishing sound he heard in the tall grass. It wasn't loud, but it was distinct. When he parted the grass blades he noticed grasshoppers and crickets. Then he saw her; the Praying Mantis. She rested on his hand for a while. He took her picture then got rid of her. We haven't seen too many Praying Mantis over the years, which is a good thing. Praying Mantis aren't welcome here. Praying Mantis kill humming birds. Keith's pictures were terrific, so, unlike the Praying Mantis, I will not be biting my mates head off, especially over something as insignificant as dirt tracked through the house.

Praying Mantis