Farmer On A Mission

Another Reason to Drink Milk!

2012-02-15T10:07:00.001-06:00

One of my favorite publications is Disney's Family Fun Magazine. There are TONS of ideas for, well, family fun....crafts, activities, recipes, etc. Our local library has a subscription, so I get it read it for FREE!

In the past I have been disappointed in other family/parenting magazines for regurgitating misinformation and scare tactics from environmental and animal rights activist groups about food and agriculture.

That's why I nearly jumped for joy when I saw this recent article called "Another Reason to Drink Milk"!

THANK YOU Family Fun Magazine for sharing a POSITIVE story about milk!

My family "back home" in Maryland raises dairy cattle and we graze dairy cattle here on our farm in North Dakota, so I know how hard dairy farmers work to get that milk from the cow to the kitchen table and how dedicated they are to making high quality products.

Featured on page 47 of the February 2012 issue of Family Fun Magazine!

Frosty Morning on the Farm

2012-02-03T13:31:00.000-06:00

"Be still and know that I am God..." Psalm 46:10.

This morning it was about 23 degrees out with heavy fog. This, along with my baby boy not being at the top of his game, changed my plans for the day completely. I was supposed to be blogging from the Dakota Grown Conference the Department of Agriculture is putting on in Fargo, but I decided to skip the 100 mile drive and stick close to home.

I have to admit that I started out the day feeling pretty disappointed, but there's nothing like the tranquility of a farm on a foggy morning with beautiful frost on the trees to set a person straight.

Well, that AND spending some time with my assistant farm cat caretaker :)

Here Miss C.W. greets C.T., otherwise known as "Coon Tail" ..."because he has dark gray stripes on his tail." We also have the calico named "Rainbow Tail", the orange cat named "Orange Tail" and the striped cat named "Stripey Tail"...are you sensing a pattern here? :)

In other news, the "big blue tractor" (New Holland 9882) is getting new tires. If you think tires on your car are expensive, consider that this beast requires 8 of these huge tires.

Believe me you do NOT want to see the bill for this (and neither do I, ha!). Ever wonder why your food costs are going up? Consider the enormous increase in the costs of inputs farmers have experienced in recent years.

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
- Sarah :)

Apfelschorle!

2012-02-01T13:25:00.001-06:00

I first tasted "Apfelschorle" at a farm museum in Germany.

It was a beautiful place, overlooking a picturesque valley.

I could have spent a week there, but we only had a few hours, which included one of my favorite hours, the lunch hour :)

My fellow McCloy fellow in agriculture, Erin, introduced me to this wonderful drink.

Here's what Wikipedia says about Apfelschorle (pronounced Ahp-fell-shore-luh).

"Apfelschorle, also known as Apfelsaftschorle, is a popular soft drink in Germany. It consists of carbonated mineral water and apple juice. The broader category Fruchtschorle consists of any fruit juice mixed with carbonated water, but Apfelschorle is by far the most common. Spritzer (that is wine mixed with carbonated water) is called Weinschorle.

Apfelschorle contains fewer calories and is less sweet than pure apple juice. This makes it popular in summer and among athletes. Commercially available Apfelschorle generally contains between 55% and 60% juice.... However, in most bars and restaurants, Apfelschorle is mixed ad hoc from apple juice and carbonated water."

I make it at home...a lot...ever since I introduced my children to "the special drink".

I love that it is bubbly like soda and not as sugary.

And it's SO simple to make!

1 part apple juice.

1 part sparkling water. (I found the "Mendota" brand at our local grocery store called Hugo's)

If you REALLY want to knock the kiddos' socks off, serve it in a wine glass, just make sure it's a wine glass you don't mind having broken. I don't know about your place, but my kids break stuff. all. the. time. :-)

When served in a wine glass, Apfelschorle can also make a pregnant lady feel like she's drinking something alcoholic. Not that I really NEEDED something alcoholic when I was pregnant, but it just felt nice to have that glass stem in my hand :)

Also, my oldest daughter, C.W., takes the ingredients for Apfelschorle when she's "snack kid" at her pre-school. She has done this three times and it's always a big hit!

However, I found out that this last time she was "snack kid" some of her classmates requested to only have the sparkling water. When I asked WHY they only wanted the sparkling water she informed me that "it made them burp a lot". Uhuh.

Well, I THOUGHT Apfelshorle may somehow impose some class and culture on them, but leave it to kids to just be kids! LOL! :)

Have fun making Apfelshorle! Special THANKS to American apple growers, like my friend in Michigan, Jeff Vanderwerff !

Thanks for stopping by,
Sarah :)

Bang, crash!...well, what do we have here?

2012-01-30T11:59:00.000-06:00

I sort, I wash, I dry, I fold, but I don't empty pockets. When I do laundry, I figure if you wore it, and you put stuff in the pockets, it is your job to take the stuff out before you put your clothes in the hamper.

This can be dangerous, considering I'm married to a farmer.

However, it's also entertaining, considering he still wears the clothes that had the permanent marker in the pocket, and yes, I still wear the clothes that had the pink Chapstick in the pocket. So this is NOT me pointing fingers, but I do want to tell you about one particularly exciting, and downright shocking, experience I recently had with our clothes dryer.

Here we go...

A few of these items are fairly standard...

Carpenter's Pencil. Yes, to be a farmer you must be a "jack of all trades"...carpenter, plumber, electrician, welder, accountant, agronomist, chemist, biologist, wildlife behavior and nutrition expert, human resource manager, etc.

Pretty standard stuff here. A few washers and a screw, although I'm surprised I didn't get a puncture wound from that one.

Alan Wrench, left over from the assembly of the crib. Farmers, with their "jack of all trades" talents and their "I've seen in all, so this is no big deal" senses of humor, make GREAT husbands and are WONDERFUL fathers, if you don't mind the constant flow of mud/grease/dirt/smell of diesel fuel into your home, can be a mostly-single Mom 9 months of the year, and can handle phone calls like "Um, Jeremy's driving himself to the emergency room and he's bleeding pretty badly, you might want to meet him there." :-)

Told you I wasn't going to point fingers. Check out this collection of bobby pins I found...yep, those are mine :)

Pretty pink hair accessories...the kids certainly help with the collection of goodies that is building up in my laundry room.

But NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING prepared me for the sound of what I thought was the dryer self-destructing and possibly igniting into a fiery ball of lint and Carhartt coveralls. I had just put in a load of work clothes, and I do mean WORK clothes. This load was so muddy they could have stood up on their own, and they bore the smell of manure from when Jeremy helped the neighbors move some heifers (young female bovines).

All I heard was this HORRIBLE banging and crashing. I took a deep breath, opened the door of the dryer and what to my wondering eye did appear, but ten HUGE nails! Together they must weigh a pound.

What the...!!??

It may be time for me to add a new step in my laundry routine...checking pockets :)

Oh, and here's a fun game for this Marvelous Monday, I'll send ten bucks (seriously) to the person can identify this item that I found in my dryer. I bet my fellow farming Mama's will be able to identify it, and I'm betting I'm not the first parent who's had a kiddo rip one of these off.

Have a GREAT week everyone! - Sarah :)

p.s. And if you're having a not-so-marvelous Monday, consider this...

"Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you." - Peter 5:7, NIV.

My Baby Made Me Clean My Desk

2012-01-18T13:27:00.002-06:00

This past week has been C-R-A-Z-Y!

I'm coordinating a conference that's 100 miles away next week and we've had everything from pinkeye, to the stomach flu, to chest colds, come through the house taking out one or more members of my family at a time. Did I mention my dear husband (who I am very proud of) was out of town for three days while speaking at the Manitoba-North Dakota Zero Tillage Farmer's Association conference?

Here's what I looked like a few days ago:

(photo from http://www.cgiardini.com/)

I was lovely, really lovely. The bonus is that I only had pinkeye in ONE eye, so instead of looking totally albino, I just looked like I was in a bar fight.

At one point last week, I commented that I had so many irons in the fire, I was surprised my whole desk hadn't burst into flames.

A friend commented back, that it was actually National Clean Off Your Desk Day.

It really was.

Ha...ha...ha... :-)

I thought, clean off my desk!? WHEN am I going to have time to do THAT!?

And then it happened.

Baby boy got his 6 months shots, was up all night Monday night with a fever and had to stay home from daycare yesterday.

However, I still had a TON of work to get done.

So here's the view from my desk chair yesterday...

Oh you can't imagine the joy my litle assistant got from ripping papers off my desk and flinging them onto the floor, giggling/shrieking/squealing the whole time!

It was AMAZING how quickly I got my desk cleaned off and files put away that I've been wanting to file for months :)

He can't talk yet, but it was in fact, my baby that made me clean my desk.

Today, I breath a sigh of relief. Baby is well again. Desk is clean. Ahhhh.....

Now it's back to work for me!

Thanks for stopping by! - Sarah :)

Three little words that mean so much.

2012-01-12T12:38:00.000-06:00

Photo courtesy of the Jamestown Sun. Team Wilson in the 2010 4th of July Parade. It takes a strong man to push a stroller.

We (and I mean, Jeremy, myself, all three kiddos, and a partridge in a pear tree) recently returned from a 12 day jaunt to the east coast to visit family and friends for the holidays. It was wonderful, crazy, joyful and stressful, but overall an incredible blessing.

I'm grateful we could swing this, afterall, for the first half of 2011 we wondered if we'd even have a crop to sell. God has been so good to us, and so has Delta's frequent flier miles program.

I am glad that we achieved what we had set out to accomplish- to catch up with friends and family we hadn't seen in ages, to introduce them to our baby boy and to help my Mom go through some of my childhood belongings and "downsize".

Baby Boy Wilson is already six months old!

The downsizing process was quite the blast from the past. Did you know that around 1985, I got a Pound Puppies watch? Did you know that little girls (including my daughter) are still drawn to Pound Puppy watches? ("Hey Mom...w..w...what's that? Can I have it?"- C.W.) Some items just HAD to be passed on and packed for the return trip to North Dakota :)

Pound Puppies!

Even Santa somehow knew that we'd be at Mom and Dad's for the holidays and dropped off gifts under the tree and stuffed the stockings that were hung by the chimney with care.

It was such a joy and a comfort to sit and visit with our loved ones. They all asked what we were up to and Jeremy would always answer them with "Sarah and I farm..."

So here are the three little words that mean so much to me. Yes, "I love you" coming from my dear husband means a lot, but even more than that "Sarah and I", reinforcing that our farm business is a team effort and we're in this thing together.

Those three words, "Sarah and I", warmed my heart more than Grandma Joan's famous baked pineapple.

Grandma Joan and C.W. Love you, Grandma Joan!

I recall sitting at a milk marketing meeting that I had set up when I was working as a dairy extension educator in Minnesota in 2004. A very successful young dairyman and his wife were part of the group and when we got around the table to their place in the introductions, he said "Rachelle and I"...as he continued to describe their farm..."and, well, without her I wouldn't be able to do what I do". He continued his introduction with compliments on how well she handles the bookkeeping for the farm (and she really is GREAT at that) and how they work together on so many things in their business.
I remember thinking to my (single at the time) self how rare it was to hear a farmer so forthright with compliments for his wife, and I silently hoped that someday I could be part of a marriage and a farm business partnership like theirs.

And now here I am, "Jeremy and I", farming and raising a family together.

Praise be to God for bringing us together. Praise be to God for friends and family, especially Kraig and Rachelle, for the joy the Christmas season brings, for safe travels and for time to reconnect with my little family, even if it was over something as simple as Pound Puppies :)

Great ag books for kids...now with lesson plans!

2011-12-12T13:46:00.002-06:00

It's no secret that I LOVE Rebecca ("Becky") Long Chaney's set of three children's books, written along with her twin daughters, Rianna & Sheridan! She's been a dear friend of mine since my days as a dairy princess and now, just in time for Christmas, her books now have lesson plans to accompany them! These are my favorite books for leading story time for preschoolers and elementary-aged kiddos and there's still time to order them for Christmas gifts! I got four sets for family members!

Here's the scoop...

"Eight-Year-Old Authors Sheridan and Rianna Chaney are proud tobring you the third book in the "The Chaney Twins' Series." Thisbook, "Star Becomes A Mother," is a sequel to book number one,"Little Star, Raising Our First Calf." In this endearing third book,the girls see Star become a mother herself, and watch as she nurtures hernewborn calf that the twins have immediately named, "Starstruck." Thestory focuses on many facets of the beef industry and the good care farmers andranchers give their animals no matter what the weather.

All three books are 32 pages and are full of captivating color photographs byprofessional photographer and the books' co-creator Kelly Hahn Johnson ofSharpsburg, Md. The easy-to-read text geared toward preschool andelementary-aged children has been selected by numerous Farm Bureau groups, Agin the Classroom programs and county and state cattle women's organizationsacross the country as their “Accurate Ag Books.” Book #2, “Mini Milk Maids onthe Mooove,” featuring the dairying industry, received the Ohio Farm Bureau'sprestigious “Children's Literary Award.”

The books' editor Rebecca Long Chaney and twins' mother isthrilled “The Chaney Twins' Series” continues to make such an impact with ageducation and is teaching children about animal agriculture.

Lesson plans have been developed for all three books. They areavailable in downloadable form on the Pennsylvania Beef Council web siteat www.pabeef.org

Books are $12 each plus tax and postage, or for the threebook-“Bundle” special, the set is $30 plus postage. For more information or to place anorder, call Rebecca at 301-271-2732 or email her at chaneyswalkabout@aol.com, or place an order directly from her web site atRebeccalongchaney.com. Box discount specials are available for agriculturalgroups. Email Rebecca for details."

One little birdie can make one big mess.

2011-11-11T23:57:00.001-06:00

This little episode happened way back in the spring, but I stumbled on these pictures and thought I'd share them at this time of thanksgiving.

I am thankful that my children are learning so many important lessons about God's creation on our farm.

One of these lessons is that sometimes God's wonderful creatures can make things messy on the farm :)

Like the little birdie that worked so hard to make this nest....way up inside the conveyor underneath the trailer we bought. So when Jeremy turned on the conveyor for the first time to put fertilizer into the air cart so that he could distribute it in the field, it caused an instant backup and overflow of said fertilizer, which in turn, caused said farmer to have to clean up said fertilizer with that handy-dandy shovel in the background. Isn't he lucky that his wife gave him that shovel as a wedding present? Seriously...but that's another story for another day :)

As always, Jeremy made the best of a messy situation, and used it as a teaching moment.

He brought over the nest and let the girls, who were helping us to chauffer Jeremy to assorted farm equipment that day, take a looksie.

The wee red head, ever the brave and fearless kiddo, practically dove right in.

Meanwhile, C.W., our calculated, more cautious daughter, wasn't quite so sure about it.

She came around, and we still talk about the little birdie nest.

What lessons are you thankful for that your children have learned about nature?

Wilson Family Halloween

2011-11-06T21:47:00.000-06:00

It was the wee-ist Wilson's first Halloween! Our little guy (4 months old now!) went as Curious George. I made this costume with a $6 brown sweatsuit, a printout of George's face from pbskids.com that I laminated and some plastic bananas from the girls' play kitchen. I put C.W.'s old brown gloves on his feet, and we strapped the bananas to them. The bananas kept him entertained him the whole evening!

...and I was "The Ma'am in the Yellow Hat". If you're not up on your Curious George facts, the "Man in the Yellow Hat" is who takes care of George :)

The wee redhead was "a pwincess wid uh cwown an uh wand". If you don't speak two year old, that's "a princess with a crown and a wand". Earlier in the week she kept saying she wanted to "cawwy a WASP", but indeed, she meant WAND :)

C.W. was "Wonder Woman". Yes, after much deliberation, this frugal farm wife coughed up 20 bucks for a few bits of shiny material held together with velcro. In the past I have always made the girls' costumes, or used hand-me-downs, but this year precious sleep won out over what would have inevitably been a costume making all-nighter.

The big hit of the night was Wonder Woman's super hero partner..."Super Papa". Straight out of the field, he donned a cape, mask, and T-shirt with iron-on logo, along with his Wheatgrower's stocking cap, Carhartt pants and muddy work boots, and was a REAL super hero to our little girl that night :)

Halloween would be MUCH more convenient for us if it was in, oh, maybe March, instead of smack in the middle of corn harvest, but all in all, it was a GREAT night for the Wilson family!

THANKS to Grandma E. for being our "official photographer" :)

For a fun walk down Wilson Family Halloween memory lane, check out this blog post from last year. I had just returned home from 21 days in Germany...what a difference a year makes :)

http://farmeronamission.blogspot.com/2010/11/hello-again-readers-happy-belated.html

Be a Blessing

2011-10-21T16:15:00.001-05:00

I have found that in life, the more I think about my problems, the larger they seem to be. That's not to say that I think I should ignore big issues in my life and not deal with them, but more often than not, I just have to "let go and let God". However, I'm the kind of person that doesn't sit still very long, so when I "let go and let God", I need somewhere else the expend the energy I was using for worrying.

The best way to use this energy is to "be a blessing".

It might be calling up a long-lost friend and reconnecting and letting them know you care, it might be visiting someone in the hospital or nursing home, maybe baking a batch of cookies or a hotdish (otherwise known as a casserole in parts of the U.S. other than North Dakota) for someone who is recovering from surgery or just had a new baby. Maybe you buy lunch for the guy behind you in the drive thru, or just flash a smile and say "Have a nice day" to a passerby. It doesn't have to cost money. It doesn't have to take much time either, but if you seek out ways to be a blessing to others and make their day a little brighter, you will find yours gets a little brighter too.

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:16 (NIV).

Thankful Thursday: Winterizing the Wee Wilsons

2011-10-20T23:07:00.000-05:00

Since the temps dipped into the 20's here this week, I figured it was time to winterize the Wee Wilson's. Here is where I give THANKS on this Thankful Thursday. With some strategically purchased clearance items from last year, and a few visits from the "hand-me-down fairies" (you know who you are ladies and you are AWESOME), I was able to outfit all three of my kiddos for winter without purchasing a SINGLE item. Somehow, I opened two tubs from the garage and found EVERYTHING I needed...hats, scarves, mittens, coats, snowpants, boots...yes, EVERYTHING.

Wow.

I sat back after I had sorted and placed all the items on the handy-dandy rack Jeremy built for the Wee Wilson's and was amazed by this, and very THANKFUL that I would not have to drag three kids through the maze of already-picked-over winter clothing items at our local stores.

I'm also THANKFUL I did this yesterday, because this morning the big kids were THANKFUL that they could run outside at 8 a.m., still in their pajamas, but covered in their warm winter gear, to make footprints in the frost.

There amongst all the chaos of my reorganization project, I was reminded of yet another reason to be THANKFUL. In my life, I have been blessed with the most amazing family, especially, my late Grandpa Thomas Graziano, who made this beautiful hope chest for me.

When I opened it to fill it with this season's wardrobe, I was reminded that upon the insistence of my beloved Aunt Lynne, who passed away this spring, he signed the inside of his creation.

Cancer may have taken them from this earthly life, but it will never take them from my hearts and I am THANKFUL for many warm memories, even though it's getting cold outside.

This Makes the Wee Redhead Happy

2011-10-18T20:44:00.000-05:00

There are a lot of things the wee redhead (age 2.5) likes...

Ballet...

Being "pwitty"...

Tawkin' on da phone to Gwamma...

Pancakes with sprinkles at Perkins...

Her "yittle brudda"...

Most of all, her Papa...

He took her along to help haul grain the other day. We use two tractor trailers (aka "semi's") to haul our crops (corn, wheat, soybeans) from the field to one of two locations. First, it may go to the grain bins, where the grain will be stored for a few months before being hauled to the grain elevator. Second, it may go directly to the grain elevator, where it be stored or will go by train across the U.S. and possibly on a barge overseas.

Here is one of our trucks:

Here the wee redhead and her Papa are heading for the trucks...

(THANK YOU to our friend, Tony, who has been helping with harvest, for snapping these pics of how Jeremy got her safely from one truck to the other).

Here she is perched in her car seat with her coloring book, being her Papa's assistant grain hauler.

We didn't realize how much this day meant to her until this project came home from daycare:

It says "This makes me happy..."

Thanks for stopping by!

Sarah :)

Thankful Thursday: I sure hope that's my husband!

2011-10-13T07:00:00.000-05:00

During harvest, every night, and sometimes in the wee hours of the morning, this dark figure appears in my bedroom long after I finally call it a day. He stumbles in all grubby, smelling of grease, fuel, ~~dirt~~ soil and whatever else he's had a run-in with that day. (Hopefully, not a skunk). I would request that he shower, but I know he is so tired that he is capable of falling asleep standing up at this point.

I do his laundry, so even in the dark, I know that he probably looks like he rolled around on the floor of the farm shop or was dragged behind a truck and that his pants may very well stand up on their own from being caked with mud. I also know I could likely plant a few acres with the soybeans, corn kernels, or grains of wheat that have accumulated in his pockets. Cleaning the lint filter in our clothes dryer is always interesting.

I have gotten used to this nightly routine, out of necessity. You see, an infant will wake me long before dawn. Soon thereafter the wee Wilson gals will stumble out of their bunk beds and expect "bekfest". I have to try to force my brain to turn off and get some shut eye, or I will be Zombie Mama the next day, and believe me, she is NOT pretty.

As I'm lying in bed and this nearly unidentifiable creature enters my room, practically falls into bed, and puts a rough, calloused hand on my shoulder, the only thing that goes through my mind is, "I sure hope that's my husband!" :-)

After I put my hand on his, confirming that it is indeed my dear Jeremy, I say a little prayer that goes something like this: "Lord, I thank you for giving me a husband who works so hard to provide for my little family. I am so grateful you got him home safe and sound. In Jesus' name. Amen."

When harvest is complete, Jeremy and I will get a babysitter, go out to dinner, give ourselves a few hours to celebrate that another year of feeding families around the world is behind us, relish the fact that we have a lot to look forward to, and we will fall in love all over again :)

My Harvest Prayer

2011-10-12T08:00:00.000-05:00

Dear Lord,

you know it was a fight,

morning, noon, and night,

to get this crop into the ground,

but in you our strength is found.

So we cared for every seed

to grow the food your people need

Now I humbly ask,

Please make the yields abundant and keep us safe in everytask.

In Jesus' name I pray.

Amen.

Why Farm Tours Matter.

2011-10-11T08:00:00.000-05:00

When I heard that some friends of my family from Maryland, Carol and Scotty, were road-tripping to Alaska and that they were planning to come through North Dakota on their trek, I invited them to stop by. We LOVE visitors! We also LOVE farming and are always excited to share our passion for agriculture with others.

Love this pic Carol took! Boy do I look tired and HUGE though, lol! Many sleepless nights led up to this day and many followed, but what a grand visit we had :)

I happened to be in the early stages of labor with our new son, who arrived the next morning, when Carol and Scotty visited in June, so the three of us hung out in the house in the air conditioning. We talked about everything from farm policy and how the explosion of new regulations from the EPA is affecting our ability to grow food, to lessons my children are learning growing up on the farm.

I showed them our farm office and how Jeremy uses precision agriculture methods to help keep our land healthy and our farm efficient and profitable. Then I deferred the farm shop/ field tour to Jeremy so I could wrap up a few baby-prep projects. From what I hear he made it pretty quick, because we were, after all, getting ready to have a new baby VERY soon.

Here Jeremy explains to Carol and Scotty about the flood of 2009. What you see in the background is what is left of a road/bridge that leads to some of our farmland. They have yet to be repaired.

When our guests returned to their home after their trip, I got this message on my Facebook page:

"The wheat Jeremy gave us travelled all the way to Alaska to South Carolina and is now proudly displayed in our entertainment center for all to see and to also remind us of our visit and how important all our farmers are to our everyday lives! Bless you all - we think of you often and look forward to another visit!"

I know that farmers and ranchers everywhere are so incredibly busy, but it is well worth it to make time for a farm tour, even a quick one. You will help others to have a better understanding of where their food comes from and they may even become life-long advocates for agriculture!

Moovelous Monday: Cow Teeth

2011-10-10T13:29:00.001-05:00

In the spring and fall, lovely four legged ladies come over from a neighboring dairy farm to visit the Wilson Farm. They will graze our cover crops and crop residue (what's left over after we harvest), but there is one very important tool that they each require to do so: teeth.

I know, I know, you might be thinking...this lady wrote an entire blog post on cow teeth? BORING! Well, hang with me here, you might be surprised by some of the fun facts about cow teeth.

I took this picture while coaching a Dairy Challenge team at a competition in Pennsylvania.

She apparently had something very important to say :)

Did you know that cows, along with all other 192 species of ruminants (animals that chew their cud) do not have top front teeth? Instead they have a "dental pad". This allows them to wrap their tongue around grass and pull it into their mouth. Then they use their BIG molars to chew.

See...no upper front teeth, but plenty of molars to grind grass and feed...

(Source: Cow/Cattle Breeding & Raising)

Did you know you can tell the age of a cow from it's teeth?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle_age_determination

This steer, "Casper", was one of the animals that was part of my graduate research. Here he is drooling contentedly on one of my fellow students, Maciej :)

Casper had the most interesting bovine teeth I have ever seen. He never lost his "baby teeth". I guess you can call Casper the "Peter Pan" of the bovine world...he just didn't want to grow up!

Close-ups of Casper's "double teeth", wherre his "adult" teeth had grown in, but his "baby" teeth hadn't fallen out.

If you asked my four year old daughter, C.W., who is obsessed with sharks, she would say Casper must be a part shark, because he has multiple rows of teeth :)

Did you know? Bovine teeth can also be used as substitutes for human teeth in dental studies.

Want to know more?

I also found this article about cow teeth very interesting:

http://www.wonderquest.com/cows-teeth-mirrors.htm

Want to know if cows can bite? Visit the Zweber Farm to find out!

So why do I care so much about cow teeth? Well, a cow's got to eat to make milk and the better she can eat, the more milk she can make. Since I LOVE cheese, ice cream, etc, I think cow teeth are pretty important.

What's next for Moovelous Monday? Maybe a lesson on cow tongues? They're pretty cool too!

For more facts on cows in general, check out:

USDA Animal Improvement Laboratory "Facts About Cows":
http://aipl.arsusda.gov/kc/cowfacts.html

THANKS for stopping by!
Sarah :)

Thankful Thursday: Mama's View of Wheat Harvest

2011-10-06T11:00:00.000-05:00

Oh how I long to be behind the wheel of one of those big machines, be it the combine which collects the grain, or the tractor trailer (aka "semi") hauling grain to the storage bin or the grain elevator. I only get to be a farm equipment operator on rare occasions these days.

You see, as the only child in my family, I was expected to help on the farm and be son my father never had.

No problem for me, I was quite the tomboy, so I grew up running farm equipment, helping Dad repair equipment, sand blasting, etc. Even in our dating days and early marriage, Jeremy was teaching me to be an official farm hand. I loved it, but it seemed that God had other plans, because we were only 5 weeks into our marriage when we got pregnant with C.W., which was such an answer to prayer :)

So today, having been blessed with three little ones ages four, two, and three months, and two jobs off the farm, one with a farm organization, the other as a professional speaker, I'm not only booked up, but it isn't a safe situation to have such little ones around such large equipment with Mama's attention divided.

I know my time will come, when the kids are a little older, and I will wait patiently for the "equipment operator" chapter of my life. Okay, those of you who know me, know that, in reality, I wait patiently for NOTHING, but I'm hoping the good Lord will help me "embrace my place" and enjoy these precious moments with my little ones for the precious gift that they are.

So here's a little glimpse into the view from Mama's seat, not the one high up in the combine or the semi, but from the driver's seat of the family pick-up that the children named "Hi Ho Silver". I'm the official "go-fer"...I "go-fer" supper...I "go-fer" parts...you get my drift :)

The day I snapped these pics, we were working on wheat harvest. Yields were disappointing due to the goofy weather we had this spring/summer, but I always say something is better than nothing to harvest.

I had parked on an approach (little driveway across the ditch) into the field. I knew that a truck would be arriving soon to get filled with grain, but I stayed there because I didn't want to leave the pickup running in the tall wheat stubble (can we say fire hazard?) and we needed some air circulation and the Curious George story on CD to keep playing :)

So there I was sitting, when the baby got hungry. Sure enough, as soon as he'd settled into nursing, I had to move the pickup. So I put it into drive and got out of the way of the truck. I think this earns me a gold medal in multi-tasking :) Of course, I would NEVER do this on a road, but in a smooth field, for a short distance, it worked. And it made me laugh. Being a farmwife and mother, I am constantly doing things that I'd never imagined doing in a million years.

I love my life :)

- Sarah

"Give the world the best you have anyway."

2011-10-04T10:00:00.001-05:00

The Paradoxical Commandments
by Dr. Kent M. Keith, 1968.

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.

I found this poem at the Prayer Foundation. Hope you enjoyed it.
Sarah :)

JP Loves Cotton!

2011-10-04T10:00:00.000-05:00

I am often reminded of how diverse agriculture really is. I am generally focused on the production of food, but there is SO much more to agriculture, including, fuel, pharmaceuticals, and fiber. One of those wonderful fibers is COTTON. I LOVE COTTON! I love wearing it, I love how easily it washes, I love that it comes from farm fields right here in the good old USA. But noone I ever met loves cotton as much as JP loves cotton.

I met JP at the 2010 Ag Chat 2.0 training in Chicago. I think she smiled the entire weekend. She's my kind of gal.

If you like my blog and following my random adventures raising kids, corn, wheat, soybeans, pinto beans and cover crops, but would be interested in slightly more urban flair, and array of different agricultural products (like rice) you've GOT to check out JP's blog:

http://jplovescotton.com/

Special THANKS to JP for mentioning me as one of the "Farm Mom Blogs" she reads (I'm a latecomer in the comments section).

http://jplovescotton.com/blogs-i-read/blogging-home-family-farm/

Oh, and special thanks to JP for snapping this rare footage of the elusive Val Wagner and I in the wild :)

Progressive Dairyman: Dairy Blogs We Love

2011-09-30T10:00:00.000-05:00

I am honored that my blog is featured on Progressive Dairyman Magazine's "Dairy Blogs We Love" list! Progressive Dairyman is one of my favorite agricultural publications and their "Proud to Dairy" campaign is fabulous!

I'm not offically a dairy farmer, although I am a passionate advocate for dairy and on our farm here in North Dakota we partner with a local dairy farm to graze dairy heifers on our cover crops and my family raises dairy heifers in Maryland.

If you'd like to see the complete list of "Dairy Blogs We Love", check it out here:

http://proudtodairy.ning.com/page/dairy-blogs-we-love

Oh, and one more thing... someday, somehow, I WILL have dairy cattle again (like this adorable little gal I met in Germany). Mark my words :)

Wordless Wednesday: Faith, Hope, Love.

2011-09-28T15:23:00.001-05:00

C.W., my four year old daughter, took this picture when our wee little man was brand new. This week he'll be 12 weeks old. My how the time does fly.

"...And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love".

1 Corinthians 13:13.

You're Invited! CRP Conversion Plots & Cover Crops Tour

2011-09-19T16:53:00.000-05:00

Sunhemp covercrop interseeded into corn.

We were awarded a grant from the USDA for Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education. We have been working in partnership with the local Natural Resources Conservation District and Soil Conservation District to research how to convert land that was in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) to growing forage soybeans and other cover crops. On our farm we also have interseeded cover crops into corn. At yet another site we have had success partnering with a local dairy farm who grazes our cover crops in the spring and fall.

If you're interested in seeing first hand what we are doing to increase the health and productivity of our soil, join us at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, September 20th at our Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Conversion Plots and Cover Crops Tour!
Directions to research plots: 3 miles south of I-94 & I-281 intersection. At Countryside RV, go 1 mile west on 39th street. Then go 1/8th mile south.

Topics Covered:

· No-Tilled Crops After CRP

· Interseeded Cover Crops Into Corn

· Selecting & Establishing Cover Crops

· Grazing Cover Crops

· Mobile Weather Station

· Soil Health Analysis

· Nutrient Availability

Featuring Representatives from:

Jeremy Wilson, Wilson Farm

Ryan Odenbach, Watershed Coordinator, Stutsman County SCD

John Nowatski, Ag Machine Systems Specialist, NDSU

Ron Volk, Western Ag Innovations, Inc.

Terry Entzminger, Entzminger Dairy

LUNCH IS PROVIDED!

Hope to see you there!
Sarah :)

What is a Farmer?

2011-08-25T10:05:00.002-05:00

This is my Mom and my Grandfather in November 1959, around the year this poem below was published :)

My Mom shared this with me. She is the daughter of a dairyman and a retired farmer's wife. When I asked her where she got it she said, " I don't know, but it's old. I think it was from something from the Maryland Extension Service. The original is on yellowed paper with worn edges." She guessed it was from the 1960's. So enjoy this oldie, but goodie, with an anonymous author. THANKS MOM!

WHAT IS A FARMER?

Well, that depends entirely on where you stand.

To his wife, he's a big eater, heavy sleeper, someone to share hopes and dreams with.

To his minister, he's a believer in God in nature, and nature in God.

To a politician, he's someone you talk about during elections.

To a businessman, he's a customer.

To the banker, he's a depositor.

To his neighbor, he's a friend.

To his children, he's a man who always has a chore for them.

To his dog, he's a man with a quiet voice.

To the grocer, he's a Godsend.

To the dairy cooperative, he's the owner.

To the insurance agent, he's a big risk.

To the mechanic, he's a mechanical wizard who fixes things himself.

To the doctor, he's a physical wonder.

And to himself, well, only he can tell you that---but chances are, he won't.

You see, it depends entirely on how you look at him.

Actually, the farmer is all of these---and more.

For one thing, he's just about as close to being an independent business as one can be these days. The farmer is pretty much his own boss, and what he makes, he makes by the sweat of his own brow. Each year he has to gamble with nature as to whether or not he will have a crop. If nature wins, the farmer loses- if the farmer wins, then nature has been kind.

He's quite a man, this farmer of ours.

- Anonymous

A Hunger For Faith-Based Ag Education

2011-08-22T15:38:00.000-05:00

A vacation bible school student greets a calf at Entzminger Dairy, Jamestown, ND, as part of a lesson on "creation".

This time last year, I wrote this guest blog post for a dear friend and an "agvocate" I admire greatly, Michele Payn-Knoper at Cause Matters Corp. , about the concept of faith-based agriculture education. THANKS Michele for this opportunity!

Thought you all might be interested in seeing it since it's back to school time and as a farm wife and mother of a pre-kindergarten student, I'm thinking of what is being said about agriculture in the classroom and what I can do to help tell the story of agriculture both in and out of the classroom...

A Hunger For Faith-Based Ag Education

Enjoy!
Sarah :)

Thankful Thursday: Pigs Saved My Life and My Baby

2011-08-18T13:48:00.000-05:00

Our little miracle who arrived at the end of June.

"Pigs Saved My Life and My Baby"...

That title might sound dramatic, but it is the truth.

After having two miscarriages last year, my physician tested me for a number of things. Turns out I have not one, but two, genetic blood clotting disorders. For both disorders bloodclots that cause miscarriage are one of the main side-effects.

One of the disorders is called "Factor V (five) Leiden".

You can learn more about it here:

http://www.fvleiden.org

If this disorder goes undiagnosed, a woman may experience repeated miscarriages and these may occur at just about any point in pregnancy. You can imagine that it just takes a small blood clot to stop the flow of blood through a tiny umbilical cord. Factor V can also cause a dangerous blood clot in the mother (aka ME).

When I was diagnosed I realized I had been walking around like a ticking bomb. I had two healthy pregnancies with my daughters, now 4 and 2, but I was doing some very risky things for a person with Factor V, including long-distance driving, sitting in long meetings without moving around, and simply being pregnant. I could have lost either child at just about any point or had a life-threatening blood clot at just about any moment.

I thank God for the quality care I have recieved from my doctors and nurses and the hematology team at the Roger Maris Center in Fargo that I was able to work with, especially since I live in rural North Dakota in a community of just 15,000 people.

There is no cure for Factor V, but once diagnosed it is fairly simple to treat. I just have to give myself a daily injection of an anticoagulant ("blood thinner") when travelling long distances (ex: long overseas flights where I can't move around very frequently) and during pregnancy.

So here is where my background in agriculture and animal science helped me realize something very interesting.

When Jeremy and I found out we were expecting again in November, I was reading the information on my injection- the generic name is "enoxaparin sodium" and the trade name is "Lovenox"- and right there on the package it said "derived from porcine intestinal mucosa".

That means that this wonderful drug that kept myself and my newborn son alive is from PIG GUTS!

I was ecstatic!

I realize it might sound a bit wierd to be so excited about pig guts, but once upon a time, I raised pigs. I know how much work it is, and I am SO VERY grateful to God for making these wonderful creatures that can sustain human life not just as a source of food, but also pharmaceuticals. I am also grateful to those in the swine industry who have dedicated their lives to the quality care of these animals. I am especially grateful to the scientists who discovered and developed this amazing link between pigs and human health!

Thanks for stopping by on this THANKFUL THURSDAY!

Sarah :)

*If you have had suffered the loss of a baby, know that you are not alone. Feel free to contact me, or talk to a friend or family member about your feelings, or contact one of many support groups:

http://www.missinggrace.org/LinksSupportGroups.html

May God keep you in His tender loving care in your time of need.

Family Photos From a Talented Friend

2011-08-17T12:11:00.000-05:00

I consider myself very fortunate to have such great friends in my life, especially Mrs. Tonya Perkins of Pauly James Photography (www.paulyjamesphotography.com)

Twice a year she comes on over to our home or travels out to our farm fields where she captures the most amazing images of my family. She has a knack for wrangling wiggling kiddos and has even teetered on our pickup tailgate to get just the right shot.

Now of course I think my kids are cute and my husband is a handsome feller, but Tonya has this great eye and I am always pleasantly surprised at the photographs that are the result of her sharing her talents with us and how good she makes us look!

If you're looking for a GREAT photographer in the Jamestown, North Dakota area- CALL TONYA!

Here are the some of the most recent fruits of her labor.

Our baby boy surprised us by arriving a month early, so these were taken ONE day before he arrived. Yes, I had to pause between shots for contractions :)

Our "C.W.", age 4 1/2. Always the professional.

"The wee red head", age 2 1/2. Sweet and stubborn, all in one package :)

"Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters..." (from White Christmas, one of our favorite family movies!)

The Farmer's Daughters. I hope and pray they each get to marry a man that is as much of a prince to them as their Papa is to me.

My big girl. Oh how time flies.

The whole crew!

...And there's the belly! Wowzers!

Now that our baby boy is 6 weeks old, I guess it's about time I get some baby pics on here!

Thanks for stopping by!

Sarah :)

Early 1900's Kansas Wheat Harvest

2011-08-10T11:47:00.000-05:00

Last April I spent two solid days with my husband Jeremy's Grandpa "Bill" Wilson at his kitchen table scanning farm and family photos and recording Grandpa's comments about them. They were two of the best days of my life!

Grandpa turned 90 this past November and he is still as sharp as a tack and VERY funny! The vivid memories of his youth are simply amazing and very humbling.

I am so grateful to Grandpa for sharing his time and memories with me and for showing me his precious photos and artifacts. I also have to say THANK YOU to his long-time girlfriend, Lorraine, (aka Grandma Bair), for watching my girls as Grandpa and I completed our task. C.W. and the wee red head were a very busy 3 and 1 then :)

I thought I would share some of the fruits of our labor with you. I hope you enjoy this little journey into the past to look at wheat harvests of the early 1900's. The Wilson family farmed in Kansas before they moved to North Dakota, so what you see are pics from the Salina, Kansas and Cambria, Kansas areas.

This is Jeremy's Great-grandfather, J. Harry Wilson:

Below, a threshing crew. FYI- Threshers separate the grains of wheat from the straw (stem) and chaff (the rest of the plant that surrounded the grain).

Below, Grandpa Wilson's brother-in-law, John Lang, with two of the mules who likely helped with harvest.

Below, Jeremy's Great-grandfather, J. Harry Wilson, ran this threshing crew in Salina, Kansas, 1905.

Here J. Harry Wilson's crew takes a break for a meal. He is seated on the left and is wearing suspenders. Grandpa didn't know who the rest of the folks were, but we agreed that the women standing in the back had a pretty big job on their hands cooking for that bunch!

This is a photo of the Lang and Wilson families. J. Harry Wilson and his wife, Susan (Jenkins) Wilson, my husband's great-grandparents, are standing in the back row on the right.

The pictures you've just seen were taken in Kansas, but Grandpa Wilson said that when his family settled on the farm we're on now in the early 1930's, his mother, Susan, would haul a load of wheat each year to a mill in Valley City (about 35 miles east of Jamestown) and have it ground into flour. The flour was put into 50 lb. bags and she would use 52 bags a year to feed his family and all the men who worked on the farm. Now THAT is some serious baking!

Time marches on and wheat harvest is upon us once again. Looks like we'll get started today if all goes well and this good weather holds.

These are the combines our family used to use:

And here is the one we use today:

We've come a long way since the early 1900's!

I hope that those who read this take a moment to consider the generations of knowledge and hard work that went into raising the wheat that makes the bread and other foods we enjoy today.

Sarah :)

Wordless Wednesday: Moose!

2011-08-09T15:59:00.001-05:00

This is an appropriate post for Wordless Wednesday because I cannot put into words how excited I was when Jeremy called to tell me that our Assistant Farm Manager, Ben, had spotted two young moose on some land we farm!

When I moved to North Dakota in 2002, there were two things I wanted to see that I have waited my ENTIRE life to see:

1. Moose in the wild.

2. Elk in the wild.

I loaded up the girls as quickly as I could and Jeremy gave us a sprayer ride out across one of our fields just north of Eldridge, North Dakota. (FYI- Eldridge is a few miles west of Jamestown).

I can now check "moose" off my list :)

And so can the little girls on the prairie :)

Dear Driver

2011-08-04T14:00:00.000-05:00

Dear Driver,

If you see this please SLOW DOWN.

Inside this sprayer is a very special person.

He's our Papa and is on his way to take care of our crops. He has worked some long hours lately trying to keep our crops protected. He does this because he loves us and is trying to provide for our family and raise food for yours.

Please help keep him safe by staying a safe distance behind him and not trying to pass until he pulls over and gives you the opportunity to.

From way up there in the cab he has a really good view of what's coming down the road.

We understand that you might be in a hurry, but remember, he may just be hogging the road to keep you from passing and hitting an oncoming vehicle that is just over the next hill.

Sincerely,

The farmer's daughters:

And his new baby boy:

THANK YOU!

Shopscotch

2011-05-29T19:00:00.000-05:00

There are two reasons to be happy about an empty farm shop.

1. It means nothing is broken (at the moment). Okay, so our sprayer is REALLY broken, but it is SO broken that it had to be hauled to town.

2. The fact that no equipment is parked in the shop means that there is this vast, open, level concrete space. It's really not that big, but when you're 4 or 2, the shop seems HUGE.

There is enough room to make laps on the princess bike, trike, and/or scooter.

There is enough room to draw a dinosaur.

There is enough room to play hopscotch, or shall I say, "Shopscotch".

Not only is there plenty of room to run and play in an empty farm shop, but Jeremy even made time to whip up some peanut butter & jelly sandwiches for the Wee Wilson's. A good time all around.

Wordless Wednesday: How Wet Is It?

2011-05-18T12:01:00.001-05:00

If you were not already aware, we had record snowfalls here in North Dakota this winter. That snow melting, in combination with rain on ground that is already saturated from the wet cycle we've been in for a few years has wreaked havoc on our fields and roads. Some have even lost valuable livestock and some, their homes. Our family has been fortunate. Our home is high and dry. However, the fields we farm are not.

A question I keep getting from my friends and family who do not live in North Dakota is "how wet is it?" Here's my Wordless Wednesday response...see for yourself...

Here Jeremy heads out to attempt to plant corn. Thanking God for a few days of good weather and wind that has helped dry out the soil, but I don't know how long this will last as we're expecting more rain in the coming days.

Rain + soil = MUD, and a LOT of it.

However, the Wee Wilson's don't seem to mind. They have been busy "helping" us move trucks and equipment around as we try to find places in our fields that are dry enough to plant.

The Wee Wilson's have mastered a few new things while their Papa has been busy farming. The Wee Red Head (age 2) learned how to "take a pika uh mah hand" with my cell phone (sneaky little stinker :).

And C.W. is just about finished her year of pre-school. Look what she learned to write :)

Although this spring has been quite a challenge, we are grateful that we can seed at least some of our crop. Our thoughts and prayers are with those in other areas who have suffered flooding and other natural disasters far worse than what we are up against.

In my lifetime in agriculture, I have learned to try to maintain a spirit of gratitude and to never curse the weather, especially the rain, because it can ALWAYS be worse.

(Great Depression, Oklahoma, 1936)

A Story of Christian Farmers

2011-03-30T22:59:00.001-05:00

During this season of Lent, as we turn our hearts and minds to the appreciation of the greatest gift God has given us: His son, Jesus Christ, so that we may spend our eternal life in heaven, I thought it appropriate at this time to share this story of two incredible people with you.

My Grandparents have always been an inspiration to me, in their faith, in farming, in their marriage, and in the way they have taken my husband, Jeremy, under their wing and loved him as one of their own.

They are a blessing in so many ways, yet they are so very humble.

They have been involved with the Christian Farmers Outreach (http://www.christianfarmers.com/) for a number of years. In 2006 this article was written about them. I hope you find my Grandparents' story as much of an inspiration as I have.

God bless,

Sarah :)

Wordless Wednesday: Tea for Two and Two for Tea

2011-03-22T09:44:00.000-05:00

Here the wee red head (age 2) prepares and serves "hot tea" (a.k.a. the fleece scraps from the Peter Pan Halloween costume I sewed for Jeremy). These scraps are amazingly versatile. Some days they are scarves for stuffed animals and other days they are "spinach soup"...and they make this really fun sound when vacuumed up...."foomp"!

Meet Moose...

And Mouse...

And White Puppy...

Hope you enjoyed stopping by our little tea party :)

Sarah :)

Happy National Agriculture Day!

2011-03-15T20:27:00.000-05:00

In 1920, J. Harry and Susan Wilson, Jeremy's great grandparents (below), settled where we still farm today.

We are busy raising not only the fifth generation on the Wilson Farm, but also food (corn, wheat, soybeans) and fuel (ethanol) for YOUR family.

(photo by www.paulyjamesphotography.com)

Happy National Agriculture Day!

If you did the following today...

- Ate food

-Used ethanol to fuel your vehicle

-Wore cotton or wool clothing

-Or used one of the thousands of household, pharmaceutical, or health products derived from livestock and plants that a farmer has raised

...remember to THANK a farmer!

Take a few minutes to learn more about the History of Agriculture in the United States and take a gander at these videos to learn how far agriculture has come:

One Hungry Planet

Some Food For Thought

Thank You, America's Farmers

Have a great day!

Sarah :)

Avedore Power Plant

2011-03-11T15:44:00.000-06:00

Today in Denmark, we toured one of the BEST and MOST EFFICIENT power plants in the WORLD. DONG (Danish Oil and Natural Gas) Energy's Avedore Combined Heat and Power Plant is, in one word, impressive. The exterior was designed by an architect to be very appealing to the eye and as you pass through the heavy Viking-style copper door you enter a world of unprecedented technologies.

To see a video about the Avedore Power Plant, click here, scroll down and click on the video. Pictures cannot do it justice, it is simply amazing.

Safety first! North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem and Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring prepare for the plant tour by donning hard hats and an earpiece so the tour guide could be heard as our group maneuvered through the plant.

Here is a sample of the "wood chips" the plant was burning to produce power today.

Susanne Juhl (pronounced Susannah Yool), Deputy Permanent Secretary for National Energy and Climate, gave our group an overview of Danish energy policy. Here the elected officials in our group pose for a photo with Miss Juhl. From left, Representative Phillip Meuller, Senator Jim Dotzenrod, Senator Terry Wanzek, Jamestown Mayor Katie Anderson, Representative Dennis Johnson, Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring, Miss Juhl, Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem, Senator Tim Flakoll, and Representative Craig Headland.

In her presentation, Miss Juhl made the statement that Denmark has "declared a state of energy independence."

My question to Americans, especially North Dakotans who read this: Can WE declare a state of energy independence as well, stop relying on foreign oil and start looking within our borders for the answers to our energy needs? I think we can.

I also think that some of the technologies I have seen these last few days may be part of the answer. Obviously, you can't just "copy and paste" what the Danish are doing and expect it to work in North Dakota, in a completely different political and economic system, but the question our group is trying to answer is "what pieces of the technology that the Danish have developed can be applied successfully in North Dakota"?

A few other fun facts about Danish energy policy:
- Denmark is the ONLY nation in the European Union that is a net energy exporter.
- There are 5,050 wind towers in Denmark.
- 17% of the energy generated from wind towers in Denmark is generated off shore (by wind towers in the ocean).
- The Danish utilize wind, straw, wood, biogas, waste (manure and food waste), and heat pumps as sources of energy.
- The Danish have set a goal of "fossil fuel independence" and have set forth to stop using oil by 2050.
- There currently is no tax on biomass because it is a fairly new source of energy. They will begin to tax biomass in 2020.

Here was my favorite part of today's tour: The fully automated crane that offloaded EIGHT large straw bales at a time (weighing MANY TONS) and stacked them on the conveyor system to be utilized in the power plant. Oh how I wish the baler/wagons I worked with as a kid had this feature :) I remember some really hot, muggy Maryland summers pulling small square bales out of the baler and stacking them on a flatbed wagon and then returning from the field and stacking them (again) in the barn . Built character...right? :)

Hope you enjoyed another virtual adventure in Denmark!
Sarah :)

Inbicon Kalundborg Biomass Refinery Demonstration Plant

2011-03-10T15:46:00.000-06:00

Kalundborg Biomass Refinery Demonstration Plant

Today in Denmark, on my journey to learn more about converting cellulosic biomass into high value products, we had presentations by the Inbicon CEO, Niels Henrikson, Inbicon staff Henrik Boye Jorgenson, and Danish Technological Institute staff Jorgen Hinge.

Here are a few key points:

Neils reviewed the history of DONG Energy's development of Inbicon and the Kalundborg demonstration plant. Their vision is to deliver renewable energy on a stable basis. Currently, DONG Energy produces energy from coal, wind, and oil drilling in the North Sea. Currently, they are making 80% of their energy from coal. In 2009, they utilized 11% biomass. Their goal is to utilize 60% biomass for combined heat and power production by 2020. DONG Energy is a major player in European energy production, employs 6,000 people and had $10 billion (U.S. dollars) in revenue in 2009.

Inbicon, a subsidiary of DONG Energy, desires to be a partner with other companies, providing the knowledge to help build energy plants around the world. In 2009 the Kalundborg plant opened.

ND Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring (standing, on right) presents a thank you gift to Neils Henrikson, CEO of Inbicon (standing, on left) for hosting our group.

Henrik Jorgenson (center, red coat) leads a tour through the plant. Also pictured are Rick Lancaster, Vice President of Great River Energy (on left), and Jim Boyd, representing the Jamestown/Stustman Development Corporation (on right).

Here's our group sporting our safety gear: Steel toed shoes, safety glasses and hard hats.

Click here to learn more about the Kalundborg Biomass Refinery Demonstration Plant

The basics:

Add wheat straw. (Wheat straw is the "stem" of the wheat plant). The actual bales are MUCH larger than this one! About 4 feet tall, 4 feet wide, and 8 feet long.

The straw is "pre-treated" by chopping and heating it, then enzymes are added which liquifies the fibers, then you ferment it with yeast, then you distill it, then you seperate it.

Three energy products result:

Bioethanol, which can be blended with gasoline to fuel your car!

...Solid biofuel (lignin), which can be used to replace coal in power and heat generation.

...and C5 Molasses, which can be used for energy production or animal feed. This smells SO delicious. It would be like candy to a cow!

Hope you enjoyed this virtual tour of the Kalundborg Biomass Refinery Demonstration Plant!

Sarah :)

Velkommen til Kobenhavn!

2011-03-09T14:17:00.000-06:00

Velkommen til Kovenhavn! (Welcome to Copenhagen!)

(check out http://www.visitcopenhagen.com/)

Yesterday/today (it's all running together now) I travelled from Jamestown, North Dakota to Minneapolis, Minnesota (airport tram ride with MN Gov. Tim Pawlenty- cool!) to Amsterdam (capital of the Netherlands) to Copenhagan, Denmark. No real issues until we arrived and learned that there are not one, but SEVEN "Scandic Hotels" in Copenhagan. The first one we went to was NOT the one we needed to be at, so we investigated and then traveled 5 minutes to the correct hotel :)

Dropping off my bags in my tidy little room with the traditional clean lines of Danish design was SUCH a relief!

The view from my hotel room window:

My travelling companions at this point are Jim Boyd, representing the Jamestown/Stutsman Development Corporation (JSDC), Randy Neva, Jamestown-area farmer/rancher, and Jamestown Mayor, Katie Andersen.

Tomorrow we'll be joined by a host of others including local legislators, the ND Agriculture Commissioner, ND Attorney General, and representatives from Great River Energy, The Bank of North Dakota, Great Plains Institute, ND Dept. of Commerce, ND Corn Growers Association, ND Corn Utilization Council, and the ND Grain Growers Association. We'll total 22 when everyone arrives.

I was honored to be invited to be part of this delegation by the JSDC and am charged with the responsibility of representing the interests of our farm and other Jamestown area farmers. See http://www.growingjamestown.com/ for more information on the work of the JSDC.

So, WHY, you ask is our group in Denmark?

Great River Energy and Inbicon, the cellulosic biomass refinery technology subsidiary of the Danish utility company, DONG Energy, are working together to develop and build a cellulosic biomass refinery in North Dakota. The biomass refinery, Dakota Spirit Ag Energy (DSA) will be located in Spiritwood, North Dakota.

Eventually, the goal is to have DSA converting biomass (wheat straw and parts of corn plants other than corn grain called "corn stover") into a variety of energy products including ethanol, molasses, and lignin pellets. DSA would utilize approximately 480,000 tons/year of biomass.

Here in Denmark, Inbicon has a demonstration biomass facility in Kalundborn (about an hour and a half bus ride from Copenhagen).

We're going to take a gander at that plant tomorrow.

So will this work in North Dakota? The jury is still out. We've got a lot to analyze. What are the logistics? How will we grow and harvest the biomass crops and deliver them to the plant? What are the effects on soil health? Most importantly, will this be profitable for local farmers and other parties involved?

My list of questions to answer this week is long, but I'm excited to get learning tomorrow. Stay tuned!

One last note. I sat down with my fellow Jamestownians tonight and enjoyed a delicious supper of chicken cordon bleu. I was entertained by the fact that the menu at our hotel restaurant had a "CLIMATE" section. In this section, plant-based, organic, locally produced foods were proclaimed as superior to other foods, and the production of cod (fish) fillet was even compared to a liter of milk, based on it's carbon emission.

Oh boy, am I ever back in Europe. Don't get me wrong, I really love European farmers, but they are subjected to the whims of a public (and resulting legislators/legislation) that have bought into the "climate change" gimic hook, line, and sinker. (groan).

I happily and gratefully enjoyed my dinner that included pork and chicken and cheese (dairy), along with an array of fresh vegetables, and gave thanks for ALL farmers (not just the organic folks), including my family, who are working hard everyday to raise food using sustainable, environmentally-friendly methods.

Food for thought: If it weren't for the initiative of farmers and the agriculture industry to constantly pursue innovations in efficient and effective methods of feeding and fueling our world, I would be at home in North Dakota, content with the status quo, instead of doing research in Denmark.

THANKS for taking the time to visit my little place in cyberspace,

Sarah :)

Baby Its (Only a Little) Cold Outside!

2011-02-16T20:43:00.000-06:00

This week we've had a rare warm spell in February in North Dakota. This sudden ability to walk outside without the air being so cold it takes your breath away, and being able to leave skin uncovered for short periods of time without risking frostbite, has caused me to look back and see what kept our little family so busy these past months while we were in "hibernation".

Really, there is no such thing as hibernation in North Dakota. We just have another season which I call "winter recreation". The snowmobiles (a.k.a. "sleds") come out of their sheds (and often cruise through the streets of town), and new communities of ice fishing houses crop up on the local reservoir. It really is just as much fun to live here in the winter as it is in the summer. Perhaps I'm a bit biased because in our marriage, Jeremy and I have divided up the family duties and HE'S the one who shovels/blows/plows/scrapes/attacks/hurls the snow. We've had well over 40 inches thus far...and it's only February!

When you've got a 4 year old and a 2 year old with cabin fever, you get creative.....so here's our guide on how we've been keeping the Wee Wilson's busy this winter...

You can rearrange furniture. Perhaps even buy new bunk beds. The children can help with assembly....

...until they're too tired to help anymore...

You can play outside on the swingset.....

...Until the snow gets too deep. Then you bury the swingset under a GIANT snowdrift, continue to blow snow on it, until you have built your very own sledding hill on top of what used to be your garden....
If you're married to a guy named Jeremy Wilson, he may just build a series of steps up to said snow mountain to accomodate for girls who have lots of enthusiasm, but have short legs :) Here they are waiting in anticipation for their first ride on their "yed" (that's "sled" pronounced by the wee red head :)

Then you will teach said children how to avoid being wiped out by an oncoming "yed".

Note: No children were harmed in the making of this film (but I have to admit, it was a close one!).

Pay special attention to Jeremy's instructions at the end of the video...

In case you missed that, he said "When you see a sled coming, you gotta dive out of the way!". That's some good advice, Papa :)

After all that sledding...find a friend who has a fireplace and go to their house to thaw out. We don't have a fireplace, but we enjoy a friend's on occasion...Ahhhh......

Then whip up some "hot chock-it" (the wee red head's pronunciation of "hot chocolate") in your "Moo Mixer". If you don't have one of these gadgets, you NEED one. Now I'm not a big fan of gadgets because we've got a small kitchen, which means we have small cabinets, which means we do not have room for many gadgets, but this one's a keeper! THANKS for sending this to us Aunt Lynne! Someday you'll have to c'mon over for some "hot chock-it" :)

(Warning: The Moo Mixer can crank out some serious r.p.m.'s. So before you cut the kiddos loose with it, teach them how to "pump" the button, instead of "hold" the button, or you'll be wearing your "hot chock-it" :)

Well, that's all for now folks. Happy Winter from balmy Jamestown, North Dakota!

Wordless Wednesday- Life on the Funny Farm- You Write the Caption

2011-01-25T21:44:00.000-06:00

I'm giving my first "Wordless Wednesday" post a shot.

These are simply a bunch of random pics from our home and farm. We're just like every other family in America. We're quirky and downright ridiculous at times, but we love each other "no matter what", as my four year old will tell you.

It just so happens that the vocation we have been called to is feeding YOUR family.

This post is so wordless that YOU get to write the captions!

Have fun! And keep it clean, this is a family show :)

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3.

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10.

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Enjoy the rest of your week! THANKS for stopping by!

Sarah :)

Farmer on a Mission Gives Ag Promo Tips

2011-01-05T20:12:00.000-06:00

Here is a recent article (12/16/10) from AgriNews by Carol Stender on one of the presentations I gave at the Midwest Dairy Expo in St. Cloud, Minnesota entitled "Activism and Agriculture".

Enjoy!

http://www.agrinews.com/farmer/gives/ag/promo/tips/at/midwest/dairy/expo/story-3141.html

The Farmer's Daughters

2010-11-15T21:49:00.000-06:00

This weekend C.W. got to spend some time "working" on the farm with her Papa. We carefully analyzed this situation and sent her on the safest of missions. She was to sit in the pick-up (securely strapped in her car seat) and color while he greased the tractor, then they went to town for parts. I'm told she measured just about every bolt in the bolt section of our local hardware store.

She looked so darned cute on the way out the door, I couldn't help but snap a picture. It's out of focus (I blame it on the wee red head squirming in my other arm), but I don't care. It was a priceless vision. One moment, she is the most elegant tiny ballerina and the next she's sporting her farming gear and a blaze orange hunting vest. Jeremy insisted on the orange vest. I agreed with him that she should wear it, but I thought to myself, if there is a hunter out there that shoots at something blue, with pink princess boots on, that hunter has got some serious problems. She was terribly embarrassed to wear the thing, but we erred on the side of caution.

So off she went with her pink Dora the Explorer bag of coloring supplies, and they had a grand afternoon.

C.W. came back at supper time and reported that she had "driven" Papa's pick-up. Uh-huh. So much for Mr. Safety :) I guess there are just certain things farmer's daughters have to experience when they're growing up. I remember driving my Dad's pickup (solo) around the farm when I was just seven.

I couldn't post about C.W.'s afternoon with her Papa without throwing in a pic of our dear wee red head. So here Davey...er Jeremy... trying on the "coon skin caps" with her at a sporting goods store in Fargo.

Oh what a joy it is to be raising two little farmer's daughters.

My Husband, the Provider, and the Circle of Life.

2010-11-14T22:08:00.000-06:00

Yep, I did it. Went and posted one of those "icky" pictures of a dead deer with it's tongue hanging out. At least it isn't on our Christmas card (sorry, Jaimie, couldn't help myself...hehe :)

I'm so grateful for my husband, Jeremy, who is a wonderful provider for our family. He works so very hard managing our farm. This year, we were blessed with FANTASTIC weather during harvest, so we're done early. What a blessing compared to the challenges of the last two harvests. In 2008, we finished corn harvest in late December (and I delivered our youngest daughter two days later).

Last year, well, last year's harvest never did end until THIS year in April. So needless to say, Jeremy and our crew needed a break.

So for the first time in a few years, Jeremy got a chance to go hunting. The alarm went off long before dawn yesterday and he was out the door to meet our good friend, Casey, who doesn't know this, but I call him "The Deer Whisperer". Oh well, I guess he knows now :)

Here Casey is showing C.W. (in the puppy hat) the deer Jeremy got.

Casey is an excellent hunter and we are so glad to have a good friendship and working relationship with him. When things go right, farmers and hunters can have respectful, symbiotic relationships. The hunter benefits from enjoying a little R&R on our land and taking some venison home and we enjoy a slightly smaller deer population, which helps decrease damage to our crops and decreases the chances of me hitting one of them with my pick-up.

To tell you the truth, I really like deer. Their behavior truly intrigues me. They are ruminants, so they consume roughage and digest it through a four-compartment stomach, just like domesticated sheep, cattle and goats, but they are wild, so I often run comparisons of domesticated vs. wild ruminant behaviors through my head. When I am sitting in the doctor's office or salon (rarely...ha!), I read Field & Stream instead of People Magazine and at home I find myself gravitating toward hunting shows when I get a few minutes to watch TV.

I know, I'm an animal science geek like that.

However, what I like MOST about deer is that we farmers support and care for their habitat all year and eventually they give us a little payback, in the form of venison....YUM...

These steaks are marinating in a mixture of vinegar, vegetable oil, and a McCormick's Garlic Peppercorn seasoning packet.

I'm very thankful today.

First, to God for giving my family the priviledge of caring for His creation, our land and all the wildlife it holds.

Second, for my husband, the provider, for bringing meat home to our family.

Third, for the great hunt he had. He's a little bummed that his hunting this year is over so quickly because he was only out a few hours, but from what I heard of it, it was a nearly perfect hunt. Jeremy dropped this beautiful buck with one shot, straight through both lungs and the heart. He died instantly and simply fell over.

Fourth, I am thankful for the opportunity to explain to my daughter the "circle of life". No, not the Lion King song, but one of the real life lessons that farm kids understand from a young age.

C.W. wanted to touch the deer, so we let her. She wasn't sad, just curious to see what "his fur" felt like. Then we explained that God made all of us, even the deer, and that everything that lives eventually dies, but God has a special purpose for each of our lives. The purpose He gave that deer was to feed our family and we are to be very thankful for that.

Have a safe and bountiful hunting season everyone!

Veteran's Day Thoughts

2010-11-12T22:38:00.000-06:00

Yes, I realize I'm a day late here, but believe me, I did not get through yesterday without thinking of so many who have served our great nation so bravely. There are so many veterans I admire and appreciate that I'd like to talk about, but today I will write of one of the most precious veterans I had the privilege of knowing.

The late Reverend Wilbur Taylor was my childhood preacher at a little country church in a grove of cedar trees. I wish I had a picture of him here in North Dakota, but they're all "back home" in Maryland. This is the best I could do...

Historic picture of Cedar Grove United Methodist Church, Monkton, MD

Reverend Taylor also happened to be the father of my Dad's best friend, Ronnie. Rev. Taylor was one of the gentlest souls I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. Always witty and I enjoyed my many visits with he and his lovely, elegant, ever-smiling, wife, Rae, in their town home in Baltimore City. For all I knew he was a dental technician, then became a preacher later in life. In 2000, I travelled to France to study European agriculture for the summer. I returned home with a thick album of pictures to share. So on my next visit to the Taylor's after my trip, we poured over my album together.

I had no idea he was ever in the service, until he turned the page and stopped abruptly and stared at a picture of a fountain in the center of the city of Angers, France.

He began to quietly tell of his days serving under General Patton in WWII, and how he had been in Angers during the liberation. He told of a few memories of how those that had been caught spying for the Germans were being punished and their heads being shaved in that very fountain. Then he said something I will never forget. "Sarah, the rest you don't ever want to know about".

I knew what he meant. I'm sure he had seen some indescribably horrible things during the War and he wanted to protect my young mind from those images. It was visibly difficult for him to speak about his experiences, but I am so very grateful he did.

What was most shocking to me is that a man who had committed such acts of bravery was so very humble about the sacrifices he had made to protect MY freedom. Yes, MY freedom, decades before I was even born. Through history, every veteran of every war and those that serve during times of peace as well have worked to protect OUR freedom. The very freedom we take for granted so often.

There are so many veterans walking amongst us everyday, so many lying in the lines of quiet graves I have surveyed in Gettysburg, Normandy, Arlington, and so many who are remembered, but who's remains were never found.

Yesterday wasn't just a day my daughter had off of school, but truly a day of remembrance. A day to honor those who deserve so much more from us than just one day for what they have done and all they and their families have given.

God bless each and every one of our precious veterans, especially Reverend Taylor.

I will never miss an opportunity to teach my children about all that you have all done for us. I will never forget you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

When Faith & Farming Collide: Part 3b

2010-11-12T11:53:00.000-06:00

Hello readers- I am still learning some of the details of how to work with Blogger. Somehow TODAY'S post ended up in the August 23 slot.

Please go here to read my newest post: When Faith & Farming Collide: Part 3

THANK YOU!

Hello Again Readers! Happy Belated Halloween!

2010-11-06T20:50:00.000-05:00

Well, hello again blog readers. Believe it or not, I have missed you all. Your comments, your support, and that wonderful feeling of release I get from having vented some pent up feelings from my little office in my little house in North Dakota out into the great big world.

To say it's been a busy month or so would be an MAJOR understatement. I travelled to four countries (U.K., Germany, France, and Belgium), wrangled two kiddos halfway across the country and back by myself (God bless my family "out east" for taking care of them so I could traipse around the globe and Super Husband could harvest our crop), survived an election which I was heavily emotionally invested in, and now I'm back to reality, with a mountain of laundry (22 loads to be exact) to tackle, and too many irons in the fire to count. What I DID make time for was some serious QUALITY time with my little family once we were reunited, attending my three year old's first ballet recital, getting caught up on a gojillion projects (yes, in my book, that is a number and a very large one at that) and a presentation to some stellar dairy producers and dairy enthusiasts this past week at the ND Dairy Convention.

So what shall I use this long-awaited blog post for? Comparing and contrasting European and American agriculture? Capitalism vs. socialism? The shift in D.C. politics? Perhaps an update on harvest 2010, which is mere days away from completion ? NOPE! I'm going to give you a quick belated HAPPY HALLOWEEN wish and send you on your way with some good ole' Wilson Family Pics before it's Christmas :)

Enjoy the pics below and rest of your weekend everyone!

Sarah :)

2007- C.W.'s first Halloween. Jeremy and I were farmers and she was our calf. Okay, not too much of a stretch on the farmer's thing, but hey, it's a start. Oh, and our dear friends in this picture had the BEST Jack o' Lantern EVER!

2008- In this pic I was 7 months pregnant with the wee red head. Jeremy was a cowboy. C.W. was a cowboy too ("NO Mama, not a cow GIRL, a cow BOY!"). I was...drum roll please...Sarah Palin :) This was just a few days before the election and the "Sarah" thing had been an ongoing joke, so I played along.

We had a lot of fun that Halloween and made "Haunted Gingerbread Houses" , all the while eagerly anticipating the wee red head's arrival.

2009- We went with a Scooby Doo family theme. I was Daphne, Jeremy was Fred, and the kids were Scooby and Scrappy.

C.W. had such a big night, she just slept in her costume. Here's where I pat myself on the back for making their costumes with a base of a velour hoodie and pants...super comfy!

2010- Our first family Jack o' Lantern! C.W. says it has a smile just like hers.

We were the cast of Peter Pan. I was Wendy, the talkative, motherly character, of course. Jeremy, my husband, who is a wonderful combination of responsible parent and business manager and somehow manages to see the world with a youthful perspective, was so fittingly, Peter Pan. C.W. was Tinkerbell, who just like any good fairy, could hardly sit still for a picture. Last, but certainly not least, the wee red head was M. Darling. We didn't have a Michael Darling, but she's our little Darling, and what's easier than dressing a 1 year old up in P.J.'s and letting them carry a Teddy Bear all night!?

We went to not one, but TWO, parties as a family. We are so proud that the wee red head mastered saying "Trick or Treat" (which sounded more like "gick or geek") and "Thank You" (which sounded more like "hank ooo"). We all had a grand time and Jeremy and the wee red head even rocked out at the Alvin and the Chipmunks karaoke booth at one of the parties that was themed Toon Town! Yes, I am aware that I have one of the coolest husbands on the planet :)

Von Heyl Farm, Germany

2010-09-24T17:41:00.000-05:00

We toured a farm belonging to Dr. Ludwig von Heyl. Roman artifacts have been found on the farm that are over 2,000 years old. Today the von Heyl family operates this farm which is called "Nonnenhof". It is an obviously historical farm and is a rare find, with 400 contiguous hectares. The oldest buildings on the farm date back to the 1600's, while the newest are from the 1800's. This farm has a historic designation, so all of the improvements Dr. von Heyl makes must match the original style of the buildings. A challenge, but one he has met with innovation and creativity, including taking the roof off of one of the buildings, inserting grain bins, and replacing the roof on this building...

You can find more general information about this farm visit at Jeff Sutton's blog at:

http://www.kfb.org/germany/?p=85

However, I wanted to add an extra tidbit. Dr. von Heyl, who has his Ph.D. in ag. engineering, was the first to use a no-till drill in Germany. (Note: no till simply means not tilling the soil. This improves soil health and allows earth worms and microbes in soil to thrive. I'll blog more on no till later).

He has been using this drill to plant all of his grains for about 20 years.

I sincerely enjoyed visiting with Dr. von Heyl (above) and was excited to find that he has been using similar no-till and cover crop techniques to those which we employ on the Wilson Farm (in certain circles, my husband is even known as "Mr. No Till" :)

I am grateful to our hosts with the German Farmer's Association whom arranged visits with such innovative producers- I am learning A LOT!

Immersed in German Agriculture

2010-09-24T17:38:00.000-05:00

If you're interested in learning more about the adventures of the 2010 McCloy Fellow's in Agriculture, be sure to follow my "fellow fellow", Jeff Sutton, and his blog called Immersed in German Agriculture:

http://www.kfb.org/germany/

Enjoy!

Farmer's Market in Speyer, Germany

2010-09-21T18:20:00.000-05:00

In Germany, due to limited space for growing crops, farmers are finding many niches to maximize profits, including selling their products directly to consumers through farmer's markets. I have many fond memories of helping my family at our stand at farmer's markets in Maryland as a child, so visiting this market brought back many wonderful memories of the energy of the people, the sights of the various goods, and the glorious smells of the variety of foods that can be found at farmer's markets.

A few antique tractors were on display, including this Massey Ferguson. Victor, the son of our tour leader, thoroughly enjoyed the market.

What a crowd! The main street of the city was packed with booths, including homemade plum butter, being cooked on the spot, a sheep shearing demonstration, ovens filled with fresh bread, and beautiful displays of fall vegetables.

Here I am by this fun family of bales.

We found a waffle bakery at the foot of the cathedral in Speyer. The cathedral has a beautiful dome and many kings and other royal family members are buried beneath the cathedral.

That waffle looked and tasted SO good!

Mmmm....Victor thinks that is one good waffle!

First attempt at posting a video on my blog...hope this works...

Schmiedhof Dairy and Tobacco Farm in Germany

2010-09-21T17:32:00.000-05:00

Mr. Roland Bellaire, owner of Schmiedhof Farm explaining how a large section of his farmland will be taken by the government for flood control for the Rhine river. A difficult situation indeed.

Govt. issue eartags on a Fleckvieh calf at Schmiedhof Farm. Required by law as soon as the calf is born. There is a hefty fee for lost tags. Inspectors can drop by the farm anytime to check eartags, without notice.

The main freestall barn where the herd of 70 Fleckvieh cows are kept.

Dominik and his daughter who would rather have him play with her than lead a farm tour. She kept saying "Papa...Papa....". I miss hearing my girls saying Papa. Oh but these three weeks are flying by.

Okay, back to business....

We toured the Schmiedhof Farm in Neupotz, Germany. The farm is owned by Mr. Roland Bellaire and his son, Dominik. They have 412 acres of tillable land, including 62 acres of hay, 55 acres of tobacco, 13.75 acres of parsley, and also some mustard.

Here our host, Dirk Gerling, right, discusses the stats of the Wilson Farm and a small photo book I brought along with Dominik Bellaire. The size of our family's farm, at over 3,000 acres, although just an average farm in North Dakota, seems to be a pretty hot topic here, where farms tend to be much smaller due to the large population base and many more forested areas.

The Bellaire's milk 70 head of Fleckvieh cows. 140 total head of cattle with young stock included.

Average milk production per lactation (each time a cow has a calf she lactates) is 8,500 Liters. Average lactation lasts 370 days. Milkfat percentage is 4.3. Protein percentage in milk is 3.8%

They currently milk in a double four tandem parlor where the cows are lined up head to tail in individual stalls, but they hope to upgrade to a robotic milker in the future.

Roland is currently the chairperson of the county farmer's association.

A gadget is installed on their tractor to change the tire pressure from inside the cab when they go from driving in the field to on the road and vice versa.

Every tractor here is required to have a license plate.

Certainly many differences between how we farm in the U.S. and how they do things here in Germany, but we have a lot of common ground as well. Very grateful to the Bellaire family for taking time out of their busy schedules to show us around their well-run operation.

First day in Neustadt an der Weinstrasse: Learning About Biotechnology

2010-09-18T15:31:00.000-05:00

View from my hotel.

We arrived at Neustadt an der Weinstrasse (aka New Town) two nights ago. Since then we have been led around this region by Dirk Gerling, a 2009 McCloy fellow whom I had the honor of meeting last year when he visited North Dakota. Dirk is the District Manager for the
Bauern & Winzer Verband (the Farmer's and Winery's Association). This organization covers four counties and has about 5,300 members.

Dirk has done a tremendous job lining up farm visits and cultural experiences so that in just a few days we can sample all the best this area has to offer. He is also very patient with our constant barrage of questions, even while cruising on the highway at 160 km, trying to keep us on schedule. Not a problem, as there is no speed limit on the highway here :)

I am constantly impressed at how well respected he is by the farmers in this area, so it is no surprise to me that he has done well positioning his organization as THE source of ag information for the members and providing an array of services for members, including farm financial management assistance, a stellar website, and a listening ear to those facing the many challenges of farming and wine making in a densely populated area.

To start the day, we visited AlPlanta, an institute for plant research that includes a state of the art laboratory, greenhouse and training school for plant breeding and biotechnology. AlPlanta has three main research priorities: fruit diseases and phytoplasmas, RNA-mediated gene regulation, and grapevine biotechnology.

Dr. Wassenegger demonstrating how to analyze DNA while one of my fellow fellow's, Eric, watches.

Dr. Wassenegger in a cooler with thousands of samples of plant tissue. These samples will be used to study plant genetics and plant diseases.

Dr. Michael Wassenegger presented information on genetically modified organisms (GMO's) and the EU and the vast array opportunities and challenges that exist. To feed the growing world population, we in agriculture need a yield increase of 70% by 2050. WOW!

The benefits to utilizing genetically modified plants (such as RoundUp Ready soybeans) include: 1) providing affordable food production; 2) conserving biodiversity (wilderness, wetlands, etc) by savicng additional land from being developed; 3) decreasing agriculture's environmental footprint; 4) decreasing the use of pesticides; 5) providing cost effective production of biofuels; and 6) sustainable economic benefits by increasing genetically modified crop farmers' income.

There have been a number of lawsuits in the EU by farmers wanting to use genetically modified crops, but for now farmers' hands in the EU are tied and they have very limited access to this technology. This certainly presents a challenge as farmers are faced with feeding an increasingly hungry world.

Dr. Wassenegger also presented some of the absolute hypocrises with the current laws for organic farming and livestock production in the E.U. and it is clear that at this point the "bio" (organic) label is basically just a marketing ploy.

The U.S. ranks number one in the world for production of genetically modified crops. I did not realize until today how very fortunate I am as a farmer to have access to biotechnology and the opportunity to grow genetically modified crops.

As he bid us farewell with a wide smile and a good, firm German handshake, Dr. W. said something that really summed up the feelings of so many people in agriculture here: "In the U.S. you are in a happy situation with GMO's. I am jealous."

Here I am outside AlPlanta with the lovely landscape of the Palatinate region in the background.

Wine Tasting Near Bonn, Germany

2010-09-14T15:44:00.000-05:00

One of my fellow fellow's, Herr (Mr.) Maryland, and I get ready to do some tough work....wine tasting :)

Last evening Mr. Klaus Lotz and his lovely wife, Barb, accompanied our group to a wine cooperative near Bonn, Germany called "Mayschofs-Altenahr". 400 grape growers belong to this cooperative which produces many award winning wines.

A gentlemen named Ley, who is also a grape-grower, presented four wines to us and walked us through the wine tasting process. A wonderful lesson in value-added agriculture, and the "culture" of agriculture.

The region has steep inclines where grape harvesting machines cannot be used. Each hectare (2.2 acres) requires 2000 hours of labor to care for and harvest the grapes. Each bunch of grapes is hand "read" and imperfect grapes are separated before the bunches of grapes are sent to the wine making process.

90% of the wine in the area is Burgundy red wine.

This cooperative sells 1 million liters of 80 different kinds of wine each year. One of the best is this one...

It is a 2008 Burgundy with a complex taste, was fermented in German oak barrels and has a 400 year old picture on the label. It costs 14 Euros per bottle.

I sincerely enjoyed sampling the fruits of the cooperative's labor. Some of the best wine I have ever had, and spending an evening learning about the business of wine making amongst good company and very gracious hosts was a joy.

Farm Museum Tour, Wine Tasting, and Feeling Human Again

2010-09-13T16:03:00.000-05:00

Oh, what a wonderful feeling to wake after a full night´s sleep and take a nice long shower (breaking the German rule of water conservation).

I am amazed by the contrast of (in my mind what would be) efficiencies and luxuries here....small cars, houses and hotel rooms fully utilizing every square inch, being sure to clean your plate and `eat with the season´, then enjoying the highest quality of wine (cheaper because it was consumed at the winery), visiting a high-end grocery store, and the rich, delicate chocolates. I realize I may not be truly sampling typical life, as I am a guest here, but there are just certain special things one only gets to experience in Europe.

We visited a farmer´s market.

It was named `Hof´ or farm, and then the farmer´s name (really long S word).

Wonderful selection of berries... getting hungry...

Then we visited a greenhouse- sign says`Plants and Flowers Kolvenbach` (the family who owns it).

Beautiful fall display! The flowers and plants were REALLY inexpensive!

Artichoke blooms...who knew they were so pretty? Mmm...artichokes...sounds good...getting hungrier...

Ohhh!!! Tractor sighting! This guy was crusing along at 60 km per hour, probably hauling silage...That´s one speedy farmer!

Challenges with urbanization...this beautiful farm was turned into a golf course. Golf and horse back riding are reserved for only the rich here due to the cost.

Then we visited an open air museum, similar to Colonial Williamsburg, where they have preserved historic farm buildings and a small village. WONDERFUL opportunity to relax and renew my spirits after a looooooooong day in the city of Frankfurt!!! Aaaaaaahhhhh......

Just a few pics...see more here...

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/LVR-Freilichtmuseum_Kommern

Beautiful barn built in the 1700´s with a straw roof.

Inside one of the historic buildings was the shop of Alfons Grombien, a maker of bushel baskets. The bushel was used in Germany as a unit of measure until 1949, when grain began being measured in metric units.

Apparently when this house was built in 1711, people were very short. FYI- I´m about 5 feet 8 inches tall.

Windmill...stunning...but boy am I hungry...

At last, lunch, in a lovely open air courtyard beside the woods. Frau Connecticut and I split a meal of sausage with mustard sauce and potatoes...

...and we also each had apple juice mixed with sparkling mineral water...so refreshing...

We were joined by a special guest waiting to pick up our bread crumbs.

And that´s what I did through lunch...more on the rest of the day later...

Thanks for stopping by my blog!

One lovely meal caps off one long day in Germany

2010-09-12T15:21:00.001-05:00

Sunset last night over the Atlantic Ocean.

My ride to Frankfurt.

I arrived in Frankfurt at 6:30 a.m. this morning. I spent the day at the airport people-watching and being reminded how much I am NOT into the skinny jean fad.

At long last, I met my travelling companions on our 4 o´clock train to Bonn.

The trip was lovely as our group chatted it up about our varying interests in agriculture and the scenery was breath-taking. The tracks wound along the Rhine River for the two hour trip. Perched on nearly every vineyard-covered hilltop was a "schloss" or castle, reminding me of how new North Dakota is as a state how much longer Germany has been "developed"...hmm...going to have to think more on that one another day.

We arrived in Bonn, the former capitol of Western Germany, and checked into our hotel, the Andreas Hermes Akademie. What a neat and tidy place, with very gracious hosts that handed each of us a pack of sheep-shaped gummy bears as we signed in. A big bonus to a weary traveller. Will have to find some more to take home to my kiddos.

The view from our hotel room.

Mr. Willi Kampmann, Director of International Affairs for the Deutscher Bauernverband (German Farmers Assn.) picked us up and all five of us piled into his car, quite smaller than the `Hi-Ho Diesel` or `Silver´, our family pick-ups. We went to a restaurant called `Bastei`, where we met Willi`s predecessor, Dr. Klaus Lotz.

View of the Rhine from the restaurant.

L to R: Herr Kampmann, Herr Lotz, Frau Connecticut, Herr Maryland ö

Over an amazing meal of a crisp salad with smoked salmon and lemon-caviar, we sipped Reisling, we discussed many of today´s agricultural issues while looking out over the sunset on the Rhine River and a ferry shuttling cars back and forth across the quickly flowing waters.

Lots of ideas were exchanged on farmer´s organization structure, risk management tools in agriculture, the animal rights movement, financial challenges for farmers, politics, and last but certainly not least, our shared passion for FOOD- producing it and eating it!

One LONG day, with a perfect happy ending....

A dessert menu in ENGLISH!!! Ö

oh, and did I mention the ice cream? Simply delectable!

I have now been awake since 7:00 a.m., yesterday. Good night world!

Made it!

2010-09-12T01:34:00.000-05:00

Well, I made it to Germany. I'm in one piece, but very sleep-deprived. Flew overnight to Frankfurt. Poor litle boy screamed every couple of minutes the entire flight. I felt SO badly for his parents! Was able to procure calling card and woke my parents at 2 a.m. to let them know I got here. Hey, they said they wanted me to call...so I did :)

Should have learned German. REALLY should have learned German..more on that later!

Well, I've got to go attempt to find my travelling companions now. We all arrived on different flights at different times. This should be interesting.

Germany-bound to Study International Agriculture!

2010-09-09T08:57:00.000-05:00

Today is a VERY busy day of errands and packing, packing, and some more packing.

I depart at the crack of dawn tomorrow morning for the trip of a lifetime- the McCloy Fellowship in Agriculture. I am honored and extremely grateful to have been awarded this opportunity through the American Farm Bureau Federation. I am also grateful that my family "out east" has agreed to take care of my children while I'm gone so that Jeremy can focus on harvest here on the Wilson Farm.

I will do my best to update my blog with my experiences abroad, but I'm not quite sure about the access I will have to the internet over there, so stay tuned.

I am also excited to get united with my "fellow Fellow's" from Kansas, Maryland and Connecticut! From what I've already gotten to know about these folks through phone, email, and Facebook convo's, they are stellar people, and we're going to have a great time!

Please say a little prayer for safe travels for myself and my girls, and for a safe and abundant harvest here on the farm.

Well, I'm off, toting the following:

2 children. (One of which has been asking me as soon as her eyes opened EVERY day for a week "where are we going tomorrow?", hoping for "on an airplane!" as my response. Today she got her wish!)

1 portable DVD player (so I can maintain my sanity on the flights with one wriggling 1 year old on my lap, and 1 uber-independent 3 year old in the seat next to me).

2 suitcases

1 diaper bag

1 backpack

1 double stroller (Freshly scrubbed to rid the corners of the seats from an accumulation of dismembered Teddy Grahams, and a small rock collection I found in one of the pockets).

2 car seats. (Didn't scrub them...whoops. It's okay, if we are struck by famine, we could live for a week off of the Goldfish wedged under the cushions.)

1 Lightning McQueen backpack. (We can't go anywhere without the Lightning McQueen backpack. Thanks Santa. GREAT idea Santa. Santa, you maybe should have thought of dragging that thing everywhere before you decided to leave it at our house.)

Oh, and let's not forget...1 partridge in a pear tree.

Here's what I will look like at the airport :)

We'll return in about 25 days, my children having had some quality time with family they don't often get to see and myself having filled my brain with all sorts of new knowledge about international agriculture and having made a gaggle of new friends.

What I will miss while I'm gone:
1. My beautiful girls and my sweet, hard-working husband, in no particular order.
2. My pickup and the general independence of being able to drive.
3. The prairie.

Auf wiedersehen! Uh, that's about all I know in German. It's going to be an interesting couple of weeks :)

Another North Dakota Fall on the Way

2010-09-05T21:07:00.000-05:00

It's Labor Day weekend and I've got family "back home" in Maryland making one last trip to the beach for the year, but here in North Dakota we're getting out the long pants and jackets. The Weather Channel tells me it's going to be 46 degrees tomorrow night...brrrr...

So to celebrate the arrival of fall, here is a collection of random late summer/fall pictures from across south east and south central North Dakota that I snapped in my days as a Farm Bureau field staff.

I am now working part-time off the farm as the coordinator for the Young Farmers and Ranchers Program and enjoying more time with my kiddos, but a part of me misses the quiet evening drives across the prairie to go meet with the wonderful farmers and ranchers in the 13 counties I covered.

They will always hold a special place in my heart and so will the beauty and serenity of the North Dakota landscape.

Stutsman County, ND sunset (nearby one of our fields)...

Hawk in flight, LaMoure County, ND.

Oh give me a home where the buffalo roam. Sargent County, ND.

I honestly can't remember where this was taken. Somewhere between Stutsman and Emmons County, ND.

Stacks of hay bales, Emmons County, ND.

Buffalo calves in the sunset, Sargent County, ND

This was taken during 2006 wheat harvest after sunset on our farm. That's Jeremy climbing into the combine. We're finished wheat harvest this year, just waiting on the soybeans and pinto beans now.

Hope you liked the virtual visit to the prairie.

Top 12 Tips For Road Tripping With Tots and a Farmer

2010-09-04T14:26:00.000-05:00

C.W. and M.W. riding in style in "Hi-Ho Silver" (Mama's pickup). Yes, they say "hi ho Silver...awaaaayyyy!" when we take off :)

We recently took a 10 day road trip as a family from North Dakota to Pennsylvania so my 3 year old, C.W., could be the flower girl in my cousin's wedding. This took some serious planning because it is VERY difficult to just pick up and leave the farm while the crop is in the ground. I am grateful for our assistant farm manager, Ben, who stayed behind picking up the slack and working some very long, hot days while we were gone. THANK YOU BEN!

This is Ben. Sorry Ladies, I know the combo of the bib overalls and sunglasses is really something, but he's already got a girlfriend...and we really like her :)

Yes, Jeremy and I spent over FORTY-SIX hours in drive time alone (without potty breaks), and yes, we are still happily married :)

Here's a count down of our top 12 tips that made the trip a relatively stress-free success:

12. CAFFEINE. Jeremy, my farmer husband, who usually works at least a 12 hour day at least 6 days a week, is a coffee addict but even I grabbed a soda (it's called "pop", if you're in ND) on occasion so we could eat a quick supper put the kiddos in their PJ's and drive late into the night while they snoozed in their car seats.

Jeremy's absolute favorite flavor of coffee is Dunkin' Donuts Original Blend, Medium Roast. He will empty the entire display at our local grocery store just to make sure he doesn't run out when he's working long days/nights in the fields.

11. WIPES. When I asked Jeremy for his top road trip tips he said "OMG, wipes...lots of wipes!" Having extra "baby wipes" and a roll of paper towels on hand made for quick clean ups because my children are just like their mother- they spill EVERYTHING and after using numerous highway rest areas, you can't sanitize enough!

THIS is why we stocked up on wipes...the remnants of a s'more.

10. KIDS TUNES that won't drive you crazy. I made two new CD's for this trip just to have some fresh music. I downloaded the girls' favorite themes from PBS cartoons and threw in some Jack Johnson and Taylor Swift that we could all enjoy.

9. NAP TIME TRAINING. Three weeks before we left, at every nap time and bedtime I began playing the same CD of lullabies. By the time we went on our trip when I put the CD in it was a matter of minutes before the kids would zonk out. I had read that this worked, but it AMAZED me how effective it really was. Only problem is that it was so soothing pretty soon Jeremy, who is accustomed to the fast pace of farming and rocking out in the combine and tractor, was passed out too!

8. TRAVEL JOURNAL. I brought along a new composition notebook and a roll of scotch tape. Along the way, C.W. saved little mementos and we taped them in her journal. Each day she would tell me her favorite memories of our trip and I would record them for her and she would make a little drawing to go along with it. It is precious! I still haven't started her baby scrapbook (and she's nearly four! eek!) so I knew this would be a quick and fun way to have an "instant scrapbook" of our trip as soon as we got home. She is very proud of it and shows it to everyone who visits!

7. SNACK BOWLS. Pre-pack little "take and throw" snack bowls for the entire trip. Each morning just pick the day's snack bowls and hit the road. Also, my 1 year old had nearly mess-free snacks when I tucked the bowl in her bib pouch.

6. SURPRISE BOX. I'm a frugal farm wife, so months before our trip I began hiding away small toys/DVD's/play jewelry from around the house and wrapped them up individually. Putting small toys in the little favor bags we got from a recent wedding worked well too. I felt a little guilty saying to the kids "Gosh, I don't know where such-and-such got to" for a while, but the joy the surprise box brought far overrode the guilt. If the girls behaved themselves, each time we completed a leg of our journey, they got to pick an item out of the surprise box. It worked like a charm and it was FREE!

5. ARTS & CRAFTS BAG. I put together a little tote bag of crayons, markers, coloring books, sheets of stickers, pipe cleaners, and a mini clip board with pads of paper. I also printed out coloring sheets of CW's favorite characters and instructions for simple paper crafts. It made for many hours of creativity, but be sure to ration out the supplies.

4. FM TRANSMITTER for DVD player. This gadget allowed us to run the sound from the DVD player through the pickup's stereo system. I was impressed at the "theatre experience" in the back seat when we set the speakers on "rear" and if you want to listen along, you can. Jeremy says the movie "Cars" rocks on the surround sound! Our transmitter cost about $30 at Radio Shack.

3. No surprise here...DVD PLAYER. I'm not one to "plug in" my children. We don't have video games, and we borrow one movie a week from the local library, but boy oh boy was that DVD player handy! Take more DVD's than you think you will need. We watched two each day- one in the mid- morning and one after supper before bedtime. A lifesaver!

2. TOM TOM or whatever GPS gadget you prefer. It helped us plan an efficient route and find good stops along the way. It was pretty funny when C.W. asked "are we there yet?" and Jeremy responded "Nope. 17.3 miles remaining with light traffic until we reach our destination". We even caught C.W. saying "Thanks Mandy!" to the voice on the Tom Tom once when it told us to turn :) The Tom Tom appeased Jeremy, because he's used to having GPS in all our farm equipment. It was also good motivation when driving late at night to see the miles count down!

....and....drum roll please....the Wilson Family's Top Tip For Road Tripping...

ATTITUDE! We set it in our mind that we were leaving the farm behind and we were going to have a good time, no matter what :)

Except for daily calls to check in on things with Ben and mildly obsessive hometown weather checks on the radar app on Jeremy's cell phone (hey, we've got an operating loan to pay back with those crops in the field!), we were able to get away and make some wonderful family memories together.

We built in "fun" stops along the way. We visited water parks (http://www.kalahariresorts.com/, http://www.greatwolf.com/), a train museum (http://www.strasburgrailroad.com/) and of course, Cabela's (twice). I'm thinking this pic of Jeremy at Cabela's will make the family Christmas card this year :)

Hope you've found these tips helpful! Good luck on your next trip!

Change the Price of Food?

2010-09-04T00:07:00.000-05:00

On a flight to Chicago this past week I experienced a bit of divine intervention. I was seated right next to a gal, Kate, who was about my age. She appeared to be well-traveled, educated, and friendly. Having recently watched Food Inc., once she found out I was a farmer, she was full of REALLY GREAT questions and one in particular has got me thinking.

"When you go into a grocery store, do you wish you could change the price of food?"

My response was "yes...er...no...er...well, maybe...uh...no."

I fumbled over my answer a bit because that is one loaded question, but then a great conversation ensued about the following points:

1. If increasing the price of food in the grocery store meant that as a farmer I would make more money, then, well sure that would be nice. Wouldn't any business person trying to make an honest living want to increase their profit margin? YES, but it's not that simple.

2. Here in the United States, we enjoy the LOWEST food costs in the WORLD. Only about 10% of our disposable income is spent on food. In some countries that percentage can be as high as 55%. Can you imagine what you would have to chop out of your household budget these days if you had 45% less money to spend? Say goodbye to your SUV, electronic gadgets, vacations, nights out on the town, even "spendy trendy food". You'd just be trying to get the biggest bang for your food buck. So in that respect, NO, I would not want the price of food at the retail level to go up. Our entire economy benefits from our current food affordability.

3. The price farmers receive for what we produce really doesn't change retail food prices very much. As you can see from the illustration below, farmers only receive about 19 cents of every dollar you spend on food (Source: Corner posts at http://www.ageducate.org/).

4. I'm a shopper too. On our farm this year we are raising corn, wheat, soybeans and pinto beans. I do cook quite often with our pinto beans straight from the field. This just involves picking out small stones, rinsing off some dust/dirt, and they're good to go. They make GREAT soups/stews. However, everything else has to be processed before it is in human edible form. So, in that respect, NO, I do not want food prices to increase, because I'm just like every other Mom out there trying to stretch the family dollar.

5. Now this point I stewed on after my flight had landed and I had bid Kate farewell and I hope the good Lord will forgive me for this one. Some part of me wants to say YES, if I could change the price of food, I would charge an arm and a leg for the food my family produces, but only to those who are leading anti-agriculture activist groups that are making millions of dollars by selling fear of modern farming to the American public and duping people out of their hard-earned dollars. Ironically, people have so many of those hard-earned dollars to donate to the anti-agriculture fundraising machine because innovative farmers have kept our food so affordable...Hmmm...

I know that might sound mean, but please hear me out. It takes a pretty thick skin to take a verbal lashing from the media every single day, where farmers are blamed for everything from obesity, cancer, diabetes, health care costs, the price of food and fuel, etc. We're doing our best to stay focused on the task at hand- producing safe food in the most environmentally sound and efficient manner possible. My family works so very hard to raise our crops and to make sure our soil is healthy for generations to come. Even tonight, Saturday night of Labor Day weekend, my husband is working long past sunset, seeding cover crops to protect our recently harvested wheat fields.

PLEASE be like my new friend, Kate, and ASK A FARMER next time you're wondering about how your food is produced.

If you have seen Food Inc. and have questions/concerns and don't personally know a farmer, the American AgriWomen put together a GREAT document to set the record straight about the myths in Food Inc.

http://americanagriwomen.org/files/response%20to%20food%20inc.pdf

Have a wonderful Labor Day weekend everyone. I hope you'll remember to THANK A FARMER when you're sitting down to eat with your family and friends.

"Farm Tech" Exhibit at the Chicago Museum of Science & Industry

2010-09-03T22:50:00.000-05:00

WELCOME...

Last week I had the opportunity to visit the "Farm Tech" exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. I hope that someday you will get a chance to see it too!

The place is HUGE! As you enter the exhibit you are greeted by a real-life tractor!

I had fun trying out the combine simulator. Inside the cab a recording of a local ag report was even on the radio! You'll see they've got some real corn plants that blend right into the GIANT screen.

This combine simulator is a real combine, it's just running really sssssllllllooooowwwwww....this way you can see how all the parts move and the corn is harvested. They also have video kiosk's surrounding each piece of equipment so you can learn more detail about how the machines work.

There are some FUN stops too! This life size cow photo op. was a big hit with the kiddos (and their parents who were snapping away)!

Even with all my ag. experience, I learned a lot. Throughout the exhibit there are "farm facts" along the walls. I was so happy to see that the exhibit really embraced and celebrated the innovations in agriculture that have helped us to have such a safe and abundant food supply!

I even found my self-portrait! This soybean farmer welcomed me into her kitchen....

Where I found chocolate cake.... yum...

...and the icing on the cake (pun intended) was that I learned that soybean farmers (like my family) provide so many of the ingredients that I use to cook with everyday in my own kitchen!

For example, the chickens that made the eggs for this cake were fed a diet containing soybean meal, the wheat flour was fortified with soy flour for added protein and vitamins, the oil in the cake is made from soybeans, and the chocolate icing contains soybean oil to help it maintain it's liquid form!

Hope you enjoyed this "virtual visit" to the Farm Tech exhibit!

For more information:

http://www.msichicago.org/whats-here/exhibits/farm-tech/

Birthday on the Funny Farm

2010-09-03T22:09:00.001-05:00

A few days ago, I was awakened the morning of my birthday by Jeremy, aka Super Husband, and my three year old daughter, C.W., serenading me over a platter of flaming cupcakes. The candles melted down to nearly nothing because C.W. broke into the encore of "are ya 1?...are ya 2?...are ya 3?" and continued until she reached my age. Can't believe we didn't burn the house down!

As I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and they began to focus, I noticed that Jeremy had spelled out "S-A-R-A-H I-S O-L-D" in icing letters on the cupcakes. Ah yes, my jokester husband. He's such a punk, but hey, the man made me cupcakes! AND he manned the fort and worked his tail off on our farm while I was gallavanting around Chicago this past week at a conference. He was definately scoring some points, even with the smarty pants message on the cupcakes :)

Then the fun began. C.W. instructed me to stay in bed, while she ran to get my presents. The two of them marched back in with FOUR packages, all wrapped up, emblazened with scribbles. It was apparent that the wee red head, my one year old daughter who was still snoozing, had assisted with Operation Mama's Birthday.

C.W. was nearly beside herself with excitment and cheering me on open my gifts. As I unwrapped the first one, I discovered the ballet slippers I had ordered for her. She was ecstatic! Jeremy noticed my confused look and while giggling, blurted out "We wrapped up everything that came in the mail this week while you were in Chicago! Hurry up and open them, we've been dying to know what they all are!"

At this point, we were all laughing pretty hard, and I continued to unwrap. Next came the shoes I had ordered for my upcoming trip to Germany, then came a book I had ordered for the wee red head. C.W. was elated to be in on a surprise for sister. Last was a flat package which turned out to be the owners manual to my new Dyson vacuum cleaner!

Now before you sigh and think "oh that dunce got his wife a vacuum for her birthday", I want to tell you that I have REALLY been wanting a new vacuum, as I've been limping along the one I got in college for years and now it's officially broken. Also, the night before my birthday he arranged for a sitter to stay extra late, picked me up at the airport when I got home from Chicago and we had a romantic dinner at our local Mexican restaurant, La Carreta.

Jeremy hit my birthday out of the park!

What I really wanted for my birthday was a good laugh (check!), a sweet treat (we broke all the rules and ate cupcakes for breakfast- check!), a reminder of the multitude of blessings the Lord has given me (check!), and I was really hoping for something special from my children. Let me tell you, the image of my daughter's beautiful face in the candlelight, framed by her golden locks of hair, while she sang to me was the best gift a mother could ask for (check!).

THANK YOU to my Super Husband for being my hero :) I'm looking forward to spending many more birthday's with him on the Funny Farm :)

Farmer On A Mission

Another Reason to Drink Milk!

Frosty Morning on the Farm

Apfelschorle!

Bang, crash!...well, what do we have here?

My Baby Made Me Clean My Desk

Three little words that mean so much.

Great ag books for kids...now with lesson plans!

One little birdie can make one big mess.

Wilson Family Halloween

Be a Blessing

Thankful Thursday: Winterizing the Wee Wilsons

This Makes the Wee Redhead Happy

Thankful Thursday: I sure hope that's my husband!

My Harvest Prayer

Why Farm Tours Matter.

Moovelous Monday: Cow Teeth

Thankful Thursday: Mama's View of Wheat Harvest

"Give the world the best you have anyway."

JP Loves Cotton!

Progressive Dairyman: Dairy Blogs We Love

Wordless Wednesday: Faith, Hope, Love.

You're Invited! CRP Conversion Plots & Cover Crops Tour

What is a Farmer?

A Hunger For Faith-Based Ag Education

Thankful Thursday: Pigs Saved My Life and My Baby

Family Photos From a Talented Friend

Early 1900's Kansas Wheat Harvest

Wordless Wednesday: Moose!

Dear Driver

Shopscotch

Wordless Wednesday: How Wet Is It?

A Story of Christian Farmers

Wordless Wednesday: Tea for Two and Two for Tea

Recommended Reading: "Heaven is for Real"

Happy National Agriculture Day!

Avedore Power Plant

Inbicon Kalundborg Biomass Refinery Demonstration Plant

Velkommen til Kobenhavn!

Baby Its (Only a Little) Cold Outside!

Wordless Wednesday- Life on the Funny Farm- You Write the Caption

Farmer on a Mission Gives Ag Promo Tips

The Farmer's Daughters

My Husband, the Provider, and the Circle of Life.

Veteran's Day Thoughts

When Faith & Farming Collide: Part 3b

Hello Again Readers! Happy Belated Halloween!

Von Heyl Farm, Germany

Immersed in German Agriculture

Farmer's Market in Speyer, Germany

Schmiedhof Dairy and Tobacco Farm in Germany

First day in Neustadt an der Weinstrasse: Learning About Biotechnology

Wine Tasting Near Bonn, Germany

Farm Museum Tour, Wine Tasting, and Feeling Human Again

One lovely meal caps off one long day in Germany

Made it!

Germany-bound to Study International Agriculture!

Another North Dakota Fall on the Way

Top 12 Tips For Road Tripping With Tots and a Farmer

Change the Price of Food?

"Farm Tech" Exhibit at the Chicago Museum of Science & Industry

Birthday on the Funny Farm