I've Been Shooting Farming in the Foot: Three Things I Wish We'd Stop Saying in Agriculture.

Hello, I'm a farmer. I've been shooting myself in the foot.

Here's how.

For years, we in agriculture, have raved about the redeeming qualities of "family farms".


Don't get me wrong, I loved growing up working with my family on our farm.

That's me, part-time grain cart driver, full-time Mama.

Today, I love farming with my husband and children, but what if you were not born into a "family farm"? How would that make you feel about farming? Is there some club that you didn't get invited to? Do you somehow not belong unless you have "blood" in farming?

What if your farm is experiencing success and is growing and you need to hire help?
How does this make non-family employees on farms feel? Like they're less important than the family members on the farm team? Not so. I care for our non-family team members (and their dogs) as much as I care about my own flesh and blood.


Every member of our farm team is important. Large, small, K9, I care about them all.

What if you exited a family farming partnership?  What kind of guilt would you carry for "breaking up the family farm", even if it was the right thing to do? Not all families work together in businesses in town. Not all families are meant to farm together either.

Worst of all, the term "family farm" has been hijacked and is being used in the media as a whiny, pity-filled, political pawn.

Don't feel sorry for me. I love my vocation. I'm happy with my choice.

As just 2% of the U.S. population (Source: American Farm Bureau Federation), we farmers better get really excited about recruiting future farmers and agribusiness professionals to support us and our peers, and we better do it quickly.

I say bring on the first generation agriculturalists! Celebrate them! Mentor them!

So, please, STOP SAYING "FAMILY FARM", just call it a "FARM".

PERIOD.

The second way I've been shooting farming in the foot is calling what we do an "industry".

For years we've called ourselves an "industry". Rolls right off the tongue. Yes, we grow things and make things. Yes, we use lots of mechanization, but "industry" sounds cold. It doesn't sound enjoyable. It sounds inhuman.  What I love most about agriculture is the culture, our people.

We are a "community".  Even those we bid against for land rental contracts, we stop and help if they're stuck in the mud or broken down, and they do the same for us.  We go to church, 4-H, and school together.  In my opinion, rural communities are the best communities. Let's start talking about why we love living where we live. Afterall, most farms are rural and immobile. If we're going to recruit first-generation farmers (or convince our own kids to come back to our farms), we'd better start talking up why we love living where we live and the communities we are thriving in.

The third, and final, term, I'm guilty of using, that is further alienating those who choose to invest in what we grow; "Consumers".

This one is tough. It's been engrained since my Dairy Princess days.

1996-97 Maryland Dairy Princess.
A life changing experience and my first opportunity to hear what the public really thinks about agriculture.

However, these days I am a parent. I do most (but not all) of the grocery shopping. I'm on the production end of agriculture as well as the retail end and I don't like being called a "consumer".  That makes me feel like I am mowing through life like a Hungry Hungry Hippo.

This is Hungry Hungry Hippos, in case you weren't a child in the 1980's :)

Call me a "parent". Call me a "customer". Call me a "food decision maker" because I am important and with every trip I take to the grocery store, I am voting with my dollars. Better yet, call me a "food choice Mom",  but please don't call me a "consumer".

Thank you for hearing me out.  If you, like me, are going to try to change the way you talk about farming, which hopefully changes how people perceive farming, THANK YOU.

God Bless,
Sarah :)

"Then he (Christ) said to his disciples. "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.  Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." Matthew 9:37-38, NIV

Carpet From Corn!

Yesterday something rare happened.  Perhaps even naughty.

 

Okay, really nothing naughty about it, but it felt wickedly good to break the rules of our "regularly scheduled life" :)

 

Jeremy and I skipped out on a conference we had planned to attend. 

 

It's called the Cornvention and it is the annual meeting of the North Dakota Corn Growers Association.  Yes, you guessed it, there you can learn lots about growing corn in North Dakota.

 

(Click HERE for a video on how we harvest corn on our farm.)

 

However, there is something going on in our lives that has temporarily taken precedence over corn.

 

We're giving the Wilson family farm house a makeover. 

 

This requires us to make approximately 80,000 little decisions that when they come together will create a new home for our family.

 

Yesterday we tackled some decisions about cabinets and flooring.

 

There is some irony here. As we were skipping out on the Cornvention (gasp!), we discovered that Mohawk (which, to my knowledge, is a branch of DuPont) has a new line of carpet.

 

It's called SmartStrand Silk.

 

It is THE SOFTEST carpet I have ever touched.  Softer than my daughter's favorite teddy bear!

 

AND the best part is that it is made from CORN!!!

 

The same corn we grow in our fields!  We have have 79,999 more decisions to make, but I'm pretty sure we're sold on this carpet :)

 

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by! And if we missed you at the Cornvention, we'll see you next year!

Sarah :)

 

"So God Made a Farmer" Featured In Dodge Super Bowl Ad

It's true, God made a farmer.  In fact, the first job assigned to mankind in the Bible was that of a farmer.

Genesis (the first book of the Bible), chapter 1, verse 26 states:

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

One of my all time favorite recordings is that of Paul Harvey reading the poem "So God Made a Farmer".

I have tried and tried to find the original recording of this and who the author was.  Rumor has it that Mr. Harvey read it first at an American Farm Bureau Federation Annual Convention ages ago, but no one at the AFBF office could find it.  I've also heard he read it at a National FFA Convention years ago as well.

Either way, this simple, honest, ruggedly beautiful poem has found it's way into an ad in the Super Bowl.

Watch it here:

http://www.ramtrucks.com/en/keepplowing/

Here's the irony.

I missed it! Tonight my family arrived home completely exhausted (in that "my brain is full of new and exciting ideas" kind of way) from a stellar North Dakota Farm Bureau Leadership Conference (see www.ndfb.org/young for more info).

Upon getting all the children to sleep, and thinking I could finally tune in to the Super Bowl, I realized my middle child is to be the first "snack kid" of the month at preschool in the morning.  Alas, we didn't have enough snacks in the house. So I ran to the grocery store "real quick like" and upon pulling back into my garage, my phone started buzzing like mad and my Facebook wall was lighting up with comments like this...

"...the Paul Harvey commercial was for you..."

"Loved the "Farmer" commercial on the Superbowl and thought of you and your family!!"

"How'd you like the farmer ad?"

I immediately thought,  WHAT FARMER AD???

Luckily, minutes later, a friend posted the link and I was able to watch the "farmer" commercial, for Dodge Trucks, online.

I have to admit, I teared up watching it, and my heart grew three sizes from so many comments that those images reminded people of me and my family.  (Thank you, Facebook friends!)

Tonight, MILLIONS of people around the world heard a recording from decades ago that reflects values and hopes that still ring true on farms and ranches across our nation and around the world.



W.C. "Bill" Wilson (1920-2011) introduces his two year old great-granddaughter to a newborn kitten on our farm.

Tonight, one company chose to spend invest a lot of money to honor two things:

God and farmers.  This is perhaps not the most politically correct thing to do, but it was right and it was good.

For that I am deeply grateful. Although three of the three (running) pickups on our farm wear the Ford emblem, I have to say, well done, Dodge, well done.

Sarah :)

p.s. There's another excellent video by Farms.com using the same Paul Harvey speech here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuzhwkaNC40

AND more of my friends who blog about agriculture are talking about the Dodge ad:

Katie over at "The Pinke Post"

Janice over at "A Colorful Adventure"

Brandi over at Buzzard's Beat

Carrie over at "Dairy Carrie"

Frosty Winter Wonderland on the Wilson Farm

Last February, I blogged about a frosty morning on our farm.

A few weeks ago I pulled into our farmyard to find another picturesque frosty winter wonderland.  The air seemed almost blue and it was completely still and silent.  The kind of peacefulness you can only find on the prairie.

I snapped these pics with my iPhone.  Let's be honest, I don't carry a camera since I was given this phone...thanks for the "iloveyouPhone", Jeremy Wilson :)

Hope you enjoy these and I hope they give you a little virtual breath of the fresh air and peace we enjoy here on our farm on winter mornings (before any equipment is running :)

In the background you may notice some construction going on. We're giving the old Wilson farm house a new life :)

 

Grandpa Wilson fashioned this mail box post from one of the stall dividers from the old barn that housed the family's dairy cows.

More agricultural relics...

An old steam shovel scoop.  It's massive.

No rain in the gauge today :)

 I was impressed at the difference in the frost thickness on each side of the branch.

God's handiwork sure is amazing.  What beauty he gives us each day, but it's up to us to choose to enjoy it.

Sarah :)

 

"It was You who set all the boundaries of the earth; You made both summer and winter."

Psalm 74:17

Christmas Shopping for Kids? Check Out This Great Author- Dahlov Ipcar!

Once upon a time, I lived in the rural town town of Freeland, Maryland, which to this day does not contain a stop light, and there stood a church called Middletown United Methodist Church.  My great-grandmother, Lizetta Norris Bedgar, donated the land for that church to be built and eventually my parents were married there.  Years passed and the congregation dwindled, until the doors were closed.  At that time, my Mom was able to get the copy of "One Horse Farm" by Dahlov Ipcar that was in the nursery.

Source of photos: www.islandportpress.com
 

Mom sent it to me here in North Dakota. The pages are tattered and the binding is taped together, but it is a treasure to my little family and one of our favorite bedtime stories.

In fact, I can barely read it without getting choked up, because it parallels the evolution of my family's dairy farm- from horse power to tractor power so closely and I imagine some of the men in my family, some whom have passed on and are dearly missed, having similar conversations.

I recently discovered that the book's author, Dahlov Ipcar, has MANY other WONDERFUL works as well!

My children will be receiving "The Cat at Night" and "Hardscrabble Harvest" this year.

 

 "The Cat at Night" tells of the adventures of a farm cat, while the farm animals (and the farmer) are fast asleep.

 Hardscrabble Harvest is a funny, yet realistic telling of raising a garden, and all the critters that can cause trouble on the farm.

I was also excited to find the board book versions of her Farm Alphabet and Wild Animal Alphabet for my 18 month old son.

The Island Port Press has re-released her books at:

http://www.dahlovipcar.com/

Dahlov's biography is so interesting as well.  She was born in 1917 in Vermont and went on to farm with her husband in Maine.  She is such an intriguing and talented individual, I wish that I could meet her.

Her essay "My Family, My Life, My Art" is a very enjoyable read.  She wrote "Everything about farming was beautiful in my eyes. I loved the Jersey cows with their softly shaded coats more like deer than cows -- their wrinkled white stockings, and their eyes that looked as if they had been outlined with black mascara." 

Ah, she and I have that opinion of Jersey cows in common. FYI- I spent a year serving as a Jersey Cattle Queen :)

Hope you find this helpful as you do some last minute shopping for the youngins' on your list.
Sarah :)

This Christmas Season, Make the Time- In Loving Memory of Grandpa Wilson

This week, one year ago, we were getting ready to make the big trip east with the kiddos for Christmas with my family.  It was a crazy-busy time, but knowing we'd miss the family get-togethers here in North Dakota, I made special plans with my husband's Grandpa's Girlfriend (got that?), Lorraine, to have Christmas supper with Grandpa out at the farm.

 

We had completed our first full year of operating our farm on the Wilson farmstead that Grandpa's father purchased, here in rural Jamestown, North Dakota, in 1935. 

 

They barely scratched a living out of the place in back in the "Dirty Thirties" and somehow recovered from going broke on two other farmsteads in the area. Great-Grandpa and his sons had marched their dairy cows across the countryside from a township away, and were eventually able to move a house onto the place.

The Wilson Farmstead in the 1930's. The verse in the upper left was a favorite of Great-grandmother Susan Wilson's.

Then in 1962, Grandpa, along with friends and family, tore the old house down and in the same spot, built the house that stands today. 

 

There we were in late 2011, with another of the fifth generation of Wilson's on the farm having arrived in our young son.  We had good reason to celebrate!

 

Our normally jovial Grandpa Wilson had just turned 91 in November, and he hadn't let age stand in his way before, but that week, he wasn't really in the Christmas spirit. Grandpa didn't want to decorate. He didn't want to really go anywhere and he wasn't feeling so well after battling a variety of illnesses over the recent months, but once Lorraine (or Grandma Bair, as we refer to her) and I had made supper plans things began to change.

 

When we arrived at the farm that night, we were all happily surprised to find that Grandma had convinced him to decorate the whole house up- every window was decked out- and there in the middle of the living room floor was a sight my girls still talk about- a three foot tall glowing Santa, surrounded by presents.

 

That night Lorraine and I really put out a spread, and I have to give her most of the credit, because we only brought the pork chops and stuffing. It was an old-fashioned Christmas dinner with all the fixings and a sight to behold.

 

Grandpa, Grandma Bair, Jeremy and I, and our three children gathered around the table.

 

We ate, we visited, Grandpa reminisced.  It was like a Norman Rockwell painting brought to life. 

 

After dinner we settled in around the living room and exchanged gifts. Grandpa and Grandma Bair were even good sports and donned the paper crowns that came in their "Christmas crackers", which are a family tradition my Aunt started years ago.

 

 

 

I forgot my camera, so we snapped these with one of our cell phones.

 

These are the last photos I have of our precious Grandpa Wilson. 

 

Later that week, sitting in his chair by the door, with his boots and coat on, waiting for Lorraine to comb her hair so they could go to town, he quietly passed away.

 

Except for a short time in his early married life when he and Ruth (his late wife) lived in town, he had lived all 91 years on the farm. He hadn't spent a day in a nursing home, and was with the second great love of his life when he passed.  I say it was a blessing we had his company as long as we did.  It was a privilege to have spent many hours recording family history with him.  He was a friend, a mentor, a wealth of knowledge, and hardly a day passes where I don't wish I could ask him just one more thing.

 

My question to you today- with all the busyness of this Christmas season, will you MAKE the time to reconnect with a loved one, or make a new friend, or simply find a way to bless someone?  You will never, ever regret it, and it may just be one of the best memories you ever make. This, my friends, is what Christmas is all about.

 

God bless you this CHRISTmas,

Sarah :)

 



 In loving memory of W.C. "Bill" Wilson, November 1, 1920 - December 16, 2011.



Monsanto Representative Visits the Wilson Home and Farm

I first met Janice "JP" Person (otherwise known on Twitter as @JPLovesCotton) when I attended the AgChat Training in Chicago in 2010.

I've blogged about her before...

http://farmeronamission.blogspot.com/2011/10/jp-loves-cotton.html

She was full of energy and I was amazed and what a whiz she was with social media tools. She has helped open my eyes to a whole new realm of connectivity with farmers and ranchers around the world, with those who purchase and consume the end products made from the crops we grow, and folks in between.

We kept running into each other at industry events and keeping in touch online. Here she included me in the list of folks she visited with at the American Farm Bureau Young Farmers & Ranchers Leadership Conference in Orlando...

http://janiceperson.com/social-media/faces-americas-young-farmers-ranchers/

She reads, and references, my blog (scroll down to "Want to know more about wheat?")

http://janiceperson.com/ag-awareness/wheat-fields-missouri-roadtrips-midwest/

Then when she planned a summer vacation to North Dakota, I was flattered that the Wilson Farm made the list of her "must sees".

I wish I could introduce everyone I know to Janice because she is one of those really special people that is completely genuine and by knowing her, I know there are people in the corporate world that really care (and she cares deeply) about those of us trying to make a living in agriculture. She cares enough that she keeps coming back to North Dakota to learn more and to share her expertise and experiences. Even yesterday, when it was REALLY cold, she travelled to Bismarck.

I am writing now because I realized how much I missed seeing her this time around.

She came to North Dakota the first time this summer and she blogged about her experiences...

http://janiceperson.com/travel/can-southern-hospitality-be-matched-in-the-dakotas/

She also made this touching video called "Parenting on the Prairie", which features our family, and causes me to tear up (with joy) everytime I watch it:

http://janiceperson.com/travel/parenting-on-the-prairie-photos-from-my-dakota-vacation-dadchat/

This summer, we met up with Janice at a friends house where she and Jeremy "agnerded"
about farm-related iPhone apps.

Later that week, she stayed with our family and spent the day touring our farm and our town.

She drove one of our tractors.

She checked our crops with us.

She stayed, even though our "guest room" (which doubles as my office) was formerly my six year old's bedroom and is all Disney Princessed-out.

She stayed, even though there is duct tape on the inside of our ONLY bathroom door. (My kids are infamous for playing with the lock, then closing the door behind them, so I took care of that, lol)

She stayed, even though my three year old daughter had wiped poop on our shower curtain. (Apparently, my little gal couldn't reach the toilet paper, so I guess she went for the next closest thing).

Bless her heart! Janice is a representative of one of the largest agricultural corporations in the world (which we are proud to do business with). She could have gone anywhere on her vacation, but she chose to come see our little family in our little town.

Then a few weeks after she left, the most amazing gift arrived.

A lovely card and a USB drive with all the photos she took while she was here. Janice is a VERY talented photographer and I treasure these photos because not only are they candid shots of us just being us, but I'm in them with my family. You see, I'm almost always behind the camera, so photos of me interacting with my family are worth more than precious jewels to me.

God bless you Janice, in all you do. THANK YOU for the work you do at Monsanto and on your personal time. Your passion is inspiring. THANK YOU for choosing to share your talents with agriculture, when you had the freedom to go anywhere and do anything. THANK YOU for making the effort to really get to know the people behind the products you represent.

Our door is always open (and the lock will likely be covered in tape).

Sarah :)

My Favorite Parenting Book Becomes Inadvertently Scandolous

At times throughout my parenting journey, I am inadvertently scandolous.

I have to share with you that my favorite book on parenting (other than the Bible) is

"Making Children Mind Without Losing Yours" by Dr. Kevin Leman.

It is a wonderful guide to parenting that is both entertaining and VERY helpful and was recommended by the wife of a pastor who is a dear friend of our family, which makes the following story all the more blush-inducing.

One evening Jeremy and I got to go on a rare, but well-deserved "real date" (this is a date that does not involve any children or farm equipment).

The babysitter arrived- a lovely gal whom we met through a Bible-study at church.  I gave her instructions, and off we went.

When I returned home and was about to fall into bed, I looked down and realized that I had haphazardly stuck the book into a basket on my nightstand- in plain view of anyone who came in to tend to the baby in the crib in our room.

My jaw dropped.

There it was... "Making Children"! 

 

 

 

Can't make this stuff up. LOL.

 

Sarah :)

 

 

 



Farmer Sarah Visits the Classroom! Coverage by KXNews in Bismarck, North Dakota

Many thanks to my friend Sarah Gustin of KXNews in Bismarck, North Dakota for spending some time with my eldest daughter's kindergarten class this fall to cover this story!

http://www.kxnet.com/story/19709343/farm-education

http://www.kxnet.com" title="KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson">KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson


Now, get on out there and share your agricultural experiences with children in YOUR community!

For more resources go to the American Farm Bureau Federation Foundation at www.agfoundation.org or the National Ag in the Classroom Program at  www.agclassroom.org

Sarah :)

Farmer Style (Gangnam Style Parody) is another hit for Peterson Farm Bros!

The "Peterson Farm Bros" who brought the world "I'm Farming and I Grow It", which has now hit over 7,700,000 views, have struck video gold again with their latest parody video, which is an entertaining and educational tour of how food gets from the farm to our plates.

This time, they do "Farmer Style", which parodies "Gangnam Style", a pop song by South Korean artist PSY. Of course, this is according to Wikipedia, because honestly, I hadn't heard of the song until the Peterson Farm Bros parodied it.  Let's just say Gangnam Style isn't exactly played on K-LOVE or our local AM radio station, so I had missed the memo on how hugely popular it was :)

Watch "Farmer Style" here...

http://youtu.be/LX153eYcVrY

And if you want to see Greg Peterson, the elder Peterson Farm Bro, in person, be sure to attend the 2013 North Dakota Farm Bureau Leadership Conference in Bismarck, February 1-3 as he'll be a featured guest and performer.  You can print a registration form HERE.

This guy has some SERIOUS talent, so be sure to check out his YouTube channel as well:

http://www.youtube.com/user/gregpetersonmusic

 Now be sure to SHARE this video with your friends! Let's help these boys make Farmer Style viral!

Sarah :)

p.s. Fun random fact: The Peterson family is from Salina County, Kansas, where my husband's great-grandparents, J.Harry and Susan Wilson, once farmed in the early 1900's. Small world!

Flabby Farmwife Trains For 5K: Ten Days Left Until The Big Day!

Greetings from the land of temperature swings,


mood swings,

auger swings

and yard swings.

Just as fall was cooling down, it heated back up to 90 degrees, and then back to the 30's again.  We've begun harvest, and with a strange twist of events, the corn was ready before the soybeans. The combines and grain cart are rolling (except for some breakdowns) and the kids are enjoying these last few weeks with no snow and bitter wind so the swing set in the backyard has been as busy as ever.

This also means is that I am having to re-balance my entire schedule (and life in general) to accommodate harvest and had to figure out some new ways to squeeze in running.

However, I am STILL running!  I have to say that I'm pretty proud of myself for having stuck with any sort of athletic activity consistently for over a month.  This is a new record for me.

I set another new record last week too.

I forgot my phone when I went into the YMCA.  Which meant no Couch to 5K app.

So I winged it, and decided to push myself to run/walk a whole 5K (3.1 miles) just had to see if I could do it.

By golly, I DID IT!!! It took me 47 minutes, but I DID IT!

So for the next week, I'm going to "just keep running" (as I'm sure "Dory" would tell me)...



And I'm going to keep fueling up with delicious and nutritious beef...



(I didn't make this salad, some great folks at a restaurant did, but boy was it GOOD!)

 

 

 

My family likes this new exercise routine so much, even the farm cats want to go running :)

Looking forward to seeing some old friends and making some new ones on October 6th at the Beefin' It Up- Fuel For the Finish 5K!

 



 

Thanks for stopping by! - Sarah :)

Our Farm is #WorthTheFight

I love agriculture with every cell in my body.  It is not just a vocation, but a calling.



(Photo by www.janiceperson.com )
Our children are the FIFTH generation on our farm.

Living and working on a farm is the best way I know how to raise a family, but it seems like more and more these days there are forces working against us.

From over-regulation, to misguided legislation, to activists with too much time and money on their hands, to ever-thinning profit margins, the challenges in farming today are many

However, like this awesome new tune called "Worth The Fight" by the band The Departed says (listen here), I'm going to keep "kicking and swinging".

Stand back folks, I've got my big girl gloves on...

 

because this life and our farm are worth the fight!

I don't do this for myself.  Believe me, it would be much easier to sit back, do things like they've always been done, and be apathetic to the threats to agriculture around the world. I'd get a lot more sleep and my house would be much cleaner (...maybe).

Instead, I have chosen to invest my time and efforts and fight for the legacy left by those that went before me.

Jeremy's Grandpa W.C. "Bill" Wilson, just after graduating from high school.

And for the opportunities for those that may choose to follow in my footsteps.

Hoping to inspire some future farmers :)

Check out these posts from my friends in agriculture that think it's #worththefight too!

Props to "Dairy Carrie" for putting this little campaign together:

http://dairycarrie.com/2012/09/11/worth-the-fight-worththefight/

My friend "just down the road" (about 60 miles), Val Wagner:

http://wagfarms.com/2012/09/11/worth-fighting-for/

The man behind "I am Agriculture Proud", Ryan Goodman

http://agricultureproud.com/2012/09/11/love-for-agriculture-and-red-dirt-music-worththefight/

A recent visitor to our farm, Janice Person
http://janiceperson.com/food/gotta-keep-movin-far-from-easy-but-worththefight/

and there are many others so check out the Twitter hashtag #worththefight !

THANKS for stopping by and I hope you'll join me in the fight for the right to feed, clothe, and fuel our world.

Step 1: If you are a North Dakotan, Vote YES for Measure 3, www.ndfeedingfamilies.com

Sarah :)

Farming: "We Do It For You"

Last month I was asked by one of our Jamestown City Council members to write the "We Do It For You" column for our Main Street/Downtown Association Newsletter. (THANKS for the opportunity, Charlie!)
Thought you all might like to read it too! Enjoy! Sarah :)

"Agriculture is the backbone of our economy, making up almost 25 percent of our state’s economic base (Source: ND Department of Agriculture).   To reinforce this fact, I recently compiled a list of local businesses our farm and our family patronized in one year- there were FIFTY!  There were the obvious- our local implement dealers, tire repair service, seed, fuel, fertilizer and crop protection product suppliers, but many more were on Main Street and in Downtown Jamestown- our bank, grocer, office supply store, dry cleaning service, restaurants, gift shops, etc.

Main Street, Jamestown, North Dakota (Source: ScenicDakotas.com)

Along with having such a positive economic impact, the values that have carried farms and ranches through the generations are the heart of our community.  Every day farmers and ranchers are working hard to provide safe, wholesome, consistent, affordable products, in an environmentally conscience manner, for all of us to enjoy.

Harvesting soybeans with a combine.

With some help from Stutsman County Extension Agent, Lance Brower, I discovered that according to the National Ag Statistics Service and US Census, there are 1,043 farmers in Stutsman County.  According to the American Farm Bureau Federation, back in 1940, each farmer fed just 19 people.  Today, the average American farm consists of 446 acres and each farmer feeds 154 people.  However, Mr. Brower and I found that in Stutsman County, our average farm is 1,144 acres and each of our local farmers feeds 398 people!

Jeremy Wilson. One of 1,043 farmers in Stutsman County, each feeding 398 people each year!

While farmers and ranchers have increased our overall productivity, we have significantly increased our efficiency as well.  For example, Dr. Jude Capper, Washington State animal scientist, writes “Modern dairy practices require considerably fewer resources than dairying in 1944 with 21% of animals, 23% of feedstuffs, 35% of the water, and only 10% of the land required to produce the same 1 billion kg of milk. Waste outputs were similarly reduced, with modern dairy systems producing 24% of the manure… The carbon footprint per billion kilograms of milk produced in 2007 was 37% of equivalent milk production in 1944.”  Thanks to technology, the same trend of making more with less is happening in every sector of agriculture.

Dumping soybeans from the combines into the semi.

 Jeremy and I farm because we want to have successful business that will provide for our family for generations to come and we certainly love the work that we do, but at the end of the day, we farm because God has called us to help feed His people.  Truly, we do it for you."

Jeremy and Sarah Wilson own and operate J.S. Wilson Farm in Jamestown, North Dakota.  They have three children who are the fifth generation on the Wilson Farm. They are the winners of the 2011 Stutsman County Soil Conservation Achievement Award.  Sarah is also a professional speaker and blogger at http://farmeronamission.blogspot.com

Contest: Name the Triplet Calves, Win a Dairy Good Prize Package!

What an exciting day July 14th was!

TRIPLET calves arrived at the neighboring dairy farm, Entzminger Dairy!

We partner with Entzminger Dairy on our farm.  In the spring and fall, they bring a group of cattle over to graze on some of our land.

The Entzminger family and the employees on their farm take EXCELLENT care of their cattle and we're proud to work with them. Not only are healthy dairy products for my family made with the milk they produce, but their cattle also help keep our soil fertile to grow better crops.

Pretty great recycling program!

Entzminger Dairy also hosts many local school children each year on farm tours. 

So what are the chances of triplet Holstein calves? According to Holstein World, 1 in 105,000!

You can imagine how excited everyone at the dairy was when these little ones arrived!

My friend, Bobbi Entzminger, notified me on Facebook of this incredible birth and sent along some photos to share!

There are two heifers (girls), numbers 200 and 201.  At the dairy, cattle are individually identified with eartags so they can get the best treatment possible.

There was also a bull calf (male), as seen in the foreground.  Looks like one of his sisters has a case of the wiggles! Word spread pretty quickly about these wee ones and the dairy employees, including Armondo in the photo above, shared in the joy of their arrival! 

Cow number 931 (owned by Mitch Entzminger) is the dam (mother) and the sire (father) is bull 187691 Cobra from the Genex Cooperative.
That's a whole lot of calf to have carried for 9 months! They're so new in these two photos that they're just learning how to hold themselves up.  Pretty impressive that within minutes of being born, calves can stand up.

Here little 201 gets a check-up, while 200 looks on from her comfortable spot in the straw.  Each calf at the dairy (except these special little gals who get to hang out together) gets an individual pen with a bucket of fresh water every day. Over their first two months they will transition from being bottle fed milk to eating grain from a bucket.

To celebrate this special arrival, together with the Entzminger dairy family, I'm hosting a Calf Naming Contest. 


In the comment section below, leave your suggestions for the names of these calves (remember: two girls and a boy) and on August 6th, the Entzmingers will choose the winner of this MOOVELOUS prize package which has been so graciously donated by the Midwest Dairy Association!

Here is what is included, from left to right:

Dairy Makes Sense potholder, Chocolate Milk Sports Fuel information, Dairy Makes Sense lunch bag, Dairy Makes Sense pizza cutter, Recipe Cards (Pumpkin Pie Squares, Pulled Pork Tacos, Mozzarella Pepper Salsa, Blues Buster Smoothie, Pumpkin Pancakes, and Peanut Butter & Banana Breakfast Shake), 2 samples of Whey Protein, Whey protein informational pamphlet, Cow pen, Whey protein recipe cards and a Dairy Makes Sense blender bottle.

GOOD LUCK, CONTESTANTS!!!

Thanks for stopping by,

Sarah :)

p.s You may also be interested in this poem, by dairy manager, Terry Entzminger:

http://farmeronamission.blogspot.com/2010/05/may-our-farmers-stand-with-pride.html