Progressive Dairyman: Dairy Blogs We Love

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.

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

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?

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

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

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

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 :)