Michigan State University class tour

Today Michigan State University animal science professor Miriam Weber Nielsen brought her class out for a tour! She's brought many classes in the past, but it has been a few years now, and so it was so wonderful having them back.

Kris and I talked about our farm, how we do it, things that might be different than other farms they have been to (like cattle on pasture and natural bull breeding), and the economics of dairy farming. We walked through the calf barn, then went to the dairy barns, manure lagoon, and showed them the expansion on the free stall barn - the stalls and the maternity section.

Points:

- I love giving tours of the farm. Many of these students had been on a dairy farm before, but there are always questions you have never gotten before. 

Today, my favorite question came from Tony, who said, "I've been to farms, and I have to ask - why the Toyota Sienna? Why do you all have one?" 

My answer was immediate. "Farmers usually have a lot of kids, they get great gas mileage, and if things really got bad and we lost everything, we could put down the seats and sleep five in the back of it."

Ha! I didn't even know other farmers had Siennas! 

- The students were talking about how they had a presentation from the United Dairy Industry of Michigan last week, and Ryan said, "I bought a gallon of milk after hearing that presentation. I've been drinking a glass a day." That warmed my dairy-loving heart.

- I encouraged all the students to find a favorite calf and take pictures with it, and they played along. Of course, animal science people are usually animal lovers. No one took me up on my offer to take a kitten or a tire home. (I was kidding about the kittens, but I was not kidding about the tires. Everyone - come and take a tire!)

- The students were talkative and enjoyable, and Miriam was great as always. We have an open door policy - come and visit anytime! I'll even give you a spin in my farm Sienna.

Thank you Miriam, and thank you students!

I post much more frequently at https://www.facebook.com/TruthOrDairy and https://www.instagram.com/truthordairyfarm/ - come and join me!

Tour our farm ... on video!

Tour our farm!

My friend Ashley Foster put on a Cub Scout virtual day camp with a farming theme. She asked me to do a virtual tour, recorded it, edited it, and showed it to her scouts. And ... here it is now for everyone!

Check out - cute calves, a cow being milked, our feed piles, the free stall barn, and even the manure lagoon. This is essentially the same tour I give everyone who visits, and I'm so glad Ashley asked me to do it. Thanks to her, and enjoy!

See the farm tour!

Sheep, lambs, and ewe

We were lucky enough to be invited to my friend Elaine Bristol's family farm - Bristol Lamb!  Her dad, Jim, gave us the tour.

First of all, HE WAS HOLDING A SHEPHERD'S CROOK.  I immediately commented on it and said, "What do you use it for?"  He said, "Everything!  Pushing down fences, getting sheep ..."  He then demonstrated his use for it many times over during the tour.  (Side note - my brother's corporate job title is 'shepherd' and I really want to get him one of these and see how it goes over if he took it to work and started using it to pull over his coworkers.)

I've never been on a sheep farm before, and I am never around sheep.  Jim told me, "Everything you need to know you learned in a nursery rhyme."  Sure enough, we walked in the pasture and there was a lost little sheep.  It followed us everywhere we went.  

It was absolutely adorable.  My great grandparents had sheep as well as cattle.  In the St Johns Courthouse there's even a picture of my great grandpa Floyd dipping sheep.

However, my grandpa didn't like sheep at all, so he sold them all after he died and milked exclusively. But I totally understand the attraction!

The lamb had lost her mother and we were going to help her.  Eventually we found a ewe that she thought was hers - and she was a twin.  She tried to drink from her mother and she kicked her away, because she already had a lamb and didn't recognize her.  Jim picked up the lambs and rubbed them together so they smelled the same.  Elaine told me that if you do that with a lamb that's not actually a mother's it's called grafting, but this was her lamb - she just needed help recognizing her.

After Jim did it, the lamb drank from her mother and she was fine with it, because she smelled right. Jim joked, "These sheep make me look brilliant."

We went to the barn and he asked the boys, "How many bags full in the nursery rhyme?"  They chanted "Yes sir. yes sir, three bags full."  He said, "That's how much you get!" And showed us the giant bags of wool.

We got to bottle feed a lamb, and he showed us where and how he does the shearing.  Though it seemed to be it might be for the sheep, the hook hangs from the ceiling to make it easier for Jim to handle them - it's a support for the human so it's not as physically demanding.

 And ... there are special sheep shearing shoes!  They're comfortable and grippy, he said.

We checked out the sheep in the barn, then another pasture of sheep, then he prepared us lamb chops - of course!

It's always so interesting to see different kinds of farms, because you never really know about them until you see them in real life.  If you have a chance to take a tour of a farm - do it!  And bring your shepherd's crook along.  Those have really stood the test of time ... and are headed to the corporate world, I can just feel it.

  

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Preschool tour, school trip, and planting!

Has a kid ever looked more excited (or fashionable) on a farm?  No!  This little darling is also a daughter of a dairy farmer, which is sometimes what you get when you go on field trips!

We hosted our son's preschool field trip.  I well remember taking a field trip to our farm when I was in school, and now my son got to do the same.  He was SO excited.

Having a dairy farm isn't the most rare thing around here ... two other kids in the class also have dairies (and others have farms)!  My friend Britney told me her son asked, "Well, are we going to our farm tomorrow?"  

But, just like farmers like to see other farms, even the farm kids were super excited to go see another one.

They pushed feed in the calf barn and let the calves lick them ...

We took a ride on a wagon full of straw bales and straw to the other barns.  I'd say 'hayride', but Max corrected me.  There was not hay on the wagon.  Hay is green, and generally alfalfa or grass that cows eat.  Straw is wheat that is yellow, that is generally soft and used as bedding.  But 'strawride' doesn't quite have the same ring to it!

We saw the big cows in the free stall barn ...

Wore appropriate hats ...

And learned how the milk parlor works.

At the end, they climbed around on the chopper, tractors, and the dirt pile.

There was even one cat around that provided endless entertainment.

They all left with a GoGurt and a goody bag filled with fun dairy-related items.  Bracelets, coloring books, stickers, clips - just to remind them of their day.

Later in the day we did the second class, and none of them were from a farm!  The kids and the parents had lots of questions, and it was fun as always.  Preschooler questions are my favorite.  I asked it anyone had any, and many kids raised their hands.  Their questions?

1. I like Dalmatians.

2. I like cats.

3. My grandpa has a farm and I went there and I got to go on the tractor.

YES!  Is there anything better than preschooler question/statements?  No!  Just like everyone, they want to share and talk about what interests them.  It was a great day, and I'm so glad they came!

***

If you can't all come to the farm, the farm will also come to you!  Last week the librarian at my other sons' school asked me to come and do a dairy lessons for all the classes.  Again, it's such a good time to talk to all of the different classes and see what their interests are.  

For instance, some of my favorite questions were ...

1. If a cow came out a different color than black and white, would you still keep it?

2. When milk comes out of the cow, is it warm?

3. Does anyone drink STRAIGHT from the cow?

4. When a cow brings up her cud again, does she actually throw up?

5.  How does the calf get into the cow ... is there a bull involved?

It's always a great time to talk with these fresh, young minds!  They're always so eager to discuss and so willing to listen.  I'm sure bringing along inflatables, cow models, and milkers doesn't hurt either. Thank you to the school for the opportunity!

***

Meanwhile, back to the farm - we started planting corn today!  Such an exciting time of the year!

Kris rode with our planter (we pay him to plant our corn) and he was marveling at the technology of the planter.

It's all run off of GPS, so you only have to steer on the turns.  He has an overlay of the field, so where the ground is lighter, it plants fewer seeds, so that the soil has enough nutrients to support the plant. Where the soil is better, it plants more seeds, because the soil has the capability to yield more.

The planter can also sense how deep the seed needs to go.  When there's light ground, it presses hard, and when there's heavy ground, it presses harder.  Kris and I talked about it for a long time - all of the amazing technological advances there are in planting compared to even when we were growing up.

Part of this is why we pay our planter.  He has all the latest and greatest and we're glad to be able to benefit from it!

So here's to technology, planting ... and all the kids who are going to be doing this someday!


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Losing a floor, gaining a use

Kris went on a trip with other dairy farmer friends to tour five dairy farms in Wisconsin.  Huge dairy farms - like some of them milking 5000 cows.  Some of them had rotary parlors, where the entire room turns (with the cows in it) in a big circle and the milking never stops.  One of the farms had its own water treatment system.  He said it was interesting to talk to the other farmers he went with as well as to see the different kinds of farms.

I was telling my friend Julie about it - her family owns the hand truck company Magline.  She thought it was interesting that the farmers were willing to give tours of their farms to other farmers - she said there was no way that her company would give a tour to another hand truck company.

The nice part about it is - it's not like we're in competition, because we all have somewhere to sell our milk.  If we were competing for customers, it'd be a different.  But because we're not, it's a sort of feeling like we're all in it together.  As a result, farmers are always giving tours to other farmers!  For example, the president of our local MMPA has made it a point to tour almost every farm in his district.  People go to see each other's new barns and new setups.  It's like giving someone a tour of your new home.

It may not be everyone's idea of a vacation, but for a group of young dairy farmers, it's great fun.

***

The guys have been carefully removing the floor of the haymow.  Josh said it was interesting seeing how it was all put together - so long ago, by my great-grandpa Floyd Anderson.  How did they get these giant boards up there?  How did it all hold together with just two nails on one board?  Where did they get these boards - from a mobile mill or from another town?  So long ago.  We're going to use the wood when we remodel ... someday.  It's been good for 130 years and it'll be good for more!



No ceiling - more room for bales

Changing the look and the use of the barn

If you're around, drop by and see it!  I mean it.  That's what we do.

New era

Five of my college friends and their husbands got together at my house today. (Plus our 16 children. We're more than replacing ourselves!)

We went on the farm tour, like we have in the past, but the difference is - we didn't go to the old calf barn! We only went to the new calf barn. Never before have I given a farm tour that didn't include a stop at the old calf barn.

Taking kids to visit the new calf barn has a lot of advantages - it's cleaner, it's easier to see where the kids are, and it's not five feet from a really busy road. I didn't even have to point out to a pure city girl that the brightness and ventilation must make the new barn nice for the calves.

One disadvantage ... with all those kids, it's not within walking distance. This was another tour first, probably never to be repeated. Load up!