They were interested in manure management, crop and soil sciences, and women-owned farms. Of course, coming from another country, their questions were different than the ones I usually get.
Along with specific manure and soil questions, we discussed my role on the farm, women's roles on farms in general, income, taxes, and ownership. (They told me that at home, if a husband/wife team owns a farm and he dies, she gets 1/8th of the farm.)
The calves were appropriately adorable, the cows were calm, and the women were cold. I asked what they liked best about their trip so far, and one mentioned the beautiful fall leaves. We are having a gorgeous fall. (I say this every fall ... and take the same pictures. This is a picture from this year and a picture from last year. I can't help myself.)
It was a really interesting and enjoyable tour. Thank you to our visitors and to Marilyn Thelen for bringing them.
Meanwhile on the farm ...
Kris has an policy development meeting for Michigan Farm Bureau for the next three days. Farm Bureau's role is to 'represent, protect, and enhance the business, economic, social and educational interests' of their farmer members. Kris said, "The day runs from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.! Of course, that's shorter than my normal day."
We're hauling manure right now, because we want to get it on all our fields that we just harvested so we can work it in. The conditions are good because the ground isn't wet yet either. Most farms are hauling manure continuously around here now for the same reasons. You can see and smell the work going on!
We're getting ready for fall. The grass isn't really growing any more, so we brought most of the cattle in from the pasture. (The heifers are still out on it.) We're going to rent a neighbor's facilities and keep some heifers there over the winter. Basically, just like our visitors today, it's getting cold and we know we need to all get inside!
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1 comment:
its great to see people exchanging farming culture, kudos mate.
we are from india and we are also into the dairy farming business.... the way you have turned your dairy farm into a organised business venture is very good, we often try to initialize our plan with our business but we keep failing in it.... though we have a lot of cultural differences, we used to develop bovines for beef... but in india beef has been banned... our market is down and now all we depend is on the milk that the cows produce.....
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