We put Fitbits on our cows!

We put Fitbits on our cows! They're not exactly Fitbits (they're actually Allflex) but they do a lot of the same things.

They track:

Activity level - If she isn't moving around as much, it tells us that she might not be feeling right. This way we can check her even BEFORE she gets sick.

Rumination - If she's not eating as much, it could mean something is wrong or the feed isn't agreeing with her.

Other points:

AI - Not artificial intelligence...artificial insemination. By tracking her activity, we can see when she's ready to be bred.

Sort gate - You can set up the gate to automatically sort them by their collars into different areas.

Tools - It's all set up the software on our phones and computer. Everything is tracked to make sure that we have eyes on our cows and are using tools to provide them with the best quality care possible.

I've worn a Fitbit for six years. It's probably high time that our cows have them too!

                   

Barns painted!

Last year I was at the barn with John and Tracy, and I said offhandedly that they needed painting. (My dad couldn't remember if they had last been painted in the late 80s or early 90s. Definitely not in the last 16 years we had been farming here, anyway!) John said he wanted to paint the barns next summer.

I thought it was sort of a ... that would be nice, but Tracy and John talked about it over the year, and it became apparent - they really did want to do it! 

It was a hard job. They power washed, but it really didn't take the paint off, so they scraped both buildings. It was hot, and they were covered in paint chips and sweat. We got a lift, because the barn is really tall, and it seemed really hard to do it with a ladder. 

After the scraping John sprayed red paint and Tracy painted the white. It took them long days and many hours and...they look so great! Thank you so much to my dear sister and John! I can't thank you enough.  

We still use these barns. They were built over 100 years ago. Still going, and better looking now!

I rarely write here...but I do here! 

Cereal bar

I've always wanted to go to a cereal bar ever since I've heard about them, and I finally did! It was as much as I had hoped and dreamed. 6 cereal + 2 toppings + MILK = Joy.

I got Reese's Puffs, Cheerios, Rice Krispies, Golden Grahams, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and Oreo O's, with fresh blueberries and sliced strawberries on top, with 2% milk. 

Yes, I can of course do this at home. But somehow it was even better out! They arranged it all so beautifully, and the whole place had a fun, happy atmosphere.

It wouldn't be the same without milk, our wonderful and delicious product!

Wanna Spoon, Nashville, TN

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On the farm...we hauled so much manure last week, and it went well. Always a race against the weather. We even seeded a field of alfalfa! It feels like spring for sure.

Kris has been going to lots of meetings, as as they wind down on those, it starts to be the busiest season of all.

This is our 16th year living here, which seems amazing to me. It's all gone so quickly. 

Here's to another great season of growing, harvest, and eating cereal and milk every day. 

United Dairy Industry of Michigan

The United Dairy Industry of Michigan put on their annual meeting. There were many things to love about it. The top ones for me were:

- Our CEO Dwyer Williams invited her family to see her at work. They were also going to visit a dairy farm for the first time!

- A class from WMU won a contest against other schools on coming up with the best campaign for milk. They spoke and were so great. Made me proud of my undergrad alma mater.

- A dance troupe finished out the meeting. They promised it would end with a bang, and it did.

- Dairy farmer Tim Hood retired after 17 years on the board. He very briefly said, we make the best product in the world. It shouldn't be hard to sell! : )

Enjoy your dairy...

Meeting season and 4-H calves

It's meeting season!

Kris is on our co-op board, and he's been to the other district meetings across Michigan and Indiana. He couldn't make them all, since some are scheduled on the same day. Our own district is the last today.

It's hard for Kris to be away from the farm for days on end, but it's also really important to meet with farmers from other places. Everyone has different ideas, news, and information to share. He loves going to see everyone. 

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We sold so many 4-H calves this year! Our boys are taking them also. We haven't done 4-H in years, and Max hasn't done it at all, so we're looking forward to it.

Sasha and Cayden came to choose and meet their 4-H bulls yesterday. I had not met Cayden, and he was polite and shook my hand which I immediately loved, and Sasha is my cousin so I already loved her. She is actually my dad's cousin's daughter's daughter, but isn't cousins what we all feel? 

It'll be time for fair before we know it.

Home sweet farm home

Progressive Dairy asked me to write an article. Here it is:

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There are a lot of memories and nostalgia surrounding a farmhouse, since for generations your family gathered there. Our house is 145 years old, and my kids are the seventh generation in our family to live in it. My great-grandma was born in it, my great-aunt got married in it, my parents improved it, and now it houses three teenage boys who jump to hit every door frame each time they go through a door.

What people often don’t talk about is that, along with the happiness, there are also issues.

Read the rest: Home sweet farm home

12 days of Christmas

On social media I did a 12 Days of Christmas of past farm pictures. Enjoy, and merry Christmas!

This is my favorite view from our backyard. The sunset in the summer is right in the middle of our view. Every night I'm home I go outside to watch the sunset, and if someone is home, I pull him out with me.

I've seen a lot of beautiful sights, I've been to national parks and all 50 states and many countries, and I love traveling. But this view is the reason I won't ever really leave.

In 2017, we decided to space out our calving, so our summer help went back to college, and my mom Cherie Anderson volunteered to do calf chores for months. She made a binder complete with pictures outlining exactly how to do it.

This is just one of the millions of ways she worked with my dad on the farm in the past, feeding, watching cattle on a camera to see who was in heat, drawing them for records, as well as working on off the farm. And then today as she mows at the houses (including mine!) and barns every week, landscapes them, plants flowers, and makes everything look nice, as well as supporting us in every way possible.

When I told her in 2006 that Kris and I were contemplating moving back and buying the farm, she said, "Oh, we'll have so much fun!" She was right!

I love this picture from when we brought Kris lunch in the field yesterday. Wait, 11 years ago. : )

We're going way back in the vault to a picture I remember my mom taking when I was 6 years old, going out to feed our 4-H calves in our backyard. This swingset, the bin, the wagons, the Guernsey calves, the bare feet on gravel...such a farmy shot.

Here are little Cole and Ty being funny with giant pieces of grass in their mouths. I love the looks on their faces. Look! Someone is wearing shoes!

Here's my dad Jack Anderson talking to Max in the barn. My dad stayed on a year after we moved back to Michigan from Connecticut to work with Kris on the farm, and then he went off to get his pilot's license and fly around. But...he never stopped helping, giving advice, fixing things, and supporting us, and now our kids! That's an every day job.

These could be any little farm kids in any year on any farm. But these are mine, and I loved these little boys who liked climbing things then and now!

Babies and cows, am I right?! I love seeing the cows on pasture, and they always welcome us when we join them.

Here's when my twins sort of looked like twins.

It's two cuties in a corn field...there are so many things I love about this picture. The way Kris is looking at Max, and the way Max is looking at the camera. The difference in skin between people who work outdoors and babies. Kris' Caterpillar hat and how tall the corn is. The fact that this picture is over a decade old, but it seems like yesterday!

When Kris and I decided to farm, one of the reasons we thought it would be fun is because our kids would grow up like we did. And they have! I feel it's captured in this picture with the swimsuit, the boots, and the calves in the barn.

.A few years ago we were having a party, we all went out to the pasture, and my friend took this picture. It's got the land we first bought when we moved here, the cows, the pasture across from our house, and the guy I've been married to for almost 21 years!