Become A-FAN Blog
Discussions regarding farming and ranching in Nebraska-
May 14, 2012Dairy, Farmers and Ranchers, General AgRead Comments (1)
“If we get chocolate milk from chocolate cows do we get strawberry milk from strawberry cows? How come you don’t have any of those?” One of my favorite things about telling kids about dairy cows is the questions that usually come after! There is always this mischievous look in their eyes as they contemplate asking their question. Kind of the same look they would get after hiding something that they just broke. Goodness knows that my parents have seen that look before a few times.
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Many farmers are currently planting corn. Read more to learn about all the steps of growing corn.
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It really is a blessing to be able to care for the land and his animals. That's the essence of why Nebraska farmers continue to lead the world in agriculture.
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Almost all of us have heard the words “Factory Farming” before. It gets used a lot these days by groups who oppose modern agriculture, and unfortunately these words have now trickled down to the consumer.
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At the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, over 80 volunteers from 15 different East Campus student organizations volunteered at the Husker Food Connection educating fellow students in front of the City Campus Union about where their food comes from and the importance of agriculture. During the event, 1,000 lunches were served and students participated in several activities while learning about Nebraska agriculture. Find out more about this successful agricultural awareness event!
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“Watching miniscule seedlings peep through the earth for the first time during a hazy, spring mist… experiencing the first steps that a newborn calf takes…or watching streams of golden grain pour into a combine are some of the incredible sights that one without an agricultural background or degree may never experience.” High school FFA students from across Nebraska met in Lincoln for the 2nd Annual Agricultural Issues Academy recently and discussed issues like the Yahoo! News article, which stated that degrees in agriculture are among the most useless degrees currently.
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Fructose, glucose, sucrose? These are all other words for sugar. High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is a term that many are confused about. It is on labels on many of our foods and some are using it as a marketing ploy that is “not healthy”.
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Well it’s ridiculous really. But what’s being inaccurately referred to as “pink slime” is actually “lean finely textured beef.”
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In the almost 15 years that I have lived in Nebraska, spring has never ceased to amaze me. I am pretty sure that I have spent every March feeling as though I was doing my best Mary Poppins impersonation!
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Not too long ago, I received a phone call from a woman requesting to purchase raw or unpasteurized milk directly from our farm. I politely explained that we do not sell raw milk from the farm because…
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Meatless Mondays? Why would you want to cut meat out of your diet any day of the week, especially on a notoriously bad day, like Monday? I recently went on a trip to Washington D.C. with the Nebraska Corn Growers Association. You may ask why corn growers care about meat, but actually the livestock industry is essential to the corn industry since it is one of the corn industry’s major consumers! During the trip to D.C., I had the opportunity to attend a meeting with the Animal Agriculture Alliance. This organization’s goal is to share information about the animal agriculture industry with the public, including information about the recent Meatless Monday movement.
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It was beside the waterer with fun comments about how lovely I look in winter attire; it was in the pickup, shivering together to get warmed up, and it was standing at the fence, looking at the bulls and admiring the way they are turning out after we had given them more straw for bedding. The ground is so cold and hard, we had to give them some insulation and comfort. Giving more time to the animals than to ourselves….Aaahhh – wedded bliss!
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As the stubborn independent middle child, I often listen to what my mother says, and then do the opposite. She warned me a week ago, that coming home might be a bad idea, as Nebraska was set to get a winter storm over the weekend. I glanced at the radar, and with all the expertise of one climatology class, decided to head home anyway.
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Winters in Nebraska, and the whole Midwest where a large majority of livestock are raised, can be brutal. Watch this video that I took last year when it was -25 degrees and it was a balmy, 72 degrees in our hog barn!
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A lot of people don’t realize that when you use corn to make ethanol, the ethanol plants merely take out the starch from the kernel of corn and leave the rest – a high-protein feedstuff for livestock to still utilize. This is a corn co-product, often called distillers grains.
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Surely, those tortilla chip lovers know that Nebraska is ranked No. 1 in the U.S. for production of white corn? Nebraska’s production of white corn is important to the state and to the food industry.
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As a person who was raised to love God and family, in that order, I especially cherish Christmas time. Do you remember as a kid searching for where your parents might have hidden your gifts? Oh, I do! My brothers and I waited for the day we knew our parents had a tax appointment and wouldn’t be home when we got off the bus from school. Yes – we thought we were pretty much the next closest thing to Magnum P.I. (only those from the 80′s are going to get that one) in solving our own little mysteries!
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When she responded with a resounding, “NO”, I looked at her and said: “Sweetheart, your last name is Burkholder. Burkholders are involved and we participate. You can make the decision as to which sport you would like to do, but you are going to contribute to one of the teams.
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Nine chefs competed for top honors at the National Pork Producers Association Taste of Elegance competition. Read more to see what the winning entree was.
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It is flu season and you give your children a flu shot or you make sure you get a flu shot so you don’t get sick. We (as livestock care givers) care enough for our livestock that we vaccinate them so they too stay well. Cattle vaccinations are just as important as human vaccinations, and having a good plan or protocol regarding the timing and type of vaccination is incredibly important for the health and well-being of your calves. I work closely with my veterinarian to ensure that we have the best vaccination protocol for each set of cattle that arrives at the feed yard.
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As I type this, farmers are caring for the soil in their fields. They are either shredding the corn stalks or allowing cows to graze them so there will be less material to try to plant through next spring. Plus, when the stalks get shredded up, they do a better job of working their way into the topsoil and start breaking down as organic matter. Farmers are also contracting crop inputs (seed, fertilizer, weed control) for next year. All of this would be similar to reserving the church and caterer and communicating plans to the wedding party. Some fertilizer can be applied this fall before the snow flies – yep, we just purchased the bridesmaid’s dresses here, girls. They are lovely and they always cost more than we want them to, but, they are absolutely necessary for the perfect wedding.
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Nov 28, 2011Animal Welfare, Beef, Farmers and Ranchers
While I love animals, I love my children more. I believe that harvesting beef animals to feed to my children fulfills my duty as a parent to provide nutritious and wholesome food. It is also my duty as an American farmer to provide food for other people’s children as well as my own. I believe that my beef provides a unique protein source which ensures that my children (and yours) have enough zinc, iron, and protein to grow strong and maintain good health.
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I said ALL TYPES of farmers. I applaud anyone who takes initiative to do the most they can with what they are blessed to have. Isn’t it fascinating that in agriculture, one family can earn a living on 5 or 10 acres, while another families may need 5000 or 10,000 acres (fun fact: there are some places such as parts of Wyoming where one cow requires 65 acres per grazing season just to survive)? Niche markets are perfect for the entrepreneurial folks, while commercial farming is much more suitable for the person who does not enjoy greeting the public or being a sales person; they can just haul their grain to town and call in to have it sold. Fortunately, our world offers plenty of demand for ALL of the products from all types of farms.
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Fall the season of football, falling leaves, Halloween and harvest. Growing up on our family farm I loved harvest time. To some harvest means slow traffic behind tractors and trucks moving from field to field, for others long days but to me it meant combine rides.
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The season has changed here with cool days, beautiful autumn colored leaves on the trees, and golden corn standing in our fields. Harvest is here, and that means we can be thankful for the farmers and ranchers who produce our food.
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I had an interesting call from our middle son, Brett, last month. He recently moved to Austin, Texas, where he is teaching third grade and asked me if I would show his third graders where their food came from, with a virtual classroom on our farm.
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On behalf of A-FAN, I would like to welcome you to the “Become A-FAN Blog”! Our hope is to design a place where people can come to have open and frank conversations about agriculture’s role in providing food for our dinner tables. Nebraska farmers and ranchers do a great job raising the food we need. We hope this blog will help answer your questions about what they do to raise our food and water.
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