So right now my life is crazy! Absolutely nuts! Next week is finals and I'm supposed to be studying and packing but guess what...I'm procrastinating. Today I'm going to tell you about how I became involved with agriculture.
I grew up in South Dakota, which as you've probably gotten from the random facts I've posted, isn't very big. There aren't a lot of people but I did grow up in Sioux Falls. I attended a Christian high school and am very thankful to God for that education that I take for granted so easily.
I went through life believing I would be anything from a nurse to a teacher and back into something medical. If you had asked me when I was a freshman in high school what I wanted to do, I would have said I wanted to be a chiropractor. Agriculture had very little relevance in my life. My grandpa owned a dairy that I really liked to go and visit, but I never dreamed that I would end up wanting to be there most of my free time.
Following my freshman year, my parents told me that I needed a part time job. My dad recommended that I work for Grandpa. Well, let's just say that I fought it. I didn't really want to have a job in the first place, but I didn't feel like the farm was the place for me. I lost that battle. (Okay, I'm exaggerating. It wasn't anything near a battle, or even a fight, but there was some resistance.)
I ended up working on the farm that summer on Mondays and Tuesdays. My dad would drive me to my grandparent's house Sunday night and I would stay over until someone came and got me on Tuesday. While I was there I helped with the weekly vet. checks and BST shots that are given every other Tuesday to selected cows. (I may get into the BST/hormone discussion later.) During any free time I had I drove the Monster. The Monster happened to be a 76" riding mower with a 12-horse power engine. That thing could eat grass! Still can, actually. Along with that I helped with random jobs around the farm and became my grandpa's gopher (go fer this, go fer that). I learned so much, and when the next summer neared, I asked if I could come back. This continued through a third summer when I began to drive myself back and forth the thirty miles around four days a week. Along with all the previous duties mentioned, I was now helping work/process the heifers. That was the summer that I fell in love with agriculture. Checking the crops and cows and learning how to do things like check the oil in different machines and run skidloaders became something that I really enjoyed doing. That summer was the first time that I actually was in the pen helping when a calf needed to be pulled.
I love the sunshine and the smells and the people that are involved in agriculture. While I may not have grown up on a farm, it is in my blood. I love being able to do what God has given me the desire and passion to do. I am truly blessed.
Random Fact #3: A weather man in Sioux Falls, SD predicted that the Sioux Falls area would get 57.3" of snow by the end of April. Actual amount: 57.1" of snow!!
http://www.keloland.com/weather/snowfallpredictioncenter/
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
An Ag. Day to Remember
So here I'm continuing my "Spring Has Sprung" story. This one only goes back to Friday, so it's a little fresher in my mind and it makes me smile whenever I think about it.
My college experience as an ag. major has been a great one so far, but I have to say my favorite part of it all is the events that involve the Ag. Club and its activities. This past Friday was the annual Ag. Day. There were numerous committees that were involved with the planning of Ag. Day including an animal committee, a machinery committee, a food and serving committee, and an activities committee, which I was on.
Members of the Ag. Club set up Thursday night and at 6:30 Friday morning. One look outside my dorm window told me it would be an interesting day. Let's just say that the clouds were low and gray and it looked ready to pour down on us at any moment. Luckily for us, it held off just long enough.
Part of Ag. Day is when classes from the local elementary school come in and have guided tours. For some of them this day is their only exposure to agriculture even though agriculture was once the town's livelihood. So our goal is to fit the as many different areas of agriculture into an hour as we can.
Well, being a freshman and this being my first Ag. Day, it was interesting. Abigail, Cora, and I were told that we would be leading 'tours' for groups of ten 3rd graders...as they were lining up after getting off their bus. Talk about short notice. All was going well for the first bit. It was a sprinkling rain as we started the tours. Of course, the first thing all the kids wanted to see was the animals. So Abigail, Cora and I spaced our groups apart and began to talk to the kids about the different animals we had there, where they came from, and what their use was.
My group's first stop was in front of an Angus cow and calf pair. The pen that these two were in was made up of the cattle panels you often see on any farm, but they were hollow and weighed about fifteen to twenty pounds each. I (with all of my 5'6" frame) could easily handle one on my own even though it was as tall as I was and ten(ish) feet wide. These panels were not heavy duty at all! They were just asking for trouble.
Anyway, back to the cow and calf. Rachel stopped by because she knows more about beef cattle than I do and helped me answer the questions that my inquisitive third graders were asking. We made sure that they understood that these animals were not pets and they are not humans and that these cattle are mainly where we get our meat from. These are different from the cows that give us milk, which we would see later.
From there we moved on to goats and then to pigs. Well, let's just say that I have NO experience whatsoever with pigs, so I was hoping we could move onto the dairy heifers as quickly as possible.
My plans, however, were waylaid by a huge crash. As my group and I looked around to find the source of the sound, my eyes found it. It was kinda hard to miss. The Angus cow was knocking her pen over in an attempt to get out.
Now, under normal circumstances this may not have been as big of a deal as it was, but we were not on a farm, we were on the college campus parking lot and there were thirty little 3rd graders screaming, shouting, pointing, and scattering which aggravated the animal all the more. She succeeded in knocking the four panel pen onto one side and simply walked out.
I don't know if I've ever seen the ag. majors that were around move so fast. We did not want her to get away, so we formed a human fence and (with only a few mishaps) moved her and her calf back into the pen once it was righted.
Well, from there we returned to our groups of third graders and explained that that's what happens when animals get frightened and scared. They don't do that just because they are feeling mean (though I've known a few dairy cows that are exceptions to that rule), they do it because they are scared and want to get away from whatever they don't like. It was good for them to see.
What happened next made it all the more important for the kids to understand that this cow was scared out of her mind. Within a few minutes of her failed attempt at escape, the crazy thing tried to tip the pen over again. This time however, we had put someone by the pen to stand on the panels in case she tried that stunt again. Well, Matt was standing on the panel all right, but that wasn't going to stop her. She definitely wanted out. And so she tried to jump it, got stuck with her front legs over the bar, jumped again and this time got stuck with her belly on top of the panel, which made it partially collapse. At this point our biggest concern was getting her out without breaking a leg or hurting any of us.
Before we knew it her calf was running free without the cow, which was not helping the situation. We freed the cow but before we could form the human fence again, she took off running.
Now this was my first time working with a beef cow and calf and I found out that they are rather flighty. So while they slowed down behind a grove of trees, I was running on the other side in an attempt to get in front of them. I wasn't quite fast enough but by then there were some others helping me so we did catch her.The next task was to get her into a pen full of Angus heifers so that she would calm down until we could load her into a trailer and take her back to the farm.
Well, let's not forget the third graders. Now they were really concerned that we had a very angry cow on our hands and they wanted to make sure that that was NOT going to happen again. Well, we assured the kids that since the cow was with more cows, she would be fine until we could take her back to the farm. This seemed to satisfy them and we quickly moved on to see the rest of the animals before it started to rain.
We were able to show them all the animals quickly and do a craft with them before they left, which they really liked, but I think the highlight of their day was the cow getting out.
Our day was far from done, however. With the kids gone, the Ag. Club committees now focused on making the food that was for lunch. The officers had roasted a whole hog and so some people worked on pulling pork while others grilled pork patties and hamburgers. Cora, Abigail, and I were in charge of making sure the meat was ready to go when they needed it.
Then it started to rain. By the end of the serving time our coats were soaked, so we went inside to eat. Then it started to pour, so Ag. Day was done for all the visitors. Not for us, though. We still had to get our animals back to their farms and take all the fencing down and clean up the bedding in the parking lot. Needless to say we got very, very wet, but overall it was a really fun day. There were lots of memories made and some very good stories that will be told.
My college experience as an ag. major has been a great one so far, but I have to say my favorite part of it all is the events that involve the Ag. Club and its activities. This past Friday was the annual Ag. Day. There were numerous committees that were involved with the planning of Ag. Day including an animal committee, a machinery committee, a food and serving committee, and an activities committee, which I was on.
Members of the Ag. Club set up Thursday night and at 6:30 Friday morning. One look outside my dorm window told me it would be an interesting day. Let's just say that the clouds were low and gray and it looked ready to pour down on us at any moment. Luckily for us, it held off just long enough.
Part of Ag. Day is when classes from the local elementary school come in and have guided tours. For some of them this day is their only exposure to agriculture even though agriculture was once the town's livelihood. So our goal is to fit the as many different areas of agriculture into an hour as we can.
Well, being a freshman and this being my first Ag. Day, it was interesting. Abigail, Cora, and I were told that we would be leading 'tours' for groups of ten 3rd graders...as they were lining up after getting off their bus. Talk about short notice. All was going well for the first bit. It was a sprinkling rain as we started the tours. Of course, the first thing all the kids wanted to see was the animals. So Abigail, Cora and I spaced our groups apart and began to talk to the kids about the different animals we had there, where they came from, and what their use was.
My group's first stop was in front of an Angus cow and calf pair. The pen that these two were in was made up of the cattle panels you often see on any farm, but they were hollow and weighed about fifteen to twenty pounds each. I (with all of my 5'6" frame) could easily handle one on my own even though it was as tall as I was and ten(ish) feet wide. These panels were not heavy duty at all! They were just asking for trouble.
Anyway, back to the cow and calf. Rachel stopped by because she knows more about beef cattle than I do and helped me answer the questions that my inquisitive third graders were asking. We made sure that they understood that these animals were not pets and they are not humans and that these cattle are mainly where we get our meat from. These are different from the cows that give us milk, which we would see later.
From there we moved on to goats and then to pigs. Well, let's just say that I have NO experience whatsoever with pigs, so I was hoping we could move onto the dairy heifers as quickly as possible.
My plans, however, were waylaid by a huge crash. As my group and I looked around to find the source of the sound, my eyes found it. It was kinda hard to miss. The Angus cow was knocking her pen over in an attempt to get out.
Now, under normal circumstances this may not have been as big of a deal as it was, but we were not on a farm, we were on the college campus parking lot and there were thirty little 3rd graders screaming, shouting, pointing, and scattering which aggravated the animal all the more. She succeeded in knocking the four panel pen onto one side and simply walked out.
I don't know if I've ever seen the ag. majors that were around move so fast. We did not want her to get away, so we formed a human fence and (with only a few mishaps) moved her and her calf back into the pen once it was righted.
Well, from there we returned to our groups of third graders and explained that that's what happens when animals get frightened and scared. They don't do that just because they are feeling mean (though I've known a few dairy cows that are exceptions to that rule), they do it because they are scared and want to get away from whatever they don't like. It was good for them to see.
What happened next made it all the more important for the kids to understand that this cow was scared out of her mind. Within a few minutes of her failed attempt at escape, the crazy thing tried to tip the pen over again. This time however, we had put someone by the pen to stand on the panels in case she tried that stunt again. Well, Matt was standing on the panel all right, but that wasn't going to stop her. She definitely wanted out. And so she tried to jump it, got stuck with her front legs over the bar, jumped again and this time got stuck with her belly on top of the panel, which made it partially collapse. At this point our biggest concern was getting her out without breaking a leg or hurting any of us.
Before we knew it her calf was running free without the cow, which was not helping the situation. We freed the cow but before we could form the human fence again, she took off running.
Now this was my first time working with a beef cow and calf and I found out that they are rather flighty. So while they slowed down behind a grove of trees, I was running on the other side in an attempt to get in front of them. I wasn't quite fast enough but by then there were some others helping me so we did catch her.The next task was to get her into a pen full of Angus heifers so that she would calm down until we could load her into a trailer and take her back to the farm.
Well, let's not forget the third graders. Now they were really concerned that we had a very angry cow on our hands and they wanted to make sure that that was NOT going to happen again. Well, we assured the kids that since the cow was with more cows, she would be fine until we could take her back to the farm. This seemed to satisfy them and we quickly moved on to see the rest of the animals before it started to rain.
We were able to show them all the animals quickly and do a craft with them before they left, which they really liked, but I think the highlight of their day was the cow getting out.
Our day was far from done, however. With the kids gone, the Ag. Club committees now focused on making the food that was for lunch. The officers had roasted a whole hog and so some people worked on pulling pork while others grilled pork patties and hamburgers. Cora, Abigail, and I were in charge of making sure the meat was ready to go when they needed it.
Then it started to rain. By the end of the serving time our coats were soaked, so we went inside to eat. Then it started to pour, so Ag. Day was done for all the visitors. Not for us, though. We still had to get our animals back to their farms and take all the fencing down and clean up the bedding in the parking lot. Needless to say we got very, very wet, but overall it was a really fun day. There were lots of memories made and some very good stories that will be told.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Spring Has Sprung!
It has been really amazing to see the changes that occur in the springtime in NW Iowa. Sure, it's great in South Dakota too, but right now I'm experiencing it in a whole new way! Let me start earlier in the semester.
A week after spring break, which was in the middle of March, my Animal Science class received an assignment which required us to be in a group that would care for a group of ewes (sheep about to have lambs), a calf, or chicks. I was assigned to a group that would be caring for four ewes. The ewes had been bred prior to the college buying them and they were due to lamb out within the next two or three weeks. We had to feed them every morning and afternoon and keep their pens clean. It was an experience lab, and that's exactly what some of the students got, including myself.
About a two weeks into lambing, my roommate Elisa (also an Ag. Animal Science major) and I went out to the farm to do afternoon chores. We had just walked into the barn when we noticed that one of her ewes was in the process of lambing out, and so we decided to stick around and make sure that everything was going okay. Sometimes ewes need help because the lambs get so big that they can't come out on their own. That's the way life goes sometimes.
Well, that wasn't exactly the case with this ewe. Elisa and I ended up waiting with two more of our fellow ag. girls (Abigail and Rachel) for around a half an hour. Nothing happened. So my roommate put a full-arm sleeve on and went in the ewe's backside to investigate what was going on. The lamb was in the normal presentation (front feet then head coming out first), so we decided to wait for another half hour, more or less. Nothing happened. Half an hour later she went in again and found three legs. Now for those of you not familiar with most farm animals, this is NOT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN.
Well, at this point, the ewe was not very happy, so I got into the jug (a small pen for an individual ewe) and held her still (with the help of Abigail) so that Elisa could go in again and figure out what the heck was going on. She figured out that the she had two back legs and a front leg, leaving us to assume that there were either two lambs, or the single lamb was sandwiched in half and trying to come out all feet first, which doesn't work and is asking for trouble. Luckily for us, there were two lambs, but they were completely tangled and intertwined together.
Well, at this point we were all feeling a little out of our league because none of us had ever done anything with sheep. So we decided that it was time to call in our supervisor Mike. However, Mike was out to supper with his family and told us to handle it. So, out came the cell phones. At one point, we were using four cell phones to call everyone we could think of who might be able to give us directions on what to do. I'm not kidding when I say everyone. Calls were made to people clear across the country to the West Coast before we got a hold of someone who could tell us what to do.
Following instructions via a phone conversation, Elisa went back in to double check how things were doing and was able to untangle things a bit. Now one lamb was backward and the other was forward but turned on its side. Things had been going on for a while and the ewe was so tired she had stopped contracting. Using her knowledge from Animal Science, Rachel instructed Abigail and I to massage the ewe's udder which would cause her to produce oxytocin, which would cause her to contract. Finally, Elisa was able to turn the lamb with semi-normal presentation enough to pull it out. The lamb was alive but in the way, so we got it breathing, waited for the ewe to claim it, and them promptly moved it out of the way.
The next problem we faced was getting the second lamb out alive. We had been told that if we ever pulled a lamb backwards, it would be dead. We didn't want that, but it was too big to turn around and all our messing around inside the ewe had probably caused the umbilical cord to break, which meant that the lamb might already be breathing and already dead. It had to come out, and it had to come out with or without the ewe's help. So Elisa pulled hard and quick and the lamb slid out.
It was barely alive. In fact, it took both Elisa and I to get it to breath. We were sticking straw up its nose, pulling its navel (gently), rubbing it, and eventually picked it up and shook it gently in order to get the thing to breath. And it did. It was alive! After an hour of working together, our task was done and we had been successful!
And guess what happened right after we finished... 10-15 people (including Mike) walked into the barn as the ewe was claiming the other lamb! It was nice to have visitors, but the four of us were thankful that we had not had an audience to watch us doing something completely new and foreign to us. Sure, we had read about it in a book, but doing it yourself is the point of an experience lab, and that's what we got: an experience. It was great!
Well, I shall have to continue my spring tales in a later blog, but I have another story for you that happened just today! Look forward to it! I know I'm looking forward to telling it. God bless!
Psalm 8
A week after spring break, which was in the middle of March, my Animal Science class received an assignment which required us to be in a group that would care for a group of ewes (sheep about to have lambs), a calf, or chicks. I was assigned to a group that would be caring for four ewes. The ewes had been bred prior to the college buying them and they were due to lamb out within the next two or three weeks. We had to feed them every morning and afternoon and keep their pens clean. It was an experience lab, and that's exactly what some of the students got, including myself.
About a two weeks into lambing, my roommate Elisa (also an Ag. Animal Science major) and I went out to the farm to do afternoon chores. We had just walked into the barn when we noticed that one of her ewes was in the process of lambing out, and so we decided to stick around and make sure that everything was going okay. Sometimes ewes need help because the lambs get so big that they can't come out on their own. That's the way life goes sometimes.
Well, that wasn't exactly the case with this ewe. Elisa and I ended up waiting with two more of our fellow ag. girls (Abigail and Rachel) for around a half an hour. Nothing happened. So my roommate put a full-arm sleeve on and went in the ewe's backside to investigate what was going on. The lamb was in the normal presentation (front feet then head coming out first), so we decided to wait for another half hour, more or less. Nothing happened. Half an hour later she went in again and found three legs. Now for those of you not familiar with most farm animals, this is NOT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN.
Well, at this point, the ewe was not very happy, so I got into the jug (a small pen for an individual ewe) and held her still (with the help of Abigail) so that Elisa could go in again and figure out what the heck was going on. She figured out that the she had two back legs and a front leg, leaving us to assume that there were either two lambs, or the single lamb was sandwiched in half and trying to come out all feet first, which doesn't work and is asking for trouble. Luckily for us, there were two lambs, but they were completely tangled and intertwined together.
Well, at this point we were all feeling a little out of our league because none of us had ever done anything with sheep. So we decided that it was time to call in our supervisor Mike. However, Mike was out to supper with his family and told us to handle it. So, out came the cell phones. At one point, we were using four cell phones to call everyone we could think of who might be able to give us directions on what to do. I'm not kidding when I say everyone. Calls were made to people clear across the country to the West Coast before we got a hold of someone who could tell us what to do.
Following instructions via a phone conversation, Elisa went back in to double check how things were doing and was able to untangle things a bit. Now one lamb was backward and the other was forward but turned on its side. Things had been going on for a while and the ewe was so tired she had stopped contracting. Using her knowledge from Animal Science, Rachel instructed Abigail and I to massage the ewe's udder which would cause her to produce oxytocin, which would cause her to contract. Finally, Elisa was able to turn the lamb with semi-normal presentation enough to pull it out. The lamb was alive but in the way, so we got it breathing, waited for the ewe to claim it, and them promptly moved it out of the way.
The next problem we faced was getting the second lamb out alive. We had been told that if we ever pulled a lamb backwards, it would be dead. We didn't want that, but it was too big to turn around and all our messing around inside the ewe had probably caused the umbilical cord to break, which meant that the lamb might already be breathing and already dead. It had to come out, and it had to come out with or without the ewe's help. So Elisa pulled hard and quick and the lamb slid out.
It was barely alive. In fact, it took both Elisa and I to get it to breath. We were sticking straw up its nose, pulling its navel (gently), rubbing it, and eventually picked it up and shook it gently in order to get the thing to breath. And it did. It was alive! After an hour of working together, our task was done and we had been successful!
And guess what happened right after we finished... 10-15 people (including Mike) walked into the barn as the ewe was claiming the other lamb! It was nice to have visitors, but the four of us were thankful that we had not had an audience to watch us doing something completely new and foreign to us. Sure, we had read about it in a book, but doing it yourself is the point of an experience lab, and that's what we got: an experience. It was great!
Well, I shall have to continue my spring tales in a later blog, but I have another story for you that happened just today! Look forward to it! I know I'm looking forward to telling it. God bless!
Psalm 8
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Don't Let Your Education Get in the Way of Your Education
I love that saying. It's something I've heard quite frequently since coming to college and after tonight, I have to say that I agree with it wholeheartedly. The freshmen in Animal Science have a test tomorrow and so we got a big group together to "study." Needless to say, we goofed around more than hard-core studying, but we did throw random facts into our conversations. It's a lot of fun to be in a major where people are friendly and really laid back.
On Monday in my Animal Science class, however, we were much more focused. The discussion was over a video the professor showed last week Friday. It discussed how the world views animals and the different 'extremes' found in different cultures. Here in America, for example, we have people who participate in "canned hunting," which consists of "hunting penned animals. On the other end of the spectrum, we have people who bury their pets in cemeteries and keep them well-maintained (we're talking flowers, memorials, elaborate gravestones, the whole shabang).
One thing our professor warned the class against was using the terms "finding the middle-ground," or something like that. By saying that, we are insinuating that we are compromising what we believe in order to make both parties happy.
So what do I believe? I believe that humans and animals are NOT equal, but that humans were given a mandate from God to rule over the animals(1). I also believe that that duty calls for respect to those under us. God gave humans animals as food. This is clearly stated in Genesis 9:3.
We dug deeper into the subject and were in a pretty intense discussion when it was time to end class, so we are going to pick up on it later, but it was one of those times where it wasn't so much about the professor (I really need to come up with an anonymous name for him) teaching us as it was the students figuring things out for themselves and where they stand on some issues that are big in America right now.
There's lot's of stories that could accompany students figuring things out for themselves, but that will have to wait for a different night, as I am running behind in my homework.
Random Fact #2 - The population of Sioux Falls, SD, is 123,975, and it is the largest city in So. Dak.
(1) Genesis 1:28
On Monday in my Animal Science class, however, we were much more focused. The discussion was over a video the professor showed last week Friday. It discussed how the world views animals and the different 'extremes' found in different cultures. Here in America, for example, we have people who participate in "canned hunting," which consists of "hunting penned animals. On the other end of the spectrum, we have people who bury their pets in cemeteries and keep them well-maintained (we're talking flowers, memorials, elaborate gravestones, the whole shabang).
One thing our professor warned the class against was using the terms "finding the middle-ground," or something like that. By saying that, we are insinuating that we are compromising what we believe in order to make both parties happy.
So what do I believe? I believe that humans and animals are NOT equal, but that humans were given a mandate from God to rule over the animals(1). I also believe that that duty calls for respect to those under us. God gave humans animals as food. This is clearly stated in Genesis 9:3.
We dug deeper into the subject and were in a pretty intense discussion when it was time to end class, so we are going to pick up on it later, but it was one of those times where it wasn't so much about the professor (I really need to come up with an anonymous name for him) teaching us as it was the students figuring things out for themselves and where they stand on some issues that are big in America right now.
There's lot's of stories that could accompany students figuring things out for themselves, but that will have to wait for a different night, as I am running behind in my homework.
Random Fact #2 - The population of Sioux Falls, SD, is 123,975, and it is the largest city in So. Dak.
(1) Genesis 1:28
Monday, April 19, 2010
Fighting Procrastination and Losing the Battle
Perhaps its something that all current and former students can identify with: finals are two weeks away, there are tons of tests and papers this week, and I have no motivation to do any of it (though I will). Hence the starting of this blog. It's been something that I've been meaning to do for a while now, but haven't had the time. Now, of course, when I don't have any time to spare, I make time because I don't want to do anything else. I want this blog to focus on what it's like to be a farm girl growing up in a world that is turning anti-animal ag. faster than you can ever imagine! It's really crazy and thanks to my dad, other family members, friends, and professors, I'm beginning to take a stand against the things that are threatening the way of life that I love. Let's get something straight: I fully believe that agriculture is not just a career or profession, it is a way of life! There's something about it that can't be put into words. Maybe through this blog, you, the readers, can catch a slight glimpse of what life in agriculture is all about and why the people involved love it like we do.
Random Fact #1 - South Dakota has a population of 812,383. (July 2009)
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