10 Reasons You Know it is Fair Time -Guest Post

A guest post today from seasoned Fair Mom, Peggy Bellar who is watching the last of her kids finish 4-H this year.  

Tonight begins the last 4-H fair my kids will ever be entered in. 5 kids, a million animals, and 16 straight years of 4-H. WOW!  So here's to you and all the fair families. I couldn't sleep tonight and this popped in my head.

10 Reasons You Know it’s Fair Time
10. The woodworking project due tomorrow still has varnish drying tonight.
 9.  Cookies, breads, and cakes line all your counter space.
 8. You are tired of eating the foods project “rejects."
 7. All the kid’s clothes are covered in manure, dirt, sweat and animal drool.
 6. The only clean clothes left in the entire house are the winter coveralls hanging on the back door.
 5. You would die of embarrassment if anyone showed up unannounced at your house this week.
 4. It’s like 120 degrees.
 3. There are enough box fans going in one area to cool a small country.
 2. The animal who left its hoof print deep in your foot yesterday is now the reason you are crying in the sale ring.
 1. You realize the color of ribbon is not near as important as the memories you have collected.

Why do we do it? Guest Post

Mom's, your kids may not show cattle or any animals, but I'm betting you have had a similar discussion with your family.

In the world of 4-H and livestock showing, some families become more like family than friends.   Meet Lisa of Dream on Cattle, Company.  I was a second mom to her middle  daughter for the first part of Maine Anjou Junior Nationals last year and she was a second mom to my boys when she arrived and I had to go home to wheat harvest.  Her husband took my boys and heifer and treated them like one of the family.  We didn't know each other all that well last summer, but this summer I am glad to call them part of our show family.  She and I have come to support each other more than beside the show ring and here is her first attempt at blogging, if you like it leave a comment and share it to let her know.  -A Kansas Farm Mom

May 15, 2016
It had been a rough morning in the barns, if you have kids who show livestock then you understand what I’m talking about.  When you roll outside at 5:30 am to get chores done and animals taken care of, you can’t expect everything to go as planned or everyone to be chipper while doing it.
But on this morning, one of the girls was giving it her all to show us that she didn’t want to be there.  And Daddy took this attitude to task.  Which resulted in this rather loud declaration “I hate showing cattle and I never wanted to do it, why do you make me!”

Ah bless us all, here we go.  You’ve been there or you are raising angels and I’m jealous.  She doesn’t hate it but she doesn’t always love the work involved leading up to “show day.”  She’s a typical child in that she would prefer to do things the easy way and still get the glory somehow in the end.
So lucky for us, this was not a day when they had to be at school.  And lucky for her, about 2 hours later we had a “sit down.”  And during this meeting, which I had all the children attend, we discussed why our children will not be allowed to opt out of showing livestock.

It is what we do together.  Sure we love to watch them play sports or listen to them play piano/trumpet/clarinet but those activities are very kid-centered.  Not family-centered.  We all have a role when we show and we do what is necessary to help each other.  And we are TOGETHER which in this day, is a rare and special treat for us!
Showing livestock is how we have decided to teach our children about work ethic.  Off the farm and apart from being seriously hungry, I’m not sure how you teach today’s kids to work hard.  So on the farm, we get the luxury of being hard workers.  There is always something to do and never enough time/able bodies to do it.

Something else depends on you and your ability to finish the job.  It really isn’t an option to not feed or water.  And I am that mom that says, they eat/drink before you do.  Learn to put something in front of yourself.  Some might call it harsh, I call it leadership training 101.

The bottom line would it be easier on me to let her quit?  Yes perhaps in the short run, no one wants to deal with the whining, sighing and eye rolling (my personal fave).  But in the long run, she knows we are not giving in that easy.  Because I want her to feel success as an adult, I want her to set her sights on an impossible goal and get there, letting her quit is not an option!
I’m pretty clear with my kids that a purple ribbon or a grand champion would be an awesome reward but it doesn’t happen every day.  And furthermore it is one person’s opinion at one moment in time.  It won’t always go our way, actually rarely.

 My reward and theirs will be the lessons learned and the memories of all we did together.

One more show mom that I totally look up to sums up our weekends pretty well below.  Melissa Falkenstien of Falkenstien Family Show Goats is a show mom that I really admire and am proud to call her a friend/family.-KFM

If you liked this post you might like my Tribute to Livestock Show Moms, too.

Pig Farmer Math 2

In an effort to make math more interesting for kids and to make my kids understand that math really is important.  Farmer Math questions to go along with the Flat Aggie reports or can be used separately.  These are patterned after the blog Bedtime Math.  Some of the questions are easy enough for pre-schoolers and sometimes I come up with some to even challenge high school seniors.

These questions follow the report Flat Aggie visits Anderson Farms Hog Operation.  Additional educational materials can be found in the post All About Pigs.  There are additional Pig Farmer Math Pages.

1.  A sow is pregnant for 3 months 3 weeks and 3 days.  How many days is that assuming a month is 30 days long?

2.  A rectangle shaped gestation pen is 10 feet by 12 feet.  What is the perimeter of the pen?

Farmers like to know how fast their pigs are growing.  They measure their weight often and use their age or the number of days they have been fed to come up with ratios they can compare to other groups.

3.  The piglets on Anderson Farms weigh 14 pounds at 21 days old.  What is their weight per day of age?

4.  The pigs are fed an additional 160 days after they are weaned.  The finished weight is 280 pounds.  What would their average daily gain be if they weighed 14 pounds at weaning?

5.  Anderson Farms has some large grain bins that they store the pig feed in.  If the bin is 24 feet tall (before the roof) and the 12 radius is feet, what would the volume of the grain bin be rounded to the nearest whole number?  Farmers measure grain bins in bushels instead of cubic feet.  If a bushel equals 1.2445 cubic feet, how many bushels will the grain bin hold?

6.  If the roof is a cone that is 5 feet high what would its volume be?

ANSWERS:

1.) 114 days  2.) 44 feet   3.)   .66667 pounds per day of age (14/21)  4.)  1.67 pounds per day  (280-14)/160  5.)  10852 cubic feet, 8720 bushels  6.)754 cubic feet, 606 bushels

If you are a teacher or homeschooler that would like more information to go with the Flat Aggie reports, send me a message on my contact form.  Along with the report and the Farmer Math questions, we send each teacher an additional page of activities, crossword puzzles and sometimes a few hands on activities.

-A Kansas Farm Mom
 

Flat Aggie Visits the Anderson Farms Hog Operation

I arrived at Anderson Farms in Shabbona, Illinois on a cold day in February and was greeted by the family dog, Max! 

 

I was excited to see all the grain bins, barns, buildings, trucks, and tractors around the farm. This looked like a very busy place to spend some time.

   

I was told that the family are third generation farmers here in northern Illinois. They farm 1,000 acres of corn, soybeans, and wheat. 

They also operate a 350 sow, farrow to finish, hog operation that produces an average of 570 pigs a month or 7,000 pigs a year. That is a lot of bacon, pork chops, sausage, and pepperoni!

    

I started my tour of the farm where the pigs are.  This is one of the gestation barns where only the pregnant sows live.  They are pregnant for 3months + 3weeks + 3 days!  The breeding, gestation and farrowing barns are all connected so it is easier to move the sows from one barn to the next, no matter the weather! This farmer walks them, inside between the buildings. Breeding means to “get pregnant.” Although they have one boar (dad hog) they use artificial insemination at Anderson Farms when breeding the sows. Sows are the mom pigs. Farrow means “to give birth.” 

       

This farm uses some of the current technology available to swine (generic word for all pigs or hogs) producers to help get “the chores” done. As a simple explanation, the RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) ear tag each pig has helps store and track information about the sow the farmer enters in a database.   

Some of the information includes how old they are, how much they weigh, how many litters (group of piglets born at one time) they have had, any injuries or illness, and how far along they are in their gestation period.

          

As the sow passes thru this gate of the feeding station, it’s ear tag is read and the appropriate amount of food is then dispensed for eating. When they are done, they exit through the other side, and another sow can go eat. 

I asked where they get the pig feed from and I was told that they mix it right there on the farm! So, we went to take a look. I was also told that this is also where the barn cats live!

They use their own harvested corn, add some soybean meal, vitamins and minerals. They make different batches in the feed mixer, pictured behind me, with different amounts of the vitamins and minerals depending on the age and stage of the pig. The feed is then transferred into the feed cart through an auger. They haul the feed to the building it was made for and fill the feeders on the outside of the building. Another auger gets the feed to the pigs inside. This is a daily occurrence with 3,000 pigs on the farm at any given time!

   

When the sow is ready to farrow, the farmer walks her to the “farrowing house” where she is place in a stall. She is limited to the center of the stall by gates to protect the piglets and reduce their chance of being laid on. A heat lamp and a heat mat are also there to keep the piglets warm when they are first born. A newborn piglet weights about 4 pounds.

             

An average litter is 14 piglets. If a sow is unable to care for any or all her piglets, some or all can be placed with another sow. At Anderson Farms, the largest litter one sow had was 20 live piglets born. The largest litter one sow was able to feed until weaning (separated from the sow) was 16 piglets! The average one sow could feed is 11. 

By 10 days old they are supplemented (added to their diet) with feed. In the farrowing house, the sows are all hand fed by the farmer. No RFID feeding stations here.  At 21 days old it is time for the piglets to be weaned from the sow and moved to the finisher. They weigh about 14 pounds now. 

Weaning day is quite the production here on the farm. All hands on deck. That includes the farmer’s college kids hoping to sleep in when visiting at home! After regular morning chores are done, which includes walking through all the buildings and making sure all the pigs are fed or have feed available, all waterers are working, and a basic wellness check is made, it’s time to wean (separate the piglets from the sow).

     

On this farm they use an old school bus to haul the piglets from the farrowing house across the farm to one of the finisher buildings!

They give the piglets one last vaccination before they separate the barrows (boy pigs) from gilts (girl pigs) and put them on the bus. Apparently barrows and gilts mixed in a pen do not get along well together! They are separated to decrease the potential fights that could lead to injuries. They will stay in the finisher for about 5 months, until they are ready for market.

I knew farmers were busy, but after spending three weeks at Anderson Farms during the winter just learning about their livestock, or hog farming, I can’t imagine how much busier it gets when they add their crop farming and begin planting the crops in the spring! I am off to Iowa now to learn more about what happens in the finisher and how another swine producer’s operation works.

Pork Roast in Apple Cider Gravy

Before Thanksgiving, I read a post from the people of Certified Angus Beef stating that 23% of consumers have never cooked a roast and 34% only cook one a few times a year.  What?!  A roast is one of those easy, peasy meals in my book.  Throw it in the crockpot and forget about it.  After speaking with some friends, I found the struggle to cook a roast is real for some.  I asked several of my fellow Kansas Farm Mom's to help me out and they were happy to join in the Pot Roast Project!  The boys and I are testing the recipes for you and trying to remember to take pictures.  :)

Our first guest recipe is from Jenny Burgess.  She shares about her family farm at Burgess Hill Farms on Facebook.  Jenny also writes a blog called Farm Wife Transparency.  They have a very different story of how their farm began than ours and awhile back she shared a very personal story on the struggles she has to deal with.  Here is her recipe for a Pork Roast in Apple Cider Gravy.

Pork Roast in Apple Cider Gravy

1 pork roast or pork loin roast
2 medium apples 
2 small onions 
Salt & pepper 
2 c. Apple cider 
1 Tblsp of cornstarch 
 Directions ~ Slice apples and onions. Put half of apples and onions in the bottom of crockpot. Slice deep into roast & about 1 in apart. Insert other half of apples and onions amongst slices. Place roast on top of 1st half of apples and onions. Salt and pepper roast on top. Pour 2 cups of cider around roast. Cook on high 5 to 6 hours, or on Low 8 hours. Once done take out roast and tent with foil. Strain cider out of crockpot into saucepan. Whisk in cornstarch and cook until bubbly and thick.

 Doesn't this sound great?  Do you fear roasts or cook them all the time?  If you are looking for another pork loin recipe, try Christy's Not So Famous Pork Loin and if you like the apples, you might like Caramel Apple Pork Chops.

If you have a great recipe you would like to share, send it to me and I will be happy to share it with everyone else!

-A Kansas Farm Mom

Tomatoes-Guest Post

My Mother In Law asked me last night when I was planning to put up a new blog post as it has been almost a month since my last.  We have been a little busy with things that I haven't had time to blog about like: a trip to cattle camp, a trip to a national cattle show, wheat harvest, putting up hay and so much more.  Packing for a vacation or camp is hard, but when you are packing cattle and kids it takes on a whole new realm.  The kids and cattle have traveled almost 650 miles together this summer!  I have a few more days of wheat harvest and I promise to finish up a pile of posts that are partially done along with the ones bouncing around in my head.  In the meantime, how about another from my somewhat regular guest contributor Dale Helwig?  My tomatoes are getting close!  

Things you may not know about tomatoes

Tomatoes are a very popular garden crop. I hesitate to say vegetable because technically tomatoes are a fruit. The debate of whether a tomato is a fruit or a vegetable has been going on for a very long  time. That debate has even been brought before the United States Supreme Court. You would think the highest court in the land would have better things to do than argue over if tomatoes are a fruit or a vegetable. But when money is involved, people will argue about anything. That is exactly what happened in 1893. The U.S. had imposed a tariff tax on vegetables but not on fruits. In the case of Nix v. Hedden, the Supreme Court ruled that tomatoes were a vegetable based on their use. Tomatoes are not typically served as a dessert.

However, the courts did not change the botanical classification of the tomato. I saw on the internet what the difference is between knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit and wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

The tomato originated in South America. European explorers discovered them in the 1500's and took them back to Europe where the French dubbed them the “love apple.” Nothing says I love you like a big juicy tomato. Who needs roses when you have tomatoes? By the way men, they are a lot cheaper, have no thorns, and are edible. This would not be a waste of money.

By the 1600's they got over that and the Spanish called them “tomate” where we get our modern
form of tomato.

Today ninety-three percent of American gardens have tomatoes in them. The U.S. Department of Agriculture claims Americans consume 22-24 pounds of tomatoes per person each year. Most of that is in the form of ketchup and tomato sauce. California is the largest producer of processed tomatoes in the United States, while Florida produces the greatest amount of fresh tomatoes. However, the largest tomato on record was grown by Gordon Graham in Edmond, Oklahoma. It weighed a whopping 7 pounds 12 ounces. Amazingly, the United States in not the greatest producer of tomatoes. China is number one followed by the United States, Turkey and India.

The importance of the tomato does not stop there. Besides being the best companion to a slice of bacon (in my opinion), the tomato is very important to other states in the union as well.  The tomato is the official fruit and vegetable of Arkansas. Apparently the debate was settled there. They just classify it as both a fruit and a vegetable. Maybe the tomato is bi-polar. In other news, the state of Ohio has made tomato juice the official beverage. That is one form of the tomato I can not tolerate. The Buckeye State may have just lost a supporter. I love tomatoes but they are made to be eaten not drunk. (again my opinion)

So what about those people that do not like tomatoes in any form? They refuse to grow them, eat or drink them. Well they are in luck. They can move to Bunol, Spain. The last Wednesday in August they hold the La Tomatina Festival. Tens of thousands of visitors will participate in the largest tomato fight known to man. Some 150,000 tomatoes will be thrown at each other in this celebration. Talk about your ultimate food fight!

Whatever your opinion is about tomatoes, it is the time of year to start putting them in your garden, well at least for 93% of you. Stay tuned for next time as we dive into the world of the tomato plant. Till then, as life continues, keep looking between the barb wire.

Dale Helwig
Cherokee County Ag Agent

You might enjoy these recipes for tomatoes:

Cherry Tomato Salad
California Fish Tacos
Italian Roast Beef Panini with Garlic Aioli

W4DW- California Style Fish Tacos

I have asked several farm moms to share recipes for our What's For Dinner Wednesday specials.  The recipes look so good and I wish I had time to try them all!  Sara is a rancher’s daughter and has moved back recently to be a rancher with herself with her dad.  She and I met in February at the Women Managing the Farm Conference when her adorable daughter was tired of sitting in meetings.  Who knew that I had a magic touch with little girls, I thought only little boys like me.

Sara knows that we are trying to eat more fish on a weekly basis in our household, so she sent me her favorite recipe for Fish Tacos. -A Kansas Farm Mom

California Style Fish Tacos

Fish Taco Ingredients

-Tilapia, or other white fish – plan on using about 1 fillet per person or 2 if you have some hungry diners!  This recipe is based on about a pound of fish.

½ cup of flour

1 tsp pepper

½ tsp sweet paprika

½ tsp ground cumin

½ tsp chili powder

1 tsp of kosher salt

2 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp of oil

Rinse fish and blot dry with a paper towel.  Mix all dry breading ingredients together.  Lightly cover fish filets with breading and shake off excess.  Melt the butter and olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Once butter is melted, but not brown, add the fish to the pan.  The fish will cook about 5 min on each side.  You want a light brown exterior, but still light and flaky on the inside.  Once the fish are done, divide up the fillets into serving pieces.

Kickin’ cilantro lime sauce

¼ cup of mayo

¼ cup of plain yogurt we like to use Greek yogurt for a little extra tang

juice of 2 limes

2 Tbsp chopped cilantro

½ tsp minced garlic

dash of cumin

If you like a little extra kick add 1 tsp cayenne pepper as well, mmmm.

Mix all the ingredients together, if it needs to be thinned out some, add a little bit of milk.  I often double the sauce recipe and use it as a dipping sauce for chips as well.

Once everything is ready, serve on flour tortillas with your favorite garnishes.  We love ours with cabbage, avocados, purple onions, cheddar cheese, tomatoes, limes, and cilantro.

This recipe could also be used with chicken or beef.  If using either of these, I would skip the flour in the breading and use the dry ingredients as seasoning to sauté with the meat.