Nesting in a Big Way Part II

Earlier this week I shared some of the things we gather to get ready for calving season here.  Here is some more of the top 10 items we gather before we start calving.  As you can see, I still need to get some of the items cleaned up in the next couple of days.

6. Water and feed pans

I like to gather extra feed and water pans before calving.  If heifers need to be put in the barn, they have to be penned separately with their calf which means we need several feed pans and water holding tubs.

7.  Hot Box, Calf Blankets and old blankets or towels

Think of this like a calf sized incubator.  If we have a calf born on a cold day or they have a mom that doesn’t want to lick them and dry them off, we put them in this Hot Box.  It has a heater that warms and dries the calf, so I can go check on other cows and calves.  It has a flap that the calf can walk out when they want to, but I have only had one calf ever walk out in the last 7 years.

  

That’s right!  We have blankets made just for calves to wear.  These work great for calves that need to stay in the barn or are abandoned by their mother.  I also keep lots of thick old blankets around in case we don't have room in the Hot Box or to keep a calf warm on the way home from the pasture.

8.  Flashlight

Heifers are our first time mothers.  Unlike, people we do not have Lamaze classes for these girls.  We check them at night sometimes multiple times to make sure they aren’t having trouble.  A good flashlight is a must…usually one that is rechargeable.

9.  Sidewalk Chalk and Clip Board

As our heifers have babies, we move them to another pasture.  We have found that it reduces the amount of illness we have in the calves, but it adds a level of confusion and constant change.  I have found that taking a piece of the boys sidewalk chalk keeps everyone up to date.  I mark off when we move a new pair then anyone who goes through that gate knows how many cows to look for.

The list of cows on our clip board becomes very important about day 35.  Often we sort the cows that are left to calve and bring them to one pasture for closer observation.  At the end of 45 days and 200+ calves, things start to blur in the mind and sleep deprivation may be setting in as well, so no I don't know that calf 155 goes with cow number 15.  Disappointing to some of you I am sure.  If a calf gets sick, we can quickly look at the list and locate his mama if they need to be kept in the "hospital" pen for closer observation and treatment.

10.  Ear Tags

We try to tag every calf when they are born.  Why?  If the cow or calf gets sick and needs to go home, then we know who they belong to, just like babies and their mamas have matching bracelets in the hospital.

I know I said this was my top 10 list but, there is one item that we use that we have found we can't do without.

  11.  Calf Sled

Think about the wheeled basinets in the hospital.  We can put a calf in this sled, place the net over the top of him so he doesn’t fall out and move him to the barn or take him to the veterinarian.  Since the calf is on ground level, the mama will follow the calf if we tow it behind a truck or 4 wheeler and we can keep her in the pen until the calf is ready to be with her again.  This can be a real back saver.  You might imagine that a slimy wet calf is hard to hang on to and nearly impossible for 2 people to try to wrangle.  With the sled, we can slide the calf in (even if they weigh over 100 pounds) and 2 or 3 of us can lift it onto the truck or into the trailer.

What questions to do you have about our soon to be here babies?  What pictures would you like to see?  Let me know here or on my Facebook page and I will see if I can get the information or visuals you want.

Have a great week!

-A Kansas Farm Mom

Kindergarten Farm Day 2012

The Farmer’s cousin and I planned a fun filled day for the Kindergarten kids at our local school.  It is one of those things that you get to be in charge of when you are a farmer and you have a Kindergarten student.  Here are some pictures from the day.  I even made the front page of the local newspaper showing the kids a wheat field!

The Farmer’s cousin did a great job showing the kids his planting equipment.  He even started the tractor and drove it a little so the kids could see how it worked!  Some of them jumped when the tractor started.  LOL

 

He also showed them his combine and tried to explain to them how it worked as well.  For those of you that don’t know.  The header cuts off the wheat, then the wheat is ran over rasp bars that breaks the kernals loose, then a fan blows the light chaff out and finally a set a “screens”  lets the heavier wheat fall though while the lighter material is sent out the back of the combine.  That’s it ….in a nut shell.  LOL

My mother-in-law talked to the kids about how wool from sheep is spun into yarn and used to make clothing and blankets.  Doesn't she have a great display?

My father-in-law graciously accepted the job of supervising the petting of the sheep.  The lambs are our oldest son's 4-H projects.  The kids like the feel of a lamb’s wool.

The Farmer talked to the kids about corn and soybeans.  He had an awesome backdrop of a corn field.  He had soybean plants that had been planted at different intervals so the kids could see how a legume grows.  He also had a table full of products that are made from corn or soybeans.  These products really intrigued the teachers.

Mr. Responsible, our 4-H member, and my dad talked to the kids about cattle.  They showed them the 15 month old heifer and a 3.5 month old bottle calf that are also 4-H projects.  They talked about what they feed the calves and how he takes care of them.

Finally, the host and I talked to the kids about wheat.  They even had a wheat field close that the kids could look at.  I also talked to the kids about the various products that can be made from cattle other than beef…this might be a subject I cover during wheat harvest when I am too busy to write something else. 

The funniest response of the day was when I asked what was stored in this big round thing (aka a grain bin).  One kid actually said,  ”Chicken Nuggets!”  I guess my job an ag educator is safe for a little while.

I was even crazy enough to follow the kids back to school to do some ag crafts with them, with the help of some unbelievable friends and my mother in law, that never complained and helped all day!  Here the kids are painting with soil.  The Farmer’s cousin found this great lesson, but couldn’t get off work.  Thanks to our local Farm Bureau rep (also another Kindergartener's mom), the kids still got to paint with soil and modge podge.

 

The Farm Bureau rep (Wow!  She was a lifesaver!) also came up with this cool idea to make grain mosaics.  Here, three of the boys work on their mosaics.  She and I are ready to do a lot more of these.  It was fun, looked cool and was relaxing to do. When we get ours finished I will be sure to post pictures.

I played a game with the kids about how cows find their calves by scent.  I had 20 tubes with 10 different scents and they had to go find their calf.  Needless to say, after helping 60 kids try to find their calf 2 different times, I am not sure my nose will smell right for a while.

I also talked to them about how everything they eat comes from the farm.  We went through the label on their snack and were amazed by the number of commodities we found.  There are at least 10 different commodities in a package of Zinger snack cakes and they don’t have any nuts!

This week in review Pictures:

The wheat continues to turn more golden every day.  Anyone want to guess when
wheat harvest will begin?

The corn is continuing to grow and is enjoying the sunshine and warm days.

Soybean planting started this week.  The boys and I took a snack to the field
after school.

The soybeans are being planting by our drill instead of the planter for
various reasons to be covered in a future blog if you are interested.

W4DW-Italian Beef Roll

As promised, I have another What's For Dinner Wednesday for you, but first let me address the video that was released yesterday by HSUS.  My family takes great pride in caring for our animals.  We would never abuse them or cause physical damage to them.  Our cattle harvest grass for us, and provide us with our livelihood.  Abused animals are not productive and above all abusing animals in not ethical.  Please do not think that all livestock producers treat their animals in this manner.  Just as I do not assume that all parents abuse their children, do not assume that all farmers behave in the manner that was seen on this video.  The people in this video would never have a picture in their family album that look like this:

 Yes the calf has a custom made coat and insulated barn to keep her warm.

Or This Picture:

Yes, these calves are in my house and ended up spending the night inside as it was too cold outside.

Or This Picture:

Taken at 5:00 am.  Apparently, the future cattleman couldn't sleep either with sub zero

 temperatures outside and came to check on the patient before he went back outside to mama.

Also, inside my house.  Calves and adults cattle on our farm are treated with the utmost respect!

OK Now off my soap box and on to the post I promised and already had ready before yesterday morning.  A recipe your mom might even enjoy for Mother's Day!

May is Beef Month and the second recipe I have chosen to share with you is my Italian Beef Roll.  This is a recipe I used when I competed in the Beef Ambassador Contest when I was in High School.  It is like an Italian flavored meatloaf with cheese rolled in the middle.  Another Beef Ambassador recipe you might enjoy is Porcupine Meatballs.  Yummy!

1.      Start with 1 pound of lean ground beef.  Add ¾ cup oatmeal, 1 egg or ¼ cup egg substitute, 1/3 cup chopped onion, ½ teaspoon oregano, ½ teaspoon pepper, and 1 clove of garlic or 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder.  Mix well.  Beef is the #1 food source of zinc in the diet.  It is responsible for growth and development and maintenance of the immune system.

I feel I need to back up a step here and talk about the garlic.  I love to use fresh garlic.  I sold Pampered Chef products for a few years before I had kids and ran into a few people who didn’t know how to use fresh garlic and were a bit afraid of it or had used way too much of it.  So here is my tutorial on Fresh Garlic.

This is a bulb of garlic:

The piece I have pushed out with my finger is a clove of garlic.

A clove of garlic is a small piece of the bulb that easily separates itself.

I like to use a garlic press to get the garlicky goodness out of a clove.  You can peel it and chop it, but then your hands tend to smell like garlic for a while.  You just put the clove in the press and squeeze to release the flavor.  Has anyone ever been to a garlic farm?  I wonder if the smell is overwhelming.

2.       Mix the tomato paste and water together.  I use tomato paste mixed with water in place of tomato sauce.  Tomato sauce is actually quite high in sodium and the contest I competed in judged how healthy your recipe was, so either works fine.  Add a 1/3 cup of the tomato paste mixture to the ground beef mixture and mix well.  Reserve the remaining tomato paste and water for later.  The cattle on our farm are cared for with the utmost respect.  We handle them with a calm, quiet manner and don't even own an electric cattle prod.  We truly believe in the words "Take care of the cattle and the cattle will take care of you."

3.       Now here is where you need to work efficiently and now get distracted by your kids.  Place a piece of waxed paper on top of a cutting board at least 9 by 12 inches.  Shape the ground beef into a flat rectangle about 8x10 inches on the waxed paper.

4.      Sprinkle ½ cup of Mozzarella cheese evenly over meat.

5.       Roll up like a jelly roll, using the paper to help hold the meat together.  You have to work quickly, because the meat starts to soften the waxed paper and it will tear if you take too long.  This was easier to do when I was in high school and didn’t have little boys who needed help with homework in the middle of fixing supper.

6.       Press the seams together and push the ends to seal, so the cheese doesn’t melt out of the roll. 

7.       Now, place a 7x11 baking dish over the top of your cutting board. 

8.       Flip the cutting board over, so your meat roll is in the baking dish and remove the waxed paper.

9.       Bake 45 minutes at 350 degrees.  Beef is an excellent source of iron.  The type of iron in beef is Heme iron, which is 3-5 times more easily digested than the iron found in other foods.  For example, much of the iron in spinach is not available to the body unless the spinach is eaten with meat.

45 minutes was long enough for us to feed the bottle calves and do a little heat detecting on the heifers that are ready to be bred.  All chores are done before we eat each night.  The boys understand that the animals rely on them for all their food and that the animals should come before their own wants.

10.   Pour remaining tomato mixture over the roll and sprinkle remaining cheese over the top.  Beef is an excellent source of zinc, iron and protein.

11.   Bake an additional 15 minutes.  

12.   Let cool and slice.  Enjoy! 

  Agriculture is my life’s calling, and I take pride in producing food that is safe, nutritious and affordable. I feel confident in knowing that consumers can go to their local grocery store or restaurant and purchase food that is safe and wholesome for their family, which is the same grocery store I go frequent to buy food for my family.

   I understand that contemporary agriculture doesn’t look like it did when my and my husband's grandfather's farmed (and probably yours as well), but like many other industries we have had to become more efficient to survive. The production practices we use are ethically grounded, scientifically verified and economically viable. They allow me to maximize efficiency and meet the growing demand for food.

    A Proud Kansas Farm Mom

·         

Italian Beef Roll

1 lb. ground beef

¾ cup oatmeal

¼ cup egg substitute or 1 egg

1/3 cup onion, chopped

½ t. oregano

1/8 t. garlic powder or 1 clove garlic

½ t. pepper

6 oz. can tomato paste

½ cup water

4 oz mozzarella cheese, grated

Combine ground beef, oatmeal, egg substitute, onion and seasonings.  Mix tomato paste and water and add 1/3 cup of mixture to beef mix, reserving the remainder for later use.  Mix well and shape into a flat rectangle about 8x10 inches on waxed paper.  Sprinkle ½ cup of cheese evenly over meat.  Roll up like a jelly roll and press seams together.

Carefully place into a 7x11 inch baking dish.  Bake 45 minutes at 350 degrees.  Pour remaining sauce mixture over the roll and sprinkle with remaining cheese.  Bake an additional 15 minutes.  Let cool 10 minutes and slice.