AgChat Swap Meet What Kansas has to Offer

When attending the AgChat Foundation’s swap meet, I got some really great items, but to get those items I had some great contributions from several Kansas organizations. 

The Kansas Wheat Commission sent me these great cookbooks.  They print a new one each year and I always pick one up when I attend the Kansas State Fair.  These cookbooks are a favorite source for me to find new recipes.  I have shared several from these recipes from year’s past like Two Cheese Braided WheatBread, Whole Wheat Sugar Cookies, Cheesy Enchiladas, Old Fashioned Apple Crisp and Whole Wheat Angel FoodCake.

I was excited that they have this year’s book online, so be sure to check out the Kansas Wheat Commission Cookbook 2013.

The Kansas Soybean Commission sent me these adorable silicone Cow and Pig shaped oven mitts.  They were a hit with the ladies of the conference and got me some great trades.  Soybeans have lots of uses from industrial to edible.

The Kansas Corn Commission was so great to send these wonderful cotton gloves that the guys really liked.  They are even made by a Kansas company called Plain Jan’s.

The corn group also sent these ethanol koozies.  The Kansas Corn Commission has also helped sponsor Nascar events for the last three years.

The Kansas Beef Council provided these great little travel mirror/key chain combinations. 

I also handed out some recipes from the Kansas Beef Council that I had and a booklet about beef producers.  I also like to go to the Kansas Beef Council for recipes like the Mediterranean Steak Salad, Taco Bites, and Calypso Beef Soup.

 

I really appreciated all the generous donations from all the commodity groups.  It is great to work with such a supportive group of people.  If you were at the AgChat Swap Meet, what would you have chosen to take home with you? 

-A Kansas Farm Mom

North American Agriculture is Diverse 2013

When I started this blog it was to tell people about my farm, my family...our story if you will.  By attending the AgChat Foundation's annual meeting, I have found that I have so much to learn about agriculture in America and Canada.  It is so easy for us to forget what it takes to get all of our food to our table and how different environments across North America allow different crops to thrive for the farmers that care for the land in that particular region.

One of the networking events that I enjoy is the annual Swap Meet.  Many of the attendees brought products that showcase the farm products from their state.  It really is eye opening how Diverse American Agriculture can be.

For example, this Spring, I learned right along with the class that sent Flat Aggie out into the world.  That is why I am so excited about this project...

Flat Ryan has been out learning about farming while the real Ryan from Agriculture Proud finishes up his Master's degree.  I even had a guest post about Visiting the Fair on Agriculture Proud.

My roommate for the event was Taysha who writes the blog Dirt Road Charm.  She is a cowboy boot lovin' girl from Ohio who brought some of Ohio's finest foods to share with the group.  I have to say that I am possibly addicted to Buckeye's and may have hidden them in the back of the refrigerator, so the rest of my family could not find them.  Oh. My. Goodness.  These are GOOD!  I was very excited to find Marsha's Buckeyes online and I can order them!  This may not be good for my waistline, though.




Tayasha also brought Swiss Cheese.  I did not know that Ohio makes more Swiss Cheese than any other state in America.  We don't have very many dairies near us, so getting good fresh cheese is always a plus for me.

My friend Dairy Carrie brought some amazing Wisconsin Cheese, no surprise for those of us that know her.  I don't think she travels without cheese.  I am a huge fan of Sartori Cheese ever since she introduced me to it last year.  I can't wait to make my 2 Cheese Braided Bread with the SarVecchio Parmesan and I have been grilling peaches with the Montamore on top which is delicious.

My family loves almonds, so when I was offered some good California almonds like my friends in northern California raise, I couldn't resist the offer.

My friend Wanda that writes Minnesota Farm Living who I met last year at AgChat brought her Martin County Magic Pork Seasoning with her.  This stuff is awesome on pork, and I've been told it's also good on tater tots and other meats.  If you want to try some for yourself, you can buy Martin County Magic on her page.

This cow pie from Ann Larson had the cutest card to go with it,

"Why Cow Pies?

Because carrying real cow pies on the plane would be frowned upon.

Also, Wisconsin farmers lead the country in the number of anaerobic digesters.

These tasty treats are made in Baraboo, WI by the Baraboo Candy Company."

My oldest son is learning about crops judging.  I sent out a request for seed samples that we don't grow in our area.   Ann also brought some wheat seed for his collection.  Yes!  There are different wheat types planted in different areas, planted at different times, for different end uses.

Of course, my boys were excited to see a smoked pork stick, they aren't sure about the smoked alligator, though.  I couldn't pass up the beer nuts.  I am sure TSA looked at me funny when I went through security with Peach Preserves and Honey Mustard in with my bag of liquids.  :)  I am looking for a serious coffee drinker to help me sample the sweet potato coffee.  I even took a Idaho Spud candy bar (no potatoes involved, but if you love coconut you need to find these), popcorn from a real popcorn farmer and the butter toffee peanuts==YUM!

My Ohio pig farmer friends were very generous to give a cattle rancher like me the I Love Pork measuring cup.  I got the awesome meat thermometer from my Michigan Pork friends who would like to remind you that pork only needs cooked to 145* to be considered safe to eat and it will be juicy and flavorful.

Of course, since I love to cook and share recipes, I couldn't pass up recipes and seasonings!  Stay tuned for some new recipes when I find time to cook after corn harvest.

This set of cards has to be one of my favorite ways to show ag to young boys.  They are called "Match the Species with the Feces."  On one side of the card is literally a scratch and sniff picture of an animals poop and on the other side is info about the animal.  My boys thought they were funny.

 

I always love a pen that looks like corn.  I also picked up some golf tees made of corn.  No, I don't play golf, but I do love to show kids all the things that can be made from corn other than livestock feed.

 

I have a new collection of pins to put on my jackets, bags, suitcases, etc. but the boys have laid claim to most of them.

I was lucky enough to get a copy of Michelle Payn-Knoper's book No More Food Fights.  Now I need to find some free time to read it and ponder what she others have to say about the food and farming discussion.

No farmer meeting is complete without a selection of note pads.

I will be planting some blue bonnets in my flower bed next year.

Dairy Management Services gave me this sweet cow koozie.

I got this great set of info from The American Farm Bureau Federation.  I need a few more of the maps for my Flat Aggie teachers.  The map of the United States has symbols for the commodities and where they are grown.  I did find you can order them here.

My boys favorite item that I brought home was from Kentucky.  They are huge Turtleman fans and couldn't believe that I snagged a t-shirt and an autographed picture for them.

 Sure, they were several college students
 in attendance with us, who were much
more tech savvy than I.  They are proud of their respective colleges as they should be and I was happy to have a new key chain and koozie.

I grabbed a great collection of bumper stickers.  I am in the process of trying to cover my mismatched set of filing cabinets with ag themed stickers, so these were a great addition to my office.

I hope you learned a little about North American agriculture through my swap meet items.  What product would you like to learn more about?  Maybe I could get a farmer to take Flat Aggie to teach us and the kids about their farm.

-A Kansas Farm Mom

Farmers are Busy Even When Not Farming Part 2

I haven’t been a very good blogger lately.  You see it was the end of the year.  That meant that even though we weren’t driving tractors or helping deliver baby calves we were still super busy and that if my rear end made it to the computer, the computer was on Quickbooks or Excel Spreadsheets.  My post What Farmers Do When They Are Not Farming has been very popular, so I decided to add what we are doing now.

1.        Lots and lots of meetings.  Some farmers like to call this meeting season.  Farmers don’t get paid to attend these meetings and usually have to pay someone to take care of things at home while they are gone.  We look at these meetings as continuing education to not only learn from the presenters, but what worked for our peers the last year.

2.       I have been getting my Quickbooks up to date for the accountant.  Farmers don’t have until April 15 to file their taxes, ours are due March 1.

3.       Last month, I finished up the crop insurance reports for soybeans and reported the acres of wheat we have planted.  I also had to let the government know where our wheat was planted at the local FSA office.

4.       Farmers do a great job of helping one another out, but we do a terrible job of keeping “settled up” with one another.   We spent some time figuring out how much we owed The Farmer’s cousin and my parents and how much they owed us (and discussed a lot of other stuff along the way, too.) 

5.       The Farmer spent several days getting prices for fertilizers and chemicals that we will use this year.  Many of our suppliers had special prices that were good until the first week of the new year.

6.       I spent some time at my computer putting together our family Christmas letter and getting pictures of the family sent out to our friends and family.  In addition, we delivered 2 Cheese Braided Bread to our neighbors and landlords that live close to us.

7.       Of course, the girls have needed extra feed and attention with the cooler temperatures.  We even had to use an axe several days to break the ice, so the cows could drink water from the frozen ponds.  We checked to make sure one pasture’s fence was still secure and moved the cows to it on our anniversary.  The pasture actually has a creek with running water in it which means no chopping ice as long as the water keeps running!!

You can't see my husband, but he isn't very far from our boy. 

8.       Of course, we are preparing for calving season which will start before the end of the month.  There are supplies to be gathered and cows to be moved to the proper pasture before we start getting those adorable babies.

I am so excited our son is big enough to open gates.  :)

9.       We spent most of Christmas Break with the boys.  I sure do miss them when they go to school.  They keep us entertained and remind us when we forget to do something as well.

10.   And yes, we even found time to work on some 4-H projects.  The boys like to do Arts and Crafts, but most aren’t really boy approved.  We spent several day watching them put together Legos and helping them find the pieces they needed.  We also worked on their talks that they will give at 4-H competition day in February.

So you see, I really have been busy and don’t forget to throw in the family dinners, gift exchanges and spending time with my brother and sister in law while they were here from Connecticut.  Whew!  I got tired just thinking about everything I have done the last month.

Here are what some other farmers in different parts of the country are doing this winter:
Feeding Silage with Graff Land and Livestock
Soil Conservation with Kissed a Farmer
Twas the Morning before Christmas
Dealing with winter with Minnesota Farm Living
Dairy Farmers in Wisconsin Winters with Dairy Carrie

-A Kansas Farm Mom

Shared on:
Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop

Farmers are Busy Even When "Not" Farming

I was recently asked by CommonGround to do a post on what farmers do when they aren’t farming.   Here is the second of 2 posts (it was hard to answer in just one).  Since I am a farm wife, what I do on the farm when we aren’t farming is different than what my husband Farmer is doing. 

Part 2: What do farmers do when they aren’t farming?  Simple answer:  A LOT!

Crop Scouting takes up a lot of our family time in the summer.  The boys and I often ride along as The Farmer looks to see if the crops are growing, if weeds are growing and if bugs are eating our precious plants.  We do not apply pesticides unless we see a need for them in each individual field.  It is better for the environment and soil if we scout our fields and apply as necessary.

Maintenance and Repairs on equipment take up quite a bit of time.  Oil has to be changed, blades have to be sharpened or replaced, things need to be greased or oiled and let’s face it things wear out and need repaired.

Our planter has a lot of moving parts and bearings that can wear out at the wrong time without proper maintenance.

 Hunting is a favorite past time of many farmers.  It gives them time to themselves to enjoy nature.  In our area, deer can wipe out an entire field, so deer hunting is also a way to protect the investment in a crop.

My Father-in-law a few years back with one of his prize bucks.

Most farmers go to several Meetings each year.  These could be considered continuing education by most in the business world, but we are not required to go to them.  We simply know that we need to stay on top of what is new and changing in the world of agriculture or we fall behind.  Here is a post I wrote earlier about meetings.

Comparison Shopping for big ticket items like tractors, combines and planters takes persistence and time, but can be rewarded by saving $$$$.  You wouldn’t go buy the first house or car you look at and farmers are the same way (they can be very tight with their money).

Delivering Grain after harvest keeps farmers and those they hire busy in the off season.  Often lines at the local elevators can slow the harvest, so farmers use bins on their farms to store grain until it needs to be delivered.

Storing corn in a bin is more work than just hauling it to town, but the prices and time savings are often well worth the effort.

Honey Do Lists can become quite long during the busy times of the year.  Every good husband knows if he has a few free hours, he better start on the wish list.

My Honey Do this day included my brother and one of his friends.  Landscaping is hard work, but made me very happy this day.  :)

Record Keeping can pile up in a hurry.  Luckily, my Farmer has me to take care of most of it for him.  Some of the paperwork that has to be taken care of includes:  marketing contracts, crop insurance, Farm Service Agency reports, conservation contracts, and EPA compliance measures.

Volunteering in the community is often a part of a farmer and ranchers life as well.  Helping out at school, the local scholarship selection committee, the Township Board, and the Water District Board are just a few places my Farmer volunteers his time and talents.

Farmer Organization Boards have numerous volunteer positions that need to be filled each year, so they know what farmers really want and need.  Some we have served on are:

·         Kansas Sunflower Commission

·         Kansas Soybean Association

·         Kansas Grazing Lands Coalition

·         Kansas Prescribed Fire Council

·         CommonGround Kansas

Local Events always bring out the farmers.  If it is the right time of year you can always find farmers at Farm Shows, county fairs, state fairs and the local sporting events.  It is a great way for them to network and see what worked for someone else.

Ranchers that are farmers really don’t have a lot of free time.  When they aren’t in the tractor, they are:

·         Delivering mineral and vitamin supplements to their cattle at least weekly.

·         Fixing Fences

·         Checking water supplies and installing tanks in the middle of a drought.

·         Checking cows that are calving.

·         Weaning calves.

·         Pregnancy checking cows.

Just because you don’t see farmers in the field on a tractor doesn’t mean they aren't busy.  There is a considerable amount of work that goes into keeping things going well when the tractors do leave the barn.  Here is a follow up post on what we do on our farm in the winter when we aren't driving tractors.

 

-A Kansas Farm Mom