Lovin' on Agriculture

What's not to love about agriculture? Agriculture is  vitally important in our everyday lives.

 National Ag Day gives us a special opportunity to celebrate and give a little extra love for

 what we often take for granted.

Agriculture is celebrated on National Ag Day to appreciate :

• the value it brings to our everyday lives 
• how it improves and  maintains a strong economy
• the role it plays in providing abundant and affordable products
• how food and fiber products are produced

This year's national  theme is "Agriculture: Stewards of a Healthy Planet".
 It's obvious that with limited resources and more people (9 billion) to feed by 2050,

 producing more food and agricultural products will require all of us working together
 to conserve and preserve all along the production and farm to market  path.
 Dairy farm families across the United States are working every day to produce high

 quality milk using proven science and technologies.

Here's a few ag facts to celebrate...

• One U.S. farm feeds 168 people.
• 97% of U.S. farms are family owned
• Total U.S. crop yield (tons per acre) has increased more than 360% since 1950.
• Dairy farms produce a gallon of milk using 95 percent less land, and 65 percent 
• less water while producing 76 percent less manure compared with 1944.

                         You're invited to join us for a little lovin' on Arkansas agriculture at our 

                                                         Benton County Ag Day celebration 

                       being held at the Northwest Arkansas  Community College from 1-4 p.m. 

                                                                      Happy Ag Day

                                                          from down on the dairy farm!

Chillin' in the Milk Barn

It seemed fitting on the first day of summer during June Dairy Month that we would host a tour for dairy farmers and community members  to showcase our new milk chillin'  plate cooler. After completing an energy audit of our dairy farm  in 2011, the plate cooler was one of the energy saving suggestions. A Conservation Innovation Grant from NRCS made it possible for us to invest in this project for our farm.   Although cooling the milk is necessary year round, a hot first day of summer  was  perfect for talking about chillin' the milk!


Milk cooling costs are usually one of the largest energy operating expenses on the dairy because it  takes a lot of electricity to cool the cow's milk from 98 degrees when it leaves the cow to 38 degrees in the bulk storage tank. The plate cooler, also known as a Milk Pre-Cooler, is a series of steel plates installed in the milk line before the bulk tank. Cold water passes through a plate cooler in one direction and absorbs heat from the warm milk pumped through the plate cooler in the opposite direction. The plate cooler can reduce the temperature of the milk entering the bulk storage tank to within 4 degrees of the incoming cold water temperature.

Besides saving electricity and money with faster cooling, Milk Pre-Coolers also create these benefits:

• Increases the milk quality by inhibiting bacterial growth through faster cooling.
• Extends refrigeration equipment life by reducing load and run time.
• Daily milk production can also be increased when the warm water exiting the Pre-Cooler is used for watering the cows.

The installation of the Milk Pre-Cooler also required an addition of a variable speed milk pump and a water system to recycle the water used by the plate cooler for our dairy cows to drink in the pasture.

Our showcase tour also included a visit to the newly installed rubber tire water tanks.




Chillin' the milk and recycling water on our dairy farm are perfect examples of how we  continue our commitment to producing high-quality  milk while caring for and conserving  our natural resources!

Benefits of Dairy Farm Living

One of the benefits of living on the dairy  farm is to enjoy the wildlife that are living on the land. We started chopping a field of sorghum this week and while I was waiting for the chopper to make it's way up the field, I spotted this interesting bird hopping from bush to bush in the fence row. What caught my eye were the stripes on his head. I don't claim to be a bird expert but from the pictures in my Field Guide to the Birds, I believe it is a White-Crowned Sparrow.

 

 

 

 

According to information provided by the Arkansas Foundation for Agriculture:

• 75% of the nation's wildlife food and habitat is provided by farm and ranches.
• Farmers have enrolled 31.4 million acres of their land in the Conservation Reserve Program to protect the environment and provide habitat for wildlife.
• Through various conservation incentive progrems, farmers have pledged to install 20 million acres of conservaton buffers.
• The net loss of wetlands has decreased from a level of 24,000 acres lost each year(1982-92) to 24,000 acres each year (from 1992-97) through designed programs, such as the Wetlands Reserve Program (an 11% reduction).

We are blessed by the world around us. The birds in the field are reminders daily of God's perfect plan and our responsibility to care for the land and our animals as we work to provide high-quality milk for you and your family.

                                                                     Happy Sunday!

Drought's Silver Lined Cloud

It's difficult to see any positve opportunity from drought when you look at our tinderbox pastures and damaged or dead crops but there is a silver lining to the rainless drought cloud! Drought creates the perfect condition for cleaning out ponds that have filled up with silt or dirt that has drained into the ponds over several years. Drought dried ponds in Northwest Arkansas are calling all bulldozers and wheel loaders into action!

This Deere loader was delivered to the farm by a local equipment rental business this morning. It's true--boys never outgrow their love of toys or playing in the dirt! During this week,unless it rains, Ryan and our  sons,Cody and Casey,  will take turns playing in the dirt to clean ponds on our farm and a few of our neighbor's ponds.

Dirt is being removed from the dry pond and moved to either side of the pond. Eventually the  piles of dirt will be smoothed out and packed down to  make a slight slope that cattle can walk on without difficulty when coming for a drink of water.

Cleaning out the ponds is a conservation practice that will allow more storage space for water collected from rain events and runoff from the fields and pastures and increase water availability for our cattle.  

                                    Drought or no drought--
             we're committed to caring for our land and animals
                        as we work to provide high-quality milk!

Dairymom's Thankful Thursday

Farms and ranches provide habitat for many different kinds of wildlife. These Canadian Geese were enjoying time alone in the pasture while the dairy cows were being milked this morning. After all the stormy weather and tremendous amount of rain this week, I am thankful for the sunshine and the opportunity to enjoy the gifts of nature on our farm.