Thankful Thursday

Last year we were looking up information about our farm to see if we

could qualify to be recognized as an Arkansas Century Farm. 

Sure enough, the land where our house and the dairy sit was purchased in

1919 by Ryan's Grandad Grover Bagby. 

Although we had the abstract for the land purchase,

I also went to the County Circuit Clerk's office and looked up

the county deed records. It was quite a fascinating process to hold

those records from so long ago filled with beautiful handwritten documentation

of the history of land in Benton County.  

Dairy farming has been a part of the farming on this land for 90 years. 

On April 16, Ryan completed 50 years of milking dairy cows on the family farm.

I'm so thankful for the 37 years that I have been a part

of the dairy farming life.  Taking a city girl  and training

her was no easy job for the farmer!

Although we won't be milking cows,

I can still look out the kitchen window watching the

dairy heifers and beef cows enjoy these  early  spring

pastures  and give thanks for the blessings of farm living!

 

Dairymom's Thankful Thursday

Last week I was invited to speak to students at Kirksey Middle School 

about dairy farming. Students at this school are involved in the

 Fuel Up to Play 60 program that is proudly sponsored by the dairy checkoff,

 the National Dairy Council and the National Football League.

I am thankful for this in-school health and wellness program that 

encourages physical activity and good nutrition among youth and 

utilizes our dairy farmer dollars to make a difference for all of us.

I never get tired of sharing  about our Spotted Cows,

 life down on the dairy farm and how we work

 everyday to produce high-quality milk.

Dairymom's Thankful Thursday

Frannie, the Arkansas Farm Bureau cow, 

 was on her best behavior today as Westside Elementary students  milked for the first time. 

It's always fun to watch the kids try their hand at milking the cow and give them first hand information about dairy farming and Arkansas agriculture.

                                      I'm thankful for the opportunity to share how we work
                                      on the dairy farm to produce high-quality milk and the
                                             importance of agriculture to our everyday lives.

Marketing Farming

Benton County Farm Bureau provided a little bit of fun and information about Benton County agriculture to   hundreds of people at the Bentonville Farmer's Market this past Saturday. 

Basically, we were marketing farming.

Consumers of all ages enjoyed the beauty of this antique tractor and a lot of 

tractor talking from Benton County farmer Bob Shofner,

milking the cow that never goes dry,

and

petting the  chicks.

It's not a hard job to market farming because 

we have a great story to communicate at every opportunity.

 It's obvious that the look of the family farm and the technologies

have changed but we have the same values of caring for the land 

and the animals to provide safe,healthy food for America's consumers.

Dairymom's Thankful Thursday

Last week these two calves and I made to a visit

 to the Northwest Arkansas Children's Shelter.

It was an opportunity to allow children that have never been around animals to be able to pet the calves and share how farmers care for their animals and  produce high-quality milk.

                                                                                 
                              I'm thankful for the invitation to share our dairy farm story
                 in a facility that is working to make a safer and  better life for children.

Dairy Farmers Celebrate Earth Day Everyday

Earth Day isn't just a one day celebration on our  dairy farm--it's an everyday experience   as we work to produce  high-quality milk by caring for our animals and conserving natural resources for future generations.

 It's a fact that dairy farms today produce a gallon of milk using 95 percent less land and 65 percent less water while producing 76 percent less manure compared with 1944. It's the modern science and technology that make it possible to produce more milk today with only 9 million cows than with 26 million cows in 1944.


In looking to reduce our carbon footprint and operate as sustainably as possible, we completed an energy audit  in 2012 with the help of the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy and its partners EnSave and USDA Natural Resources and Conservation Services. The audit provided potential areas for saving energy use and improving long-term efficiency and profitability.





Last year after completion of the energy audit,  we  chose to install equipment in the milking parlor that would reduce the amount of electricity used to cool the milk. By installing this equipment we saw immediate results in efficiency and a reduction in the farm's carbon footprint. The change saved more than 26,000 kilowatts in electricity and  reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 6 tons annually.

 In addition to saving electricity, the plate cooler provided additional water that can be recycled for our cows to drink. We installed two rubber tire water tanks  for the cows to enjoy drinking from  year-round.  A win-win for us, the environment   and the cows!





We'll be using our energy audit to provide direction for other changes we can make to operate as sustainably as possible and continue to celebrate Earth Day Everyday down on the dairy farm.

 

How will you celebrate Earth Day?

Earth Day Dairy Spin

Although it's Earth Day Everyday on the dairy farm, I was an invited guest to the  early  Earth Day celebration with Bentonville students at Old High Middle School. Students enjoyed a variety of activities related to protecting and caring for the earth that are important  to   everyday living.


Sharing information about dairy farming is important to me   because caring for the environment is a responsibility dairy farmers share with our local community. Good environmental practices are  essential to a dairy farm's success and for  future generations. You can find more dairy facts and information about sustainability and environmental protection practices   at Midwest Dairy.

                       My display included information about dairy nutrition and dairy farming.

 

It was my day to be the Vanna of Dairy--passing out string cheese for every spin of the Dairy Wheel of Knowledge!

 

 

                                      I had fun  giving my own dairy farmer spin on Earth Day!

Dairy Farming Benefits

Although working with family doesn't always create a stress free work environment, I feel really fortunate to work  with my family everyday on the dairy farm. 

It's a rewarding experience and what I consider as one of my dairy farming benefits  to see my sons share in the daily responsibilities of caring for our dairy cows and the land we call home.

 

One of our daily farm chores  done every  morning and afternoon is the calf feeding. Yesterday afternoon  I beat Cody to  the tractor driving job, so he fed the calf on the bottle while

 

 

Casey fed the calves that drink milk from the bucket.

 

 
 

 

 

  This tractor driver, besides being a great calf feeding tractor driver,  provides benefits to the hard working dairy farmer sons  

 

                                       
                                             with labors of love from  dairymom's kitchen!