Volunteer Gift

As I returned to the farm from the Osage Terrace Assisted Living Facility last week, I felt a great sense of satisfaction from sharing time with a group of elderly residents and young members from the Centerton 4-H Club. For the last seven years, I have been providing piano Christmas music while 4-H members demonstrate and teach how to make an assortment of Christmas ornaments, provide refreshments and enjoy Christmas music while working together. As I was listening to the residents and the children singing softly as they worked on their ornaments, I thought how volunteering always brings me great joy. What would our world be like without the volunteers in every community? Life on the dairy farm is hectic, my house is rarely spotless, and it isn't always easy to volunteer but my life is much richer and filled with contentment from giving to my community. Many volunteer organizations are struggling to find people willing to give of their time. If you aren't already volunteering, would you consider it in 2011? Volunteering is a great year round Christmas gift you can give to your community!

Talkin' Dairy

Last Friday I had the privilege of speaking to the Gravette Kiwanis Club about dairy. I chose to talk about the dairy checkoff program because many consumers do not know that the national dairy promotion program was produced by dairy farmers,for dairy farmers and is funded by America's dairy farmers. Because Kiwanis is an international civic organization that works to improve children's health, I really enjoyed telling the members about the Fuel Up To Play 60 program that the dairy farmers are sponsoring in partnership with the National Football League. As a dairy farmer, I am very proud that our money is being used to give children information and incentive to improve their nutrition choices and exercise habits for life long health. Fuel Up To Play 60 is now being implemented in two-thirds of our nation's schools (more than 60,000), reaching 36 million students. The uniqueness of this program is that it engages students directly to take the lead in helping make their schools and communities healthier. Learning to make good nutriton choices and developing exercise habits is a great prevention for obesity and other chronic illnesses. You can learn more about the dairy checkoff program at http://www.dairycheckoff.com/. Before leaving the meeting, we had a drawing for an insulated shopping bag donated by Midwest Dairy (http://www.midwestdairy.com/). My hope is that each member left with new information and understanding about the dairy industry and the nutritious product that we produce!

Holiday Butter Tradition

Although I use butter year round, holiday baking with butter is part of my holiday tradition in the kitchen. My schedule is busy year round with farm,family, and volunteer activities but I will always find time to make special desserts that my family and friends enjoy. As I studied the pile of laundry, the dirty house and the stack of unopened mail facing me after returning from attending the Arkansas Farm Bureau Convention, I then remembered the Sunday School Christmas party that was planned for the evening. What's a dairy mom to do? Get the recipes out and start looking for something easy, quick and delicious! In case you find your self in this situation, I am sharing this special recipe with you. Butter is a main ingredient in Almond Cake Squares providing rich flavorful taste. It is a great recipe for any event and looks pretty presented on a fancy pedestal cake stand or festive holiday plate. Santa might even enjoy these with a glass of milk!

Almond Cake Squares

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 cup flour

1 cup melted butter

Almond Topping

Combine eggs and sugar; beat with electric mixer until thick and lemon colored. Stir in flour and butter; pour batter into greased and floured 13x9x2inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Spread Almond Topping over cake; broil cake 4 inches from heat 3-5 minutes or until top is golden brown and bubbly. Cool on wire rack; cut into 2 inch squares. Yield:2 dozen

Almond Topping

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup sliced almonds

1 Tbsp flour

1 Tbsp milk

Combine all in small saucepan; cook over low heat,stir constantly till sugar is dissolved and mixture thickens.

Antibiotic Care Plan

The day before Thanksgiving was short sleeve seventy degree weather. At the afternoon feeding,our baby calves were kicking up their heels and acting like it was spring. Fifteen hours later when I returned for the morning feeding,the temperature had dropped to twenty-six degrees and windy with a light mist. Extreme temperature changes are very stressful to baby calves and dairy moms. Extreme weather changes create added stress that increases the susceptibility to respiratory illness. When a baby calf is sick, we follow a care plan provided by our veterinarian. Antibiotic medication is given under prescription just like I would give my child. I document treatment for any calf that receives medication. As I think about all the statements being made about the use of antibiotics in animals causing resistance to antibiotics in humans, I am very concerned that our ability to treat and care for our animals will be taken away which will eventually eliminate our ability to maintain herd health. Making sure our animals are healthy and producing a healthy product for consumers is part of sustainability of our farm. As a mother,nurse, farmer and fellow human, I want the most accurate information based on sound scientific evidence when making such serious changes to our food production system. I would also add a dose of common sense !

#foodthanks

Earlier this year, the Benton County Farm Bureau Women's Committee donated money and canned food to the Northwest Arkansas Foodbank. In this season of Thanksgiving, I am truly blessed to be living and working on a dairy farm with my family. I am very proud to be in the two percent of the population that is producing the safest,most affordable and most abundant food. Although we are a very blessed nation,I am very aware of my fellow Americans that are struggling to have enough to eat for themselves or their families. I am very thankful for the agencies,companies,community groups and individuals that are making it possible for less fortunate Americans to have access to food during these difficult economic times.

Dairy Promotion I Do's

Thinking back to our wedding day, dairy promotion could have been written into our wedding vows since it has been an ongoing part of our marriage and life on the farm. When Ryan and I married in 1984, dairy promotion was known as the voluntary nickel program. Ryan contributed a nickel per hundred pounds of milk produced on the farm. The National Dairy Checkoff program (http://www.dairycheckoff.com/) was created in 1985 by dairy farmers, for farmers and is funded by America's dairy farm families---and only by dairy farmers. Today each dairy farm family contributes 15 cents per one hundred pounds of milk produced on each farm. Dairy check0ff money is used for programs at the national and state/regional levels. We have witnessed a phenomenal evolution of not only how our product is promoted but the development of products to meet the health and wellness needs of consumers. More than fifty percent of the checkoff budget is allocated to advancing dairy health and wellness efforts that are consistent with the Dietary Guidelines of Americans. Products such as reduced-fat cheese,reduced-sodium cheese and reduced-sugar flavored milk were developed with dairy farmer funding to meet consumer need. Dairy farmers are currently investing in the overall health of children by the most recent in-school Fuel-Up to Play 60 program that aims to help children's health by bringing healthy eating and physical activity to more than 64,000 schools. Partnering with the NFL for the Fuel-Up program and working with other food companies allows us to make the most of every dairy farmer dollar. Providing a nutritious product that meets the consumer's need is what dairy promotion is all about! I invite you to visit the Midwest Dairy website for a sampling of useful consumer dairy information compliments of dairy farmers like me--http://www.midwestdairy.com. I'm thankful to be celebrating twenty six years of marriage and dairy promotion during this Thanksgiving week. In 1984, we didn't have dairy promotion in the vows but we did serve milk,cheese, and crackers at the reception!

Bales of Friendship

Although our farming community has changed with the urban growth of our area, we still enjoy many special relationships with the businesses that support agriculture. Yesterday we drove thirty miles to Fayetteville to celebrate the retirement of Willis,G.C. and Larry from Williams Tractor. These three men had a total of one hundred eighteen year of experience working for this implement and tractor dealership. It was a special event for our family because of the relationships developed over sixty four years. Willis holds the record for the most years working for the dealership and we consider him as an extended family member. In 1946 Willis delivered the first New Holland square baler to our farm and has continued to be the resident expert serving four generations of our family. We appreciate all of the businesses that support our farm in a variety of ways and treasure the friendships!