Dairymom's Thankful Thursday

Today I drove to Little Rock to attend the Arkansas Farm Bureau Winter Commodity Meeting and finish up our policy resolutions procedure that was postponed due to icy winter weather in December.

 

I had a lot of great conversations with friends from across the state and was happy to receive the latest information about farm policy and issues that affect us on the farm.

 

 

I'm thankful for the leaders of  Arkansas Farm Bureau

that work together

 

 

to analyze problems and seek solutions to help achieve educational improvement, economic opportunity, social advancement, and promote the county, state, and  national well-being.

 

                                                                                  
                                     Most of all, I'm thankful God made a farmer just for me!

Superbowl Cheese Team Wins the Game

I'm rooting for the cheese team--that's the dairy cows that provide all that milk for the delicious cheese that is part of every Superbowl celebration at our house!  In preparation for the big game, I'm collecting a few recipes for game day  that fit our criteria for fun, easy and cheese filled!
This recipe can be found at Dairy Makes Sense.


Confetti Quesadillas

Ingredients:

2 cups fat-free plain yogurt
1 cup finely minced cilantro
1 teaspoon cumin
12 soft corn tortillas
1 cup(4 ounces) shredded reduced-fat Monterey Jack cheese
1 cup(4 ounces) shredded reduced fat Colby cheese
1/2 cup fresh corn kernels or black beans
1/2 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
1 red bell pepper, finely minced
1 jalapeno pepper, finely minced

Preparation

Line a large strainer with a coffee filter or paper towel and place over a mixing bowl. Pour yogurt and let sit until some of the liquid has drained away and yogurt is consistency of sour cream. Transfer to small mixing bowl. Stir in cilantro and cumin.

Preheat large skillet over low heat. Line up six tortillas. Divide cheese, corn, cilantro and peppers among tortillas, then cover each with a second tortilla. Place a tortilla on dry skillet or grill and warm until cheese is melted an tortilla is slightly golden. Flip and cook other side until golden. Cut into wedges and serve. Repeat with remaining quesadillas. Serve each wedge with a dollop of cilantro yogurt dip.

Entertaining Idea: Make these ahead and serve at room temperature, or set up an assembly line "grillside" and let guests select their own blend of cheese and "confetti."

January Delivers Spring Down on the Dairy

How often do we get a 60 degree January day on the dairy farm? Not very often this year!

Although Mother Nature was just teasing us today with a spring-like day, it   was  a perfect day

    for welcoming a new calf into the world. 

 

 

We're always keeping a close eye on our cows to ensure a healthy delivery, but it was nice to know that this baby would be born on a much warmer January  day.

 

 Our calves are usually born in the pasture but with the extremely cold January days that we have experienced,  we have been moving  the mamas to the maternity barn close to calving time  so the baby would be born  in a more protective environment.

 

With tomorrow's forecast for twenty degrees, it looks like we'll be back to the maternity barn for delivery!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dairymom's Thankful Thursday

 

 

                   For the first three months, our calves live in  individual calf hutches that have
          plenty of space to  freely move about, provide protection from bad weather and make
                                                   it easy to monitor the health of each calf.

                                                      Even on a cold January morning,

                                                     
                                 I'm thankful for each calf that happily and anxiously  greets us
                                                     for their warm morning milk and grain.

Do You Live in a GMO World?

Because  biotechnology is part of our everyday world on the farm, I really hadn't given it much thought until I attended two separate educational workshops pertaining to the topic of GMOs, also known as genetically modified organisms. As I began to read more information about the topic--here's the truth--GMOs are part of everyone's world!

Here's a few fast facts:

• More than 70% of packaged products contain at least one GM (genetically modified) food ingredient (corn,soybean, and cotton)
• More than 80% of the leading agriculture crops (corn, soybean and cotton) contain GMOs
• More than 80% of grain crops used for animal feed, such as corn and soybeans are genetically modified

Words that can be used interchangeably for  GMO is genetic modification, biotechnology, biotech seed, or  genetic engineering. It simply means that a change has been made to the DNA of the organism.

I liked this analogy by Dr. Denneal Jamison-McClung (Associate Director-Biotechnology Program,Lecturer in Plant Biology in the College of Biological Sciences, University of California-Davis) says GMOs can be compared to apps on your smart phone. Adding an "app" doesn't change the phone, but it helps your phone do more. In GMOs, the plant is the phone and the app is the gene added to make the plant drought or disease resistant. The gene added to the plant doesn't change anything about the plant, but the app-like GMO helps it do something desirable--in this case, stay healthy and grow stronger.

According to the Genetic Literacy Project there  are 10 reasons we need biotech foods and crops:

• Biotech crops can help address the global food crisis.
• Crop Biotechnology helps small farmers.
• Biotech crops spur global economic growth.
• Farming using GM crops reduces chemical use.
• Biotech crops increase yields.
• Biotech crops help increase income of poorer farmers, reducing poverty and malnutrition.
• Farming with biotech crops is sustainable.
• Foods tweaked by biotechnology are safe to eat.
• Genetically modified foods improve nutrition and health.
• Genetically modified  crops and foods complement conventional and organic farming.

If you have questions about GMOs or biotechnology, you can find answers at GMO Answers.

Dairy Soup Solution

Whether you're thinking about Superbowl Sunday, a cure for January's bone chilling weather like  we've been experiencing  or what to do with a few left over baked potatoes, Dairymom Jonna  Schutte of Iowa has shared a perfect  solution with Chunky Baked Potato Chowder at
 Dairy Makes Sense.


Chunky Baked Potato Chowder

Ingredients

2 slices bacon
1 cup chopped onion (about 1)
1/2 cup chopped carrots (about 1)
1/2 cup chopped celery (about 2 stalks)
4 cups lowfat 1% milk
2 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons paprika
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
3 Russet potatoes, baked and cut into bite sized pieces

Preparation

In a large skillet, cook bacon until crisp. Remove from pan, crumble and set aside. Add onion, carrot and celery to bacon drippings and sauté over medium heat until onions are soft (about 10 minutes).

Meanwhile, in a large pot over medium heat, whisk together milk, flour, paprika, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and stir for one minute. Reduce heat and slowly add in cheese, stir constantly until melted. Add cooked onions, carrots, celery, and potatoes; stir well. Heat until all ingredients are warm. Serve with a sprinkling of bacon crumbles.

Variation: For a thicker, creamier soup, puree 2 cups chowder in blender. Pour back into pot and stir thoroughly.

 

 

Dairymom's Thankful Thursday

I was privileged to attend the American Farm Bureau Convention in San Antonio this week. It's always fun to work in the Arkansas booth at the trade show to share about Arkansas agriculture.

 

 

I'm thankful to be an Arkansas dairy farmer

 

and

 

 for the variety of  opportunities  I have to educate consumers of all ages about Arkansas agriculture!