Zoom goes Virtual

Have you ever been on a virtual dairy  farm tour?

I have watched a few and now I can tell you that

we have hosted one  with the technical help from Midwest Dairy

  to highlight dairy and  celebrate  the Arkansas  Farm to School 

program  during October.

As stated on the Arkansas Grown  website:

" Arkansas Farm to School activities improve public health, 

strengthen the local economy and communities, improve food access

 and food abundance for all, and protect the environment."

As Arkansas dairy farmers we were honored to share  from down on the

 dairy farm where nutritious milk and dairy products

are produced for our Arkansas students and their families.

Here's the link for the virtual tour:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbthCIWw0Lk

It's been my experience through the years, the favorite 

part of the dairy farm tour is visiting the baby calves in the hutches.

It was also true for the virtual tour!

On the day of the tour, this baby was two days old and drinking milk

twice a day from a bottle. The students actually named her

Zoom!

What a perfect name!  We thought it would be fun to 

share how she will grow and change over the next two months.

Just like all of our baby calves, Zoom received her mother's milk in

a bottle for the first three days. That first milk is so important because it

contains colostrum that provides antibodies to aid her immune system in

fighting illness. After those three days, we taught her to 

drink milk from a bucket.  She was a fast learner!

Zoom is now  two weeks old.

She drinks milk twice a day followed with a small

handful of sweet grain. 

If you look close, I think she's smiling at you!

                                                         

                                               The highlight of my virtual farm experience was 

                                                the gift of thank-you letters from Sheridan,AR 

                                                    written by Ms. Caldwell's 1st grade  class.

                                                       I'm so happy that Zoom went virtual!

Dairy Farmer's Thankful Thursday

You know the farmers are still making hay while the sun

shines during these beautiful fall days.

No doubt this will be the last cutting of hay for this field

for the season but these last cuttings  are

 still good quality hay  that can be fed to the beef and

 dairy cows during the winter months.

I'm thankful for the rain we received last week that gave the 

fields the desperate drink that was needed to finish the season and

fill the ponds as we get closer to winter weather,

for the days Breck and I spent talking about how Daddy's

working on the farm and farming together  in the play room,

and

for the magic appearance of Casey's long lost

Dudley who just happened to show up at the Centerton

Animal Shelter after being gone for more than a year.

                                               Happy fall from down on the dairy farm!
 

Fall Blessings

Although the farm work has not slowed down these first few 

days of fall, it has brought us that big sigh of relief  as we reached

into the closet for our long sleeve shirts  and hoodies with cooler

temperatures and less humidity.  On top of that, it rained three inches!

Talk about fall blessings!

With little rain through the summer and the stunted growth of the 

millet crop due to those nasty army worms, it was decided to harvest

 the crop when the rain was over. We were pleasantly surprised 

at the number of bales that were harvested.

These wrapped bales are actually making  fermented silage in a bag

that  will be fed to the dairy cows in their  balanced 

nutritional ration. 

Taking samples of silage and dry hay is part of 

the process to know the quality and types of nutrients 

provided for the feed ration.

My job was to patch the holes once the silage sample was

removed.  It was the easy job for sure!

We've also been welcoming new dairy  calves to the farm.

And at the end of the day,

                                             I am reminded of the simple blessings  we enjoy

                           and often take for granted during fall down  on the dairy farm.

School to Farm

We were honored to share our dairy story with University of Arkansas

students a few days ago. In past years, I have done farm tours for a variety of

groups but this was my first tour since  the CoVid pandemic  began in early 2020.

I'll admit, although I certainly was out of  touring practice, I enjoyed

every minute sharing what we do every day to bring a healthy product

to consumers by caring for our animals and the land we call home.

It was just this week that I read on social media a question that

asked what could you talk about for 10 minutes without any preparation.

I decided that the answer was easy if you have a passion for the 

subject  and having the desire to share makes it even easier.

Dairy farming would obviously be my topic!

After all, who doesn't love the story of  a third generation

Arkansas family farm that raises beautiful cows,

produces a nutritious product for families in our community,

and cares for the land !

We talk about farm to table  in the story of where our food comes from

 but this really is  the School to Farm version.

From our conversations during the tour, I hope it gave each

student a new perspective to share about where food 

production really begins.

Sharing our dairy farm is really a delight for me

and I will wear my new hat (and maybe share it with Ryan)

and

                                      

                             appreciate the opportunity to provide a School to Farm experience!

                                                     
 

Labors of Love

Labor Day down on the dairy farm, like everyday,

will be full of the daily chores that include

milking the cows,

mixing and preparing feed to provide the

daily nutrition for the milking cows,

feeding the calves,

driving  tractors to complete a  a variety of  daily chores,

welcoming new members to the herd,

checking crops,

and enjoying time together as a family.

                                            Every activity down on the family dairy farm is a

                                      labor of love as we work together to care for our animals,

                                      produce nutritious milk and make Labor Day memories

                                                              for our  next generation.

                                                               Happy Labor Day!

Dairy Farmer's Thankful Thursday

If you would like a job filled with variety,

dairy farming would be your perfect choice.

We have the jobs that happen everyday of the year 

like mixing the balanced feed ration for the dairy

cows and making sure the cows are fed and milked twice a day.

Then we have the jobs that are unexpected but 

necessary like spraying a field for the

disgusting armyworms that will devour a crop

in just a few days.

                                   One of our sweetest jobs is to welcome  new life to the farm.

                                                        Finding two at a time is always fun!

I'm thankful for the blessings we find in both the 

ordinary and the challenging days down on the dairy farm.

                                     

Dairy Farmer's Thankful Thursday

One of my morning dairy farm  jobs is serving as the taxi driver 

to deliver the newborn calves to their private hutch in the 

calf raising area.  The calf's mother is walked to the

milk barn to join the milking herd and

I become the substitute mother making sure that 

each calf is monitored closely and fed milk and grain

twice daily. 

One of the best parts of my day is sharing this 

job with my sons. 

It's been a busy week with  one or two calves delivered 

every day and baling hay like crazy. 

I'm thankful that even in the busyness of farm life,

we always have time for celebration with our family.

We managed to celebrate a special "Going to Kindergarten"

lunch and shopping day with Hattie Claire 

and

 shared a picnic supper in the hay field  that 

ended with watching the  Decatur Barbecue fireworks show 

from the top of a hay bale.

We couldn't have asked for a better August picnic!