Ohio Valley Cattlemen's Banquet

I am aware that most American families go to the movies or maybe bowling on Saturday nights.  However this past Saturday after we went to Mass we attended the Ohio Valley Cattlemen's Banquet.  If you have not attended your local cattlemen's banquet - you should.  It is good food, usually the best steaks with a salad, green beans, potato and pie.  There is usually a speaker followed by door prizes.  I'll take you through the night as it unfolded.

We ate a lovely dinner of steaks, potatoes, green beans, salads and pie.  We had lovely company, as we sat across the table from two older couples.  One of the ladies shared with me that Russet Potatoes make better mashed potatoes than Idaho Potatoes.  That is good information you can't get at the bowling alley. She also told be that Riesbeck's has them this week.  Looks like I will be going there.

Dr. Francis Fluharty from The Ohio State University was the guest speaker.

Dr. Fluharty was my professor at The Ohio State University for Feedyard Management.  After the banquet I asked if he would let me use his slides.  He graciously sent them to me via email.  There were so many good points, that I will break them out over several blogs.  The first point was most interesting to me not only as a beef producer, but as a mom.

1950 those had to have been the days.  There were only two cities of more than 10 million people each,  New York City and Paris. 

This is the map for today.  This seems reasonable. But then . . .

This is the map that concerns me. In 2050 I will be 72 years old.  The girls will however be in their 40's.  What does this map mean to them.  Although the girls were sitting next to me, they don't yet grasp the concept of megacities, billions of people or even other continents.  Jake has since downloaded the app "stack the countries".  

This leads me into the next slide Dr. Fluharty went over. Which is where will we find enough Agricultural Land to feed all of these people?  As Agriculturalists that is how we think.  Dr. Fluharty later told me I should make sure the girls learn a second language.  I put that on the list.  This graph also makes you think of several other career ventures including International Agriculture and Real Estate Investments.

I will continue this discussion in the next few weeks about what this makes me think about the beef industry and ours along with the girls' futures owning a feedyard and cows.

The door prizes were then handed out.  The girls were excited as they began calling names.  The first door prize was handed out a hat from the local farm machinery dealership, and a couple gift cards.  Soon Jaelin's name was called.  She won a gardening hoe.  She kinda liked it. She used it Sunday to dig up treasures in the yard.

Then Jacie's name was called.  She won a tube of grease and showed little less enthusiasm.

It was a great evening of beef knowledge and fellowship with the local beef community.

What kids should know about Politics.

For those of you who have grown children. Do you remember the days of driving in the car and from the backseat, comes the hardest question you have ever had to answer?  You are thankful they can't see your face.  This morning while I was driving the girls to school, Jacie says "a girl on the bus said if Obama gets elected he is going to kill babies, but if Romney does, he won't".  Jaelin then blurts out "oh no, is he going to kill my baby dolls?" Jacie looks at Jaelin and says "no, they are already dead".  Then Jaelin asks me "is that true?"  At this point there was a break in the conversation for me to take back control of this dialogue.  I have spent the rest of the day calling important people in my life, wondering what to do about this.  Jake - laughed.  I was not amused.  My Mom said I should go to the school. :)  I have decided I really need to think about what is important for our children to know about politics and government.  This is what I have come up with so far.  What do you think is important for our children to understand in elementary school?

1.  I want our girls to have a good understanding of the Bible, specifically the 10 Commandments and the history of God's Laws. This may work for now - 10 Commandments for Kids. I hope they can understand the important right they have to worship God and that not everyone has that same freedom.

2.  I want them to study and understand the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

3.  I want them to understand their freedom of speech, however with this knowledge they should also understand that people can agree to disagree.  I also want them to respect the leadership, despite who they gave their vote to.

4. I want them to be able to listen to two sides of a debate, collect data, and formulate an opinion based on facts.

Are you sustainable?

I was given an opportunity to be a part of AgriPOWER that is designed and managed by Ohio Farm Bureau under the direction of Sandy Kuhn. I can't say enough good things about Sandy, she does a remarkable job, she is awesome, she changes peoples lives, she loves farmers, and she has dedicated her life to Agriculture.  She invited me to sit in on social media/media/conversation training for two days.  I feel like I robbed her, since I have learned so much.  I have been through all of these training before and similar conferences, but with different presenters.  But, sometimes things just come together for you and boy did they for me.  I am going to share just one of things that came together for me at the two day event.

First I should thank everyone who participated in the conference and the 2012 - 2013 AgriPOWER family for adopting me for a couple days.

The first thing that came together for me was vocabulary. There is just so much vocabulary thrown around as it relates to Agriculture.  There are words and phrases the Ag. Folks use that have not been defined so that the general public understands.  Then there are media vocabulary words made for headlines that have no clear definition.  I have been asked a number of times if I believe Jake and I are sustainable in Agriculture, through our feed yard and our cow/calf operation. I usually avoid the question, because I have never heard or read a clear definition of sustainable.  

Finally Matt Sutton-Vermeulen showed this model called Triple Bottom Line that was developed by Freer Spreckley.  This diagram was explained that to be sustainable we have to be pleasing socially, take care of the environment and be making a profit doing it.  

We can have a healthy debate about if we are socially pleasing.  But, really for the first time the American farmer/rancher has enemies.  We have people like HSUS, which I am really sure does not want Jake and I to be operating a feed yard or owning cows.  They also have a significant following.  I feel that there are too many people upset with Agriculture at this time. I would say strike one!

The next conversation is about the planet and we can go on and on about what farmers/ranchers do for the planet.  We build wildlife habitats, spend billions protecting water sources, redesign equipment and machinery to protect our soil and use less fuel.  However we are still using our natural resources to produce crops and livestock. Socially people have a problem with many of our practices and we take blame for harming the environment.  I don't believe we are using the environment more than it's intended use.  However socially it is a strike two.

The profit side of things is interesting and I hope I will someday get to have a healthy conversation with agriculturalist of all types and non-agriculturalists about the profit side of the diagram.  With the drought, insurance and instability of the Farm Bill profit seems to be a gray area in many ways this year. It should also be noted the above animal rights organizations and environmentalist extremists do not want to hear farmers/ranchers are making a profit.  Strike three socially!

The bottom line for me is that with the rules constantly changing and society having so many unanswered questions I am going to say I am not sure we are sustainable.  There I said it.  Not the popular response I know, but it the honest response for the diagram above.  What are your thoughts on sustainable Agriculture? Are you sustainable?

A new meaning for Fly Over States

http://www.omaha.com/article/20120604/NEWS01/706049932

Upon reading this article I have some really controversial thoughts in my head.  I am at war with myself on this issue.  This is why I have been ruminating this for a week.

The moral - want to do the right thing - financially conservative person I am says:

- it has to be considerably cheaper to fly over these feed yards, ranches and look for "large" problems

- it is the right thing to do, to let someone on behalf of Americans look at our feed yard and make sure we are not knowingly polluting our natural resources

BUT THEN . . .

There is the conservative, private, less big government, the need for small successful business thinking, what will be next, don't you have other things to do side of me that says:

- I really don't want the government flying overhead tracking my existence

- I would rather the government focus more on exporting more beef and other ways to help beef producers and other small business owners

- if they begin tracking us by air - where will that lead

- it would be better for our feed yard if the NDEQ would look at our paperwork we sent months ago, so we could move forward with the waste management plans we need in order to be more environmentally friendly

With those thoughts, I really don't know where I stand on the situation.  What do you think?

Court

I have on occasion enjoyed a good court show on television.  I always in the back of my mind wonder how much of it is true.  I was subbing today at the local high school and immediately during first period, a student says we are outa hear in just a few minutes.  I said, really where are we going. He said, there was court in the auditorium and not like mock trial.  This was the real thing.  I was wondering how this would work.  Soon the announcement came on and we went to the auditorium.  On the stage was the judge and his clerk.  In the front row was a group of prisoners, in orange jump suits.  There was also 3 deputies.  I am thinking this is awesome!

The judge soon said this is now a court room, he firmly told an adult in the front to put their newspaper away.  He said I run a tight ship and there is no newspapers and no drinks.  He went on to say if you talk during court and you are above 18 you will be handcuffed and taken to jail and if you are under 18 you go to the juvenile detention center.  I am thinking, wouldn't it be nice if teachers had the same privileges.  He stopped court to explain different things.  The judge takes his court once a year to every high school in the county.  What a great experience?

He called case after case.  I won't share all of them with you, because some of them I don't remember.  However I will share some of the details worth remembering.

He calls a girl to the stand that has been in jail for what she says is four days.  The deputy said it was two.  The judge asked her again and she said she can't remember how many days she had been in jail.  (I know, I am thinking the same thing!)  He asked her why she had missed the second opportunity for community service and she said she doesn't remember having the first opportunity.  The case was this, she was arrested for theft, he gave her community service, she didn't show up.  She had to come back to court, he said against his better judgement he rescheduled her community service.  She didn't show up again, they put a warrant out for her arrest, she gets hauled to jail.  She is now in court.  He put her back in jail.

A man who was picked up drinking and driving on a motorcycle, who was also dressed in an orange jump suit was up next.  He was accompanied by a sister, aunt, cousin or something.  (I didn't know you could bring someone with you.) He pleaded not guilty, meaning he would get another court date. They also needed to determine if he could pay for his own attorney.  So the judge asked if he worked. He said oh yeah I am a coal miner.  The teacher next to me whispered, not anymore.  The judge said, great you can get your own lawyer.  He said he would.  The girl with him then asked for permission to speak.  She asked about getting the motorcycle out of impound.  The judge said that according to Ohio law after your third Driving Under the Influence the state impounds your car and sells it for the benefit of the state.  I did not know that!

The judge stopped to explain how hard it is to get your license back from the state, leading to driving under suspension charges.  He also explained insurance issues.  It was great - and I think more high school should do it.

They let me sub again!

I have been subbing for the local high school.  They call me when the Industrial Arts teacher or Agriculture Education teacher are going to be out and I get to pretend to be a teacher.  I highly recommend if you have a few days here in there you sign up to substitute at your local high school.  The pay is terrible, but the education is valuable.  Depending on what is going on in their lesson plan, they sometimes allow me to make my own lesson plan.  I love making one day units to teach something I deem important to high school students and future tax paying citizens.
Today I was teaching and I decided that I wanted to ask the sophomores and seniors about entitlement. The idea that today we believe we are entitled to things that a couple of decades ago people didn't feel that way about. I asked them to take one piece of paper and fold it in half long ways.  Then I asked them to make two columns one listing what you deserve if you are "working" and one column for things you deserve if you are "not working".  We did not define working or not working.  These were the responses from the 16 students who participated.  What do you think?

“WORKING”                                                                          “NOT WORKING”

House- 7                                                                                  Shelter- 4

Nice House- 1                                                                          House

            Shower                                                                        Low end housing

            Bed                                                                              Bed

Food – 5                                                                                  Food- 4

3 Meals a Day- 7                                                                     3 meals - 4

Clothes -1                                                                                2 meals- 2

Nice Clothes – 2                                                                      1-2 meals - 1

Clean Clothes                                                                           1 meal - 1

Job Security                                                                             water

Tax Relief                                                                                 clothes - 3

Good Pay- 1                                                                            used clothes - 1

Paid                                                                                         Welfare

Pay Check on time                                                                   a hug

Medical and Dental Insurance

Medical Insurance- 2                                                                medical insurance

Minimum Salary- 1                                                                   unemployment- 1

Paid Benefits- 1                                                                        help if needed

Money- 3                                                                                 a job- 1

Suitable working conditions                                                       spending money

Working Tools

Working Apparal

Drivers License

Extra Rights and Privileges- 2                                                     less privileges

Luxuries                                                                                   no electric

Cell Phone

Credit Card

Rights and Privileges to drink

Sleep                                                                                        Sleep

Car- 10                                                                                    Car- 1

Guns

Kids

Animals- 5                                                                                no animals

Marriage- 1

Land

Medicine                                                                                  medicine

Friends                                                                                    friends

Doctor                                                                                     doctor

Toys (ie 4wheeler)- 3

Television

Respect- 1                                                                               respect- 1

Radio

XBox

* the numbers indicate how many students reported that answer

Now what to do with this information!  I am deciding if I should do a follow up next week when they let me go back.  What should the follow up be? What are we entitled to as Americans?

Victory for Family Farming and Ranching

This is great news for the farming and ranching communities.  Actually it is great news for America, but only a few know how wonderful it truly is.  

The Labor Department's statement:“The Obama Administration is firmly committed to promoting family farmers and respecting the rural way of life, especially the role that parents and other family members play in passing those traditions down through the generations. The Obama Administration is also deeply committed to listening and responding to what Americans across the country have to say about proposed rules and regulations. As a result, the Department of Labor is announcing today the withdrawal of the proposed rule dealing with children under the age of 16 who work in agricultural vocations. The decision to withdraw this rule – including provisions to define the ‘parental exemption’ – was made in response to thousands of comments expressing concerns about the effect of the proposed rules on small family-owned farms. To be clear, this regulation will not be pursued for the duration of the Obama Administration. Instead, the Departments of Labor and Agriculture will work with rural stakeholders – such as the American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Farmers Union, the Future Farmers of America, and 4-H – to develop an educational program to reduce accidents to young workers and promote safer agricultural working practices.”

This is OUR victory! 

My side note: someone should tell the Obama Administration the FFA changed their name.

Even with the breaking news, I do want to go on with the post I had planned for this evening.  This post is a thank you to the people who gave us our start through the 4-H and FFA programs.

I received a message yesterday from a reader that gave me this link. I can't ignore a reader, so I was moved to write on this topic. I wrote about this a while ago  http://fortheloveofbeef.blogspot.com/2011/12/my-view-on-child-labor.html.

This topic has blown up Facebook and most rural people like Jake and I believe that this would have changed the direction of our entire life.  Jake and I have an abundant amount of people to thank for the success we have had in the agriculture world.  I will use this blog to thank the 4-H and FFA programs to credit them for our start to what has been a successful agriculture venture so far.

Jake got his start with beef cattle at the age of nine in the Blue Ribbon Showmen 4-H clun in Fairfield County where his advisor was Kris Doyle.

I got my start with the Cow Kids 4-H club in Perry County where my advisors were Janie Dennis, Mary Lou Bontrager, my dad and my Uncle John.  We had a wonderful 4-H extension agent John Ulmer. Most of my childhood memories derive from 4-H and the activities that we were able to be a part of because of the volunteers and hard work of great people. 

Dad and Uncle John in their younger years.

yeah, those are colored Wranglers!

If we were not allowed to care for cattle in 4-H, Jake and I never would have found our passion for the beef industry. I have no idea what we would be doing. I think I may have been an elementary teacher and Jake may have went into construction.  I do know we would be paying less taxes.

With the passage of this new law, showing cattle could have come to an end.

By the time Jake was 15 and entering high school he had already developed a cow herd of 10 cows.  This credit would be given to his father and grandpa that helped him purchase cows and allowed him to run them on the family farm in exchange for labor on the farm.  This money would later help Jake pay for a Beef Production Degree from The Ohio State University at ATI.  I find it ironic how the government wants to find a way to find more funds for students to come to college, yet they want to take away the right for farm kids to earn money to go to college.

Jake and I both went on to earn our American Degrees through the FFA.  Jake continued to develop his beef cow herd and raise forages.  He was part of the Lancaster FFA where his advisor was Chuck Miller. 

I ended up raising market hogs, corn, wheat, hay and pumpkins through FFA, where my advisors were Phil Wagner and Mike Skinner at the Sheridan FFA Chapter.  I also had the opportunity to become a state FFA officer where I was given guidance and direction by Mr. who later became Dr. Gratz.    

I believe today that one of the best things I learned about in the FFA was record keeping and creating a budget.  Upon marring Jake and all of his dreams, ideas and goals, I soon found myself saying a lot – "I want to see that on paper".  There have been several ideas forgotten and lost because of not working out on paper.     

If you would like to share your story with pictures of how you got your start in Agriculture and publically thank the people that helped you get there send them to me at janicewolfinger@aol.com and I will post them. I am still hoping this will not become some history book of “how things use to be”.

Jake's Dad Robert with his livestock projects.

*Thanks JoEllen for the pictures.

Trust is building and diminishing

UUGHHHH!  I really had a much better blog planned (in my head) than this.  However I must share this today as a beef producer.  As I opened Facebook yesterday on my phone to see the BSE report.  I suddenly got a feeling that someone punched me in the stomach.  For a beef farmer it is probably a similar feeling to a stock broker when a stock takes a major hit.  On that note cattle went down the limit yesterday.  I then immediately went to the prime sources for beef updates.  Lucky for me the Ohio Cattlemen's had this in my email inbox.  

  

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a positive test result on April 24, 2012, as part of its targeted surveillance program to test cattle for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE). USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has confirmed the nation's fourth case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in a dairy cow from central California. According to USDA, the carcass of the animal is being held under State authority at a rendering facility in California and will be destroyed. It was never presented for slaughter for human consumption, so at no time presented a risk to the food supply or human health.


There were several other pieces of information and you can read most of it here www.BSEInfo.org


I was immediately feeling better, what you are hearing is that this cow was never going to enter the food supply.  That is great!  Read on and I see that it was found by random checking.  My trust in our government is continually growing in the area of food security.  


It then dawned on me that I actually have more trust in our government that they will be able to keep our food safe and specifically catch BSE before it reaches humans, than them being able to keep political officials and government employees from sleeping with prostitutes and the American tax payers picking up the tab.