Many Different hats

Its been a while since I last posted (lots of work, and now a full week of school) has kept me away from lots of my electronic news sites. But one thing that caught me off guard last Friday (Jan. 28) was some of my friends commenting how I was wearing a different hat. For some people a different hat is a common occurrence, but since I have worn the same hat for the last 3.5 years,

 

its like a beacon that some people (who have told me) use as find me on the sidewalks around campus.  Up until recently (around last August) that was the main hat that I wore in a non-work situations.  

Now I'm up to a total of 6 hats for campus wear.  I bring this up, cause it reminds me of a YouTube video that I saw a few weeks ago talking about how (the people in the video) are "just farmers" and the different things that they do to maintain their livelihood.  If you watch the video, you can see the many different hats that  those that are devoted to agriculture get to wear, even sometimes on a daily basis.

Of course, I feel like I need to say about the different hats that I wear back on the family farm.  One of the hats that I'm the only one to wear is the Tech support for the farm, It was only recently (2008) that we even had a computer in the barn for data entry, and tracking, now it is an indispensable tool that we use to keep and eye on all of the gals, and if something doesn't work on the computer, I get the call.  

The next in line is Relief Feed Manager (sometimes 1100 head takes a couple of people to take care of).  Those 1100 head is only those gals that get a TMR of some sort, my dad does the majority of the feeding, and I do the supplement work, like cutting the plastic on the silage piles, facing down the silage for the day (usually around 5 am is when I like to face), and move the hay bales/get hay bales for the day, or two.  On the weekends, there is also preventive maintenance for the feeding equipment.  When my dad is unable to feed (illness, vacation, or other farm duties) then I fill in, and feed...and frankly, I enjoy feeding, and an not afraid to    step in the equipment cause I know that feeding is one of the two most important jobs on the farm.

When there is preventive maintenance, there might be also equipment operation.  Since this one is seasonal, it could have a few hats worth of its own.  But since school has a big precedent on what I can do right now, most of my equipment operation is during the summer for silage harvesting.  I mow down the alfalfa, merge/rake it, bale it, truck it, and store it (all depending on the type of harvest, and the need for manpower is.  

And of course, the hat that is worn the most often is the general-farm-hand hat.  There is always something that needs to be done, like cleaning pens, and bedding the gals down so they have a nice soft and clean place to stay (especially in the cold winter, they need a place to nest in).  

Y'all have a good day/night now

Snow, a response

A response to kellymrivard.com

So, snow in the northern climates, such as here in Western Wisconsin can be daunting, or even a challenge to move around.  

For us on our farm, the first task when we go to snow removal mode, is get the milk truck in, and out, so by the parlor so he can back his truck to fill up on milk, and the road so he can get to our farm (living on the back roads has this as a drawback).  Then the general farm driveways, on the main farm, and the other farms (or houses) that we plow out.  

But the main challenge comes to feeding the gals, not the how, but the actual mixing of the feed.  For those that don't know, dairy cattle (at least) are fed based on dry matter.  Now when it rains or snow (since this is the topic) adds moisture, and changes the amount of dry matter in the forages, which ends up changing the amount that has to be fed.  Now the hard part is to know how much is changed, some people would go and test the moisture content, but with us, feeding takes 10-12 hrs a day (a full shift to most) and it only would be changed for a couple of days at most.  

As a college student, walking to class has its own challenges, especially if the sidewalk hasn't been cleaned off yet, or there it is just after a large snow storm (like the one from early December,

My Truck in the background, and roommates car in the foreground (basically buried in snow)

 The cold temperatures don't bother me too much, its cold, time to put on a few more layers, like at home on the farm, the nice insulated bibs that keep the wind out, and me warm.

Thoughts to tonights AgChat questions

So, since I'm technically on vacation (one that is away from the farm, or my usual thought of a vacation, known to most as college), I was hoping to join in the #agchat over there on Twitter, but having too much fun playing cards with the family, and lost track of time.  Now this will most likely be the way I will be able to participate, and get my thoughts out there since I have previous engagements on Tuesday nights (at least until the middle of May 2011).  

Some of the questions I will be ignoring since they are not to applicable to me.

Q2, social media will play a part in the changing of how people perceive agriculture.  There was a time when the majority of the population did work on the farm, and everyone knew about how much work was put in to grow/raise the various products.  Those of us that already blog, tweet, and make videos are going to be the foundation that things will be used to support what we do, and why we work hard (sometimes twice the hours a week, at half of the pay) to get people their food.  This will be more evident as the advocacy groups’ work on their agendas to "protect" the family farm.  

Q3, Trends include the cost that the consumer is paying in the store, and how this is related to the high cost of corn/ethanol (since the general population considers them as such).  This issue might even come up again when the high forecast of petroleum comes up down the road.  It is at this point that people will wonder why their food is so high, and look at the cost of the seed, and blame the biotechnology that is in each seed, and say that the food will be cheaper without all of that technology.  At this point, the other side (those that support biotechnology) will say that without that technology, the cost of production on a whole, and the cost to the consumer will be even higher, and a debate will ensue. 

Q4, My connection will be measured in the number of view that my blog and YouTube see, and the number of interaction that occur while at school (whether in class or just talking with the non-farming friends), but since I'm at a school that is known in the ag-world, that will not as likely happen as much.

Q6, Most farmers already know the skills that will make them successful for the short-term.  Long-term, technology will play a large part.  It is hard to say which technology sector will be needed, but for now, a general knowledge is best, and as each farm is different, then each farmer will learn the different sectors, as they need them.

Q7, It is hard to say what I will stop doing right now, but I can guarantee more involvement through social media will be on the start-of-use list.

Now, what are your thoughts, do they agree, or disagree with what I think will happen for 2011?

My 2010 Summer

So, this was the first summer that I had spent away from home, and away from the farm (duh).  So almost a year ago, I started to look for something to do for the summer as a trial, which I thought would be interesting, and help to advance me towards that magical degree known as a Ph.D.  I found a few programs known as REU, or Research Experience for/as Undergraduates, basically an internship, but more research based in a lab.  I applied to two, and got in to the first one that I wanted to be in down in Lincoln Nebraska, about 470 miles from home.

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Once I got down there, we all (62 of us from all over the States, and Puerto Rico) met and got to know each other.

Out at the picnic to get to know each other

So after getting to know each other, we split off to each of our research areas.  Mine was in the Bioenergy program, so we went to the lab that we would be in for the rest of the summer while we were there.  Now since I was working with DNA of sorghum (a relative of corn that is more drought tolerant and can survive warmer temperatures), and I was looking for lines that showed cold tolerance, and the markers that could be used to identify them from a molecular biological basis.   

The press to squeeze the sap out of to test

Sorghum leaves drying after cleaning of the soil

Gel-boxes to run the DNA

Gel-cam to take a picture

At the end of the 10 wk program, we all made a poster to showcase the work that we did

My poster

So that was my summer of 2010, lets see what happens for this coming summer

Grad Schools

Merry Christmas to y'all

Another Saturday on the computer.  So after spending the better part of the afternoon with my family, (and eating lots of food, the deserts kept coming with no end in sight, and lots of empty wine bottles on the counter) at home, resting, and searching through a small list of grad schools that I've found, or talked to at a conference I was at at the end of October (ASA-CSSA-SSSA Meeting in Long Beach CA 2010).  Of the dozen or so schools that I talked to, only about 5 really stand out to me.


Like I said on Twitter just a little bit ago, I'm looking at them, and open to a few suggestions, let me know if there is any school that you recommend, especially if they are working with bioenergy projects, from seed to fuel (or production of corps to fuel in you car) 


Night y'all, work in the mornin' 

A Late Saturday Night

OK, it isn't that late yet (9:30 pm ish here) but considering that my alarm is set for 4:20 am, it is getting late for me.  Of all of the things that I could be doing on a Saturday night as a college student, looking up milk testing equipment isn't one that is high most peoples list, but there is a reason for it, I insist.  A few months ago, while I was thinking of grad schools, and what field to go into, I had a smart idea, go to grad school, get a Ph.d, and find my way back home and start a farm and be a partner on this new farm (even if it is an extension of the one that my family owns now).  Since I'm a sort of a scientist at heart, why not use that to better advance a farm, and do research that is more applicable to the specific farm.  Time will tell if that comes out like that or not.

Night ya'll