My whole life I was raised in the thick of the farming life. Everyday I was able to wake up to an open window with the Nebraska sunrise shining in and corn fields glistening in the distance. But in my young and dazed mind I would just wake up and never really realize or appreciate How Country Feels.
Now 22 years later, I am off and on my own (well technically, thanks mom & dad for still helping me out when I need it :). I live in Lincoln, which to most is still just a town, but to me, its a big city. There are many days I wake up to the sound of my neighbors banging around outside or squealing tires on the street and I think to myself, where is the bright sun that would wake me up in the morning and that I use to curse as a teenager. Where are the corn fields in the distance? Where is the sound of cows bellering? Some may think these kinds of things are pointless, but that only means that you have never been shown How Country Feels.
So when I see groups like HSUS (Humane Society of the United States) and PETA (People for the Eating of Tasty Anima.... opps, I mean.. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) trying to attack agriculture and the country way of life I just want to scream, YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW COUNTRY FEELS! How do you as a political lobbyist extremist think that you know what is best for agriculture? You know nothing about how or why we do the things we do? If you truly knew why we care for our animals and our environment with such respect and passion, you would not be attacking us they way you are.
So I ask you, are you giving into the media hype and greedy lobbyist groups who are trying to fool you in to thinking they actually care about the country and agriculture? or do you truly know How Country Feels.
So I have been peerrrtty busy lately with my ever changing life that my mind is kind of exploding. Anybody who knows me at all, knows that I am more random than a yellow munchkin eating an ice cream cone inside a Prius. I usually have plenty of time to spout off my crazy thoughts and sarcasm packed comments, but i feel as if I have had to bottle all that up lately. So since Sam didn't want to hang out with me tonight because of pie (This will be a test to see if Sam actually reads this stuff) , I will take this time to clear my head.
I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Saturday night more kisses begin with Bud lights than Kay.
I wonder if cops ever get pissed off at the fact that everyone they drive behind obeys the speed limit.
Why doesn't the freezer have a light as well?
What ever happened to the green and purple ketchup?
Why is it called Planned Parenthood?
Put your clothes back on Channing Tatum! said no one ever.
Justin Bieber, she really needs to be quiet.
I keep some people’s phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.
I am outdoorsy in the fact that I like getting drunk on my patio.
Fitted Sheets, are they foldable?
I can't remember the last time I wasn't just a tad tired.
The best nicknames are the ones that people don't know that they have.
Was it really necessary to waste my elementary years learning cursive?
If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring would probably just be completely invisible.
Nickleback, please stop.
I hate it when I am making myself a milkshake and all the boys show up in my yard.
Why do gingers have no souls?
Can vegetarians eat animal crackers?
Why can't I tickle myself?
If a word is misspelled in the dictionary, how will we ever now?
WOW, that guy in the skinny jeans looks SO manly! said no one ever.
What if dog really spelled cat? (Chelewski that ones for you)
So I have totally FAILed. I started out this blog totally awesome, and now I am a total slacker. But in my defense I haven't had time to sit down and type out my random thoughts because I have been dealing with a lot of BEEF lately.
I accompanied 3 reporters from France and Netherlands to a feedyard as well as a ranch out near Gothenburg, NE.
They were traveling to Nebraska to cover the current drought and then go to Monsanto to learn about drought tolerant corn.
They were very open and understanding about our beef industry, but they had a hard time grasping the feed lot system since Europe does not operate feedlots.
It was quite an interesting trip which ended with a shattered back window of a rental car and 2 hours behind schedule. But it was well worth it.
I spent a lot of my last two weeks either prepping for or working at the State Fair. I made sure to make time to go watch some of the livestock shows. My cousin Colton is the last family member to be showing cattle, and he does an AWESOME job! He had Champion FFA Market Heifer and Division Champion 4-H Market Steer.
It is pretty sentimental watching the shows, because I don't think I ever really appreciated showing livestock as much as do now.
O ya, that's Miss Nebraska showing a calf in a mini skirt and heels. Yes, that happened.
The Celebrity Cattle Show helped raise some money for some great charities. To bad some one like Eric Church or Luke Bryan wasn't there leaded a steer in the ring. I'm pretty sure I would have dumped my wallet in those buckets.
So the other parts of my State Fair time were spent at the Beef Pit.
Nothing beats a slab of fresh prime rib or roast beef sandwich.
I wish I had a cooker this big!
The line is always CRAZY long to get in because the food is CRAZY good.
Nebraska corn fed beef is so good, I bet it could turn a vegetarian into a CARNIVORE! Speaking of vegetarians, while standing outside the Beef Pit directing the traffic, one of my coworkers over heard a conversation of two young boys and their parents. First off, the smell outside the Beef Pit is A-MA-ZING! The little boys walked by and said "O Wow that smells soooo good!" And the father turns around and says "No, we don't eat meat". Umm, excuse mister vegetarian, how do you know your kids don't eat meat. I mean, I understand if you don't eat meat due to medical reasons, but to push your vegetarian-ism onto your children is ridiculous. Animal protein is an important part in a humans diet, so why not let your children choose whether or not that want be a vegetarian like you. And if humans are not suppose to eat meat, then why do I have sharp teeth like a carnivore??
mmmmm....nomnom I am definitely a CARNIVORE!
The Beef Pit is operated by volunteers. Nebraska Cattlemen from all over come and serve fair goes a hearty protein packed plate of beef.
These guys serve up a sandwich every 16 SECONDS! I think they have Jimmy Johns beat. That's Freaky Fast, So Fast You'll Freak.
I have been struggling lately. Struggling to educate. But I'm not talking about educating the consumers about agriculture like I normally do. This time I am having a hard time educating our farmers and ranchers about the importance of social media to agriculture. I know, sounds funny right. But this issue is out there.
I have encountered many, how do I say this nicely, "out of touch" producers who don't fully understand the current impact of social media. I cannot begin to tell you how many conversations I have had with people who say, "why do you waste your time with all that internet stuff, the only people on those things are arrogant uneducated consumers". And my usual response, That is the exact reason why we SHOULD be on all that internet stuff!
There are a lot of conversations being started out there about what farmers and ranchers are doing, but very few are actually involving producers themselves. Social media gives us that opportunity to talk to consumers from all over the world without leaving the comfort of our farm or ranch. Now don't get me wrong, face to face interaction is always best. But do you really have time to fly to New York to visit with average Annie at the grocery store about where her hamburger came from. I didn't think so.
I know that farmers and ranchers are busy people working 24/7, but my one hope for the future is that every farmer and rancher have a social media account of some time and use it to share their story with the consumer. Okay okay, I know that is like totally impossible, so let me say, I will start with my family first. This will be a major task in itself, seeing as my father is still learning how computers work (but he has an ipad now and uses it regularly..YAH for progress :) !!), I practically have to beg my oldest brother to update his company Facebook page, and my uncle and cousin have probably never even seen a twitter page. But hey, I do like a challenge! :)
So unless you live under a rock you have heard of the new social media site Pinterest, or at least I thought everyone new about it. Pinterest has become the new craze on the web and is booming, and booming fast! After less than 2 years of operation Pinterest has become the fastest growing social site in the world, with 12 million users. Yes folks, Pinterst is growing faster than Facebook did!
I am an avid "pinner" on Pinterest and have come to notice that agriculture has made quite a showing on the site. And boy am I proud. The great thing about Pinterest is that you connect with people via photos. And since we all know, photos are more appealing than status updates or tweets, it is the perfect platform for ag to shine! We have the opportunity to let the photos speak for us. Consumers want to see HOW their food is grown, not read a bunch of scientific data of why it is done that way. They want to see it with their own eyes, so this is our golden ticket as farmers and ranchers to show them what we do.
So now its story time!!
Awhile back I was talking with an older rancher about what I do for a
living, and how I integrate social media into my job. I tried to explain
what Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest were. He sat, listened, and
nodded as I talked. But for some reason I got the felling it was going
in one ear and out the other. So when I got done talking he began to ask
questions, and let me say they were the best questions EVER! "So once
you put that stuff on The Facebook, do you mail it?""When you tweeter,
who can see it?""What's a Pinterest?" And those are just a few from our
awesome conversation, but I was presently surprised at his interest in
learning about this world of social media, and it gave me hope for my endeavor of putting every farmer on "The Facebook" and getting ranchers to "tweeter".
So unless you live in a cave, you know that we have quite a drought on our hands. See that red and deep red color all over that image below. Ya that's not good. Not good, at, all!
So since it has been so dry this year, the farmers have been running their irrigation systems like crazy to try and save their crops. But, not all fields have irrigation, so the dry land crops have taken quite a terrible hit this year.
Ya that corn, it should be bright green. Not brown.
In a normal year, the corn would not start to dry until sometime in September-November. Then when corn is dry to about only 18 percent moisture it would be harvested with combines and the corn kernals would be harvested as grain. But since it has been such an extreme drought this year, some of the corn plants didn't even produce any ears of corn. So basically, it is just a stalk. So instead of wasting the crop completely, we chop the corn plant and all into silage. Which is fed to cattle.
The corn is chopped up and loaded into trucks.
The silage is then dumped into piles.
Pappa Lyle directing traffic. I think he likes giving orders :) (dont tell him i said that. haha)
Once the corn is dumped, we use tractors to pack the silage tight into bunkers where it is then covered to protect it from the elements and keep it fresh to eat for the cattle.
I like to look at this process and say... When Life Hands You Lemons, Make Lemonade, or Chop Corn Silage, whatever suits your fancy.
