Rankings like these are always circumspect. Sure Rwanda ranks ahead of us, but what about graft, extortion, etc? What’s it like to hire qualified workers in Rwanda? However, that’s enough reality, it’s much more fun to poke at our government and point out how hard they are on business because brother, I don’t need a ranking to tell you that they are hard on business in the US.
America is the only one washing eggs and putting them in the fridge?
I haven’t independently verified this, but I do know the basic facts about eggs check out.
Winter, good riddance.
The blast of warm weather has made me think winter will actually end before I die of cold. It also reminded of this picture of the snow melting and curling from our smokehouse against the sunrise. Thanks to Gen for pointing this out. I had walked right by it.
Did I see snow in the forecast for Wednesday?! Argh!
A finished ham
Here you have a finished ham. Cured, smoked, and ready for the larder. It’s been a long process but a pretty neat one. Now we leave the ham at room temperature for a month or so and its ready whenever we are. This winters work will be good this summer with our garden fresh vegetables.
Procedure for determining dry matter content of forage
In my cow class I learned the importance of measuring and knowing the amount of dry matter in our pastures. It has a large effect on the cows digestive system. I doubt I’ll be burning up the microwave in the kitchen anytime soon with this procedure but I think I’ll at least check during the spring flush.
Spring?
Ugh. I’ve had enough. I’ve just spent three days in Chicago where it’s still very much winter while the farm had a chance to warm up in my absence. Upper 60s to low 70s was just devine to come home to after enduring a bonus blizzard in the windy city.
Before I left, I took this photo just after milking. Despite it still being “winter” it is not pitch black when we milk in the morning anymore. A simple change in the routine that signals that spring is around the corner. Its a joy to see beautiful sunrises again. A sign of things to come.
Cow poots blow off the roof?
No, you don’t want to be in a confined area with 90 animals on a high fiber diet. The dangers are worse than you think though.
Resources for aspiring farmers
Often I meet people who are interested in farming. They see our existing farm and tell me, “I’d like to farm like this some day.” The problem is that they have no way to go from the suburbs to a large enough piece of land to be able to farm. Since I’m a second generation farmer, I’ve never had to go find, select, and acquire land. Instead I’ve spent my life trying to pay for the land I have now. Fortunately there are people who have spent time working with aspiring farmers and thanks to the fine folks at CEFS there are resources documented for new farmers. I thought I’d share the link to their resource page here for any of you aspiring farmers.
Hide your children
I’m not sure how we could have an adult themed farm related news article but Darling Wifey has somehow managed it. Now we deal with adult themes on a farm. Any farm kid older than 8 will tell you it takes a boar and a gilt to make baby pigs. Well, those are extra farmy words. How about it takes a cow and a bull to make a calf. Maybe said 8 year old hasn’t connected the dots with how they arrived on this planet yet, but they know where baby goslings, baby chickens, and baby cows come from. With all that said, this farm related article is a bit more adult than normal so if your kids are in the room, send them to find a toy while you are laughing at this poor sod.
Farmers need to know business as much as beans
I know more about business than I know about farming. When I’m trying to keep up with the latin names for different varieties or discussing the various breeds of cows with a real cattleman, I feel like a neophyte compared to people who’ve done it all their lives. However on the business side of things I feel like I’m in better shape. Apparently, according to this well written article, we farmers need a batch of business. This especially is true for organic or sustainable farmers. It’s an interesting read.