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| a soybean sits in a furrow |
So much hope in a small soybean. Each year at planting season, I am filled with hope.
Friday, May 30, 2014
Friday, May 23, 2014
Friday on the Farm
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| emerging corn |
Corn emerges from the soil. The late afternoon sun shines down on corn spiking through the soil.
Friday, May 16, 2014
Friday on the Farm
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| germinating corn |
Brushing away soil revealed germinating corn. After planting, fields are checked for seed germination.
Friday, May 9, 2014
Friday on the Farm
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| a seed is uncovered in the soil |
When planting corn, we check seed spacing and seed depth. Soil is uncovered in each row to find seeds. This is periodically done throughout the field. Seed spacing and seed depth is important to optimize plant growth and yield potential.
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Planting 2014
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| planter is loaded with corn to plant |
Corn planting began yesterday! It was nice getting into the field. Planting also continued today. This morning, I cultivated a field to encorporate manure into the soil for fertilizer. The field will be planted tomorrow.
It was a gorgeous day to be in the field planing corn. The sun and soil was good for my soul!
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| planting corn |
Sunday, May 4, 2014
Take a Little Ride with Me
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| GoPro |
I am pretty excited I finally bought a GoPro! I am very much looking forward to sharing life on my family's corn, soybean, hay, and beef cattle farm through videos! It will be a fun way to show our non-farm friends what we do on our farm.
Take a little ride with me! Ride along during calving, checking cows, planting, baling hay, and harvesting.
Friday, May 2, 2014
Tattooing Heifers
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| a replacement heifer receives a tattoo |
This afternoon, we tattooed 12 replacement heifers. Each yearling heifer received a unique tattoo using letters and numbers. A tattoo consists of four digits. The first digit of the tattoo is the birth year of the heifers... 2013 = 3. The second digit of the tattoo will be a letter...G or MJ. Heifers owned by my parents will have a G. Heifers owned by myself will have a MJ. The remaining digits are in numeric order. The tattoo of one of heifers [Red #9] is 3MJ2.
We use these tattoos for identification. Their tattoo will match registration paperwork for pedigrees with the American Shorthorn Association.
Thursday, May 1, 2014
May is BEEF Month
May is BEEF Month! Celebrate during the month of May!
1. The beef industry is the largest segment of agriculture in the United States.
2. The United States raises less than 10% of the cattle in the world but produces 25% of the beef supply.
3. There are about 1.3 million head of cattle in Illinois.
4. There are 14,800 beef producers in Illinois.
5. Angus, Charolais, Gelbveigh, Hereford, Limousin, Simmental, and Shorthorn are popular beef breeds.
6. 29 cuts of beef meet USDA standards as lean.
7. Beef has ZIP...#1 source of Zinc, #3 source of Iron, and #1 source of Protein.
8. Beef is the source of 10 essential nutrients, including the #1 source of Vitamin B12, #2 source of selenium, #3 source of Vitamin B6, Phosphorus, Niacin, and Potassium, and #4 source of Riboflavin.
9. Illinois beef contributes over $800 million to the Illinois economy and supports more than 18,000 jobs throughout the state.
10. Illinois produces 615 million pounds of beef every year.
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Visit beefnutrition.org for more nutrition information about beef, and beefitswhatsfordinner.org for tasty beef recipes!
Italian Beef
May is BEEF month! Enjoy this recipe for Italian Beef!
Prepare a beef roast in a crockpot. Let cool. Shred the beef roast. Mix (water, onion salt, garlic salt, oregano) and simmer for 20 minutes. Add shredded beef to the mixture and warm in the crockpot.
2 cups water
1 teaspoons onion salt
1 teaspoons garlic salt
1/2 teaspoons oregano
Celebrate BEEF month with delicious and nutritious beef!
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