Thursday, May 28, 2015

Another Facelift

It's time for a bit of Throwback Thursday.
These pictures, taken about 1979, show three of the four original buildings on Bremer Farms when my in-laws were married in 1958.

On the left is the machine shed which was the only storage shed on the farm. The cute little hip-roofed building is the milk room. This is where the cans of milk were kept cold until the milk truck came for pick-up.  Lastly, on the right is the barn which was originally used to milk the cows. 


I recently told you about the facelift our barn received.
Now it's time for another facelift.

 After years and years of scraping and painting, scraping and painting...   
 The machine shed doesn't look like this anymore. 


 Presenting the "new" shed!



 Our "new" shed hasn't served as the machine shed for a long time. Machinery has gotten much too big to fit in this little shed. It's now used for maintenance supplies, feed storage, and we even let Sara and Michael claim some space! 


P.S.- Here is what this shed looked like the last time we scraped before painting... Why am I showing you this?
The peeling paint of this shed is what you see as my blog background. I like looking at it surrounding my blog posts, but on the shed...not so much. 
                            

Friday, May 22, 2015

Hey, Hey, Hey, It's Haylage Time!

It's that time again! Time for us to begin chopping hay that we will feed to our dairy cows. I shared this post with you last summer, and after a few minor updates, I thought the haylage process was worth sharing again. 
 
Haylage is green, freshly cut alfalfa that is cut a few days earlier, then chopped to be served to our cows later.  This is a good alternative to baling hay which requires that the alfalfa be drier. This video shows the chopping process.


Once the haylage leaves the field it is stored in a concrete bunker until it is fed to our cows. The haylage is  tightly packed, using a tractor, or, in this video, a payloader. This reduces the air from causing the haylage to rot. The end of this video shows unloading the wagon that just came from the field. After it is unloaded, the payloader adds the haylage to the pile which is being packed.


  Usually we use a blower to unload the wagons, and our tractor to pack the haylage tightly in the bunker. This video was shot when we had our neighbors help, and equipment, so unloading was done slightly different.
 
The final step is to cover the fresh haylage with a plastic sheet, weighed down with discarded tires. This is again to keep the haylage from rotting. We only serve healthy food for our cows!
  

Friday, May 15, 2015

Coming Soon...Princess Kay Of The Milky Way!

This is a fun, exciting and nail-biting weekend for dozens of young ladies from Minnesota. May 15-17 is the Dairy Princess Promotion Workshop in St. Cloud, MN. It is a weekend devoted to skill-building to share the message of dairy farmers commitment to providing safe, high-quality milk and dairy foods, including taking good care of our cows and the land. 

But how are these young women chosen to attend this workshop? 

Jeni Haler, 2014-2015 Princess Kay of the Milky Way 
Each of them are from a dairy farm family, or they, or their parents or guardian are employed by a dairy farm. They are selected as their county's dairy ambassadors, and then move on to the May Event in St. Cloud. This is also where the 12 finalists are selected  for the Minnesota dairy industry's goodwill ambassador, Princess Kay of the Milky Way. Candidates are judged on a written application, a short speech, a professional interview, and a mock media interview. Live updates of the finalist announcements will be posted to Princess Kay’s Facebook page during the luncheon held on Sunday, May 17th. On Twitter, updates can be obtained by following the hashtag #MNPrincessKay.

After a busy summer of June Dairy Month promotions, parades, and County Fairs, the 12 finalists come together again in August for more judging. Princess Kay is then crowned the night before the Minnesota State Fair opens and serves as the dairy industry’s goodwill ambassador for a year, helping people understand the dedication of dairy farmers to wholesome and nutritious food, and the way milk is produced. Dairy farmers sponsor the dairy princess program through Midwest Dairy Association.

Jeni Haler, 2014-2015 Princess Kay of the Milky Way 
All 12 of the Princess Kay finalists have their likeness carved in butter during the Minnesota State Fair and make public appearances during the Fair’s 12-day run.

Princess Kay, Jeni Haler and her butterhead

Exhausting? You bet! Worth it? Absolutely!
We at Bremer Farms are proud to support this program and anxiously look forward to the announcement of the finalists, and the crowning of our 62nd Princess Kay of the Milky Way. 


 
 
 
 

Sunday, May 10, 2015

Best And Wisest Mom

 My Mom is the strongest, most giving woman I know. She is a farmers daughter, a farmers wife and a farm mom too. 

 The past year and a half have not been easy for her, but with God's guidance she has continued to be strong. She has come face-to-face with a stroke, infections, a mild heart attack, bypass surgery, the loss of  her right leg, colon cancer, and the loss of my dad, her farmer husband. 

Through all this, our mother-daughter roles have become somewhat reversed. It is now time for her to do the receiving, and not all the giving. But no matter what our family does for mom, we can never repay her for what she gave all of us. Thank you God, for my strong, giving Mom.

Best and Wisest Mom
By Joanna Fuchs
  Mom, I wish I had words to tell
How much you mean to me.
I am the person I am today,
Because you let me be.
 Your unconditional love
Made me happy, strong, secure.
Your teaching and example
Made me confident, mature.
  In all the world, there is no mother
Better than my own.
You're the best and wisest person, Mom
I have ever known.

Happy Mother's Day!


Friday, May 1, 2015

May Country Fair Blog Party

It's time for the May addition of the


Each month I am invited to share some of my favorite past posts. The theme for May is "Celebrations."
I shared
and
Now I know you're thinking, "OK, I understand why Jan posted the Mother's Day stories since the theme is Celebrations, but why the post about waiting to plant"? Believe me if you are a farmer, Spring and beginning to plant our crops is definitely a celebration!

Farmer John, one of the many hard working farmers 
during the busy planting season.

Thanks also to the hosts of this months Blog Party.
Please pay them a visit to see what other bloggers have shared.