Gone, But Not Forgotten 2015

2015 Top Ten Most Viewed Blog Posts

My Barnyard View

10. 100 Reasons To Love Dairy - 2015 marks National Dairy Council's 100th year! Here are my top 10 reasons I am in love with any, and all things dairy...

9. Earth Day Is Everyday -
My family and I live by the motto, “Leave this world a little better than you found it”. We became farmers because...

8. It's About Time - Tator Tot hotdish -
For some reason Minnesotans are associated with hotdish, or to those of you non-Minnesotans...casseroles. I had never made Tater Tot Hotdish before. It's about time!

7. "Never A Dull Moment" Dinner - "Never a dull moment." If our family had a motto, this would be it! Fortunately, my family and I thrive on being busy...

6. #FarmLikeAGirl - Of course when you are farmers it is impossible to call your boss and declare a sick day, and you certainly can't just roll over and  pull the blankets over your head pretending this day is not happening...

5. Coming Soon...Princess Kay Of The Milky Way! - This is a fun, exciting and nail-biting weekend for dozens of young ladies from Minnesota...

4. A Day In The Life Of Princess Kay - One of my duties as Minnesota Dairy Princess Coordinator is to chaperone Princess Kay and the eleven princess finalists at the Minnesota State Fair, so from August 26th to September 8th, I packed my bags and moved from the farm to a hotel near the state fair to spend morning, noon, and night with 12 of the best Minnesota farm girls I know!

3. 12 Good Reasons - On July 1st I was contracted by Midwest Dairy Association to be the new Minnesota Dairy Princess Coordinator. So what does this mean?

2. Christmas Cookies And Holiday Hearts - Of course, being dairy farmers, butter made its way into nearly every cookie recipe! Dairy farmer, or not- there is nothing better than the flavor of butter in baked goods. I'm sure Santa would agree, and who knows Christmas cookies better than Santa?

1. G Is For Giveaway - It’s more than a cookbook. It’s a way for each of us to learn where our food comes from and the dairy farm families around the nation that make milk, cheese, butter, yogurt, and all our other favorite dairy foods possible.

When I began writing My Barnyard View I thought, "I'll try blogging and see how it goes." Nearly four years later I have you to thank. Without your encouragement, support, comments, and blog topic suggestions, I wouldn't be sharing our story about the farm life we love. Thanks from the bottom of my heart!

Earth Day Is Every Day On The Farm

Happy Earth Day!

  

My family and I live by the motto, “Leave this world a little better than you found it”. We became farmers because of our love for our land and animals. What better way to show this love than to respect our natural resources? 

We pride ourselves on making the best decisions we can to preserve our land to keep it beautiful, productive and sustainable. 

I invite you to read an article I wrote for The Food Journal and Food, Nutrition & Science to learn more about what we do on Bremer Farms to make everyday Earth Day.  

What are you doing to celebrate Earth Day?

Earth Day Every Day

Today I have chosen to share my post from Earth Day 2013.

April 22, 2013. Happy Earth Day! Here at Bremer Farms every day is Earth Day. We support practices that make economic sense, help the environment and are socially responsible to our communities and our world. One of the ways we do this is by reducing energy and reusing water through the use of a plate cooler. So how does it work and why is it good for the environment? When milk leaves the cow it is a warm 101 degrees F. It needs to quickly cool to 40 degrees and a plate cooler helps with this. After the milk leaves the cow it travels from the milking machine through stainless steel pipes to the cooling tank. (It's never touched by human hands). Along the way, before reaching the cooling (bulk) tank, it goes through the plate cooler.

Our plate cooler is mounted on the ceiling. The milk enters the cooler on the lower left side of the above picture. It stays enclosed in these pipes but winds its way through this cooling system which has cold water cooling these pipes, therefore cooling the milk that is safely inside the pipes. The milk then moves on to the bulk milk tank via the larger pipe on the lower right of this photo. But what about the water that was used for cooling the milk? That water is piped to a tank in our cow yard where the cows enjoy a clean, fresh drink.

The plate cooler on the ceiling (upper right). Milk travels via pipe to bulk tank (lower left).

Since the cooling process begins in the plate cooler, this reduces our electricity used by the bulk milk tank to cool the milk. The water serves double duty by helping to cool the fresh milk and then moves on to supply the cows with the necessary water needed to produce more milk. One of the reasons we became farmers is because of our love for our land and animals. What better way to show this love than to respect our natural resources?

And here is another way we do our part, every day, not just Earth Day.

Read my post D Is For Doo-Doo

How are you going to show the love on Earth Day?

 

Visit Dairy Makes Sense

Every Day Is Earth Day

April 22, 2013. Happy Earth Day! Here at Bremer Farms every day is Earth Day. We support practices that make economic sense, help the environment and are socially responsible to our communities and our world. One of the ways we do this is by reducing energy and reusing water through the use of a plate cooler. So how does it work and why is it good for the environment? When milk leaves the cow it is a warm 101 degrees F. It needs to quickly cool to 40 degrees and a plate cooler helps with this. After the milk leaves the cow it travels from the milking machine through stainless steel pipes to the cooling tank. (It's never touched by human hands). Along the way, before reaching the cooling (bulk) tank, it goes through the plate cooler.

Our plate cooler is mounted on the ceiling. The milk enters the cooler on the lower left side of the above picture. It stays enclosed in these pipes but winds its way through this cooling system which has cold water cooling these pipes, therefore cooling the milk that is safely inside the pipes. The milk then moves on to the bulk milk tank via the larger pipe on the lower right of this photo. But what about the water that was used for cooling the milk? That water is piped to a tank in our cow yard where the cows enjoy a clean, fresh drink.

The plate cooler on the ceiling (upper right). Milk travels via pipe to bulk tank (lower left).

Since the cooling process begins in the plate cooler, this reduces our electricity used by the bulk milk tank to cool the milk. The water serves double duty by helping to cool the fresh milk and then moves on to supply the cows with the necessary water needed to produce more milk. One of the reasons we became farmers is because of our love for our land and animals. What better way to show this love than to respect our natural resources?

How are you going to show the love on Earth Day?