Mrs. McNosh and the Great Big Squash

It's planting season here on Bremer Farms. Let's start today by reading about Mrs. McNosh and the HUGE squash that grew in her garden.

After the story we will talk about what plants need to grow. We need sun, water, soil and a secret ingredient...cow poop. In today's video you will see how the manure (a fancy word for poop) gets from the cow to the fields.

See you tomorrow!

S is for Stinky and T is for Tour

First grader (while stepping off the school bus, with his nostrils squeezed tightly closed)- "What smells?"
Another student- "It's the cows."
Me- "and poop."

Future farmers?

Now let me explain. We have many visitors to our farm. I write about a lot of them on this blog, but the ones I enjoy the most are the little kids. Kids are honest and open to new things, perhaps more so than adults. If they see something they don't understand, they say so. If they smell something they are not familiar with, they also say so! So this week we welcomed groups from our local YMCA which hosts four week-long Farm Camps each summer. First, let me say, I love  that the Y includes farming in their summer programs. Anyway, as this group of kiddos got off the bus, the "smell" comment happened.

So why did I bring up the topic of poop to some kids that already chalked the smell off to, "It's the cows." I'm honest with our farm visitors. I talk about anything and everything they want to know. I don't hold back. When these kids got off the bus, Farmer John was in the middle of a daily chore, cleaning the cow yard which means he was loading the day's manure (poop) into the manure spreader to haul to the fields. I asked the  kids if cows could leave the room and go to the bathroom when "nature calls." I got a load chorus of NO!  This gave me the opportunity to talk about the fact that cows poop where they live. We talked about the importance of keeping the cows home clean to keep them healthy. This then led to a conversation about healthy cows making milk that helps keep us healthy. It also led to a discussion about the manure helping the crops grow, which makes food for our animals, which becomes milk. Huh, and all this just because I said, "and poop" and all within the first 5 minutes of being on our farm!

First grader (while boarding the bus, nostrils no longer clenched)- "I love your cows."
Me- "Me too kiddo, me too!"

Making new friends

O Is For Out

Perhaps you have heard the phrase, "What goes up, must come down," made famous by the English physicist, Issac Newton when describing gravity.

Here on Bremer Farms we have a phrase, "What goes in, must come out." Now granted, it may not be a famous saying...yet, but I think it is catching on. Just look what I found on my Google search-

Of course we don't have cute little "onesies" for our cattle, but we are in charge of what goes in, and what comes out. 

A cow that is milking eats about 100 pounds each day of feed, which is a combination of hay, grain, silage and proteins, plus vitamins and minerals. Cows also need fresh, clean water, about a bath tub full each day. Our cows have access to food and water all day.

Freshly chopped haylage. Just one of the foods our cows munch on every day.

 Now we get to the "comes-out" part of the story. A cow poops about 10 times a day. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) on average, a full grown cow produces approximately 120-148 lbs. of manure per day. We remove this manure every day to keep our animals as clean as possible, to keep them healthy.

We recycle the cow manure and use it as a fertilizer for our crops. Federal, state, and local clean water laws regulate how manure is applied on cropland, so nutrients are absorbed by crops, not groundwater. The manure helps the fields get back the important nutrients. We never refer to manure as waste since it is recycled as a valuable resource to help our crops grow. Nothing goes to waste!

Haylage goes in, manure goes out.

See you tomorrow for P Is For...?

P Is For Poop

I'm taking you on a journey from A to Z throughout June Dairy Month.

So come on in...the barn doors are open!

P Is For Poop 

 

Today I am recycling a post about poop that I posted a few years back. It seems whenever I am asked to give a dairy presentation, questions eventually fall on the topic of poop, or what we farmers call manure. So here is the scoop on poop.

 

A cow will eat 30-50 pounds of food each day. She then poops about 10 times a day. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) on average, a full grown cow produces approximately 120-148 lbs. of manure per day with an average of 65% to 70% of this being water. 

Now on to the bigger question, "What do you do with all the doo-doo?" The manure is removed everyday to keep every animal as clean and healthy as possible.

Farmer John uses a skid steer loader to clean the barns.

The manure is loaded into a wagon (pulled by a tractor) called a manure spreader that spreads the manure on the fields.

The skid steer loader fills the manure spreader.

We recycle the cow manure and use it as a fertilizer for our crops. Federal, state and local clean water laws regulate how manure is applied on cropland, so nutrients are absorbed by crops, not groundwater. The manure helps the fields get back the important nutrients. We never refer to manure as waste since it is recycled as a valuable resource to help our crops grow. Nothing goes to waste!

This equipment is used EVERY day. That's why it's a bit "soiled."

 Today is the LAST DAY to enter to win The Dairy Good Cookbook  giveaway. Click on the Facebook icon on the upper right corner of this page. Click on the giveaway tab when you get to my Facebook page. Bingo! It's that easy!

 

 You may also want to read my previous years posts for June Dairy Month...

P Is For Princess 

and

P Is For Price 

 

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

D Is For Doo-Doo

I'm taking you on a journey from A to Z through the land of dairy! 

There's no need to pack your bags, just come along!

D is for Doo-Doo.

It seems whenever I am asked to give a dairy presentation, questions eventually fall on the topic of poop, doo-doo, or what we farmers called manure. Yes, everyone poops! So here is the scoop on poop.

A cow will eat 30-50 pounds of food each day. She then poops about 10 times a day. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) on average, a full grown cow produces approximately 120-148 lbs. of manure per day with an average of 65% to 70% of this being water. 

Now on to the bigger question, "What do you do with all the doo-doo?" The manure is removed everyday to keep every animal as clean and healthy as possible.

Farmer John uses a skid steer loader to clean the barns.

The manure is loaded into a wagon (pulled by a tractor) called a manure spreader that spreads the manure on the fields.

The skid steer loader fills the manure spreader.

We recycle the cow manure and use it as a fertilizer for crops. Federal, state and local clean water laws regulate how manure is applied on cropland, so nutrients are absorbed by crops, not groundwater.The manure helps the fields get back the important nutrients that help the crops grow. So there you have it...what we do with the doo-doo.

This equipment is used EVERY day. That's why it's a bit "soiled."

Learn more about dairy at Dairy Makes Sense

I am making a commitment to share as much as I can with you each day this month, about the life of our dairy farm family including what we do, how we share our passion for dairy, and dairy foods we enjoy.

 See you here tomorrow...E is for Every.

Thanks to Anna, for this topic idea! 

Do you have a question you'd like me to answer? 

Time To Change The Sheets

It's time to change the sheets. No it's not laundry day. I'm talking about our cows bedding. Our goal is to "change their sheets" frequently so our cows are clean and dry, which helps keep them healthy. We provide our animals with comfortable beds to encourage resting so they can concentrate on producing that milk we love! 

Each bale is about 4 feet tall and weighs about 500 pounds.

Besides using straw (the stalk of the oat plant) for bedding, we also use corn stalks. This is what is left in the field after the corn is removed. The stalks do well at absorbing moisture and they are readily available. Even after baling the corn stalks, this process still leaves behind plenty of crop residue in the fields to protect and enhance the soil. The residue provides cover which aides in preventing erosion and adds to the soil's organic matter. And when the "sheets" get soiled, the mix of stalks and manure is again returned to the field, to enrich the soil for the next crop. 

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Sara poses among some of the 900 stalk bales ready for bedding.

To see what else farmers do to utilize our resources, visit Dairy Farming Today