Mommin' Through Life

The Culver Young Farmers provided their Farmer’s Share Breakfast, Saturday April 3, 2010 at the First United Methodist Church in Plymouth.   A very small cost of, $.49, to enjoy a hot and satisfying breakfast was served to approximately 200 people Saturday morning.   The breakfast was held to educate the community on the price difference of commodities from the producer to the retailer.   The low-priced cost of, $.49, is the amount the farmer earns for the sausage, scrambled eggs, toast, potatoes, and biscuits and gravy that was served at the breakfast.   The rest of the money that consumers pay to purchase their groceries at the store goes to the middle man and the retailer, not all to the producer. Not only did many community guests attend this breakfast, but Congressman, Joe Donnelly, State Representative, Nancy Dembowski   and State Senator, Ed Charbonneau were also in attendance.   “ F armers feed us. With that , our world is expecting to double its...

"I would sooner live in a cottage and wonder at everything than live in a castle and wonder at nothing." Joan Winmill Brown After a recent visit home this past weekend, not only did I find myself doing the usual tasks I do when I visit the family farm, but some "extras" were tacked to my list of things to do. From dry treating cows to move to the dry cow lot, moving heifers that are due to calve in the next few weeks to the milking pen, helping cows calve, to giving our red & white Holstein show heifer her first hair cut to be prepared for the WI Spring Show, I was worn out and it wasn't even Saturday yet!   As the weekend went on, things just became busier and busier.  Not only did I help with the outside work, there was some work inside the house that needed to be done as well.  There are days when I am at college I really wish to be home working along side my dad and outside working with my therapeutic friends I call my cows.  Working with my ...

My 4-H dairy judging coaches would always stress to their teams that when we went to contests, we always needed to remember that over-analyzing a class would get us into trouble.  That wasn't something we as a team tended to do too much at the county and area levels of competition, but it was quite a challenge to not over-analyze when we were judging elite cattle at the state or national level of compeition.  As I reminisce and think about those words that my coaches drilled into my mind, I think sometimes in my life, in general, I tend to over-analyze many things.  Deciding whether to continue my education, choosing which classes to take, analyzing the potential I have to reach greater heights, etc., I don't have enough fingers and toes to count how much and how often I catch my self being too critical about life and its circumstances.   Each of us face challenges and obstacles that don't always bring the best ou...

If you think you're too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito in the room. — Anita Roddick I recently discovered that quote on a Facebook page of a very close friend.  Each day we face challenges, opportunities, and circumstances that sometimes make us feel as big as a moose or as small as a tiny mosquito.  We tend to either become bogged down with the feeling of guilt, failure, stress, etc., or, depending on the situation, we feel like we are soaring on wings of eagles and it almost seems as if things are falling into place as each day is brought to us.   Now, some of you may think that things that come your way are circumstances that you "deserve", (positive or negative), however, when we really think about the society that we live in, I find too often that that "deserve" word is full of selfishness.  Whether it is in the show ring, workforce, within your own family, etc., is there really anything in life that we deserve?   It make...

As the holiday season approaches, things seem to get extremely busy around the farm!  It seems this time of year equipment tends to break more often, cows tend to become lazy on their milk production, and   those cows that are due to calve decide to do so on the coldest, snowiest night possible.  I arrived on the farm for my three week Christmas break from classes at Purdue on Friday.  During my breaks, my dad always decides to take advantage of me (which I don't blame him) being home by either cleaning out the sheds, hauling cattle, paying bills, etc., all while I milk.  I am usually assisted by my younger sister which always helps the milking go a bit more smoother when there are two milking. There are times I wish the cows knew how to milk themselves, but then I think how proud God must be when His children want to care for his animals.  These bovine creatures can't really prepare their own food and milk themselves, a...

It was quite an eventful night at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, IN, Wednesday, December 16.  The American Dairy Association of Indiana hosted a special event for the dairy farmers of Indiana to show their appreciation. With over 400 Indiana dairymen and women attending this event, these farmers should be more familiar as to how their check-off dollars are used.  The event was held to show appreciation for dairy farmers’ support of the dairy check-off program, while enjoying food and fellowship.  Not only did dairy farmers get to feast on an array of pizza, a cheese buffet, milk and ice cream, they also got to meet a special guest, Miss America 2009 Katie Stam, who calls Seymour, Indiana her home. Important not to miss anything during this event, cameras flashed, individuals chatted and stomachs were filled.  Meeting many farmers from Indiana, many were interested in letting the public know why they attended this event, why this promotion was important a...

Recently submitting my first assignment for an agriculture newspaper, The Farmer's Exchange, getting to experience that overwhelming feel of accomplishment is a feeling unlike any other.  I was thrilled when I got asked to cover Hoosier Beef Congress this past weekend, and felt like I was on top of the world.  My nerves were all worked up in anticipation for the event that could possibly be the start of something great.  With my sisters attending the event with me, I felt more confident knowing that if I screwed up, they would be there to help me figure out what went wrong. Being a dairy girl, I had never attended Hoosier Beef Congress, but had known many individuals who had been there whether it was to participate in the showing events or just to go spend some money shopping at one of the greatest places in the world to shop!  However, I had seen beef shows take place at the county and state levels, but to me,  this event was something completely different th...