Have you hugged your farmer today?

I have.  I mean it.  Have you hugged your farmer today?  Have you eaten today?  Then you had better hug your farmer.  Despite the fact that our farmers are farming on less ground today, we are producing more bushels/acre than ever before.  Did you know that 98% of the farms in the USA are family farms?  So, perhaps you are in that group of people who thinks that farmers are abusing the land.  Did you know that small family farms comprise 81.8% of the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) members? See this link to a USDA publication to see how important your farmers really are.  http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/eib24/eib24b.pdf 

Alright, so who cares, right?  Anyone care about feeding the hungry?  Did you know that the US exported 3.7 million metric tons of soybeans to China this week????  And overall this week, we exported 8 million metric tons of soybeans!!!!  It's just soybeans, right?  Nope.  Soy is used as a meat protein substitute throughout the world.  In countries where meat is not readily available, soy can provide the protein necessary to maintain higher health standards and feed hungry people.  Visit http://www.wishh.org/ for more information on how soy is solving the hunger problem.

And then there is the issue of sustainability.  By 2050, our world population will have grown to over 9 BILLION people.  Who is faced with the responsibility of feeding that many people?  Farmers.  More importantly, AMERICAN farmers.  Our farmers are focused not only on producing more, but also on being good stewards of the land.  We have to be conservationists in order to help our land thrive for the next generation.  Overall, producers of corn and soybeans have decreased their use of resources and emissions by up to 20% since 2000. 

Overall, the message here is that our farmers are doing all that they can to help us all.  I ask you again.  Have you hugged your farmer today?  I have.

Good times, GREAT friends

It was such a wonderful weekend spent partying.  Saturday was Bella's 5th Bday party.  She picked Chinese food for her party, so we had HyVee cater for us.  It was great.  They send everything in disposable containers with place settings and serving utensils!  No dishes!!!  I made my first Barbie doll cake.  It turned out pretty good.  We had to use one of the Bratz type dolls because they are shorter than Barbie.  Bella got some really neat things for her bday, too.  She really enjoys the time with her family, so it was really fun.  We are so blessed that God let her and I stay on this Earth the day she was born.  Spending time with family this weekend was also wonderful.  We had the chance to spend time with our neice Evelynn and my sister and her hubby, plus both sets of grandparents, and John's sister, Laura.

We are also blessed to have great friends.  Sunday was the annual Daytona 500 party.  It is great together with Scott squared, Heather, and Sharon.  We can be ourselves and just hang out.  Plus the food and drinks are always wonderful.  We thought the race was amazing, too.  Enough with the Dale Earnhardt tributes, though.  Really?  We were excited to see most of our racers finish in the top 10, and we're happy for Trevor Bayne (sp?) to get a chance to start his career like that.  Bet he'll have a sponsor soon!

This week will be a busy one for us.  We are meeting with one of the Swine Producers we may contract with, and one of the potential builders.  There are lots of questions.  We are anticipating getting this project moving fairly quickly.  At least that is what we hope.  If all goes well, we could be ready to take our first group of hogs right at the beginning of December.  We are pleased to have the opportunity and pray that it continues to go positively. 

Thursday night, we drop the kids off with Grandmere and Papa.  John & I will be headed to FL bright and early Friday a.m.  We'll be spending the weekend at Disney, where I get to run my first official "race".  I'm excited and nervous all at the same time.  Tried to run this afternoon, but only got in 1.5 miles because it was so cold.  Maybe the warm weather will help.  Anyhow, then on Tuesday, 3/1, we head to Tampa for the second phase of our ASA/Dupont Young Leader Program.  We are excited to get a chance to see all our newly made friends again.  Much of our program is going to be spent focusing on Media training.  We need to help promote our industry as much as possible, so they are going to help us learn how.  We'll be back home Sat. 3/5.  We are pumped to go, but we'll be missing the kids, too.  Well, after a couple days at least. 

Here's some food for thought.  Our farmers today are using less land to produce more food for our ever growing world population.  By 2050, estimates are that the world population will top 9 billion people.  Who's going to feed all of them?  Your local farmer.  Have you hugged your farmer today?

Learning

So, I'm learning about this blog thing.  Seems interesting, like an online diary more or less.  I figured, "Okay, I can do this".  So here I am.  I am a farm wife and mom.  I have three children, Bella-5 years, Mae-3 years, and Nolan-1 year.  My hubby, John, and I have been married for just over 8 years, but we have been together for 15.  We've learned a lot about each other, and a lot about how we work together. 

We are in the midst of considering our options for increasing our production capacity for the hogs.  By the end of this year, we may be up to 7500 head.  It is an incredibly exciting venture for us, and we feel strongly that this is the best option for our family.  We would be making major changes like going from a farrow-to-finish operation to a wean-to-finish or feeder pig operation.  What we hope and pray is that our farm will survive to be there for our children and their families.  All of this, as I said above, has been a huge learning experience.  John & I are doing really well so far in the planning stages. 

So, as I said, I'm learning all about this process.  I will use this as a way to express lots of things:  mommy experiences, farm experiences, updates, and promote the farm.  Some of these things might tick people off, but hopefully they will inform and encourage more people to learn.  Please feel free to contact me at any time.  I love feedback!