Lessons from California Ag

I know, I know, it has been a while since the last post, but some things are hopefully worth the wait.

This week, we have been touring California (CA) with the Kansas Farm Bureau Farm Families of the Year(http://www.kfb.org/farmfamily/default.htm info about the award). We started in LA and are touring farms that showcase the various aspects of CA agriculture on our way up to San Francisco. We started at the Regan Library and were involved in an event where they unveiled a NASCAR to celebrate Reagans centennial. http://christopher-conservativeperspective.blogspot.com/2011/03/reagan-centennial-nascar-car-unveiling.html This link shows the car and has a video of part of the announcement. The car is supposed to run later this summer at the Kansas City Speedway.

From the Regan Library we have toured farms (ranches as they are called in CA), and have seen lemons, avocados, an insectary (raise insects for biological control of pests on area fields), a vineyard, strawberries, cut flower nursery, cold greens (avocados, lettuce, celery, etc.), and will go to a apple orchard tomorrow. One of the multitude of issues they deal with is the ag/urban interface. If the avocados or nursery crops need a pesticide application, they have to contact all of their neighbors the evening before to tell them what will be occurring. If they don't do that, one of their neighbors may call the ag. department and they get a visit from an inspector. So, even though it takes a lot of effort to inform their neighbors of the the pesticide application, it saves them a lot more work in the end. Or, if there is a nearby school, they can only apply pesticides on Saturdays.

When we toured the vineyard, we were informed of an ordinance that for every oak tree that is removed requires 10 to be planted. This isn't a state ordinance, it is an ordinance in Santa Barbara county put in place because an individual did not want the oak trees to be removed from his view from Highway 101 (they were being removed to put in a vineyard). The individual contacted an environmental agency and they got the ordinance passed.

The most interesting government interaction was with the vegetable growers along the Salinas River. Prior to two years ago, they would clean the river of invasive species and trash to allow free flow of the water. Two years ago, they were prevented from cleaning the river by environmentalists who were concerned that the growers were altering the environment. Last week when they received 6-7" of rain in day, the levee of one producers fields broke and flooded 3 of their fields. The added cost of pumping the water out is the minor problem. They are prevented from planting the fields to the crops that they were planning on for 30-120 days by the shippers they sell their crops to. The minimum of 30 days is only if they test the soil and water and it is found to be completely free of contaminates. This grower has not had a field test free contaminates without being flooded. So, a flood is a major setback to their crop production.

All of this shows us how much we should appreciate all of the work that goes into the production of the fresh produce that we have the privilege of enjoying. For those of us involved in producing food, we need to work to inform consumers and regulators of why we do what we do so that we don't have regulators knocking on our doors because we are facing a set of restrictive regulations.

Safety first

As you can see from the lack of posts for the last several months, creating a blog post has not been a top priority in our lives that last few months. Probably a good thing as taking care of our family, house, etc. should be our primary priorities.  As you can see, a blog post has risen to the top again.

Since the last post, things have changed but have also stayed the same in most respects. The weather has turned a lot dryer, but our girls are still growing and changing daily. This post is about another change that has occurred.

While we were drilling wheat in the middle of October, I (Tyler) was waiting on some parts that my brother Tanner was bringing to me.  Instead of the parts, I got a phone call that he had been in an accident. So, I headed for the only vehicle I had other than the tractor I was in, a truck filled with seed wheat. So, I went over to the pickup a couple of miles away where my father was drilling. Thinking it was something minor like he wasn't paying attention and went in the road ditch, my father and I were surprised to see all of the vehicles on top of the hill as we approached the scene.



1. The pickup my brother was driving after it was removed from the scene.

 As you can see from the pictures, it was more than a small accident. They are of the pickup he was driving at the time of the accident. When he came to the top of hill West of our farm, he had a head on collusion with an older man from our community that had been out cutting wood. They were both following the tracks in the gravel road where everyone drives (normally in the middle of the road) and when they got to the top of the hill neither had time to react and hit head on.

When my father and I arrived, the EMT's were there and were cutting into the pickup trying to get Tanner out of the pickup.  No one was working on the other pickup to get to the other gentleman, so it was apparent he was no longer alive.  The EMT's tried to keep Tanner stable while they waited on the life watch helicopter to arrive from Wichita (he was awake the entire time that someone was at the scene). Once the life watch team arrived after he had been in the pickup for an hour and a half to two hours, the EMT's removed him from the pickup.

After an hour ride to Wichita in the helicopter (about 250 miles), the medical team determined that he had a shattered right ankle, broken left femur, broken left wrist, and many bruises and cuts. He had surgery the next day to put a rod in his left leg and plates in his ankle and wrist.  After a week in ICU to watch his breathing, he was moved to another facitility for 2 weeks before he came back to Ness City to our parents house.

After quite a road to recovery, he is doing well. He is now walking with a cane and will slowly get back to walking again without support (cane or crutches) over the next month.

This post is meant as a reminder to all of us that we have to always be on the look out while on the road. All of our family and our neighbors have come to the top of that same hill thousands of times without and incident, but at any time someone could have been coming from the other side and it could have been any one of us in an accident as most everyone drove in the same tracks. It took awhile to break the habit, but I now move over to the side of the road when I come to the top of the hill on a gravel road. There are numerous examples of things that farmers and ranchers do on a daily basis that could be done differently so that they are done more safely. We hope that this post would allow everyone to reevaluate what they do on a daily basis that as they drive down the road or go about their daily chores that they would remain as safe as possible.

Harvest Shots

Finally some long awaited harvest shots.

The Combine- What we use to cut down the wheat and take the wheat berries from the heads.

Upclose of the combine header

Unloading the wheat into the grain cart, which will take the wheat to the trucks that we take the grain to the elevator.

Eve helping Tyler drive the tractor which pulls the grain cart.

Eve in the field

Family Picture minus Daphne in the tractor cab.  Unfortunately Daphne is too young to be in the dust of the field.

God has really blessed us this year with a safe and bountiful harvest.  And I think we are finally recovering from all the hard work and long days of harvest.

Harvest Time

Harvest Time is Here in Kansas.  Lots of Posts about it to come!

Farm Friday - Crop Inspecting

Harvest time here is quickly approaching, but every year right before harvest, Tyler gets to work inspecting fields for the Kansas Crop Improvement Association.  He started doing it in 2002 after a friend in town no long had the time to do it.  This year Tyler will insect over 4,000 acres of certified wheat that will be used for seed, as well as some fields of native grasses.  But before I get ahead of myself, I will talk a little about the wheat seed.

There are hundreds of different varieties of wheat grown.  Different areas of the world plant different varieties since some have qualities that help to produce better yields for their area.  Plus new varieties are constantly being created by crossing certain varieties.  Companies like Monsanto and Syngenta are working to develop these new varieties and the process takes over 10 years.  The seed that comes directly from the companies is called foundation.  After it is planted and harvested, it is called registered seed and after that is planted and harvested, it is called certified.  The acres Tyler inspects is certified, so the farmer planted registered seed and is harvesting it as certified seed.  Tyler's job is to inspect the field for two main problems.  The first is varietal purity which means he is checking that the wheat is maintaining its specific qualities and has not been planted with another variety.  Secondly he is checking to make sure there are no noxious weeds, like bindweed, being grown in the field, since not all the weed seed may come out when the seed is cleaned after harvest.  Tyler walks through the whole field, end to end, and in different directions to get a thorough look at the field.  The biggest field he has inspected this year has been 320 acres, which is a square 1/2 mile.

Here is a good picture of what the wheat looked like at the beginning of the week.  The wheat has to loose its green and turn to gold before it is ready to be harvested.  The super hot weather we have been having is helping to turn the wheat and Tyler is talking about trying to cut a sample tomorrow to see if it is dry enough to cut.  Harvest is coming soon.

Book Review - Climbing Kansas Mountains

After seeing our post about taking Eve to the top of the grain elevator, our librarian Jean suggested we check out Climbing Kansas Mountains by George Shannon.  It's a charming book about a boy whose father takes him on a trip through town so they can climb up to the top of the grain elevator.  The illustrations are beautiful and we loved how the book took time to use pictures to help further the story.  It helped to show some of the charm and beauty of a small Kansas town, as well as being an accurate agriculture book.  Eve enjoyed the book and sharing her elevator experience with the boy.  We recommend this book.

Birthday Weekend

We are still recovering from an exciting birthday weekend.  It's hard to believe that my little girl is already 3, but it promises to be a fun age.  Her birthday was Sat. and it was the day of the much anticipated princess party with her little girlfriends.  She got up early and after a pancake breakfast she went with Tyler to a friend's yard sale so I could start to set up.  The party was after lunch and four of her friends came and enjoyed cupcakes cones with her.  By the time everyone left, she was too excited to take a nap, so the two of us played for a while and it was great to just enjoy time with her.  We ended the day by going and seeing Tyler's cousin's dance recital, which included more of the girls from town that she knows.  She said it was a fun day.  Here is a fun picture of our 3 yr old and our 3 month old.

Then on Sunday after church, we had a family get-together to celebrate her birthday.  She was most excited to get a water table from Tyler's parents that she had gone weeks before and helped to pick it out.

She got to blow out the candles on a princess cake made to celebrate both our birthdays, since mine was the next day.

Monday was my birthday, but since Tyler had spent most of the weekend celebrating with us and not getting lots of work done, he spent the day inspecting fields and we expected him to come home late.  June is a busy time and I learned years ago that my birthday is not really a reason for a shortened workday.  Plus I would rather him choose Eve's birthday over mine.  So we didn't expect to really celebrate my birthday, but was so pleasantly surprised when my dear friend Brittany invited us to there house and had some homemade ice cream and brownies for me and the girls.  With my family so far away, it was nice to have a close friend to remember and make it special.  And it is always fun to get to share my birthday time with Eve.  Plus I get to remember my birthday when I brought her home from the hospital.

Farm Friday - Long Hours

Growing up I remember in the stories about farmers. They always seem to wake-up with the rooster crowing at the crack of dawn and get to work on the many activities of the day and would work all day until sundown.  But I guess I always thought that was an exaggeration. My dad worked a regular 40hr a week job and would sometimes have to put in extra hours, but not often.  He would come home at 5:30 to eat dinner with us and enjoy the rest of the night with us.  So that was the schedule I had hoped my husband would have too, but that is definitely not the schedule Tyler keeps. 

    A normal day for Tyler starts at, well around dawn.  This time of year it is around six o'clock, but in the winter time it gets pushed back some.  I wanted to try and get a picture of him leaving this morning, but with having to feed the baby at five, I was still sleeping at 6:30 when he left.  He diligently comes in every morning and gives me a kiss goodbye before he leaves, even though some days I don't even wake-up to notice.  I have yet to become the great farm wife who gets up early enough to make breakfast, so most mornings he eats cereal or his favorite, poptarts.  He stays at the farm and does his work throughout the day until he is finished.  Right now they are so busy, that he does not come home until after seven, closer to eight, nine o'clock.  It makes for a very long day for both of us and the girls and I eat dinner without him on most nights, but we let Eve stay up just late enough to see him before she is off to bed.  And when he comes home there is some work that still needs to be done.  He has to maintain records of their activities and the financial activities of the farm, which take up more time almost everyday.  With such a busy daily schedule, you would hope the weekend would be a time to rest and recooperate, but not the case with farming.  The cattle still need to be tended to and there is still more work to get done Tyler works every Saturday too just like any other day of the week.  During harvest and planting times he even works on some Sundays too, although we try hard to make that the Lord's day and a day of rest and most Sundays he deserves a long nap.

    So, as you can see, a farmer, and I believe most farmers, work extremely long, hard hours.  It can be trying on us all because he is sacrificing his time for the farm, but in a way so are we to have him gone from us all the time.  It was quite a transition for me when we got married to not have him come home from work when I was getting done and to be a newlywed in a new town with many lonely nights.  But I have learned to accept the hours because I know it is necessary for him to get to do the thing he loves, which is to have our farm and be able to support our family with it.  It's the sacrifice many farmers and their families take on to not only enjoy the farm but its lifestyle.

Old Settlers Day 3

So Saturday was the last day of Old Settlers and now that I am finally blogging about it on Wed, it feels like it happened a long time ago.  We started the day working to set up our Farm Bureau Hot Dog Feed, Ag Activities and book reading.  We have had the pleasure of getting to know Dr. Dan Yunk, who is the the CEO of the Kansas Farm Bureau, as well as a children's book author and he was willing to take the time to come to Ness and read and sign his books.  They are a series called Kailey's Ag Adventure, when Kailey visits her Grandmother and learns all about different part of agriculture.  The first is about milk coming from a cow, the second about soil, the third about taking care of animals and the forth that is set to be released in August is all about wheat.  Eve really enjoys them and I will blog more about them in the future.  Along with the book reading, Tyler had contacted the Midwest Dairy Assoc. and they lent us their milking cow, and the local elevator helped us get tubs full of different grains grown in KS from the kids to dig around in.  It was fun to see the kids have a good time with the cow and the grain and for lots of people to learn about the books. 

Here's some kids learning about where milk comes from and one of the kids milking the cow.

We also got to feed the riders who were just getting back from the poker run. 

Later in the day we went to Tyler's class reunion and it was nice to see his classmates, although no one wanted to pose for a picture.  We came back home and tried to go to the demolition derby, (it was going to be my mom's and my first time) but there was so many people there we would not have gotten a seat.  So instead we went downtown and used the last of Eve's ride tickets.

And finished our time off with a funnel cake.

Overall we had a good time.  Since I did not grow-up in this town it's hard because I am not waiting for this time to come to reconnect with people who have moved away, but I appreciate how important that is for others.  Tyler was planting for most of the time, but along with my mom and the girls, we had a fun time and will anticipate it coming in five more years.

Old Settlers Day 2

Friday was the second day of Old Settlers and it was even hotter than the first.  We headed downtown around 11am to see the Pony Express come through and deliver special Old Settlers mail.  Eve was excited to see all the horses again.  Then there was a free BBQ lunch which was very tasty, but we didn't stay long afterwards because it was already getting so hot, plus we needed to start getting Eve ready for the fashion show.

The theme for this fashion show was Fashion by Remote and featured people modeling clothes from many different decades.  Eve was in a pioneer thrashing scene and worn a denim jumper with a gingham blouse and boots.  She was excited to go, but when I left her backstage I could tell she was nervous.  She was lucky to be in the scene with Tyler's cousins, Tim and Trevor, and Trevor's fiancee Amber.  They all walked out together and she was a little apprehensive, until she saw me waving in front and then waved back and announced onstage that she saw her mom.  She had a good time and asked when she will do another show again.

Here she is with Tyler's Mom Jan in a 60s prom dress she was modeling.

Later that day, we went back downtown to enjoy some free ice cream and visiting with some friends.  Eve had a great time going on more of the carnival rides with her friends and dancing around to the music.  It was a hot fun day.