30 Days of Photos – Day 10 Sunrise

A frosty morning and a beautiful sunrise were all it took to get us up and out to take in the beginning of a beautiful fall day.

Day 10 – Sunrise

This morning I looked out the window and saw what was the beginning of a beautiful day. The grass was frosty, there was a light fog lifting off of the lower bottom ground and the sun was just up over the trees. I don’t always photograph in the morning golden hour, but this morning was too good to pass up. Add in a seven-year-old who wrote her name in the frost with her boots and played with our dog Nick and I don’t think you can get any more picture perfect.

Canon Rebel T5i
1/1250s
f/5.0
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Blessings to you,
Laurie – Country Link

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“Why Tour Farms?”

On any given day in the small community of Garden City, Missouri you will find a retail meat shop busy during the lunch hour serving up delicious meats to local farmers, residents and those passing through town. You will probably also see the Garden City Chief of Police in there enjoying his lunch.

How do I know this? Being a member of Missouri Women Bloggers, I was invited on a farm tour organized by Missouri Farm Bureau this past Friday. We ate lunch at Kurzweils’ Country Meats and Restaurant, a family owned specialty meat market/restaurant close to Kansas City. Thus, my meeting the Garden City Chief of Police. (I am sure six women with cameras and name tags caught his attention right away, and he happened to know one of the ladies in our group). We conversed for a bit and when he found out what we were doing, he asked, “Why tour farms?”.

I guess I should have anticipated his question, but I did not. I was taken back by it for a second. Not because I did not have an answer for him, but that it was asked in the first place. Why would someone, anyone, not just a member of law enforcement, ask WHY would we, (he did not know that we were six lady bloggers), tour farms.

Aren’t farms places people go to learn and gain information? Don’t farmers know the ins and outs of raising food, fiber and fuel? Where else are you going to see cute baby calves?

Why tour farms!?! (Why indeed?) After my quick recover, this is what I told him; “Because it is important to know where our food comes from and to know who is raising it.” Do you agree? Are there others out there like myself and the five other women bloggers who want to know where our food comes from and who it is that is raising it?

I guess I have a different perspective on the subject. I love to visit farms. I love learning about different types of agriculture and seeing animals that are not on my farm. I had the best time in the “Calf Greenhouse” petting the baby dairy calves and letting them lick my fingers. I was excited to be welcomed to a farm that I have passed by on several occasions and thought what a beautiful place and to then know that the farmers there were just as gracious as I hoped. I was appreciative of the fact that they took time out of their busy days to show us not only their beef cows, but also the feed mill that they use daily to ensure a proper diet for their mama sows. With all of these things, how could one not want to tour a farm?

Did I learn anything new on this farm tour? I did! I learned more about the dairy industry and having a pumpkin patch from the Moreland Family. I learned about water collection for irrigation of crops from the Roth Family and I learned about state of the art technologies as it pertains to a feed mill from the Kurzweil Family. I was again reminded of how wonderful, intelligent, kind, resourceful, progressive, determined and happy farmers are. They love what they do and they are pretty darn good at it too .

Blessings to you and the Family Farms of Missouri,

Laurie – Country Link

*Other bloggers on the tour were:

Photo Credit: Missouri Farm Bureau

Shanley: http://eatitkansascity.com/

Ashley: http://www.showmeashley.com/

Gina: http://ginascraftcorner.com/

Jennifer: http://faithfulhomestead.com/

Sarah: http://www.pen2page.me/

Farm Picture Friday #53 – That’s It

As the farmer climbs up on his grain truck, he is reminded of this past year and all that it took to get the soybeans in the truck.  He reflects back on the harsh winter and the wet spring.  He will never forget the drought again in July and the flooding in September.  He is thankful for all that the good Lord has provided, for things could always be worse.  He lets the soybeans fall through his hands as he checks their color, size and weight.  For he knows, that’s it.  He has produced another crop and the Lord willing, he will do it again next year.

Blessings to you,

Laurie – Country Link

*There are many things that are made from soybeans.  To learn more, go to the United Soybean Board and check out their 2014 Soy Product Guide

 

 

 

 

 

Farm Picture Friday #51 – Inspection

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted.  – Ecclesiastes 3:1-2, KJ

Blessings to you and to those who are harvesting,

Laurie – Country Link

Farm Picture Friday #49 – Picking Up

I can not take credit for this weeks Farm Picture Friday.  I was actually on the trailer stacking hay and did not have the camera.  Kendall, our 8-year-old was in the cab of the truck snapping away.  It is always fun to go back and look at what pictures the kids took.  What a complete surprise this one was!

She took this Tuesday night in the alfalfa field.  Gpa was just getting ready to pick up a small square bale of hay to then put on the trailer.  She captured him at just the right time getting ready to grasp the strings.  The evening rays are highlighting his back and you can see the rest of the field behind him.  I have used the kids pictures before as Farm Picture Fridays, but I think this one is my favorite.

Blessings to you and young photographers everywhere,

Laurie – Country Link

 

Farm Picture Friday #47 – LIVE. WORK. PLAY.

Where do you live?  Do you live in a city or a small town?  Do you live down a gravel road or near a major interstate?  Do you live close to where you work or far away ?

Today’s Farm Picture Friday might tell you more about where we live.  (I know, not my usual FPF, but I promise you I am going somewhere with this, trust me.)  We live where we work and where we play.  Huh?  Yes, we as family farmers Live, Work, Play all at the same place.

Take the above collage of pictures.  These pictures were actually taken all on the same day in June on our farm in north central Missouri.  It was a typical Saturday morning.  We had things to get done and family was visiting.  When cousins come to the farm they know that they are going to help with something.  On this day we had gravel that needing spreading and the bean platform (combine header) needed worked on so it would be ready for wheat harvest.  The garden needed checked and weeded and the little pedal tractor and wagon of course had to be played with.  Gpa needed lots of good helpers to help him with his chores and Seth needed little ones to tease.  Live. Work. Play. 

Live. We built our home five years ago on part of my family’s farm.  The cattle walk by multiple times a day for water and here soon we will be seeing new baby calves by their sides.  We live close enough to my parents that we can be there in a flash if we are needed or something is forgotten at one place or another.  There are pastures on three sides and across the gravel road that runs in front of the house there is a bean field.  Closest neighbor is a mile and the mailman is most consistent and sometimes the only daily traffic on our road.  We have fresh air to breath and the beauty of God’s creation to look at every day.

Work.  When you care for the land and animals you need to be available for whatever may come up.  Be it working in the garden so that fresh vegetables and fruit can be on the table, assisting the cow that is having trouble giving birth, or making that late day delivery of seed, we are ready for work at a moments notice.  Seth’s job as a Sale Manager for Burrus Hybrids allows him to work on/from the farm.  His main office is here out of the house.  It offers him flexibility and access to those who he serves.  Being a Sales Manger for a seed company is not a nine to five kind of job.  Days can be long, so being able to have an office in the home is necessary and a true blessing when you are the seed guy.

Play.  We do take time to play, but when we do it is usually here on the farm with family or friends.  Be it building a fire in the fire pit to roast hot dogs and marshmallows, or lighting fire works on the 4th, it all takes place right here on the farm.  The kids enjoy being outside and love to have friends (and cousins) come for a visit. Their friends love coming to the farm.  Where else do you get to climb on hay bales, pick sweet corn or take muddy adventures? Not anywhere else I know of then the family farm.  Now we do take vacations, but like they say, “There is no place like home” and “Home is where the heart is”.

This week’s Farm Picture Friday is just the start of more blog posts regarding Live. Work. Play.  Until then, tell us about where you live, work or play.

Blessings to you and all who live, work and play on family farms,

Laurie – Country Link

Farm Picture Friday #44

This morning was beautiful.  There was a fog hanging over the pastures and everything had a dew on it.  Breathtaking.

It had been a while since I had taken my camera out to just take pictures of the beauty of the simple things.  As I was walking around, I spied this little spider web on one of the lilac bushes.  It was so little and so perfect, this little web, with the morning dew still hanging on it.

Now I know life is not perfect.  Nor should it be, but at times in the early morning when things are quite and there is beauty all around, one can only think, perfection.

Blessings to you and to my friend Tiffany T. who helped to inspire my walk this morning,

Laurie – Country Link

 

Farm Picture Friday #43

Yesterday we finished planting for 2014!  The seed is in the ground, so all we need now is rain and sunshine so those little seeds can grow.

On the day this Farm Picture Friday was taken, we had just arrived to the field with a cold, glass of ice tea and a snack for Gpa so that he could take a break from planting.  The kids met him in the field, and immediately began looking for seeds to check the depth and placement of the soybeans he had just planted.  Seed depth is very important.  Too deep and the seed may have a hard time making it to the surface.  If planted too shallow, the seed may not establish a good root system, which could lead to an uneven stand and lower yields.  The kids have become accustomed to seeing Gpa and their Dad stopping to check the depth of seed, because as a Burrus Seed Dealer, Seth is always out in the fields checking on the seed placement and the growth of the plant through the growing season.

After checking the seed, they all came back to the truck to have a drink and to help Gpa eat his snack.  (The kids are good at helping Gpa do a lot of things, especially eating.)  After a few minutes, we noticed the temperature was dropping and a wind coming across the field, for it was stirring up the dirt.  Right behind that wind was rain.  RAIN!  A pop-up shower occurred with BIG rain drops.  We scrambled to the trucks to get windows rolled up and the tarp on the grain truck where the seeds are stored.  We did not get “soaked”, but we sure were damp.  The rain lasted long enough that Gpa had to quit planting for that day.  So instead of getting done on Wednesday, we finished planting yesterday, Thursday, May 29th. Two whole weeks before we began planting last year.

Just like the weather on this day, farming can be unpredictable and things tend to just “pop” up.

Blessings to you and those still in the fields,

Laurie – Country Link

Farm Picture Friday #42

Plant 2014 is still going on.  We had to park the tractor and planter for a few days due to rain, but plan to start again today.  This field that you see in this weeks Farm Picture Friday is next to a large creek and is known as the Beecham long bottoms.  The Beecham family and our family have been farming together for generations now.  This ground, like all the ground we farm, is no-till.  A Phillips Harrow is taken across the land to just stir up the top.  It does not dig in like a disk does.

Last year soybeans were planted in this field.  As you can see weeds have grown up, but those have been sprayed.  Once they die back they do leave a cover that helps to keep moisture in the ground so that the corn can grow.  This picture was taken on Sunday afternoon.  Since then we have seen temps in the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s.  Not the typical temperatures for us in May, but this is Missouri and last year on the 3rd of May we had snow.

Next week the temperatures are supposed to be back in the 80’s and we will be on to planting soybeans.  With any luck the sunshine and rain will continue.  It is all up to mother nature, but a prayer here and there helps too.

How is your planting going?  Are you done?  Have you started?

Blessings to you and all farmers who are working to grow our food and fiber,

Laurie – Country Link

*This post was linked to the Country Fair Blog Party

 

Farm Picture Friday #40

We planted this little red bud tree three years ago and this spring it finally bloomed.  It looked so pretty a few nights ago in the evening glow.  I took a picture of it and then moved in closer and this is the image I got.  I hope you like it as much as I do.

Blessings to you,

Laurie – Country Link

This Post was Linked Up with the Country Fair Blog Party