Factory Farm or Family Farm?

I'm sure by now you have heard the term factory farm thrown around. Quite frankly I've heard it more times than I ever care to have ever heard it! I am really curious as to who came up with this term, as it really has no definition, but it seems to have painted quite a picture in people's minds. Over mechanized farms that are inhuman, cold and run by Big Ag corporations. Honestly every farm I have ever been on comes no where close to falling under this category. Most all farms, 98% of farms in our country are solely family owned. The other 2%  also contain family farms that for tax purposes or other reasons have become incorporated. Farmers are a minority of our population though, those same numbers appear as farmers make up just 2% of the population feeding the other 98%.  

As a farmer I am SO confused by the term factory farm, I have yet to encounter one and being in agriculture all my life I've stepped foot on quite a few farms. What does factory farm mean to you? Does it paint a picture in your mind? Have you been to or know of a factory farm?  Does it mean so many acres or a certain number of animals? Because families are behind large and small farms, farms that produce crops and animals, farms of all kinds.

This week a campaign was launched to purchase drones to spy on these factory farms. An independent journalist is determined to get to the bottom of what is really happening on these farms. Farms like this:

Looking at this picture I see a farm, a small farm, one that probably isn't even active anymore for it's original purpose as the two barns on the bottom right have damage to their roofs. I see a farm much like many of the family farms I have been on before. A farm that is even smaller then our own farm.This farm could even be an organic farm. This is what they want to spy on? You can imagine my concern, they want to spy on farms just like mine and many of the people I know.

Our Farm looks much like the one above, are we a Factory Farm?

So why drones? I am wondering if this journalist (who I am not linking to for obvious reasons, let me know if you want more information) has even tried to visit these farms that he considers factory? I have yet to meet a farmer that would refuse a interview from a genuine person looking for truth. I think he could go to much less trouble and expense to find his truth is he just visited some farms. Speaking of expense, I am sickened by the amount of money he has raised in 5 days, his original goal was $30,000, he's surpassed that now at over $40,000 and is now wanting $90,000 for this little project. And People Are Donating!!!! I can think of a million more worthy causes than spying on my neighbors. How about we start with feeding them, that seems like a much better use of those funds!  

So I am done with the term Factory Farm.

Because when I look at agriculture in this country I see 

Family Farms! 

Do you have a family farm? Do you disagree with the term factory farm? I invite to join us in spreading the word. Create a photo collage and share with your social media outlets. Be sure to include the hashtags #myfamilyfarm and #factoryfarm when sharing! And then also be sure to link up below!    

An InLinkz Link-up

{Wordless Wednesday}

Every once in a while we sneak in a little time away from the farm!

Beautiful Detroit Lake! Great little camping trip, despite the rain!

A Little Perspective on my Dairy Lifestyle

Dairy farming, farming, ranching, most sectors of agriculture are a lifestyle all of their own instead of a job. There's no nine to five, TGIF's, leaving it all at the office for the weekend. We are married to our job, we live our job 365 days a year. There's usually no vacations or weekends off and away. It's in our blood, our bones our very souls.

It's a very special calling. One that is definitely not for everyone. It's hard, SO hard some days. You go to bed with it, you wake up with it, there's really no escape. When there's a bad day, when it all goes to heck and back you can't just leave it on the desk and come back to it tomorrow.

There's days when no matter how hard you work, how much effort, sweat, blood and tears you put into it, you still fail. When you try to battle the elements, guess mother natures moves and loose everything in the blink of an eye. There's times, seasons, years where you make no profit at all. When it can all hang in the balance of the market of a foreign country, the weather for growing hay two states away, and product prices that you have no control over. One tiny tip of that scale in the wrong direction and you can forget about breaking even or even being able to pay all the bills.

There's a driving force, a passion, a fire in our very core,(maybe just call it stupidity) that makes this lifestyle not a choice at all. It's something most of us could never imagine leaving. This lifestyle provides countless blessings, wealth that isn't measured in money and precious moments that make it all worth it.It's in seeing a beautiful sunrise, welcoming a newborn calf, celebrating a great cow's production, working beside our family and children that we face this reality daily.

We get up every single day and provide the very best care we are capable of for our Ladies, not because it's our job, but because it's our life!

       

FarmHer Dilemma #16

FarmHer Dilemma #16: Clean clothes are an invitation for "accidents" to happen. Fairly certain the Ladies view them like a empty canvas. Behold and enjoy the art!

The work of Picasso, truly!

Northwest Farmers Fighting Hunger

Today is not a Wordless Wednesday! Lately all the posts and conversations I have seen about food, seem to be GMO related. That topic can get everyone on every side very riled up and passionate. I am not advocating for either side, but simply asking you to put that passion somewhere it can be put to good use. I love that in our safe and vast selection of food we have the choice to consume the products we want. But for many families right here at home, they don't even know when or where their next meal will be coming from.

Hunger Doesn't Take a Summer Vacation

The biggest population faced with this dilemma is children; 1 in 5 kids in the Northwest faces hunger. Especially during the summer months when school is no longer in session they lose access to meals that would otherwise be covered.

Milk and dairy foods are the #1 requested item by food box recipients.

 This June, Dairy Month our farm along with all the other Dairy Farmers of Oregon challenge you to donate $10 to the Oregon Food Bank.  For every $10 donated, your local food bank can distribute enough food to provide 35 meals. That $10 goes a long ways to helping many families in need! So skip your next two coffees and put that money to use right here in our own community!! Because no one should be hungry!

To donate simply visit Northwest Farmer's Fighting Hunger. And help us #fightsummerhunger!

 Help Oregon raise more money then Washington in this competition that is for a great cause. Use the hashtag above and visit our farm facebook page for shareable content.

I got Washington Dairy Farmer: The Farmer's Wifee on board with spreading the news about this great fundraiser. Be sure to follow her blog and facebook page!

Did I forget Mother's Day?

No posts about Mother's Day were found here on Sunday, I was busy enjoying my little farmers as well as caring for the other Mothers that call our herd home. I had to chuckle as my newsfeed overflowed with the breakfasts in bed, spa days and  flowers.

You see every day is Mother's Day here. 

Ahhh, this is how a cow enjoys a relaxing day!

My entire livelihood and the whole dairy industry is reliant on the bovine mothers that help to foster the human race. In order to make milk, like virtually all mammals including humans, a cow must first have a calf.  So we celebrate birth, and cows becoming Mothers every day. Our cows are spoiled with the best treatment we can provide every day.  Every gallon of milk or dairy product (have any ice cream today? Yum!) that you consume is thanks to a mother cow! 

 So join us in celebrating Mothers Day, everyday! All the moms out there deserve more then one day right?!

 We did have a bit of an extra special celebration as we welcomed this beautiful little heifer to first time Mama Spiffy on Mother's Day! Welcome sweet baby and congratulations new Mom!

So hard to get a non blurry picture of a bouncing baby!

What is in a Dairy Farmer's Day?

I often get asked: "Well what do you do all day? ". So I thought it was over due that I laid out what HAS to be done EVERYDAY on our farm. Dairy Farming is a 365 day a year job, we don't get to take sick days or vacations and some jobs have to be done everyday. So here is a look at what our day really looks like.

4:00 am: The alarm clock goes off and the two people doing morning chores are getting ready to head out to the barn. Usually a quick breakfast and throw on some clothes through blurry eyes! 

4:30 am: While one person is rinsing the milker and getting the parlor set up, the other is "waking" up the cows and getting them into the holding pen. 

4:45 am: Milking Starts. While all the cows are in the holding pen all the alleys are scraped clean. 

5:00 am: After scraping, all the feeding for the cows is done; alfalfa hay at the stanchions and corn silage from the silo pack. Feeding is also done at the special care pen and the bedded area is also cleaned for that pen. 

5:30 am: The springers get fed and their bedded area is also cleaned. Also take a few minutes just to observe everyone for calving. 

5:45 am: Whoever was feeding and doing the outside chores is usually done by now and joins whoever is milking in the parlor. We milk in a double three side open. So each cow comes in and leaves individually. They each are thoroughly cleaned, the milker is attached and it takes on average about 6 minutes each. While they are milking we ration a custom mix grain for each cow. Once the milker comes off they are dipped with a post dip to protect their teats during the day and let out for breakfast. We are milking at about our maximum capacity of over 95 cows and milking alone is taking a solid 3 hours.

7:45 am: Milking is finished up. The machines are rinsed and hung up to wash. While one person is washing the milker the other shuts up the parlor and pitches the hay back into the cows . Then goes to feed the calves. Milk to the youngest babies in bottles and buckets to the older ones on milk. Grain and hay is fed to the older calves in the calf barn, up to about 14 months old. **I had to update this because somehow I forgot my "favorite" chore. Washing calf buckets, pretty much doing the dishes for over a dozen people every day, twice a day. Ugh, yea it's my excuse for the dirty dishes in my sink!** The horses, chickens and cats are also fed. 

8:15 am: The parlor is picked up and scooped out, 95 cows make quite a mess in 3 hours with manure and grain. Then we wash the whole parlor with a pressure washer so it's ready for milking in the afternoon. 

8:45 am: After the parlor is clean and most of the cows seem to be done with their breakfast they are let out to the pasture. We are completely done with morning chores and back in the house for second breakfast. The towels we use to clean the cows during milking have to go into the washing machine. 

So by 9 am we've put in a solid 4 hours (at least) of work and most people are just starting their day! So the first shift is done and usually whoever milked in the morning can sneak in a little nap, but not always. So from 9am to 3:30pm we have to feed the heifers and dry cows, rotate fences for grazing, manage the manure, catch any cows to breed and finish washing the milk towels.  This is also "free time",  where we work on weekly projects and things that have to be done at least once a week: completely cleaning the calf barns, striping out the springer pen, deep cleaning the parlor. Of course we have no problem filling this time; there's always repairs to be made, cows or heifers that get out, cows that need assistance calving or doctored. Which of course any of that can occurred during chore time as well! 

12:30 pm: We sneak in time for lunch together as a family. Usually the only time of the day we are all in one spot at the same time. 

After lunch it's back to our "free time" work. 

3:30 pm: We try to finish whatever we were working on and grab a little break, for a quick snack and refuel. 

4:00 pm: at least two, but usually all four of us (or at least three, I am usually a little slower out with the little farmers) are headed back out to the barn for evening chores. The cows are brought into the holding pen to wait their turn to be milked. The milker is rinsed and the parlor is again set up for milking. 

4:15pm: While the cows are in the holding pen the alleys are scraped again and the free stalls are bedded with sawdust. The special care pen is cleaned and bedded with fresh sawdust. The springers are fed, their bedded area is pitched clean and bedded with fresh straw. 

4:30 pm: Milking has begun. And we are again feeding alfalfa and corn silage. This also seems to be the time we try to finish anything that didn't get done during the day. 

5:00 pm: By now we've usually finished on the Ladies side and head to take care of the calves. They get fed milk, grain and hay according to their age. We calve year round, so the number varies but there is usually about 60 calves to care for in this age range. With about 6-10 on milk. The littlest ones in the nursery get a fresh bed of straw.

6:00 pm: We are usually finished with all the "extra" chores and milking is all that is left to complete. Two people usually finish, but some nights, like Wednesday when the guys have fire drill, one of us finishes. 

7:30 pm: We are done milking. The machines are again rinsed and hung up to wash. The parlor is closed up and tidied up. Feed is pushed back in to the cows and the springer barn is double checked for any action. The milker is then washed and turned off. 

8:00 pm: The drive way gate is closed in case of any late night escapees. And we take our short commute (walk) back home. 

So with morning and evening chores and what has to be done during the day there is a solid 9 hours of work that HAS to be done everyday. The cows don't take a day off from milking and everybody has to be fed. As a family farm we have no employees, so all the day's work is accomplished by the four of us. It can and has been done by one when situations arise, because it HAS to get done. So that's a look at our typical day. 

So what did you do today?