Tag Archives: farm bureau

I can’t wait to get on the road again

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I can’t tell you how many miles I’ve driven in the course of the last two weeks, but with trips to the Minnesota State Fair and Clay County Fair, coupled with jaunts to the farm and a “backroads” drive that took me through Wirock, of all places, on Monday afternoon, I must say I couldn’t have chosen a better time to travel southwest Minnesota’s and northwest Iowa’s countryside.

I absolutely love this time of year — not only because it’s my last chance to get to the greatest state and county fair around, but because after a sweltering summer, I can finally open my windows and turn the air conditioner off. Most of all, I love taking drives in the country and seeing the greens transform to shades of brown.

If one season could last all year long here in southwest Minnesota, I’d wish it to be autumn.

After our 4-H club’s meeting Sunday night, I took the kids I mentor on a little trek down some gravel roads in Bigelow Township to open up the bluebird houses for the winter.

Aside from kicking up dust as I hurried to get them to four different locations before the last bit of sunlight disappeared, we marveled over the beauty of the calm lakes, dodged grasshoppers while walking through tall grasses and stopped in the middle of a gravel road to admire a beautiful buck as he retreated to the hillside of a Wildlife Management Area. (A little farther down the road we stopped again to watch the doe and her fawn. We eyed each other for about 30 seconds before they decided to bolt for the trees.)

Between sightings of deer and pheasants, a drive through the countryside yields many views of some still vibrant prairie flowers, in addition to the changing shades of corn and soybean crops.

I saw about half a dozen combines working in the fields on my drive Monday afternoon —some working to harvest the corn crop and others crunching through soybean fields. We hope to shoot some video footage of the combining efforts soon, so keep an eye to our website, www.dglobe.com, for the latest Nobles County Farm Bureau-sponsored project to connect our local consumers with the farmers who produce their food.

Meanwhile, there are multiple opportunities coming up to enjoy all that agriculture has to offer, from scenic drives through the countryside to apple orchard openings and a visit to Worthington’s King Turkey Day festivities this weekend. I heard our famed turkey, Paycheck, has his running shoes ready to leave that other bird — Ruby Begonia — in the dust, making sure Worthington stays the Turkey Capital of the World.

Do you know the answers?

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How much does a calf weigh when it’s born? What is the typical age of a cow who has just had her first calf? Why are baby calves taken away from their mothers?

Those questions and many others were posed to and asked by inquisitive third graders at Worthington’s Prairie Elementary today. The barrage of questions were sparked by a visit from DiDi Christopherson and her parents, Dean and Carol. They are local farmers who were sharing information about the dairy industry during a Nobles County Farm Bureau-sponsored Ag in the Classroom event.

They completed four sessions today, and will return to the school tomorrow to meet with the rest of the third graders.

I was asked to help out, although I did little more than collect items that were passed around and squirt a dollop of hand sanitizer into dozens upon dozens of third-grader hands. It was fun. I earned a sunburn and a string of string cheese. Best of all, I get to go back and help out again tomorrow!

I held back several giggles as I watched the kids react to the factoids of dairy production.

The question and answer that created the biggest guffaw was, “How old is a cow when she’s had her first calf?”

A girl in the fourth and final group today came the closest with the answer “3,” but I think the highest age guessed was 47. The right answer, in case you’re wondering, is 2 years old.

You should have seen the jaws drop on the kids’ faces when they heard that!

My second favorite question and answer was, “How much does a calf weigh when it’s born?” This time, the answers from the students ranged from two pounds up to 150 pounds – and everywhere in between. The correct answer is anywhere from 50 pounds to 150 pounds. The boy who guessed 150 grinned from ear to ear at the boys sitting next to him.

The third graders learned about the importance of calves getting their colostrum milk, passed around a calf bottle (which is much, much larger than a baby bottle), smelled the sweetness of vitamin-fortified milk replacer and a couple of other calf food items, looked at straw and wood shavings and waited patiently for the best part of day … meeting, touching and petting a four-day-old bull calf named Bronx.

By the fourth class, Bronx was just as excited to see the kids as they were to see him. He jumped around to show his playfulness, smelled dozens of sneakers and blue jeans and even sucked on a few third-grader fingers, to the sheer delight of the kids.

I can’t wait to see how Bronx handles the kid crowds again tomorrow, but I think I’m more excited to hear what the kids have to say about meeting Bronx.