Can someone please explain this to me?

I really don't understand what our own country is doing to itself.  The senate just voted out any subsidies for ethanol.  Now I can't say that I disagree with that.  I personally think all that government help is just another opportunity for snakes to figure out the loopholes. 

Are we still giving big oil companies tax breaks and government money?

I know we support Brazil making fuel out of cane sugar.  Most knuckle headed Americans eat more sugar than they do corn!  Won't we starve our own fat children if we use up sugar on fuel?  Oh, or maybe it's because they prefer the much worse high-fructose corn syrup for their morbidly obese darlings.

So we can support foreign oil coming in, but not our own renewable fuel?  It does not make sense, please explain it to me.

Exciting New Site

Bio Ag of Michigan is a new favorite place of mine!  They are a group dedicated to helping farmers like myself learn the old fashioned way of farming using modern technology.  I will be joining them on a field trip in August.  I will get to go to several farms that are using farming practices I would like to use.  Check out their website to get an idea where I am trying to take this old conventional farm of ours, or maybe you have animals of your own and they could help you.

The corn is begging for mercy!

Have you ever seen corn beg for mercy? 

 See how the leaves have rolled up to hide from the sun?  That is corn begging not to see the sun for awhile.  We sure do need the rain they keep telling us is coming.  Our weatherman has told us to expect thundershowers for a few days now, and still no rain.  Rain is predicted for the next few days as well, I just hope we get some.  This weather is quite hard on our crops. 

Poor Hank, the Beagle

I took Hank the stray Beagle to the vet today.  I can tell he hasn't seen much care and affection, though he is learning to love it.  I also noted that his hair doesn't feel good when you pet him.  Not sure how to describe it, just feels like a chalk board, yucky to the touch.  Of course it is a sign that he has heart worms and needs a small bank account of his own.  He will get neutered another day, right now we have to get the parasites out of him.  I had to fix the poor old boy, he found me for a reason.  Besides, I just got him his own new cammo collar and matching leash!  Tomorrow I will pick up his new I.D. tags.  I'd hate to lose him after all this.

Ready for the Wheat!

We have our second cutting of hay done and are ready to start harvesting wheat.  We have some wheat that is our own old harvested seed.  We also have some newer seed.  I am anxious to see which seed produces the best yield.   I bet ours will win.

For about a month now I have been putting our cows out on their make shift pasture at night.  I go out at 4 every morning and drive them back up to the feed bunk.  At first I was thinking about how early 4 am really is.  Now I just really enjoy the early start on the day along with this chance to talk to my girls as I gently push them back up to the barn.  They are such creatures of habit, as soon as they hear my truck leave my drive a few start drifting to the gate.  Most just lay there and look at me as I head to the back of the pasture.  As I work my way back to the barn, there is hardly a cow in front of me, they all know the drill and are gone to the barn.

Hank update:  Hank has decided to share our home.  I turned him free a couple weeks ago and he has never left.  Even a beagle can spot a good life when he sees one.  Hank now knows that he is welcome in the house, but no marking his territory, it's all mine in here.  He also knows that I feed critters at 6 am.  So Hank has earned his appointment to have his heart checked and all his shots updated.  He will also come home shy a couple parts.  Good luck Hanky Panky!

Where do you shop?

I just had an interesting revelation.  I was running through my local grocery store with young adults in tow, when it all hit me.  Everything we buy is at the perimeter of the store.  We buy fresh fruits and vegetables, not from a can.  We buy some dairy products, and we are done.  All the stuff in the isles are prepared foods, boxed stuff, instant stuff, cans of stuff.  I might dart into an isle for some odd ball thing like mustard.  I do buy most of my spelt flour, granulated fruit sugar, and non-hydrogenated shortening from my co-op.  I don't think of myself as a radical, but I sure don't like processed foods.  Maybe that's why I think everyone should have access to raw milk.

Honored visit

Today I had the honor of meeting Ted and Peggy Beals.  They are first, just a very nice couple, but they are working very hard for farmers like us and customers who would like great milk to drink.  Tedd works on the Weston A Price council, and he and Peggy work with Michigan fresh whole milk group, and she wrote a book Safe Handling- Consumers' Guide. 

They seemed pleased with the small amount of progress I have made, and gave me a ton of research to do.  Most of my progress, but not all, is just my plan for the future.  Getting big things done on a farm are done with tiny, slow baby steps.  But with one foot in front of the other, I will soon be looking back thinking how quickly things changed.

I would also like to publicly thank Don, a share holder, for taking the time to set the meeting up for me.  That was very generous, and much appreciated.