Minnesota Farm Living

Connecting Consumers with Farmers


When Mother Nature Wins

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As a farmer, we take pride in what we grow. We work closely with our seed dealers/agronomists to decide what seeds to grow. We plan and plan. We prepare our soils in order to give our plants the best chance during the growing season. Then when spring is upon us, we plant the seeds. We give them nutrition. We give them protection from pests. And then . . .

Mother Nature who controls all

We rely on Mother Nature to hold her end up. She is our partner. But a partner that we have no control over. She does as she does.

And then . . . this happens. This picture is a soybean field that was destroyed by hail. No, this was not our field, but it belongs to a young passionate farmer. All I can say to him is “I’m sorry.” It’s so hard to see someone who is just so excited about growing a crop and his farming future and then to see this happen to him. And there is nothing we can do. There is nothing anyone can do but to listen and give words of encouragement. As crazy as it sounds, but he felt like a failure. In his head, he knows not, but the heart doesn’t always follow. And I understand because honestly, we would feel the same way. Even after 40 years of farming.

Hail damage in soybean field

Crop Insurance

Yes, he has multi-peril insurance. That is what crop insurance is for. So for those that condemn insurance subsidies, here is a great example of why we need it. If our crop insurance was not subsidized, the premiums would not be affordable. And most of you would be amazed how much we pay in insurance premiums. And it’s really hard now because of the low commodity prices.

So this field will be replanted. It’s earlier enough on the calendar. More than likely there will be a yield reduction because replanted beans rarely yield as well. But at least (hopefully) there will be a crop to harvest.

But more than anything, this is just one example of the stress we go through. All to put food on your plate.

Daily Farming Struggles

Tomorrow is another day. Another day of unknowns. Another day of not being in control. Another day of putting your faith in God. Another day to realize we are blessed in being allowed to do a job that we are so passionate about. Another day to persevere and become stronger. Another day as a farmer . . .

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8 Ways to Deal With A Stressed Out Farmer

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Okay, we know farming is not easy and there can be signficant stresses. Farming is like a rollercoaster.–volatility is the only constant. Not only are commodity prices down, but on our farm, we struggled with some terrible animal health issues a couple months ago. Now, the weather finally feels like spring and we are trying to plant a crop. But, it’s not going well. 

Planting, or the lack thereof, has been frustrating

Locally, we have received a substantial amount of percipitation. First, it was heavy, wet snow. Lots of it. And it was cold. We had the latest ice out date on our local lakes. Now, the temperatures finally feel like spring, but our soils are saturated. And you can’t plant on wet soils. We did manage to plant one day–on one of our driest farms. Then . . . it rained 1.5 inches last night, further saturating the wet ground we already have. On top of that, the forecast is for 100% chance of rain two days from now. Continue Reading

Sick Pigs and Sick Trade Tariffs

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I have been asked to post an update on our pigs. If you recall, a few weeks ago I talked about how very sick our pigs were. In fact, the worst we have seen in many years. And I am also going to give my two-cents worth on the tariff issue.

Sick Pig Update

The sickness all started about the middle of February. We didn’t know what we were dealing with or how to treat it. After many visits and conversations with multiple veterinarians and a lot of diagnostic testing, we determined our pigs had a nasty strain of PRRS and flu. Yes, quite a few pigs died. We tried our best.

I am happy to report they are looking better. We left on vacation mid-March and came back about 10 days later and we could tell they were better when we returned than when we left. If history is any lesson, they probably will continue to give us health problems-just a lot of lingering health damage. The other concern we have is “will they be ready for market in time?” They lost a lot of growth time from being sick. Our next pigs are coming in July and this group needs to be sold and the barns need to be washed and sterilized before the next ones come.

Future Concerns

So, concerns going forward: keep them healthy and hopefully they grow fast and our last concern: we have a new group of pigs on another farm. We DO NOT want this group to come down with the same virus. So we have changed how we are taking care of them to reduce the amount of foot traffic between the home farm and the offsite farm. We have also heard (just this past weekend) that other farms near us are possibly dealing with this same PRRS strain. We think the virus is moving by air and it was windy over the weekend. So here we are – on pins and needles “hoping” this new group does not become infected.

One more thing we are doing on our home farm is putting in wire fence netting underneath the hog barn eaves. This will prevent birds from coming in the air outlets. I am hoping to have a video of exactly how we are doing this. Again, another step to prevent a way to transmit viruses.

The Ugly China Pig Tariff

The next thing I want to talk about is the 25% tariffs put on pork by China. I talked to a Wall Street Journal reporter today about how this will affect us on the farm. Here is my take:

I am EXTREMELY nervous about what will happen to our markets. Because we sell on a market system, we don’t dictate our selling price. If we can’t sell as much pork through exports (because of the tariffs) means we will have an over supply of pork, which will result in lower market prices, which will result in a smaller check for us, which will more than likely mean we will lose money.
Farming is a volatile business. There are many factors that affect us and the markets. Things we are not in control of such as weather conditions (for crops), viruses and diseases (think of PEDv), costs of inputs, regulations, etc. It’s just plain crazy at times. But, we DON’T need the government to put additional pressures on our markets. I am truly worried for our future.

And it’s not just tariffs, it’s also about NAFTA

And it seems to change daily. It’s exhausting. One day, it looks like NAFTA will be a go and the next day we hear it’s not. We are the BEST farm producers in the world. We export about 26-27% of our pork and 60% of our soybeans. We NEED exports. If our export markets go away, we cannot consume the additional pork we produce.

Can’t just shut the barns down

So why don’t we just shut our barns down for a while to reduce the supply? We really can’t. We have farm and barn payments to make–bills to pay. We have sows that are bred and ones that are ready to give birth. There is a long pipeline of pigs that can’t just be shutdown. Farming is a very complex business. Where will our animals go? And if you shut a pig farm down, the expense to start it up again will be significant and for many, completely out of reach. There just is not enough cash to startup again. In addition, you can’t just hang on to pigs and sell them “later.” It doesn’t work that way.

And all of this at not fault of our own. I mean, honestly, how do you plan for something like this?
So with that, the pig markets were down significantly today. I can only hope that our lawmakers and government personnel understand how detrimental these tariffs are. We are not just individual farmers, but also individual businesses.

Fix it!

Let’s hope those in power can figure things out. It’s just not fair to throw U.S. farmers under the bus to help out another economic segment such as the steel industry. Period.

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12 Frequently Asked Questions About Pigs

10 Words That Drive Farmers Crazy

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There are just some days that certain words and phrases drive us completely nuts. In fact, there are 10 words that drive farmers crazy. Let’s take a look at the list.

1. Factory Farm

If I had to narrow this list from 10 to 1, this is the word I would choose. Drives me nuts. In agriculture, we know that people who use the word “factory farm” are using it in a negative way. The people who use “factory farm” don’t want you to think there are people who care for animals on these farms. They want you to think there is minimal animal contact, conditions are dark and unfriendly. But the truth is people run and manage these farms and barns. They are friends, neighbors, and family. Remember, it’s family farms, not factory farms. 

Farm corporations vs family corporations
Factory Farm

2. “All-Natural”

A popular word that literally means nothing. You see it everywhere. But what you may not know is there is no definition for “all-natural,” so food-fear marketers take advantage of the lack of definition and plaster it on just about everything. Again, anything that can stir emotion in consumers is a marketers goal. And “all-natural” makes us all feel good.

3. Non-GMO Label

I hate how food fear marketers use this label. I know you have all seen this label, Non-GMO Project Verified. The problem is they place this label on food items that have no GMO version. For example, DOLE places this label on their peaches. There are no GMO peaches. None. They might as well say “unicorn-free” on the package because it has the same meaning. I understand that consumers want to know what is in their food. But, seriously?

Non-GMO Project

4. Is Your Husband Home?

The reality is there are many women farmers. Most of us are highly invested in our farms just like our husbands. So it is insensitive and irritating when a salesman knocks on the door or calls on the phone and asks, “is your husband home?” It’s offensive and needs to stop. Treat women farmers with respect and for who they are.

5. Soil Health

One of the hot new terms I hear lately is soil health. Like it is a new concept or something. It makes it sound like farmers never cared about soil health until now. That can’t be further from the truth. Farmers have always cared about their land. Many want to leave their land better than when they started farming. Farmers have always worked on soil health and will continue to do so. Yes, there are some new ways farming techniques that improve soil health, just like we have used new farming practices in the past to improve soil health. It’s just what we do, always have. 

6. Know Your Farmer

One of those phrases I hear a lot. I have no problem with farmers selling their products directly to the consumer. Direct sales allow consumers to “know their farmer,” which is always used in the context that it’s better. But the problem with using this phrase is it makes the rest of us, who sell our products differently, feel inferior because you don’t know me directly. Just because you don’t “know me” specifically doesn’t mean our food is any less quality. 

7. Sustainable

Another common word that people love to use. In fact, many companies and organizations have “sustainability officers” as part of their organizations. One challenge with the word “sustainable” is it means different things to different people. When I think about sustainable I think about doing more with less. Farmers have been doing more with less for a very long time. Sustainability has always been a priority, we just didn’t call it that. We are and have been on a continual path of improvement. Always have, always will. 

8. Antibiotic-Free

Thank you food-fear marketers. Here we go again. Let me reassure you that all meat is antibiotic-free. There are safeguards put in place to ensure that your meat is free from antibiotics. So why is it necessary to tout antibiotic-free when we all know it is?

9. Monsanto

The public loves to lump all agriculture biotechnology companies under the name Monsanto, even though there are many companies that perform the same function as Monsanto. They love to blame this “giant evil-doer of the world” for everything. As a farmer, I appreciate new biotechnology advancements. We use them and thanks to the advancements, we use fewer pesticides which is good for us and good for the environment.  

10. Food, Inc.

If I could have a dollar every time I have heard people who watched Food, Inc. and then claim to know it all because what they saw on the documentary must be true, I would be a very rich person.  Yes, one of the most common claims I hear. At the point, I challenge them to watch a video on the other side of the food issue such as Farmland. It’s frustrating that people believe everything they see and hear.

So yes, these words drive me nuts, which is why my passion is to connect consumers with the people who raise and grow their food. Only with those connections, can I start eliminating some of these words from my list. 

 

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