Once an #Agnerd....

Holy Cow, there hasn't been a new post on this blog for almost two weeks.

These last couple weeks have been super busy and pretty exciting if I may say so. Not to make excuses or anything but last Thursday, the 23rd, was my 21st birthday so needless to say there was no blogging  (or really anything) done this weekend.

Last Monday was the first day of my senior year of college, I can't believe how fast time has flown. Seems like yesterday I was starting my freshman year, all dazed and confused about college life with my bag all packed 3 days before class even started. Us seniors laugh now because most of us don't even hardly know our schedules a day before class let alone have our schools supplies (maybe that's just me).

One of the biggest changes I've noticed is that I've become a complete and total #Agnerd!

Super cute agnerd me getting ready to go help dad with chores

Looking back to freshman year there is no way I would've thought that I would be where I am. I was sitting in a Cultural Diversity and Leadership class today and we had to pinpoint some important events and moments in our lives and share them with the class. Not even kidding, probably 7 out of the 8 had something to do with growing up on a farm and being part of the great industry that is agriculture. This is a class full of Hospitality, tourism, and restaurant management majors, basically they're all from city campus. Some may not know what that means, here at the University of Nebraska Lincoln there are two campus's; East and City. East is the Ag campus while city is pretty much everything else. So some of the kids looked at me really funny but after class a couple kids stopped me and thanked me for talking about it. They said that they didn't really know anything bout Ag let alone a real life farmer.

 I knew hardly anything about pigs before college but I got involved

with the Nebraska Pork Producers Mentoring program and learned so much

Thanks to that program I was able to talk to City campus kids about modern pork

production at our 'Husker Food Connection' Ag event

So I'm making it my goal this semester to bring up and discuss Ag any time I can in this class. I'm pretty excited.

The #agnerd in me started just by talking about what I knew, Dairy

I always encourage other farmers kids to talk about what they and their parents do! You don't have to be some great speaker, lord nows I'm not, just talk about what you do during the summer and on the weekends. It really helps if you know some of the great things that are going on in the industry, whether it be that 95% of all farms in the U.S. are family owned, or corn farmers have cut soil erosion by nearly 44% thanks to new inovations and technologies, or even 1 in 3 jobs are related to Agriculture.

But that wasn't what I was gonna talk about in this blog, I'm saving that stuff for another time! I just needed to get back in the blog saddle.

 This is my friend Roco (yes he's real), pretty neat right?!



What's even more exciting... only 2 more days til HUSKER FOOTBALL!!  WOOHOO

Pride and Passion

I am a firm believer that when oppurtunities are presented to you that you take them and run with them! You never know where you could end up, what you'll learn, or who you'll meet along the way! One of the oppurtunies I am talking about that really impacted my life is 4-H. My family has been involved in 4-h for YEARS! For the most part we have been involved in dairy showing but also some other static exhibits such as cooking, sewing, woodworking etc. 4-H is a program that really allows today's youth to find something they love and are good at and really just practice and learn! Now I am a little biased because when I think 4-H I automatically think animal exhibits, which actually is a very small part of 4-H now. But non the less I see the importance it has with today's future farmers and consumers and it gives me hope.


Trent is pretty excited to show a dairy calf next year but
he's learning that it takes some hard work !



Alex loves to help us with our 4-H heifers

 

(l -r) Nate, Andi, and Vin with their Dairy heifers. They're old pros at this.



This last week and a half was our County fair which of course my siblings exhibited dairy and beef (our first year with this crazy idea). Last summer I worked at our counties extension office helping with fair preparations and really got to see some of the really cool stuff that 4-H can offer kids; classes on almost everything, really fun camps about any and everything (I went to a few in my younger years and had an absolute blast, met some of my good friends I have today). But sitting at the fair I really noticed something; in order for 4-h to really inspire kids you really have to let them be in charge, let them learn! The reason I'm mentioning is that while sitting at the fair I noticed how many parents were out there working with their kids projects; fitting them, watering them, some did pretty much everything! While some of the kids just sat around looking bored. Some parents were so obssessed with perfection and winning that they wouldn't let their kids even touch the animal until they went into the ring, yeah I would be bored too!

Right after we brought the beefies home, they
 were just little guys

Now my parents have always been busy with the dairy and other jobs so they would always try to help out with our projects and fitting and such but were always so willing and encouraging to have us be in charge of our 4-H projects. They always were willing to teach us and then let us take the reigns, even if that meant a few screw ups. I can proudly say that me and my siblings did absolutely everything for the fair ( I did help even though I am technically not in 4-H anymore, I'm 4-h support staff at my house!). We got the calves to the fair, groomed them, and got them into the ring. My parents showed up on show day to watch and that's about it which is perfect (it's not their projects). But dairy isn't really a big deal because we've been doing it for years, numerous times a year. Don't get me wrong we love our dairy cows but there is just so little competition in this state that sometimes gets unchallenging and boring so this year we decided to do a new project; Market beef steers,it was a way to be competitive and a lot of family friends showed beef.



First time we took them out on a walk



But boy were we about as clueless as they come. But I am so proud of my brothers, they did their research, sought some advice from fellow 4-Hers and our extension agent. They did really well at the show with the older one getting a blue in showmanship while the little one finished with a purple and was one minor screw-up away from placing. But it was through this project that I noticed my brothers really did like their beef cows, they loved working with them and watching how fast they grow (how fat they get compared to our lean dairy cows). What is really cool is how many questions we got after the show was over about how we got our cows so tame or how many new people were asking about our projects because they were considering doing it next year! People noticed that my brothers really had fun showing their calves, yeah they worked really hard and although beef wasn't normal for us that it is possible to do something that you've never done before and be successful.




We bought the steers from my uncle, we literally took home
 the first two we could catch. 

 

Nate and Yancy, they finished second in their class.. not bad!

Vin and Wego (yes he was named after a beer commercial)

Both boys finished in the top 5 in Rate of Gain. Pretty cool!

Point of this post is that if we want our 4-Hers loving what they're doing we've got to give them the freedom to do it themselves and choose! 4-H is not about perfection or winning, it's about learning and exploring. Finding something that you didn't know existed and learning about it. Whether that be rockets, woodworking or livestock, allowing a kid to have a little pride in what their doing will go a long way in helpig them find a passion! I know that without 4-H I wouldn't have my found my passion for dairy and agriculture. It helped me understand the role of what my family does on my community, my country, and my world.

White Cheddar Chicken Pasta

So this week I was feeling creative so I decided to try a new recipe from Pinterest (yay!).    I am a huge pasta and chicken fan so decided to go with a White Cheddar Chicken Pasta and I really liked it. It wasn't hard to make it just has a few more indgredients than I'm used to! (Hello broke college kid here) And for that reason about 2 or 3 of the ingredients didn't make it in, I'm sure if I had used them it would've been even MORE DELICIOUS.

But the Dairy farmer in my LOVVVEEDDDD this recipe; milk, butter, and cheese, I mean that's like my version of heaven!


The only problem with my batch was that it could have been more runny, it was  tad dry but that's because I used whole milk instead of skim or 1% . Next time I plan on using some whole milk but also some 1% to fix this.

So here it is.. Hope you enjoy







White Cheddar Chicken Pasta

For the chicken:
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 tsp dry mustard
1 T fresh thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 T olive oil

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Mix together mustard, thyme, salt and pepper and sprinkle over chicken pieces. When pan is hot, add chicken and brown about 3 minutes per side until cooked through. Remove to a plate and cover with foil.

For the pasta:
1 pound rotini or other short cut pasta
2 T butter
2 T flour
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, finely diced
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 T Dijon mustard
8 oz sharp white cheddar cheese, grated
2 cups milk (the dairy farmer in me MADE me use whole milk but any kind would work)
1 T fresh thyme
1 T fresh oregano
Crushed red pepper flakes to taste
Parmesan cheese to taste

Heat water to boil in a large stock pot for pasta, add salt and pasta and cook to al dente and drain according to directions. Meanwhile, melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add flour and whisk to combine. Add wine, garlic, onions, and mustard. Cook about 5 minutes, until onions are translucent. Reduce heat to low and slowly add milk, stirring to combine. Cook about 5-7 minutes more until mixture begins to thicken. Add cheese and stir to melt. Add chicken and pasta and toss to incorporate sauce. Add thyme and oregano and serve topped with crushed red pepper flakes and Parmesan cheese.

It Just Comes Naturally

This past weekend when I was home we did one of my favorite things; Preg checking cows! Saying that out loud doesn’t seem nearly as cool as I think it does I’m sure. But it’s so exciting waiting for the vet to confirm pregnancies, all us kids stand around and bet on which cows are bred, hoping that our personal cows are on that list! As I was standing around I thought about something I once read on Ellen DeGeneres’ website. Now I absolutely love Ellen (so does my 16 year old brother, his favorite afterschool TV show) and I loved watching her do crazy fun things with her audience and the people that were on her show. But I recently found this on part of her website. It was a page dedicated to going Vegan, which if that’s what you want to do great but don’t do it for the wrong or untrue reasons! There is one paragraph that says “Dairy cows are considered the most cruelly treated animals in factory farms. They are kept constantly pregnant, and their calves, considered byproducts, are put to death almost instantly.”

Ohh those two lines just burn me up! So I’m just going to give you  a few thoughts that I have about that!

Our cows will have their first calf a little after they are 2 years old (after a 9 month gestation period), it’s then that we can first start milking them. After about 3 to 4 months we will breed them back. If a cow isn’t fully healthy then she won’t breed back, simple as that, if there is even the slightest problem or she hasn’t fully bounced back from calving then we won’t even try to breed her until she is healthy! A unhealthy cow is going to give you unhealthy calves which is not good for anyone! Every year after that we want to make sure that our cows get bred back and have a calf in about 1 year and every year after that. To me that’s not cruel, it's natural, because if these cows were out in the ‘wild’ they would have calves every year, just like lots of other animals that live in the wild. Another great thing about cows having calves every year is that about 2 months before they calve they get dried up (stopped milked) and go on a vacation of sorts. They spend their days lying around and eating, pretty tough life.

There is a couple other reasons we want our cows to have calves every year: one reason is that if they don’t have a calf every year then their milk production will drop drastically! A cow will be milking about 70-90 lbs during her peak lactation (60 -90 days after calving) and after about 10 months will drop to about 20 lbs a day. Having a calf is a way to rest then jump start her lactation cycle! Secondly it allows the farmer to way to get replacement heifers or build his herd.

A brand new mom with her twins, trying to beat the summer heat 

As for putting  calves to death right away why would any farmer do that? That farmer spent a lot of money, time, and feed (9 months worth of feed for two, semen straws run $5 - $50 per straw, etc). And these calves are the future of their operation, the heifers will be replacement cows and the bulls will either be kept for breeding or sold for beef. So to say that a calf is an unwanted byproduct is untrue, they are the most important part of dairy farming. These calves will receive the best care to ensure that they are healthy successful cows and mothers.

Alex LOVES helping me take care of the babies

So needless to say I'm not a big fan of Ellen anymore, and I have shown her webpage to numerous friends,  farmers or not, and they are not impressed. I just tell them that it's time to tell their story!

Guest Blog: Tell your story!

 Me, Andi, and Caitlin
 (Both attended NAYI for the past 2 years, so proud of these girls!)

 So one of my favorite events was this last week here in Lincoln; the Nebraska Agricultural Youth Institute (NAYI). I was lucky enough to attend it the two years as a delegate and got the priviledge to serve as a Counselor for two more years. But today my good friend Caitlin, who attended NAYI last week as a Returning Delegate, wrote a blog about her experience with NAYI and what it means to her!

Hey all! My name is Caitlin Ohnoutka and I am from Valparaiso, Nebraska. I recently had the opportunity to attend the 41st Annual Nebraska Agricultural Youth Institute (NAYI) for a week on UNL’s East Campus. NAYI is a week long conference for Nebraska juniors and seniors to come learn about Nebraska’s agriculture! This year there were around 160 delegates that attended and also 3 delegates from Taiwan! This institute is planned and counseled by the Nebraska Agriculture Youth Council (NAYC), which consisted of 18 dedicated college students from across Nebraska.

The great group of Counselors (NAYC)

All the delegates at NAYI

NAYI is filled with many group discussions about various commodities, current agriculture issues, farm management competition, and is highlighted by the State Dinner with keynote speaker, Governor Dave Heineman. (HSUS, if I were you, I’d watch out for that man…) Many of these discussions are interactive and also give you many success tips, such as how to network, how to present yourself as a professional, and how to overcome the dreaded “I don’t know which bread and drink is mine” at formal meals.

All the delegates are divided into 8 smaller groups with 2 head counselors.
This was my group!

If you ask many of the delegates, aside from meeting 159 new friends, the highlight of their week is listening to “Advocates for Agriculture”, Troy and Stacy Hadrick. Troy and Stacy are a young farm & ranch family from South Dakota, who travel the country and Australia telling their story about the importance of agriculture. The Hadrick’s have seen first hand the destructive power of the media and have also learned the influential power of social media. In my opinion, the best piece of advice the advocates gave was: “There are too many people out there trying to tell your story. If you want your story told, you better do it yourself.” So begin developing your 30-second elevator speech and get your story out there!

The delgates listening to Troy and Stacy Hadrick

The delegates during a session

NAYI has been an important part of my life the last two years. I’m blessed to have met amazing people, learn how to tell my story, and become an important part of what’s at the core of many Nebraska families, agriculture.



There is always lots of games and 'bonding' time at NAYI



The Street dance on the last night we were in Lincoln





Just your typical farm boy dance off

To learn more about NAYI and NAYC (and see more pictures) visit their website or like their Facebook page!!

Long, Hot Summer

This last weekend was a trying time here in Nebraska for Farmers. We experienced 100+ degree temperatures, with no rain and high humidity. The heat we can handle but humidity is hard for cattle to handle. I just read somewhere the other day that a Human can handle high temperatures but not combined with humidity, I would imagine it’s the same for cattle. Luckily humidity is something that we’re pretty used to out here and are ready to take care of our cattle.

Some of the baby calves we moved outside

Baby calves aren’t usually something we worry about when it gets hot because they each have their own individual pen with a hutch, water, and feed readily available however this weekend those hutches acted like saunas. The calves would stay inside them because they thought that the shade was better than sitting out in the breeze (they didn’t know any better). The Holsteins (black and white ones) seemed to get over heated quicker than the Guernseys; they would be breathing hard and panting like dogs. So this weekend we decided to pull all the calves out of their hutches and put them in group pens in the shade. But to ensure that they were ok we went over numerous times a day to give them cold fresh water and pour water over them!

My little cousin Alex helping me check the baby calves.
He LOVES the farm!

The cows standing in the free stall barn cooling down

The group we really had to worry about though is the milk cows. Cows will spend on average about 5 hours a day eating at the feed bunk, I mean if I had to eat 90 lbs in a day I’m sure it would take me a lot longer! But because that’s where they a good amount of time we decided to invest in sprinklers above the feed bunk. They actually enjoy these quite a bit, they will stand under them even if they’re not eating. And I’ll be the first to admit they are a pretty big hit with anyone who needs a quick cool down or quick shower (I’ve walked under it more than my fair share of times). We also added a second big watering tank to their pen a couple of years ago. Having hot days means having cows drink 50+ gallons of water a day EACH (that’s A LOT of water!). We realized the need for another water when the cows were standing around waiting to drink, bored and impatient. Impatient and bored cows are good for no one, they tend to cause trouble and break things, so we decided a second water was a good way to keep our farm in one piece. Lastly our milk cows will spend about 12 – 14 hours a day resting. So to ensure that they stay cool where they will spend a majority of their time we have 5 big fans in our barn. We have a free stall barn with sand bedding that they like to lay in. There are studies (and common sense) that say if the rest area is comfortable to a cow then they will lay there. Well these stalls must be like satin sheets because sometimes getting these cows back up is a problem, they really enjoy laying in there all day!

Alex was helping me check the big cows too 

So for the most part we had very few problems with our cows and the high heat this weekend, which is great! But that doesn’t mean that we stopped checking them or doing everything we could to make sure they handled the heat the best they could! However since it was the 4th of July we did get some excellent fence put up and other random projects done around the farm. Dad was glad to see that my indoor air conditioned office job wasn’t making me soft to hot weather!

This is how my genius brothers cool down

Omaha Adventure

This past weekend we had yet another dairy event here in Nebraska, Moo at the Zoo! It is an event held in Omaha at the Henry Doorly Zoo in partnership with the Nebraska Midwest Dairy Association. It is a fairly new event and I was pretty impressed seeing it for the first time.



Moo at the Zoo



Henry Doorly is one of the top zoo’s in the U.S. (depending on the person you talk to of course). But it really is impressive how progressive and realistic the zoo is. They are always pushing to do new things that no one else has done. But this last weekend was a sort of Ag weekend at the zoo. They brought in tractors and ag promotion groups (pork producers etc) to set up booths and interact with people. And they also set up a huge tent to bring some dairy animals in. They decided they wanted to bring six of the dairy breeds in for people to see and pet. So they had contacted my family about a month ago to get a Guernsey heifer, so we gave them one of my brother’s yearlings “Mini”. Mini was a twin, so she was a little thing, but the other twin was stillborn. My brother would let her out during chores and she would follow him around all afternoon so she became kind of a pet so we hoped she would be social enough to let people pet her.



Nebraska Dairy Princess with 'Mini' talking to
people about dairy



So as a member of the Dairy Ambassador program and a pretty active dairy advocate in Nebraska they asked me to work a few hours. So I convinced my sister, Andi, and brother Vin (Vince) to come to Omaha with me for the afternoon. So Andi and I spent Saturday afternoon just walking around handing out ‘I met a Dairy Farmer’ stickers to little kids, Vin kind of just walked around and stared at people (typical high school boy). We would use this opportunity to answer any questions about the cows or just share some fun facts with them! We got some pretty interesting questions like “Why are these cows anorexic?” or “This cow here (a Brown Swiss) has got to be an ox?” It was actually a really cool event to get so many inner city Omaha people out to see these cows and feel free to ask questions. It was also great that there were over 10 Nebraska dairy families that worked over the weekend talking to people, 60 people total. And it was also a great weekend to have it because the Olympic Swim trials were just a little ways down the road so there were some visitors at the zoo from that event.



Andi handing out stickers and talking to some little kids



Kids trying not to scare away the Holstein



The 'cheesy' sign outside the tent






Moo at the Zoo crew (from left): Vin, Andi,
Anastasia, Me, Emma, Emma's sister



Speaking of Swim trials, two of my favorite aunts (and an uncle) took me to the trial on Saturday night and holy smokes it was awesome!! Firstly these swimmers are sooooo freaking fast, it just blows my mind. Secondly some of the guys are incredibly good looking, I always appreciate a sport where the guys don’t wear shirts and don’t really need to haha. But I do have a favorite (I think he’s probably most girl’s favorites)  Ryan Lochte. But I was impressed with him for a couple of different reasons. One was that after he won one of his events he gave away his flowers, bear, and medal to random kids in the crowd. How awesome is that? Another reason is that on national TV he promoted dairy (it’s not hard to win over my heart haha). So that was a pretty cool experience, can’t wait until London!!

A couple fun facts for you!

- Henry Doorly Zoo draws 1.6 million people per year

-The swim trials had 167,000 people at 15 sessions in 8 days. A new record for the trials (yay Omaha)!