Foodie Feature: Butler Agvocates

Butler Community College is a junior college located on several campuses in Kansas. The main campus in El Dorado is home to 2500 students that attend classes at this particular site. Among the many programs of study offered by Butler, I consider the programs offered by the agriculuture faculty and staff to be unmatched in quality nationwide. The tradition of excellence is truly a bright spot among Kansas Community Colleges.

This foodie feature is particularly showcasing a blog that showcases students involved in agriculture at Butler Community College. Butler Agvocates is an opportunity for readers to get a bird's eye view of life as a Butler student involved in the agriculture industry.

I commend Butler Agvocates on their work in the blogging world and look forward to hearing more information from these students' point of view. If you would like more information about Butler Community College Agriculture Department please visit this site and never hesitate to contact the man in charge - Mr. Don Gronau - he's a really neat guy.

Go check it out!

California Girls, We're Unforgettable

You know the song...it's been on repeat mode on the radio for weeks!

For some strange reason, I don’t think Katie Perry is singing about the type of “California Girls” this post is about. In fact I know she wasn’t because she spelled “gurls” wrong, and besides, cows don’t wear daisy dukes.

California Girls, or dairy cows, make up the largest sector of the U.S. dairy industry. Only seven countries in the world produce more cows’ milk than California cows alone. Bringing in around $4.6 billion dollars a year, they are responsible for the largest portion of sales among California’s over 250 food and fiber products within the agriculture industry.

California does a great job of advertising this important industry and you’ve seen a lot of their commercials on TV. The move to introducing consumers to Real California Farm Families is a great step in putting the right face on the Dairy Industry.

Something I found really neat on the website is a wine or beer and cheese pairing tool. You can just put in your favorite cheese and it suggests beer or wine that pairs well with the flavors of the cheese. You can also go at it from your favorite wine or beer and find the cheeses that go well with it.

Also, remember that 99% of California dairy farms are FAMILY OWNED! Maybe the grass is really greener where the California Girls produce the largest portion of our dairy products!

My Best,

Tera

Interesting Advocacy

Sometimes pictures speak for themselves. Go meat!

How much is a bushel?

The air is getting cooler, the grass is browning and the mood is changing. It's that time of year.

You may be thinking, yes it is football season. Get on your gear, hop on the couch and pop open a cold beverage! But I'm talking about a different kind of season - corn harvest. Since corn is the main crop we produce, this time of year is our Super Bowl!

My family produces irrigated corn, which was especially strenuous this summer because of the amount of days over 100 degrees. When it is that hot out for that long, it's hard to keep up on the irrigation and keep the corn plants from being compromised. We're hoping for a good harvest and awaiting the yields.

You will hear the term bushel thrown around a lot this time of year in the agriculture industry. What exactly is a bushel?

• a bushel is a unit of measurement used to describe dry ingredients
• it is used to describe agricultural products like wheat, corn, apples, etc.
  
• it contains 4 pecks or about 8 local gallons (you have to say local because UK gallons are larger than US gallons, thus UK bushels are also larger)
• it measures volume not weight
• bushels can help you understand yield, but you have to be careful with weights because it is probably clear that a bushel of apples weighs out differently than a bushel of corn
  
• the USDA has a set of standard bushel weights that I have listed below
• a lot of farmers will talk about wanting "250 bushel corn" and that just translates to the goal of producing 250 bushels of corn per acre planted
• while you may see traditional bushel baskets in the grocery store holding apples or peaches; corn is harvested, taken to an elevator or barge in large trailers and weighed out on large scales
  

USDA Standard Bushel Weights

Crop	Lb.
Soybeans, wheat	60
Flax, rye, shelled corn, grain sorghum	56
Corn-and-cob meal (ground ear corn)	45
Cracked corn, corn meal	50
Barley	48
Oats	32
Apples (Eastern)	42
Apples (Colorado)	40
Peaches	50

Enjoy your football season and think about the farmers in harvest!

Tera Rooney

Foodie Feature: Gilmer Dairy Farms

This foodie feature is of Gilmer Dairy Farms

With the recent publishing of Mercy For Animals video on veal production in Ohio, I would like to point out that there are better and more accurate references out there.

Get your information about the dairy industry from the source. These people raise dairy cattle and are on the farm day in and day out ensuring the health and well-being of their animals. I think that Gilmer Dairy Farms does a particularly good job of helping consumers, like myself, understand what it takes to get milk and milk products from farm to fork.

When I see videos, like the ones published by organizations like Mercy For Animals, it raises questions not concern. Instead of being concerned about the dairy industry and the products it provides my family, I went to the Gilmer Dairy Farms website and brushed up on a little day in the life of a dairy farmer.

A fellow Food for Thought member also featured this dairy in a post on this blog with a video about nutrient management. It is another great example of what great things the Gilmer Family is doing and you can check out Buzzard's Beat for additional posts that Brandi has written about the agriculture industry.

My best,

Tera Rooney

Temple Grandin

Receiving 15 Emmy nominations is a great accomplishment.

Receiving an Emmy is even bigger.

Receiving several Emmys - AMAZING!

I congratulate Temple Grandin on a lifetime full of achievement and influence. I commend HBO for fitting the bill. I think Claire Danes played the perfect role that was so true to life. It is great to see such a great movie be awarded and the people who worked on it to see their efforts and talents paid off. I'm also proud to be a part of the animal agriculture industry in which Temple has had such a strong influence on.

If you haven't seen the movie or want more information on it please visit the HBO website.

Temple has made a huge impact on the animal agriculture industry in the realm of animal welfare and well-being. She is a pioneer in animal handling systems that reduce stress. If you would like more information on Temple's work with animals and autism check out these sites.

Also, if you are keeping up with Food For Thought events. We will be hosting Dr. Temple Grandin on the campus of Kansas State University in November. Keep up with our facebook page, twitter and this blog to get more information as the big event approaches. Temple will be addressing our student body over her two day visit planned for November 10th and 11th.

My best,

Tera Rooney

Tailgate Lectures: Good Stockmanship

Grandpa told me to stand on the fence watching while he entered the pen. He looked back at me and said, "You know a good stockman can sort the baby calves off from the mama calves without saying a word. Good stockmanship takes practice." I was amazed as the old man stood in the pen of cows and calves and moved slowly, raised a hand here and there, shifted his body, and kept a calm voice and demeanor while one by one the cows ran into the left pen and the calves grouped in the right. I could see that he cares for the well-being of his animals and let them do the work.

That day in the pasture, I understood the importance of stockmanship practices that promote animal well-being. I've noticed that these buzzwords in the media, especially referring to TV media, are oftentimes misused. The misuse of a word or phrase can lead to consumer confusion and ultimately lead to choices and opinions that are not based in fact. When I hear these words like Animal Rights or Animal Welfare, I go back to that day of working cows with Grandpa. It's that memory that clears up the confusion for me. I thumbed through a dictionary to look at a few definitions to help clear up the confusion for you.

• welfare - noun: the good fortune, health, happiness, prosperity of a person, group, or organization.

• well-being - noun: the state of being happy, healthy and prosperous

• rights - noun: that which is due to anyone by just claim, legal guarantees, moral principles

• animal rights - plural noun: the rights of animals, claimed on ethical grounds, to the same humane treatment and protection from exploitation and abuse that are accorded to humans.

You'd have to search pretty hard to find someone who doesn't agree with the idea of animal well-being or welfare. It is our human responsibility to provide health, happiness and prosperity to an animal in which we come in contact with. I believe in this responsibility as a human and take comfort in knowing that agriculturists around the world, especially those involved in animal agriculture, take this responsibility very seriously.

I do not believe that the same inalienable rights that are accorded to humans and have been fought for throughout history, are due to any animal by just claim, legal guarantees or moral principles.

You see while animal rights is a social movement in my mind, animal well-being is a practice. It's a good and important practice that is being utilized by stockmen across the country.

I'm always interested in hearing other opinions on this debate and welcome that discussion.

My best,

Tera