Stories and Perspectives from the Farm
What's New, Hog Industry Troubles, Farm Transition Urgency
Farm Updates
New weaned pigs arriving today from a farm in South Dakota
Unseasonably warm weather which is allowing us to do more “cleaning” up around the farm.
Ag conferences - last week Farm Bureau LEAP conference. Next week Minnesota Pork Congress
Continuing to work on tax/year end preparation
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What’s Up with the Hog Industry?
In a nutshell, the hog industry is going through some tough times. It’s not just one issue, but multiple.
Low Prices
Disease
Cost of Inputs too high
Prop 12
Too much pork, not enough demand
I wrote a detailed post about the status of the hog industry on my Minnesota Farm Living Facebook page. You can also access it on my blog. Read it here.
In the Local News
Our local Farm Bureau board is donating ag accurate book bundles to all of the county’s elementary schools and county libraries. Along with the books, they also receive lesson plans from either American Farm Bureau and Minnesota Ag in the Classroom.
I received my first thank you email from one of the school’s administrators expressing her appreciation. She, too, feels it is important to teach children where their food comes from:
“I wanted to thank you so much for the gift of the book and the curriculum ideas. I have been wanting to add an agricultural component to our school and this will be a huge help. It is so important for our kids to know where their food comes from and all of the work that it takes to get it.
This is a valuable resource for our students. I really appreciate your promotion of Ag Ed in our area.”
Our first book is “Right This Very Minute.” It’s a great book! I have also compiled a list of my favorite 40 ag accurate books. They are available to purchase on my Amazon Store. I love Ag in the Classroom.
Farm Transitions
Another topic that is on top of mind is Farm Transitioning. It’s a big deal because it is predicted that 70% of farmland will need to change ownership over the next 20 years. This will be a topic of discussion for many years to come. Here are a few of my thoughts about Farm Transition Planning.
My Memory/Story of the Day
This past week, I toured Crary Agriculture Products during the Minnesota LEAP conference. Our tour group went onto the manufacturing floor. During one of our stops, I looked down and saw this well-used steel platform. And then I realized it was a Weigh-Tronix electronic scale. How did I know that?
I recognized it by this particular color of blue and a few of the letters hidden by the well-trodden use of a manufacturing company. So why does this matter?
Weigh-Tronix manufactures electronic scales (weighing nuts and bolts to semi-trucks) and is located in Fairmont, MN which is my hometown. And . . . I used to work there. I worked there for nearly 20 years quite a few years ago.
And then the memories started coming back. . .
I knew the Inventor/Owner/President of Weigh-Tronix, Richard S. Bradley. In fact, while I was in high school, I worked at Arts-Way Mfg located in Armstrong Iowa. I would leave school at noon and drive down to Armstrong to work in the computer department during the afternoon. Now mind you, computers back then were nothing like they are today. We are fortunate for all the new technological improvements to computers.
Arts-Way and Weigh-Tronix were sister companies and at the time, Arts-Way did all of the computer work for Weigh-Tronix. After a short period, it was time for Weigh-Tronix to have its own computer system. And that is where I came in.
Because I lived in Fairmont, it made sense for me to work at Weigh-Tronix. Richard Bradley was instrumental in making sure I transferred to Weigh-Tronix. So as hard and embarrassing as this is to say--I came to work at Weigh-Tronix with their first computer.
Ugh.
I worked there for nearly 20 years in the Information Technology department. I worked on the mainframe computer operations as well as PC support. Yes, I took apart computers and fixed them. I added/replaced memory, hard drives, motherboards, etc. I knew DOS, config.sys, and autoexec.bat. For those of you who remember computers from way back, those terms will sound familiar. Back in those days, it was unusual to have a female do this type of work, but I didn't let that bother me. This was my life's plan at the time.
Some days it's good to reminisce where you came from. It seems like a lifetime ago. And it was. But the skills I learned stayed with me forever.
I know the tour leader and some of my fellow tour attendees wondered why I was a bit excited about this old, rickety scale on the floor and why I was taking a picture of it. They must have thought I was a bit crazy,
I love how the little things you see in life create memories.
This and That
Okay, we are probably a bit strange here up in the Northlands. Here is a picture I took yesterday of a car on a frozen lake. This car will stay here until the water unfreezes and it falls through. Believe this or not, but it is a fundraiser for the local Rotary Club. Buy a ticket and guess when the car falls into the water.
Thank you and will talk to you next week!