Thursday, January 21, 2010

Meeting Season has Officially Begun!

Since there are just a few months during the year when farmers can actually attend events without having to worry about crops in the fields, we have officially entered "meeting season".

The invites have been coming for a couple of weeks. Salesmen show up at your office or your front door. They have a smile and the invite in their hand and tell you they will feed you and show you how to save money in the coming year. Yeah right! Well.....sometimes they are right.

Some of these meetings are to entice you to buy their products, some to educate you on new technologies or innovations and yes, some will help you save money this year.
We attend a lot of meetings, if i had to guess, I would probably say we will attend 20 meetings this winter. You know the old saying, "never pass up a free meal!" Oh, maybe that's my saying!

Until next time,
Let someone else pay for dinner:)

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Happy New Year!

Hey Folks,

I'm back! After a hiatus this winter to catch up with things on the farm and prepare for the next adventures in my life, I'm getting things moving again.
I hope that everyone had a joyous holiday season and made some great New Years resolutions. I did! One of the first things on my list, besides to get in better shape and keep up with things in the house, is to keep Twittering, uh oh, I mean Tweeting, and writing on my Blog. So, here it is the third week of January and I'm just getting started on the Blog! Oh, brother! But, on the other hand, the house looks great and Twittering is fun.
So what's happening on the farm this time of year? Lots of things. We are working on equipment in the shop, some to be used for Spring field work and others that are used heavy during the winter months.
We are making sure the cattle have extra care and attention during the cold weather too, so we bed (put straw down ) them heavier, feed them a little more during extreme cold, and make sure they have un-frozen waterers! The last part is very important to the health of our cattle, and as usual, we provide them with fresh water 24/7 and making sure that the water is not frozen is a part of that. We also provide the cattle with fresh feed twice daily and any medical attention they may need. Shelter is important during cold Michigan winters and our cows are happy to have the cold wind blocked for them by the "curtains" (a special heavy plastic hung down the open sides of the barns).
During January we tie up all the lose ends from the last year. My work in the office heats up this time of year, and getting all the taxes done, W-2's for the employees and finishing up the accounting for the previous year is what I love! Bookwork is my friend! :)
There are many other things we do in the winter just to prepare for the Spring work ahead, one of those being placing our seed orders for the upcoming planting season. And no matter how cold it is outside, or how warm it is in the house, taking care of the things that take care of us is always a high priority on the farm!!
Remember, a farmer always looks ahead no matter what the weather is outside!
Until next time,
Smile because Spring is on its way!