On Wednesday, we host a panel discussion about transparency and food – specifically the information consumers are looking for when making food-purchasing decisions. Today, more than ever, the farming and ranching industry talks about transparency...
"Every great migration in history happened because we took our agriculture with us," says Robert Ferl, director of the Interdisciplinary Center for Biotechnology Research at the University of Florida. "When you learn to take your plants with you,...
The debate over the safety of biotechnology continues, and it’s no secret those on the opposing side are very passionate about the topic. We often question why this has created such turmoil? Where did it all go wrong? Perhaps farmers and seed...
Our farm's management practices help us to maintain a healthy herd in which antibiotics are seldom needed. In fact, none of the 199 cows in our active milking herd are currently undergoing treatment. But when antibiotics are deemed necessary for the...
In the sixteen years that I have been actively involved in agriculture, I have had the pleasure of meeting many passionate people. While I greatly admire the ardent devotion displayed by farmers, at times I find myself wishing that a prevailing...
So I’ve had the neat opportunity to attend some sessions at the BIO International Convention over the last few days, and one of them was The Food Dialogues, a program put together by the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance. You can watch the recorded...
Farming isn’t always green lush pastures and rainbows. Sometimes the decisions we have to make are hard and painful. For the past week and a half we have been closely watching a three year old cow of ours named Miley. Miley is a great cow. She is...
I think most of the moms out there will agree with me: grocery shopping with your kids is challenging. I have three kids: Bella, 6 years; Mae, 4 years; and Nolan, 3 years. Walking through the aisles is a coordinated dance to avoid other carts,...
I am a take charge person. I am a person of action. I am a planner. It is very difficult for me to let things go and not be in the driver’s seat. There is nothing that shakes my world up more than one of my children having a serious illness.
When the kids were little, this was a common occurrence in our house. With five little kids, we had every virus and secondary infection known to mankind! Our pediatrician was on speed-dial on our phone. My little redhead had a particularly difficult...
Last week I had an amazing opportunity, I went to New York City to meet with journalists and bloggers. The point of our visit was to help share our farm story and put a face on agriculture. As a farmer, it’s easy for me to get caught up in my own...
I was sitting in a hearing on SB 633 a few weeks ago. I was sitting there knowing that my testimony was “right”, that I was going to make legislators see why this is so important to “me” and “my farm”. After I felt as though I had did just that...
By Chris Chinn This morning I stumbled across a letter to the editor that does an EXCELLENT job explaining what it is like to raise hogs outdoors. There are several farmers who still use this method of production and I know they are putting in many...
We have really been hit hard with winter weather in the last 6 days. The first round of bad weather dumped around a foot of snow on our farm. We need the moisture but when it comes in the form of snow it means a lot more work for us. Last week when...
I'm sure that many of you have Valentine's Day traditions that you follow, whether it is taking your spouse to dinner at her favorite restaurant or maybe sending flowers and candy to your special someone. For us, it is a Valentine's Day tradition to...
Last week my daughter brought one of her text books home, not to study, but to show me something she found troubling. It was a picture of a lady standing next to a booth marked organic vegetables and the caption said “Protect our planet and support...
My Twitter timeline started blowing up after the commercial aired during the second half of Super Bowl XLVII. I tweeted out a few related thoughts and was overwhelmed by the number of re-tweets, "favorites", and new followers they garnered me. Ditto...
