OFI 590: State Of The Farm Episode | Loss Of A Great Agriculturist, Spring Has Sprung And Kidding

SHOW NOTES

STATE OF THE FARM! 

The segment that I released today is something new that I am doing.  There is an aspect of this podcast that has kind of been lost over the last couple of years, and that is me discussing what is going on with our farm.  As time has gone on, and I have interviewed more and more great guests it has become harder to fit all of that information in.  So, instead of abandoning the part of the podcast that tells you about our farm journey, I decided to make it a separate episode.  This way, you can can listen if you are interested, and if you are more interested in the stories of our guests you can skip it.  We will see how this works!

Loss Of A Great Agriculturist:

On March 28th we all lost a great agricultural advocate and expert, Allan Romander.  I also lost an uncle, agricultural mentor and the first ever guest on the Off-Farm Income Podcast from way back on episode #002.

Here is Allan’s obituary:

Modesto resident Allan Hugo Romander passed away peacefully at home on March 28, 2019, following a lengthy struggle with heart disease.

Allan was born on May 30, 1941, in Irvington, N.J., to Charlotte Folsom Romander and Claes Hugo Romander. The family moved to Redwood City, Calif., in 1945, driving across the country at a maximum of 40 mph to save fuel and tires in the post-war era. He graduated from Sequoia High School in 1959, and received his B.S. degree in Animal Science from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, in 1968.

We recently got a new bull.  We stuck with the Polled Hereford as I really like their temperament, the lack of horns and the quality of the beef.  We are restructuring our calving season, so right now all of our cows are open, but not for long!  I was going to start trying to sell older steers to our customers so they would weigh a bit more.  However, after interviewing David Hancock in episode #498 I had been having second thoughts about doing that.  He told me that he likes to sell a beef that is about 18 months old to maximize taste and tenderness for his customers.  I thought this was probably a better idea for us as well.

Kidding Season Is Here:

Last year we decided to have our kids in February, again chasing a larger animal to market in the fall.  But, none of us liked this approach.  There is something about new kids on green pastures that we really enjoy.

So, we decided to go back to having kids after spring break and change how we are marketing them rather than vice-versa.  We are experimenting with keeping kids for up to 18 months and selling them at a larger size and older age.  My research in the sale barn has indicated that the size of the goat is the mitigating factor in what they sell for.  Different than normal, what I have observed is that the more weight the goat has on it, the more bidders there are and the higher the price it brings.  We will see if I am correct.

Taking Goats To New Pasture:

The gentleman that we lease pasture from asked if we could graze only goats and no cattle this year.  This was a good kick in the pants for me as I had been meaning to convert our alfalfa field to pasture as it is getting thinner and thinner.  So, we planted a pasture mix predominated by orchard grass into our alfalfa, and Hattie and I took all of our goat kids to the lease last week.

This means that I will be buying all of my hay going forward as I am planning on expanding our cattle herd with the new grazing available in our hay field.  We will see how this works out.

Check out the great picture Hattie took of the goats unloading at the leased pasture as the featured image of this episode.

OFI On Instagram:

As Hattie gets older she is learning more about technology.  She informed me that OFI needed an Instagram Page.  All I knew about Instagram was that it involved photographs.  So, I decided to follow her advice, and we bought a nice camera at a great price.  I highly suggest the Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-HX400V Wi-Fi Digital Camera with 64GB Card + Case + Battery + Tripod + HDMI Cable + 3 Filters Kit.  This is what we bought, and Hattie has been taking outstanding pictures as the official farm photographer.

I am trying to post 1-2 photos per day of the farm, and it is really forcing us to get outside and discover all the beauty that is right in front of our eyes.  We hope you will check out our Instagram page at this link.

More Updates:

There are even more updates for you on this podcast.  I hope you enjoy this version and my attempts to share more with you about our farm!

FFA LINKS:

National FFA Organization

Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE’s)

Support FFA 

Donate to FFA – One way that FFA students are able to start small businesses is through an FFA grant of $1,000.  In 2014, 141 FFA students received these grants.  With your donations, more students can get this head start – pay it forward.

REASONS TO DONATE TO FFA:

• Only 2% of Americans grow and raise most of the food and livestock consumed by the other 98% as well as the rest of the world.  FFA is providing the needed education, training and resources to Americans that will carry that torch forward and insure that America continues to have inexpensive, quality food.
• Rural Communities will rely on entrepreneurship in the future for population growth and job creation.  The FFA is a major catalyst to that entrepreneurial growth.
• Farmers, ranchers and those working in agriculture give the rest of America incredible amounts of freedom because the search for food is as simple as going to the grocery store:

“The future of American agriculture depends on the involvement and investment in America’s youth, In order to prepare for the population of tomorrow, we need to encourage America’s youth today, and show that careers in agriculture are profitable, rewarding, and vital.”.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue

Where Off-Farm Income And Matt Brechwald Can Be Heard:

Member Of The National Association Of Farm Broadcasters