An Ode to Duct Tape...

Just for fun....

God Bless,

Hannah

What Mercy?

There are few things that can stop me in my tracks and instantly make my stomach curl, but animal abuse is on the top of that list. This past week the animal activist group Mercy For Animals released yet another "top secret" video of farmers abusing their livestock. As many of us are aware, this isn't the first time this particular group has targeted dairy farmers and their families. Last spring they released a video of an Ohio farm with the vicious intention of promoting political initiatives in our state. What wasn't broadcast or thrown to the media was the fact that in that video, the employee of the farm was initially hired by Mercy For Animals to pose as a farm worker and abuse livestock. Or that this particular farm worker's bail (of a large sum) was paid in cash. But no one seemed alarmed by these facts. In fact, I still hear people talk about the incident with certainty that all farmers are cruel and inhumane.

Honestly, I couldn't even watch the whole video from last year because I was so disgusted; let alone this new supposed case of abuse. And I'm not the only one. Agriculturalists have spoken up with emotions that can only come from individuals that truly know and understand our industry. A great example of this came from a blog I found called "Gate to Plate":

http://www.causematters.com/agriculture/mercy-for-animals-calves-animal-abuse/

Although it pains me to see news like this flashing all over and brainwashing uneducated consumers, it also reminds me of how much work we have to do as advocates.

While I'd like to say that it's their own fault for being uninformed, look at what information they are receiving. Wouldn't you be a little concerned and mad at livestock producers if abuse videos were highlighted on the evening news? Wouldn't you be apt to join in anti-agriculture movements if you'd never met a farmer before? Wouldn't you believe that animal agriculture is harmful if you'd never seen a production farm or how livestock are handled? I know I'd be suspicious. And suspicion is dangerous.

That is why it is more important now than ever before that we come together and spread positive messages about what we do and who we are.

It is our responsibility to educate others.

Our mission needs to be informing consumers.

If agriculture is our passion, we need to be willing to spread the word.

Here's another great resource to gain information: http://www.collegiatetimes.com/stories/15428/anti-agriculture-claims-need-further-examination

The time is now. Become an advocate of agriculture.

God Bless,

Hannah

Hog Wild

Growing up, one of my favorite times of year was when my younger brother and I went to pick out market hogs to show at the fair that year. Although we needed to get pigs that were a few months old, I always kept my fingers crossed that there would be piglets running around that I could hold for a few minutes. I am still always amazed that those tiny little piglets would soon turn into a large, full-grown pig; going from 2 pounds to 200 in a matter of months.

As a result of countless hours in the barn with my market hogs, I've grown to love and respect them. Therefore this blog is "hog wild" with facts about, you guessed it - PIGS!

Top Ten Facts About Swine: 

1. Pigs are very clean and they tend to keep their bedding dry and clean.
2. Pigs make funny sounds like grunts and squeals.
3. Domesticated pigs eat ground up corn, soybeans, wheat, and grain sorghum.
4. The skin on pigs is pink, but the hair can be different colors. 
5. Pigs can't sweat, farmers use sprinklers and fans to keep pigs cool. 
6. Pigs not under fans will wallow in mud to keep cool.
7. Wild hogs roam forest, meadows, and swamp areas.
8. Litter size varies from 2 to 12 piglets. 
9. In Europe, pigs are used to find underground mushroom-like plants called truffles. 
10. A mature pig can weigh about 500 to 700 pounds.

Source: http://www.kidsarus.org/kids_go4it/growit/raiseit/swine.htm

Video: Large Hog Farm Exposed

Pig Facts:

1. Pigs are the fourth most intelligent animal in the world.
2. Pig's Tongue contains 15,000 taste buds. For comparison, the human tongue has 9,000 taste buds.
3. The pig is rated the fourth most intelligent animal but are mentioned only twice in the Bible
4. Pork is the world's most widely-eaten meat.
5. In Denmark there are twice as many pigs as people.

Source: http://www.whereincity.com/india-kids/animals/pig.htm 

Video: Truth about Modern Pork Production

God Bless,

Hannah

The Farm School

Yes, such a place exists. And yes, I want to go there.

The Farm School is located in Athol, Massachusetts, and runs programs year round for youth and adults. Imagine a place where students can get their hands dirty planting crops, learn about stewardship and taking care of the environment and interact with livestock. Not to mention a long-term program where adults can literally "Learn to Farm". This is the place! How awesome would it be to have one of these in every state? Just think of the agricultural literacy we could attain and the advocacy we could spread!

For more information about The Farm School, check out their website:
http://www.farmschool.org/index.html.

God Bless,

Hannah

A Dairy Diary

Now that I finally have cable in my apartment, I've become much more aware of commercials and what they advertise. And it's amazing to think about how much we absorb from them. After all, that's why the companies pay so much to put them in front of us!

The one that has stood out to me the most this week was one produced by California Dairy Farmers. Although I've seen agriculturally related commercials on other channels, the CDF Association have decided to place their ad on primetime TV spots. For example, one came on during "Dancing with the Stars". Yes...I watch it. Another one aired during the evening news. How much do you want to bet that viewers watched and learned from those commercials? I'd put my money on it! Even if the slightest bit of information was absorbed from that minute ad, it helps agriculture. It's awesome agricultural advocacy. Therefore, I'm dedicated this blog to dairy, dairy cows and dairy farmers. Here goes!

                            Another commerical from the California Happy Cows Campaign


                 Great video from the Dairy Herd Network produced by Michigan Dairy Farmers!

Here are some great facts courtesy of http://www.greenmeadowfarms.com/cooldairyfacts.htm :

- It takes more cows to produce milk annually for Pizza Hut cheese (about 170,000) than there are people living in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

- Cows have an acute sense of smell, and can smell something up to six miles away.

- Vanilla is America's favorite ice cream flavor.

- The average cow produces enough milk each day to fill six one-gallon jugs, about 55 pounds of milk.

- Each person in America eats an average of 46 slices of pizza a year.

- All 50 states in the United States have dairy farms.

- The natural yellow color of butter comes mainly from the bets-carotene found in the grass cows eat.

- The average cow drinks from 30 - 50 gallons of water each day - about a bathtub's worth.

- It takes 12 pounds of whole milk to make one gallon of ice cream.

- A cow can't vomit.

- It is possible to lead a cow upstairs but not downstairs, because a cow's knees can't bend properly to walk back down.

- The greatest amount of milk produced in one year was 59,298 lbs by a Holstein cow named Robthom Sue Paddy.

- Dairy cows can produce 125 lbs of saliva a day.

- A cow chews her cud (regurgitated, partially digested food) for up to 8 hours each day.

- The oldest cow ever recorded was a cow named "Big Bertha", she died 3 months short of her 49th birthday on New Year's Eve, 1993.  She also holds the record for lifetime breeding as she produced 39 calves.

- A cow has to be a mom before she will produce milk.

- Contrary to popular belief, cows do not have 4 stomachs; they have 4 digestive compartments in one stomach:

             - The rumen holds up to 50 gallons of partially digested food.  This is where cud comes from.  Good bacteria in the rumen helps digest the cow's food and provides protein for the cow.

             - The reticulum is called the hardware stomach because if cows accidentally eat hardware (like a piece of fencing scrap), it will often lodge here causing no further damage.

             - The omasum is sort of like a filter.

             - The abomasum is like our stomach.
- Cows only have teeth on the bottom

God Bless,

Hannah

Ed·u·ca·tion

ed·u·ca·tion

[ej-oo-key-shuh-n]

–noun

1. the act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and generally of preparing oneself or others intellectually for mature life.

2. the act or process of imparting or acquiring particular knowledge or skills, as for a profession.

3. a degree, level, or kind of schooling: a university education.

4. the result produced by instruction, training, or study: to show one's education.

5. the science or art of teaching; pedagogics.

(Courtesy of www.dictionary.com)

By my definition, education is my other passion in life. Therefore, choosing agricultural education as my major and intended career field was a no-brainer. However, I've found throughout the years that "education" means many things to many people. At times, it's picking up novel to learn about Charles Dickens, and then there's my dad's philosophy of education - keep doing it until you get it right. Needless to say, building our pole barn out back with him was quite an adventure! But it got done and is standing, so mission accomplished.

This past weekend the Ag Ed Block had the privilege of visiting Greene County Career Center in Xenia, Ohio, to learn what education means to them. From building an entire house in carpentry to running a salon in cosmetology, and from extracting DNA from plant cells to designing a 3-D wax printer; these students are gaining an education that is second-to-none.

Above Left: Andrew works to prepare his DNA gel with dye that will indicate the ladders of DNA in various plant cell samples he's taken. This was the culminating piece to 2 weeks of work by the students in the Biotechnology class. Above Right: Haley shows us her market steer, Emitt. She and her father travel nearly every weekend to BEST shows to compete for scholarship money.

These are just two examples of what education looks like at Greene Co. CC. During our time there, we also got to visit students on their job placement sites, learn about how programs can be adapted for special education, how to read a school district report card and why truly caring about a student is our top priority as teachers. While there were many more amazing experiences throughout our time there, it's far too hard to describe the impact this weekend had on my perspective of education. A huge thanks goes out to GCCC Superintendent Dan Schroer for hosting us and all the amazing teachers that allowed us into their classrooms. You all represent education at it's finest.

For more information about Greene County Career Center, please visit http://www.greeneccc.com/greeneccc/site/default.asp.

God Bless,
Hannah

In the beginning...

Although this blog came about as an assignment for my agricultural technology and media class, my journey as an agricultural advocate began over eight years ago. My involvement in 4-H, FFA and majoring in agricultural education at Ohio State originally set the adventure into motion. However, it was my experience with a gentleman on a flight during my year as a National FFA Officer that catapulted my efforts into overdrive...

I've always enjoyed flying because of the unique conversations that can arise from the people you sit beside. When this particular gentleman sat down next to me in his bright orange Hawaiian shirt for the flight to Chicago from Atlanta, I knew I was in for a treat. We started off with the traditional "What's your name?" Where are you from?" and "What's your reason for traveling?" questions, but it wasn't long before I threw him the curveball: "What do you do for a living?". He replied that he was in real estate and returned the question to me. I told him that I was involved in agriculture in several capacities and that I hoped to teach high school agricultural education some day. He paused for a second and stared at me like I was kidding. Then he said something I'll never forget - "Miss, I'm going to give you a little advice. Agriculture is dead." I scoffed. Then laughed, thinking he must be kidding. But he wasn't. In fact, he began to lecture me about how agriculture is a "dying industry" and how someday "we won't even need it".

To say that I was appalled would be a drastic understatement. As I tried to explain to him that it's the largest industry in the world, employing hundreds of thousands of people; and literally provided his home, the bag of peanuts he just ate and even his dreadfully awful shirt - he stopped me by putting his hand in my face and saying, "No, no, no - if you want to make money someday and have a meaningful career, go into real estate." That was about all I could handle, but with over an hour left on the flight, I calmly turned away from him and put my iPod earbuds in; cranking the music so I couldn't hear his lecturing anymore.

When I got to the terminal and made sure the gentleman wasn't in ear shot, I called my mom and recounted what had just happened through frustrated tears. She simply said, "Hannah, people don't love and understand agriculture the way that you do." As if that wasn't painfully obvious to me. However, I realized she had a point. That man couldn't love (or even appreciate) something he didn't truly understand.

That experience was a slap in the face to the reality that agricultural illiteracy is a HUGE problem. People don't know where their food, fiber and resources come from. I wish this story was the only one I could share of this kind, but unfortunately there are far too many instances like this to count. And that's why I've chosen to complete my assignment for class by beginning to detail the "Adventures of an Agricultural Advocate" as a blog about my cause and my passion. I hope you'll come along for the journey!

God Bless,

Hannah