"So God Made a Farmer"

On Sunday across our nation farmers took notice of a commercial by Chrysler.  A simple ad with beautiful photographs across this nation and the voice of Paul Harvey about farm life.  Even I have recently posted about one of the sentences in Paul Harvey's 1978 Speech to the FFA National Convention.  The web has been alive with the buzz of the Number 1 ranked Super Bowl Ad.

My favorite Agriculture blogs are from my daughter's age group.  The young to middle age 20 something.  Their enthusiasm for farming is just amazing to me.  I know without a doubt that this age a group is ready for the task ahead, to take over the family farm.  They will ensure continued supply of food into the future, just as Paul Harvey spoke to my generation in 1978.  That year I headed off to college with the excitement of studying what I love Agriculture Economics.  Now to share two of my favorite bloggers.

Ryan Goodman is working on his Masters at Univ. of  Tennessee.  He's the founder of the blog AgricultureProud.com.  He is also regularly featured on CNN.com.  I started following Ryan when there were few if any Agriculture bloggers.  His blog Sitting in the Pasture inspired me to blog.  Although he blogs less often on this Sitting in the Pasture it's a treat when he does.

Brandy Buzzard is another I follow with her blog tittle Buzzard's Beat.  Bright and intelligent she sometimes brings an amusing perspective to her life as it relates to agriculture.

Crystal Cattle is yet another!  I've followed her blog for at least three years.  She offers so much to information to first time agriculture bloggers via her pages.

Just one more wonderful blogger, Kelly Rivard working as a agriculture digital communicator.  Another bright witty blogger I have been following since she was in college.

I hope you'll visit some of these and other individuals who blog about agriculture and life on the farm.  Farmers bring food to your table each day and many are sharing via twitter, facebook and blogs.  Thank you again Chrysler for making 2013 The Year of the Farmer!

Belle's Foal

My first Arabian was my graduation gift from my parents upon receiving my Master of Science Agriculture from Sam Houston State Univ.  I was stunned, I had no clue.  Her name Bey Belle a Nabiel granddaughter.  She is shown in the layout below in the proofs shot by Jeff Little.  I still have four more proofs to scrap.  I started scrapping the photos we purchased from this shoot with Basic Grey Mellow.  The colors just seemed to fit Belle's beautiful bay coat.  This one includes the photo of the ultrasound taken for us as she was at Rinconada Arabians being bred to Nabiel for her first foal.

This is the first layout I have done as a design team member of Nuts About Sketches, Sketch 229.  Take a moment if you love double page layouts to take a peek at Shawn Lahr's awesome sketches!  I'm having so much fun with them!

Family Farm

I love I kiss a family farmer!  I have often blogged about family farms and how we are a family farm.  I am directly involved in the work here at the ranch and since last posting about the farm our daughter has graduated Texas A&M and joined us on the farm.  We pay her a salary and pay for most of her living expenses such as water and electricity.  She will pay for groceries when Mom and/or Dad are at our other home.  We are so proud of her with a Masters in Agriculture Leadership, Education and Technology.  I've also written about how we are incorporated.  We are a business just like any other business.  I wanted to share a blog post written by another farmer's wife which describes my sentiments exactly.  I also love the photos from this West Texas Farmer!

http://txagtalks.texasfarmbureau.org/family-farmer-who-decides/ 

But let's not forget to share a photo from May on the birth of a very special little heifer on our farm!!!  Meet Miss FJL Texas Red Pearl 17 a fullblood red Lowline Heifer with a very rare pedigree!

And of course the day wouldn't be a happy day without seeing a layout I did of my son's show heifer way back when named Scout!

I laugh with a brahma in the photo and Holstein cow paper from Studio Calico!  And the cat squashed the flower which I have since fixed....have to love tissue paper flowers!  And I know my daughter showed her instead of son!

Have a blessed day!

Lucky Girl - The Family Farm

I have the opportunity to record what I do on our ranch everyday via my blog and my scrapbooking layouts. I get to share what I do with others. I've found a community of scrappers where there are a few of us on family farms or grew up on family farms. There are a few who are reliving childhood moments while visiting grandparent's farms through a post I write. It's a joy to connect those with where their food comes from. Yesterday it was Jenna who connected me to the family farm through her layout titled "Lucky Girl."



How can one just not sigh to see Father and Daughter sharing a portion of the day together harvesting corn. This is America's Bread Basket. This is what makes America Great. Thank you Jenna for sharing a day on the farm with me. It is my desire we never loose the values and lifestyle provide on the Family Farm Experience and move towards larger corporate farms. We are the backbone of America!

"Cow-Tax" Bill Introduced - In Support of Producers

I found this wonderful blog yesterday, sponsored by a couple in South Dakota. To me they are wonderful to keep me politically informed about Agriculture. I love talking about Agriculture and telling my stories. They are about the triumphs and despair one experiences devoting so much energy and emotion to what I love. Yes, it is a part of our family income. Yet who in their right mind would invest over 1/2 a million dollars in structures, equipment, and animals or seed & chemicals to do what they love. A farmer and ranch would. What is our return for that investment, NONE. There isn't a corporation in America that would do what the American Farmer and Rancher does just because they love what they are doing. So I'm sure there will be plenty of double posts in a day. I hope so!


Time and again I find the citizens of this country have no idea where their food really comes from or how much we contribute as a nation to the hunger in this world. We crave certain fruits and vegetables year round, we want specialty items like gourmet coffee, cocoa, etc. These items can and do cause Agriculture production to be limited to meet the needs of a developed nation. Staples like rice and corn are put aside to grow the things we consume.

On January 13th I wrote a post about the proposed EPA tax on cows (beef & dairy) as well as pigs. I'll let you go back and read it instead of writing it over. I'm happy to say Frank Lucas from Oklahoma introduced the House Bill 1426 to amend the Clean Air Act to not allow the EPA to tax or charge a fee for emissions on cattle and pigs. In the Senate, Senator John Thume (SD-R) and Senator Charles Schumer (NY-D) introduced their version of the bill. As you can see there is bi-partisian support for this bill. New York has is a large dairy producing state and of course South Dakota is a large beef production state. These bills are ultimately to keep our food available to the US consumer at an inexpensive cost. It keeps fast food chains from going outside the country and importing beef for you to eat from South America and Australia. This keeps both the American Farmer and Rancher in business. The farmer producing grain the pigs and cattle eat. It would greatly please me if you would be so kind to take a moment to ask your congressman(woman) and Senators to support this bill.

Let's work together to keep American Farmers and Ranchers in business to help feed the rest of the world. Let's not be part of the problems of demanding of other countries for our food when we can grow our own. Let's keep our food products inexpensive so our population in the lower end of the economic scale can afford to eat. Remember you enjoy your lifestyle because of the American Farmer and Rancher!

Kim