Thank You CNN.com

Wake up one day and your world can change.

I am just a simple man.  I live in a small community (ok, tiny).  This morning CNN.com decides to post a story about twittering farmers.  I was selected along with some of my agricultural twittering colleagues to be highlighted in this article.

Let me thank the author of the story, John Sutter.  He’s from Oklahoma.  He has a grasp of farming.  And he did a very good job.

But, that article wasn’t the end.  Countless numbers of new followers on twitter want to see what goes on here.  I don’t understand.  I hear many travellers going down I-80 who stop in Ogallala, Nebraska say, “Well, this is one boring spot.” or something similar.  My answer to that is, we make up our own fun!

Welcome to all the new contacts and twitter followers and whomever else wants to come by and woller around in my 15 minutes of fame.

It continues with a brief little Skype Interview on CNNlive.  Here is the link to that. I got a call asking if they could do that tomorrow if we could make the Skype connection.  I’m lucky to have internet, let alone bandwith to run Skype, but it went very well.  My internet connection goes wireless about 50 miles before it gets to the main internet tube!

It’s alright, I didn’t want to get much done today anyway.  My family of four children and I are taking my wife Rachel to Denver this afternoon to put her on a plane for Africa.  Pray for her safe travels and the work she will be doing with the orphaned children of Zambia.  Pray for me that I can handle four kids, of which one is still in diapers.  (Grandma will be moving in tomorrow!)

Thanks for stopping by.  I can always use a few more friends!

My Wife is Leaving Me!

But it’s only for a 10 long days.  Thursday night she boards a plane and heads 8000 miles away to Zambia, Africa.

It has always been her passion to go to Africa.  Last January, a group was formed under the direction of one of our dear friends Cecelia Stoll, and Arbonne International to make a trip to Africa.  With lots of prayer and planning, it is now about to happen.

She will be heading to Lusaka,  Zambia.  While there next week, this group will work with Family Legacy, a ministry dedicated to helping thousands of orphaned children who lost their parents to AIDS.  Zambia holds acclaim to the most children orphaned to the AIDS virus over any other country.  It is said that for many children, the only gifts they get from their parents is the gift of life, and AIDS. Family Legacy saw a need and has created a large campus to serve the children of Lusaka and the country of Zambia.

I am proud of my wife.  My motto is, “She’s the brains and I am the braun.” I do all the front man stuff, the speaking, the boisterous obnoxious type.  She is quiet, subtle and humble.  And that is why things work quite well around here.  She is the breeze beneath my wings.  When she is passionate about something…there isn’t anything that is going to stop her.

I know you are asking, “How can I help?”  Many of you already have and for that, we are greatly appreciative.  We have raised several hundreds of dollars for the cause.  We personally have paid for the mission trip and the additional funds have been used to support the children.  Many children are going to be blessed because of the efforts of many who are supporting Rachel on this trip.  I will use this forum in the future to ask for your help in the work that will be needed after she returns.  Each one of the 30 kids that she will be working with will need a sponsor.  Details on that will be given to her while she is in Zambia.  Sometime after the 15th of July, I will have more details on how you can help, and become a friend to one orphaned child in Zambia.  The best part is, Rachel will get to personally work with these select children.

For now, I just ask that you keep my wife Rachel in your prayers.  It’s a long way over there, it’s a long way back and nothing is ever certain.  I do know it will be an amazing experience.

Stay tuned, there will be much more to come….

Whats Happening on the Farm

There are times on the farm when nothing goes right.  Much like life, there are times when it would have been better if I had just stayed in bed.  Of course, if that would have happened, something would have gone wrong there too.

But, there are times when things just go right.

Many in the Midwest (Indiana, Illinois, Ohio) were having an extremely difficult time planting corn due to continuous rain.  Here on the extreme western fringes of the corn belt, we began with cold weather, but, it has warmed and the corn has gone in without a struggle.  In four days, I planted all of my corn in amongst small rain showers.  After the corn was in, I sprayed it with fertilizer, hoping for rain to incorporate it into the soil.  A few hours after I pulled out of the field, the rain came!  I couldn’t have planned it any better!

I have received many questions about the farm and the practices here on the plains of western Nebraska.  In this picture, I am planting “no-til corn”.  The ground has not been tilled.  It has been sprayed with herbicide to keep the weeds controlled from robbing our stored moisture.  This practice also protects the soil from wind and water erosion.  In these parts, that is a good thing.

In this picture, I am planting corn into last summers havested wheat stubble.  If this was Iowa or even Eastern Nebraska, we could expect yields of 150-200 bushels per acre.  In this area, we think anything over 100 bushels is incredible.  We just don’t get the moisture here that they receive.  Therefore, we don’t plant it as dense as they would there.   It’s a nice addition to help rotate crops from our traditional staple crop of wheat.

I have been following the ag scene on twitter.  Tuesday nights is #agchat night.  Much of the discussion is centered around getting the word out about what is right with agriculture.  I must admit, most of the common folks that frequent this blog or follow me on twitter are fans of agriculture and todays food production systems. They like to eat.

I understand there are those who are the loud silent minority, advocating all sorts of changes to the established system.  Many of those advocates for change need to understand the truth.  It would be like me trying to grow oranges.  I have no clue about growing oranges, therefore, I am not going to tell them how to do it.  Trust me, I am not going to imlement a practice on my farm that jeapordizes my livlihood or the future of food production here.   I think I can speak that for all of my colleagues in the food production industry.

On behalf of the food production specialists of the world, thank you for eating!

Some busy times

May always seems extremely busy and hectic around here.  Graduations run rampant, it’s spring time, it’s time to plant, and a million other things are happening.

I just returned from one of the Nations premier fire schools.  Every May, Nebraska hosts one of the largest fire schools in the nation.  I have the pleasure of working as an instructor for the Fire Marshals office and had the opportunity to offer up some of my knowledge on Structural Collapse Indicators.  It was basically a class on how to avoid having buildings fall on you while fighting fires.

I got home Sunday night, and prepared for a busy Monday.  I am trying to get corn planted on the farm.  I had to go to the airport to get some supplies for the field.  I thought this picture was kind of cool considering it was taken from my phone.  The propellers were invisible to the naked eye, but in a picture, you could see them.

I then attended my son Tylers Kindergarten graduation/lunch at the park.  You can see his teacher Mrs. Johnson in these pictures.  I love Mrs. Johnson.  What a great teacher!  I was amazed throughout the year as Tyler would come home to share some of the things he had learned.  I thank God for great teachers like this!

I am sure Mrs. Johnson is looking forward to the summer vacation! They say the three best things about being a teacher is June, July and August.  Take it easy Mrs. Johnson, get plenty of rest, because next year, you get Kylie!

Later that night, my daughter graduated Pre-School with miss Karma.  I knew I was in trouble when just moments after our arrival,  a couple of boys in her class were begging her to have their pictures taken together.  I made sure those boys knew who I was and I informed them, I had my eye on them!  Their mothers left little in re-assurance by telling me that I will have my hands full with her as she was one they always talked about.  (I think it’s time to upgrade the gun selection in the house!)

As you can see, she is a show stopper!

It’s a very busy time.  May you find a way to give in all the busyness of life.  On my way home I had a great visit with my friend Neva in the hospital.  Hopefully she will be getting out soon, but she has had quite the time the past month.  I think we could talk for hours.  It was just as good as being at church!

OK, I am off to the field!  I have neglected my Farm Town on Facebook!  Frankly, I don’t think the bank cares if my Farm Town falls apart, but, he really wants to see a profit on the real farm.

Big announcement coming sometime later this week.  Stay tuned!  I’m off to the field….

Where can you give?

Part of giving is receiving!  One thing I like to do is to give when someone HAS to take it.  For example, my family and I stayed in a hotel Saturday night as we went to a wedding in Longmont, Colorado.  My wife in her younger years worked in housekeeing for a hotel.  She could tell you horror stories of cleaning rooms.  She tells of cleaning up after a bunch of cowboys held a rodeo in one room.  Hay bales, beer bottles, and chewing tobacco all over the place.  Her past experience has led her to always leave a $5 bill on the bed each night we stay at a hotel.  Now, we don’t know for sure who cleans the room, and they don’t have any other option than to take the money.  It’s just a small token of our appreciation for cleaning up after us.

May is the month of giving.  This morning as I sat to write a post, I was called by our neighbor down the street.  (Granted, they live a mile and a half away)  She was late for work and found a dead battery and called to see if I could assist.  I got in the truck and did what any average farmer in the world would do, I got her going.  She thanked me and I smiled and said, “Not a problem!”  But, she led me into what is really worrying her.

It appears that her and her husband uprooted their family from Kansas to move here so that he could take this promising  job at the local ethanol plant.  She informed me that he is searching hard for a new job because last week they laid off six employees and speculation is, they won’t be open through the summer.  They just bought the homestead down the road and their kids are starting to get used to school.  I could tell she was scared.  Now I am wondering, why am I the one that had to hear that story?

It’s so much easier to just give $5 at the hotel room.

Would you rather be comfortable, or would you rather make a difference?

An incredible day

The Spirit of Giving!

It is an incredible day!  Thank YOU to those who went over to Trey Morgans site and gave some money to the effort in feeding the people who have nothing. They say that $25 a day can feed the entire group who searches for food there everyday. I was entangled with following the comments as things progressed.  You have to read about the 3rd grade class and what the teacher, Mrs. Jahnseske wrote.  All my appreciation goes to her and the teachers like her on National Thank a Teacher day!

I chatted with Trey and he didn’t think he would get to $10,000.  I knew it could be done and I encouraged him to go for something big! Seems people want to be a part of something big and meaningful.  And we are almost there.  You can still give to the effort, during this month of giving.  Just click the link and read the page and send in your gift.  It doesn’t matter the size, and don’t think that your $10 gift doesn’t matter, that’s half a days food supply.  I just love how God is using Trey for great things!

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Neva Cooper Update

I have been chatting with Neva’s husband Ned via the text message the last few days.  Neva is doing much better.  Her WBC count is still high indicating she is still fighting something, but, she is doing well enough to sit up and walk the hall.  She once again is proving she is a miracle child.  You won’t believe her story and once it gets written, it will bring faith, inspiration and encouragment to those who hear.

Today she was eating her Rice Krispies for breakfast when she was told she needed protein.  She promptly did what anyone would do, she ordered up an omelete.  Shortly after that, the Dr. came in and ordered a test to look around where her spleen was removed and put a kabosh to eating anything else.  Oh well!  Maybe tomorrow!  The prayers worked and she is much better!  She’s an incredible lady.

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The Question of the Day

I need your help.  Why this came to me, in the month of Giving as I proposed, is somewhat suspicious.  Have you ever had to give and yet have it questioned on the grounds of an ethical decision?

Let me give you the background and question and you can take it from there.  Let’s say a woman with 5 kids (ages 9-21) is an illegal immigrant, whose husband is in jail, and is in need of some financial help.  She is a good person, hard worker, and willing to work for her money.  She came here legally and two of her kids were born here. She wants to work for YOU to clean your house for some extra income, but, it has to be done “under the table”.  Her whole personal economy is done through cash.   She has a life here, became a productive member of society and even goes to church. She needs your help and assistance, but at the same time, it is against the law.

What actions do you take?  Can you help this woman? What would Jesus do?

(This is strictly hypothetical.  I had the question posed to me and thought it would be good to discuss.)