On Not Messing with French Cheese
Sometimes I’m tempted by the smell of McDonald’s grease outside their walls. It triggers something inside me as we pass by. It’ll be quick, cheap, and familiar, I think. Or, it’s the millions they spent on advertising coming to roost. Regardless, my wife shakes her head. “It’s bad for you and the world,” she says again.
The Silent Saboteurs of Soil and Structure
The problem of termites is often overlooked, but they can cause significant damage to crops, houses, and other buildings. These ancient insects cause substantial damage by attacking roots and weakening structures. Preventive measures, like reducing moisture and scheduling inspections are essential. Identification and targeted treatment is needed for effective control.
The RFD and Me
Rural Free Delivery, established in 1896 after years of advocacy, transformed rural life by connecting farmers to the wider world. There was a daily sense of anticipation about the mail, which brought news, magazines, or announcements. Today, the mailbox holds less allure, but I still find hope in its tangible connection to distant places.
Rethinking the Pigeon
In 2020, a Chinese bidder paid $1.9 million for New Kim, a racing pigeon, making her the most expensive in history. Originating in Belgium, pigeon racing began in 1818, with specialized breeding producing the Voyageurs breed. Using Earth’s magnetic field for navigation, pigeons race from a shared starting point to individual lofts, their speed determining winners.
Nature’s Chickens
The column transitions to Iceland’s history, where early settlers faced harsh conditions, including a lack of native mammals. It became a vital resource to gather eggs from wild birds, like the Barrow’s goldeneye. Keeping egg populations sustainable is the tradition today.
Dr. Rosmann Leaves “Farm And Ranch Life” and Introduces Darla Tyler McSherry
There are several reasons why I am ceasing to write Farm and Ranch Life, even though it has been a highlight of my life. I dealt with many topics and tried to not repeat any subject unless new research findings and additional insights occurred.
Our Love For the Big and Hairy
A humanlike footprint measuring 16 inches was discovered in 1958 in Humboldt County, California, by Jerry Crew. It gained national fame after a Humboldt Times reporter named it Bigfoot. Former Crew coworker Ray Wallace used wooden feet as a prank to create the footprints in 2002. The myth of Bigfoot continued to grow despite this revelation.
Against the Norm (and Others Like Him)
In his first email, my father typed everything in the subject box. My sister and I handled farm paperwork when he needed it. Once he learned how to navigate the internet, he bought Christmas gifts online for my mother. The digital revolution has impacted every sector, including agriculture.
How Do We Know What To Believe These Days?
Determining what to believe is most accurate involves gathering information from a variety of sources, especially from sources that differ from our established beliefs. Credible information that disagrees with established beliefs broadens our thinking.
A Boozy Argument for Books
In 1920, the Eighteenth Amendment made it illegal to produce or sell alcohol in the United States. From the temperance movement of the 1820s to the establishment of the Prohibition Party in 1869, pious Protestant denominations promoted efforts to prevent alcohol-related “ills.”
How Do We Know What To Believe These Days?
Determining what to believe is most accurate involves gathering information from a variety of sources, especially from sources that differ from our established beliefs. Credible information that disagrees with established beliefs broadens our thinking.
In Defense of Mac ‘n’ Cheese
We could make a more earnest list of uniquely American foods that might represent the country better at the table, including pecan pie, gumbo, po’ boy sandwiches, and many other dishes that represent the mix of cultures within its borders.
Take catching flies to the MAX with the RESCUE! Fly Trap Max
The RESCUE! Fly Trap Max is our largest and most effective fly trap. In comparison to other fly traps on the market, it has a larger design and enhanced features. Using a natural attractant, this trap kills flies without harming beneficial insects.
Weathering Storms Requires Recovery and Provides Opportunities to Learn
Disasters provide us with opportunities to make ourselves better persons. We can learn lessons in humility, caring for others, and hope, when little else exists except a Higher Force and the support of friends, neighbors, care-givers, and recovery programs.
Ask In Earnest: A Resource For Farmers And Ranchers
The profound experiences of loss and resilience within the farming community resonate deeply within me as I share my family’s story. The story of Dick Tyler, my father, an eighty-two-year-old wheat farmer from Montana, who tragically took his own life, sheds light on the silent struggles that often plague those working in agriculture.
Inside the Empty Barn
Jeff Corle watched his herd of Guernseys leave in a truck headed toward someone else’s farm in March of 2022. It is a lonely, emotional experience to sell one’s cows, and it has become tragically common in modern times. There isn’t much discussion about how it feels to go through something like that.
Hybrid Supertree Quickly Makes a Great Windbreak
The Hybrid SuperTree from Karsten Nursery is a cross between Chinese and White Willows. It is mainly used as windbreaks. By planting this species across a field, farmers or ranchers can have a thick hedgerow to stop wind and snow in a short period.
The Final Goodbye is an Opportunity to Learn for Everyone
The emotion of saying “Goodbye” to a loved one who is dying or has already died is one of the most painful things we’ll ever experience in our lives, but we can turn it into a personal growth experience.
No Regrets
The Book of Ecclesiastes tells us that in the Lord’s plan, everything has a season. A time to plant, and a time to pluck up what was planted. As farmers and ranchers, we live by those sacred words. The things of this world pass away, but the goodness of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and a Samaritan’s heart goes on for eternity.
The Plow and the Pew
The church and the farm are two buildings that have been part of human existence for a long time. In particular, they are two institutions that have sustained the countryside and the people in them.
Lack of Affordable Child Care Hurting Farm Families’ Ability to Grow Their Businesses
Child care is a crisis in the United States, but it is mostly invisible in agriculture. Farm parents are working parents juggling a dangerous and stressful job with child care. This fact has been ignored for too long. As Bob Dylan would say, “The times they are a-changin’.”
The Imminent Problem of Eminent Domain
In modern society, “the wants of many outweigh the needs of few” is an uncomfortable adage. In most cases, families are displaced or farms are split in half when a throughway, rail line, or airport is being built, but it is considered necessary evil.
Farm People May Be More Spiritual Than Religious
A survey of 2,000 Americans, who represent a sample of the US population that opted to respond to a national poll, indicated that spiritual fulfillment may be the key to happiness. The poll was conducted in November 2022 by the market research company, One Poll.
Who Are You Now?
Trials in life are as numerous as people reading this. No one’s destruction of their “normal” is more or less shattering than another’s. A shipwreck custom-made for you is life’s way of knocking us down. The metaphorical ship of life can capsize, hit a rock, sink, or get lost in a storm.
