Author: mlball2014

Dad mentioned he was going to the Farm Progress Show with Bruce and I jumped at the opportunity to tag along. I was even able to convince Tyler to take a day off work and I am sure glad he did! We had a blast learning about the newest innovations in agriculture.

It was a beautiful sweatshirt weather type of day with temperatures ranging in the high 60s, my favorite! My curiosity and interest peaked with each exhibit! Agriculture is a industry that is always changing and evolving to meet the needs of our growing population and consumer needs/wants.

My favorite exhibit was the bioreactor! I have been wanting to see one in person for a few years now! A bioreactor is a trench in the ground packed with material such as wood chips that allow colonization of soil bacteria that convert nitrate in drainage water to nitrogen gas. A bioreactor is just one conservation practice available to help improve water quality!

A few other highlights included the self-propelled hay baler, Tribine (a combine with a grain cart), Fendt Combine and the cattle handling presentations.

And the cherry on top…taking a photo at the Iowa State tent! First time visiting the Farm Progress Show as an Iowa State University graduate.

Hope to see you at the 2020 Farm Progress Show in Boone Iowa! Goodnight Picking Wild Flowers! I hope you get lots of zzzz’s!

Hey everyone! I thought I would jump on here and write a response to Vegan News “4-H is a Terrorist Organization” video. I re-watched the video, this time taking notes. The number of false claims in this video is ridiculous! They begin the video by saying 4-H is a program put on by FFA. First off, they are two separate organizations. Then they go on to say that 4-H teaches us to lose our compassion for animals…which is just laughable because 4-H taught me to have more compassion for animals, people and the community! In Genesis 28 God gives to man authority over all that was created on earth. Man is to take care of and use the earth. Man is to have the authority over all that was created. This means that man is to assume the control and protection of all that God had created. We are to care for animals but ultimately they have been put on this earth to help meet our essential needs, just like vegetables, fruits, nuts, etc. That being said, let me share with you the life lessons 4-H has taught me. I patiently (okay maybe impatiently) awaited for my 9th birthday! The year I could finally join 4-H! I participated by showing cattle, pigs and sheep. I also enjoyed working exhibits, photography and home improvement projects. My love and passion for agriculture is credited to my 4-H years. I discovered who I wanted to be when I grew up and 4-H is what led me to my interest in agriculture communications. Showing livestock opened my eyes to a whole new sport. All of the hard work, dedication and sweat was proof of my love and compassion towards my 4-H livestock. Yes, we do get close to the animals and yes it does get easier to sell them every year but no we do not lose our compassion. I would argue that 4-Her’s grow is understanding and respect year after year. Life is not easy and it comes with sorrow, 4-H teaches real life-lessons! And it is not about the monetary value that the video describes. Showing livestock does teach youth about financial responsibility but the reward is not the check at the end. It is a added bonus if you have money to save but for most, it is paying for feed, paying for the initial investment or using the money to purchase an animal for the next year. The life lessons I learned about finances was tremendously helpful leading into college and adult life. Showing livestock taught me responsibility. Waking up at 5:30 a.m. every morning during summer break is not a typical high school student’s routine but for us it wasn’t out of the norm. Our livestock needed fed, rinsed and walked twice a day. Show animals lead a very good life. In fact all of the animals on our farm are well taken cared of. Besides animal exhibits, 4-H taught me professional and communication skills through presentations and working exhibits. Unlike the video posted yesterday, I will stay on topic and not jab fingers. I will not put down veganism and I will not state judgement about another’s life-style.  4-H youth are future farmers, doctors, teachers, engineers, designers, and innovators! My career journey started at age 9 when I signed up to show my first heifer “Carmel.” Yes I know how to spell caramel but my 9 year old self did not and that is okay! It is okay to be ourselves and that is exactly what 4-H taught me. I now have the opportunity to work with youth everyday! Our Linn County Farm Bureau mission is to increase youth awareness on the importance of agriculture, agriculture careers and the benefits of agriculture throughout an individual’s life. Stay Farm Strong 4-Hers! Remember to be a leader in your community and don’t let what others say knock you down.  All thoughts are my own!

Here is the link to the original video:

Hello Hump Day! Do you know what that means? I go to the FAIR tomorrow!!! I am beyond excited for Youth and Farm Bureau Day. Be sure to stop and say hi if you find yourself in Central City! Getting ready for our two days at the fair has been no small task but before I began planning for the fair I prepped for my first public speaking engagement. Working with youth is within my comfort zone but presenting to adults had me facing my fears.

When Barb Lemmer, Linn-Mar Agriculture Educator, first asked me to speak during the National Association of Agriculture Educators (NAAE) luncheon I jumped for joy! What a great opportunity to speak with 60+ agriculture educators about our Linn County Farm Bureau Education Outreach Program. I saw it as a chance to encourage others to implement agriculture efforts within their own elementary classrooms. But soon the nerves sank in. I was going to be standing by myself in front of 60+ high school agriculture educators from Iowa and surrounding states.

Fears can distract us from reaching our goals and I don’t want my nerves to be my limit so I gulped down the butterflies and got to work creating my speech and PowerPoint.

Barb Lemmer sent me a note following the event that read, “agriculture educators had many positive comments and were energized to reach out to their local Farm Bureau to improve agriculture literacy efforts in their area.” I feel very honored to have been apart of such a great event! And who knows…I may have just sparked the start of another great Ag in the Classroom program. Facing my fears taught me to look at new opportunities with excitement and momentum. Besides the support of a great boss! I had the support of God behind me. It is in this verse that I found confidence.

Who knows…maybe I will give public speaking another try 😉 Thank you for reading!

All thoughts on “Picking Wild Flowers” are my own and do not reflect Linn County Farm Bureau views.

Hello friends! It has been crazy over here! Between wedding plans and summer festivities it has been hard to keep up with my personal blog but tonight I want to spend a little time sharing the story of our 3rd annual farm clean-up day with you. 

Above is a photo we took this past weekend in Amana. We surprised Grandma Carol with t-shirts that say CJ’s (Carol Jean’s) Crew. Please keep her and our family in your prayers!

Okay back to the clean-up day! My oh, My! We accomplished a lot. Our farm dates back to 1913. We celebrated our Farm’s 100th birthday, the year I graduated from high school. Needless to say, there is some clean-up to do.

Megan and I began farm clean up days informally 5 years ago or so. We would come home for the summer and spend a few days cleaning the farm before our summer positions started. These short clean-up days made a difference but we wanted to do more.

And with the dream of doing more, the annual farm clean-up day was born! We dedicate a whole day to one or two major projects. Our first year, was also the first summer Tyler and I began to hangout. I didn’t scare him away…he must be a keeper ;)!

Most of you know we have cattle but did you know Grandpa Richard and Dad once had hogs? We have 1 large pig barn left standing but I can’t say the same for the one to the North. It went down in a storm a while ago and this year we picked this barn as our major project. It is so neat to learn about the history of the Ball farm!

For me, it is always emotional to take down one of the barns but I know it will keep our farm more productive.We worked out a pretty slick deal! We rented a large container for all of the metal and they dropped it off and picked it up. A huge shout out to Dad, Megan, Tyler, Jake and Grandma Pat for helping with our 3rd annual farm clean up day.

A couple weeks later we surprised Grandma Pat, with a new rock bed!

Welcome to the Ball Family Farm!

I want to wish Michael good luck at state this weekend! Can’t wait to cheer you on! ❤

By now I imagined I would be singing April showers bring May flowers but instead I am shouting April snow storms go away! But as much as I would like to curl up next to our fireplace…time doesn’t stand still and we have spring babies arriving!

It is important that farmers take good care of their livestock rain or shine! I feel very blessed to live only a few miles away from our farm. We try to help out as much as we can and it has been very busy keeping watch over our herd.

We have 18 bred cows and 7 have calved so we are patiently waiting for the other babies to arrive. During the cold and windy nights we give the cows and calves a cornstalk bale to lay on. We also have a wonderful old hay barn that we open up for the cows to use as shelter.

Once the calves are born we tag and band. Read a previous post about preconditioning to learn about the care we provide the calf when they are born.

Each cow is unique and we need to be cautious when handling their babies. The cows can be protective. It took a few of us to precondition the calf in the photo below due to the ma’ma’s concern, but we took care of tagging and banding him and he was soon reunited with the cow.

Do you have questions regarding calving season? Comment below!

Hello Picking Wild Flowers. Has is really been 3 months since my last post? Where has the time gone? Hey, at least I am writing you on the 2nd day of spring. We are inching closer and closer to warm summer days! Humm… what have I been up to? Well my wedding dress is in! I went to Missouri last week. We are preparing for calving season! Megan and I joined a bible study, and Tyler and I booked our honeymoon… so as you can see … just hanging out haha.

Now on the work front. We have so many cool activities planned! Our hatching unit begins on April 1. Wish me luck as I hatch my first batch of chickens. We are also meeting today to discuss Ag in the Park! Eeek! I am so excited to experience my first Ag in the Park event! I have my monthly classroom visits in which I can begin discussing planting season! Speaking of… stay tune for a garden blog update. I have been neglecting my duties to inform you about my second year planting cut flowers! Now back to the topic on hand.

Last week we conducted a Pork and Manure Management FarmChat® with Matt Ditch, a farmer from Center Point. He mentioned the word bio-security and I want to take a minute to dive a little deeper into what bio-security is and why it is important. Here is the link to our FarmChat® if you missed it.

Bio-security- procedures intended to protect humans or animals against disease or harmful biological agents.

Bio-security polices are a set of rules that one needs to follow when interacting with the livestock at a particular farm. For example, Matt mentioned he had a shower in- shower out policy. To see the pigs, we would have had to take a complete shower and put on new clothes and boots. This is for the safety of the pigs as well as for food safety. Pigs at that age or any age are susceptible to diseases. Our goal is to keep them healthy and happy. A healthy pig = safe food.

Washing off potential diseases and harmful agents is particularly important for those that have been at a different site. This could be a vet, truck diver, etc. Those who visit many pig farms in a month need to be extra careful. If a group of pigs does get a disease, bio-security allows us to contain it so we can treat it.

Matt receives his pigs between 20 and 22 days old. Piglets thrive in warm temperatures. Today’s modern day pigs barns regulate the temperature to meet the piglets needs. The barn is roughly 83 degrees Fahrenheit at that stage.  Not only does the barn keep the pigs comfortable but it can also keep them away from birds and wild fowl that may be carrying diseases.

Here are additional ways farmers implement bio-security. https://www.pork.org/public-health/biosecurity-in-the-barn/

Every farm looks a little different. Some farms have different bio-security rules than others and it all depends on how many people visit your farm, how updated the barn is, and location.

If you have any questions about bio-security please don’t hesitate to ask.