On a farm, there’s ALWAYS work.

I try not to lose sight of the blessing that is for our family. Today, a snow day, it meant we could say yes when our oldest asked if he could go to work instead of going to daycare.

He’s had his eye on an expensive LEGO set and he’s looking for ways to earn a few more dollars for it.

So today, like a lot of farm kids, he will go to work. He will sweat a little. He’ll freeze a little. He will probably get hollered at a little and likely goof some things up.

More importantly, he will experience how good lunch tastes when you’ve been working longer than the sun. He will experience some pride in completing a job or two, and he will experience some frustration at failed tasks.

He will very likely learn a few things he shouldn’t, and hopefully a few things he should, from working side by side with Dad, Papa and Great-Grandpa all day. (Great Grandpa is really the one we have to watch.😉)

At the end of the day, he will walk away tired and dirty, but with a few more bucks towards a lego set that I’ll undoubtedly step on in the middle of the night.

And at the end of his childhood, built around days like this, he will walk into the world with a true grasp on the importance of showing up, working hard, and providing for himself and others.

“A sluggard’s appetite is never filled, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.” Proverbs 13:4

You’ve made the decision, you’ve found your pup, and you’re bringing a Great Pyrenees livestock guardian home! Now what...


The following are steps we recommend to our clients that are bringing a pup to their farm to serve as a livestock guardian.


These steps assume that your Great Pyrenees was bred as a working dog, comes from working parents and was imprinted and lived with livestock for his first 8 weeks of life.

• Establish home base (Before pup arrives.)

Home base is our term for where the dog will eat, rest and consider his home. For a successful bonding, home base should be as close to the livestock as possible, preferably with direct access to the animals (with the exception of poultry).


We recommend setting up a small crate that the pup can be housed in at night for the first few evenings at home. The crate will provide additional security as well as direction on where home base is. Working pups will take great comfort being with their livestock - it’s where they were made to be.


The most common mistake people make when bringing home their pup is thinking the puppy is too small to be left at his home base. Instead, they bring the pup to the house or garage. This makes it difficult to transition the pup to where he belongs and impedes the bonding process.

• Make arrangements for food and water. (Before pup arrives.)

A working dog must always have access to food and water away from where the livestock can get to it. If stock smell dog food, they will try to eat it. Once a puppy thinks he has to protect his food from the livestock, he will no longer view them as part of his flock and instead will view them as a threat. A timid pup can be scared off by this and never bond correctly. An aggressive pup can start down the road of aggression towards livestock and also will not bond correctly.


We have self feeders in the walkways of our barns. Our dogs have access to dog food 24 hours a day, but never where sheep can get to it.

• Allow the bonding process to happen. (Upon arrival.)

Working dogs will have spent their entire lives up to this point with livestock. They will have been imprinted from birth with the scents and sounds of their animals. Once your pup arrives home, an important process is starting - the critical bonding period. The pup, having been pulled from his litter mates, is now searching for his flock to bond with. The first weeks at his farm are the most crucial to establishing his bond.


If you expect your pup to be a working dog and truly bond to the livestock, he needs to be placed in his home base and spend nearly all of his time in the first few weeks with the animals. His human social time should always happen at home base but kept to a minimal during the first five days or so.


A dog who spends his time with his human family will bond with them, and view his humans as his flock. This is a great way to create a loyal family guardian and pet - but it is not a great way to create an loyal livestock dog.


A Pyrenees who bonds to his human family first will be less likely to engage in evening guarding of stock and more likely to wander during the day. Wandering often starts when a dog bonded to his human family goes off looking for them when they have left for the day.

• Introduce more human socialization. (After the first week home, with socialization time slowly increasing over the next month.)

This step will be done to different degrees at each farm, depending on expectations of the dog. At a minimum, most of us want to be able to catch our working dogs for health checks and routine vet care, although some of the best working dogs in the country are near impossible to catch.


After a week or so of minimal contact, it’s time to start introducing human interaction to your pup. You should have already been socializing some, but now you can increase the time spent and even have some play time. If your farm needs dogs to stay strictly with livestock, your human socialization will be minimal. If you’re wanting to enjoy companionship with your dog as well, you can gradually increase the time you spend with him.

Socialization time should still always occur at or near home base.


Some other quick tips to think about:

• Do not attempt to use these tips with a Pyrenees that was not bred as a working dog and started as a working dog. It’s unfair to expect a puppy bred as a pet to understand such a dramatic change in environment and the dog likely does not have the instincts needed to understand what is going on.
• Otherwise, remember your pup was bred for this. He feels more comfortable, safe and secure outside with livestock than he will in the house - trust us!
• Keep an eye out for overly aggressive livestock, especially if your stock aren’t used to having a dog. Keep an eye on overprotective and new mammas as well. Aggressive stock can intimidate a pup and negatively impact the bonding process.
• Developing a poultry dog requires more guidance on your part. Discuss that process with your breeder. Eventually, we will write a piece on that as well.
• Get your dog spayed or neutered. It’s an old MYTH that an in-tact dog will work better. A neutered or spayed dog will focus on woyrking 365 days a year and is less likely to start roaming.

Good luck and enjoy your new security system! A good LGD is quite literally worth their weight in gold.

How was your Christmas?
 
It was amazing. It was wonderful. We are so blessed, beyond what we deserved. My heart is full. Or at least, that’s what I am supposed to say.  And I take my role seriously, so of course, that's what I say.  
 
But how was Christmas, really?
 
It was exhausting.
 
Since the turkey from Thanksgiving cooled, I’ve been in my excel spreadsheets making lists. Making budgets. Checking them all twice. And twice more.
 
I’ve been browsing, ordering and sending back. I’ve been answering the never-ending requests of, “Do you have any ideas for...”
 
I’ve been cussing at missed deadlines for the custom things and praying for delivery of the late-things.
 
I’ve been cooking. And baking. And shopping. And searching. And wrapping. 
 
No really, tell us how Christmas was.
 
It was a little disappointing. The reactions to those “perfect” gifts I found was nonchalant.
 
The dip I found on Pinterest that promised to make this the #BestChristmasEver was just OK.
 
The Christmas trip I planned for weeks that was sure to make this the most unforgettable Christmas ever? At times it felt more like a visit to an overcrowded nuthouse run by small children.
 
And then, on December 25, it was all over by 8:00 a.m. and left me in desperate need of a nap.
 
As a mom, I wanted everyone’s Christmas to be perfect. I wanted everyone to get just what they had hoped for. I wanted the meals to be amazing, the games to be fun, the company to be perfect.
 
Because, growing up, that’s how Christmas always felt to me – it felt perfect. 
 
So the day after, when my oldest woke up and said, “Yesterday was the best Christmas ever,” I was confused.
 
When I quizzed him about it, he replayed Christmas from his eyes. “Mommy, remember the water slide I went down with Daddy and I wasn’t even scared? And then remember at church I got to sit with baby Beau? And when our friends were here and Papa won that game and it was so funny? And we both got new boots which was exactly what we told Santa we needed! And we played games all day and even Daddy got to stay home with us?”
 
My youngest, also wanting in on the recap added, “And it was Jesus’ birthday. And we had fun for Jesus’ birthday.  And we watched that movie when Aunt Bethany says the pledge instead of praying!”
 
Their little voices carried on over breakfast, remembering all the fun they had over the last few days.  In their eyes, maybe it was perfect. 

Even though, we didn’t get the family picture. Even if they opened gifts in their underwear instead of Christmas pajamas.  In spite of the fact the jeans I picked out myself, as a gift from my family, still somehow didn't fit.
 
I know in my heart, that Christmas is perfect with or without my help.  Because Christmas is the celebration of Jesus coming here, to save me.  And you, when none of us will ever be good enough to deserve saving. 
 
Even knowing that truth, part of me, the mom part, still wants the experience of Christmas to be unforgettable.  To be perfect.  Like it was when I was a kid. 
 
But maybe now, looking back, I can see that behind those perfect Christmases, there just might have been an exhausted Mom, in desperate need of a nap. 
 
  

The following essay was selected as the 4th grade winning essay in a contest sponsored by Uptown Farms. Third and fourth grade students that attend Brookfield, MO schools are allowed to write an essay answering the question, “Why is agriculture important to Brookfield and Linn County?”. A student from each grade is selected as the winner and awarded breakfast at the farm and a ride to school in a tractor.

Why is agriculture important to Brookfield?
By: Briar

Farming is important to the whole country because without farming we would not have many of the things that we have today. Farming is really important in the Brookfield area too.

One reason agriculture is important to Brookfield is because there are grain mills such as Ag-land and MFA. So if there was no Agriculture, all the grain mills would go out of business.

Another reason that agriculture is important is because there would not be many stuff
to buy at stores produced by farmers, such as corn, beans, bread, milk, eggs, and cheese. Another reason AG is important to Brookfield is there are some kids who live on a farm and the only thing that some of them would want to do is FFA. So if there were no farming, there would be no FFA.

Farming is also important to the whole country because if there was no farming we would not be able to import and export it to other countries. Also, it important locally because if we didn’t have farming we would not be able to sell to feed companies. So, if they didn’t have any corn or wheat they would not be able to make feed for chickens, goats, cattle, sheep, and pigs. If
there is no feed there would be no livestock. So we wouldn’t have some stuff like eggs, chicken, goat milk, cheese, milk, beef, wool, bacon, and Pork. Also, there are a lot of farmers and they wouldn’t have any jobs.

Biofuel is also important to agriculture because plants are used to make biofuel. The reason biofuel is so important is because it helps reduce the oxides in the atmosphere. Also the article says that, “Biodiesel combustion produces fewer sulfur oxides, less particulate matter, less carbon monoxide, and fewer unburned and other hydrocarbons, but it does produce more nitrogen oxide than petroleum diesel.”

“But on the down side”, the article says, “But they have higher evaporative emissions from fuel tanks and dispensing equipment these evaporative emissions contribute to the formation of harmful, ground-level ozone and smog.”

The plants to make biodiesel are soy beans and palm oil trees for biodiesel. The plants to make ethanol are corn and sugarcane. So, without farming we would not be able to make biofuel.

These are all the reasons why I think agriculture is important to Brookfield, Missouri.

Someone shared with me an article published by PETA, “Seven reasons kids should never hunt”. Last year, I wrote about my mixed emotions sending our oldest out hunting his first deer season.
 
Even while the number of hunters continues to decline, I was confident this year that the deer stand was exactly where he needed to be.  Here’s why:

1. Hunting requires no screens.   Granted, screen time is rather limited on our farm anyway given our lack of good internet and lack of devices, I still have no doubt that sending a child into the woods without any electronic devices is a good thing.  Statista did a survey in January of 2018 that showed 58% of parents report children having 2 or more hours of screen time per day.  Being outside is good alternative to that.
   
   
2. Hunting teaches patience. It’s challenging as parents in an era of Google and Amazon Prime to find good opportunities to teach our kids patience.  We built a pond this summer and after it was done our children were anxiously waiting for it to fill with water so that we could stock it with fish.   After a full day of seeing no progress, our oldest said, “Why can’t you just order water from Amazon to fill it up?”  While hunting, he has no choice but to learn patience.  Amazon, to my knowledge, does not deliver 16 point bucks. 
   
   
3. Hunting gave him time with Dad.  It’s not just the time in the stand.  It’s the time getting ready to go.  Target practice, getting guns ready, getting gear ready.  It’s the time spent afterwards.  And of course, the early mornings and late afternoons spent together in the woods.
   
   
4. Hunting teaches disappointment. Last year, he came away from the season empty handed.  I wanted to rip that disappointment right out of his little body.  I would have stomped out into the woods and grabbed a deer with my bare hands if I could have made his hurt go away.  But I couldn’t, and he had to deal with it.  There’s value in that.
   
   
5. Hunting teaches the power of a gun and the reality of a kill.  On his a second day out this year,  a cold, windy morning where he almost didn’t go because he had gotten so cold the day before, he killed his first deer.  A beautiful 16 point buck that will find a lovely spot on our wall after a taxidermy bill that would make your eyes pop out of your head. When he fired that shot, it was different than every time he had shot at a target.  It certainly wasn’t a video game.  He understood in that moment the power of that gun he was holding and he witnessed the reality of life and death.
   
   
6. Hunting teaches him to provide.  After he killed his deer, they loaded up and went to the shop where he helped his dad harvest the meat.  The next night he helped me cook the loin.  Before he cut into his deer, the one he had literally put on the table, he said his prayers, thanking God for the time with Dad in the woods, and thanking God for the sacrifice the deer had made to feed us all. 
    
   
   
7. Hunting teaches conservation.  He learns to love the outdoors and all the creatures God put there.  But more importantly, he learns how we have to be so careful in everything we do – as hunters and more importantly as farmers - because we are blessed to be on the front lines of protecting our environment. 
   

We are blessed to have the opportunity and resources to allow our sons to spend time hunting in a safe, responsible way.  To those who argue that children shouldn't hunt, I hear you, but you're wrong. 

Whoa, it’s cold! But don’t worry, our soils are covered.


Winter can be hard on soils and on the organisms that live in them. Our livelihood is dependent on healthy soils, and those soil bugs, so we take steps to keep them happy and comfortable all winter long.


🌱 We don’t till, or plow, our fields. No-till farming means less traffic across our field (less compaction) and less disturbance within the soil.


🌱 Because we are no-till, you see all of the “trash” from our cash crop on the field. That trash provides protection for the soil, and food for our soil bugs, all winter long. Every part of the plant has nutrients. When we leave the trash on the field it breaks down and returns those nutrients to our soils, where next year’s crop can use it.


🌱 We plant cover crops- crops planted in between cash crops and not for harvesting. This is triticale, one of our favorite covers. We could write a book on how cool cover crops are, but here’s the quick run down on what this guy will do: break up the soil, allow water and oxygen to better infiltrate, make nutrients more accessible, increase organic matter, provide food for the soil bugs and more.


🚜 Producer Note: This triticale was broadcast with fertilizer at a rate of 50 pounds/ acre.

(Recipe at the bottom)

​This is our beef.

Some of you are thinking, “No duh. You raise cattle. Of course it’s your beef.”

But it’s actually pretty rare that we eat our own beef. We normally buy our beef at the grocery store, just like most of you!

The only reason we have our beef in the freezer right now is a funny story actually- one that involved a wild calf, broken fences for 6 miles cross-country, airplane rides and such - but I’ll tell that story another day. 😆

Today, I want you to know that my beef-raising, farm family buys our beef at the grocery store just like millions of Americans.

We trust the quality, nutritional value and safety because our beef is what’s being sold in the grocery store, alongside beef that came from farms just like ours all over the country.

So why don’t we keep our own beef?

It’s not feasible for us.

We are a cow/ calf farm. That means we have the mamma cows and bulls. We raise the calves on pasture until they reach around 500-600 pounds. From there, they will go on to other farmers who will finish them until they are ready to butcher. Then, they end up in your grocery store.

This system actually allows cattle farmers of all sizes - from 5 head to 5,000 head- an opportunity to stay in business.

We would love to feed cattle. But there’s several reasons we don’t.

First, is our cash flow. When we sell our calves right at weaning time it gives us income that we need to keep operating. Like many young and smaller cattle farms, it would be financially challenging for us to keep our calves for longer periods because that’s longer time we do not have income flowing in, and longer time we have expenses.

Second is risk. The longer we keep our calves, the more cost we have in them and the longer we are exposed to market risk. Feeding cattle is expensive and when they are ready for market they are ready. You can’t simply hold on to them waiting for better prices, which means you’re at risk of losing money.

It takes a very established farm, typically with larger numbers of calves, to be able to withstand the cash flow ups and downs of feeding cattle. When those farmers buy our calves from us, they help us by taking on the risk until the calves are ready.

Finally, is our facilities. We are set up with great pastures for raising baby calves, but we are not set up with the areas and equipment we would need to feed all of our calves. It’s expensive to have good facilities to feed cattle and not feasible for us at this time.

So for us, at this point in our farming journey, selling our calves to farm families better equipped to feed cattle is our best option to stay in business. Plus, we have confidence that the families that finish our cattle are experts in what they are doing and provide the best care, feed and environment our calves need to thrive.

So next time you’re walking through the grocery store and grab a package of steaks or burgers, know that our farm family, and families just like ours appreciate you!

Mississippi Pot Roast


Chuck Roast
Oil
Salt and Pepper
1 stick of butter
1 package Ranch seasoning
1 package onion soup mix
8 peperoncinis


Dry roast and season with salt and pepper. Use oil in hot skillet to brown roast on all sides, 2 minutes per side.


Transfer the roast to a slow cooker. Place 1 stick of butter, ranch seasoning and onion soup mix over roast. Set peppers on top.


Cook on low for 8 hours. Shred, discard large fatty pieces and serve.

Dear Daddy,

I ran to the window this morning, just in time to see you leave. You didn’t see me, but I was watching you.

I watched you pull out before the sun was up. When I’m big, I’ll know it’s because you get more done if you start early, and work has to be done, even on days you’re tired.

A few weeks ago, I watched you fix the broken tractor. When I’m big, I’ll know it’s because it’s best to take care of what you already have, instead of always looking for something new.

Last week, I watched you pick wildflowers for Mom. She smiled when you gave them to her. When I’m big, I’ll know it’s because the best things in life, even gifts, are usually free to give.

One time, I watched you wipe your eyes when you buried the family dog. When I’m big, I’ll know it’s because even superheroes cry and that good dogs never live long enough.

Lately, I’ve watched you look at our dusty fields, look at the radar with no sign of rain, and look up to the skies. When I’m big, I’ll know it’s because at the end of the day the only thing we actually have is faith.

When it’s time, I watch you quietly load up lambs or calves, making sure they are calm and comfortable when they go down the road. When I’m big, I’ll know it’s because it’s our job to be stewards to the animals who sacrifice their lives for us.

At the end of each day, I watch you come home and go to Mommy. When I’m big, I’ll know it because even tough Daddies need to lean on tough Mommies.

I know, most of the time it looks like I’m not watching anything at all. You get frustrated with me, because you want to tell me about life.

I know I don’t listen when you tell me, but I do watch when you show me. And when I’m big, that’s what will count.

Happy Father’s Day weekend to all the Dads being watched by children - young and old!