Farming Methods

Prescribed Burning: Why Farmers Do It

Prescribed Burning: Why Farmers Do It

Prescribed burning. It may sound like an oxymoron, but a prescribed burn is a valuable tool for farmers and ranchers as they manage grass and rangeland for grazing. By definition, a prescribed burn is a planned fire; it is also sometimes called a “controlled...

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High-tech Chicken Barns? You Bet!

High-tech Chicken Barns? You Bet!

While most of us are aware of the latest and greatest technologies available for our homes, such as Wi-Fi thermostats and video doorbells, would you believe that a lot of this same technology is available in modern livestock barns?  When we decided in 2016 to...

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Marching Towards Planting Season

Marching Towards Planting Season

March is one of my favorite months.  First, March reminds us spring is just around the corner. Second, I get to celebrate another birthday!  With a birthday at the end of the month, I have enjoyed many celebrations with spring-like weather, but I have had...

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Upcycling: Cows Do It!

Upcycling: Cows Do It!

“Upcycling.” Most often we think of this word in connection with home furnishings or clothing. On our farm we think of upcycling whenever we get our cow herd out on cornstalk fields after harvest. As soon as possible after our corn is harvested, we put up temporary...

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Needed – All Farms, Great and Small

Needed – All Farms, Great and Small

Although I am not a life-long farmer, I am fortunate to have had intimate experiences with where my food comes from. I spent most of my childhood on an acreage outside of Lincoln, Nebraska. I remember issues of Mother Earth News being devoured by my parents, so my...

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The Positive Impacts of Agriculture

The Positive Impacts of Agriculture

My family: My husband, Steve, and I recently celebrated 40 years of marriage. I am also celebrating over 40 years of life as a woman in agriculture – a farmer. During my childhood years, I yearned to live on a farm with no real understanding of what it meant to be...

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Animal Housing and Antibiotics  Q & A

Animal Housing and Antibiotics Q & A

Have you ever looked out the car window at one of those big white chicken barns or pig barns and thought, “What is going on in there?” My husband Jason and I, with our four children, raise 40,000 chickens in a large barn, and I help my dad raise pigs in a barn on his...

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Food prices Q&A

Food prices Q&A

Growing up working in my parents' grocery store and helping out on my grandparents’ farm led me to a lifelong obsession with high quality food. As a farmer, my family and I take pride in growing healthy foods now and look forward to doing so in the future. Our family...

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How We Care for the Land and Cattle

How We Care for the Land and Cattle

Being ranchers in the Sandhills of Nebraska, my husband, Kerry, and I are all about being good stewards of our land and our livestock. We do what we can to improve our land and water to ensure the health, safety and well-being of our cattle. We do this to provide...

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