The Master of Manipulation

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Bruce Freidrich, Vice President of PETA. For those of you who don't know what PETA stands for, it means, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. The name might make it seem like an organization, however, they organization's goal is to completely abolish animal agriculture and turn everyone into a vegan. Student's Promoting Animal Rights had Bruce as their speaker and they invited the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources to discuss the issue of Animal Rights.

Let me tell you, Animal Agriculture supporters showed up. The 100 person classroom was overflowing. At least 2/3rd of the individuals in attendance were in favor of Animal Agriculture.
The discussion stayed respectful and the Animal Science students did a wonderful job of representing the future of the industry. Bruce certainly is a master of words, he saw that agriculture is not going to take bullying lying down. An Animal Science senior, Paul Ayers stood up and gave a talk on his views of modern hog production. Paul is a great job of talking about modern management practices and how the producer is looking out for the animal's welfare.

Another Animal Science senior finished out the night of discussion. Nicole Beeching finished the night by telling the crowd why she is involved in Animal Agriculture. She said the family oriented lifestyle and her passion for animals are the two main reasons why she chose this career path.




I personally have gotten many compliments to pass into the entire Animal Science Department, particularly the students. The industry is very proud of how we, as students, handled the situation. They felt we handled it with a great deal of class and level headiness. I would have to agree. Congratulations to everyone, we did a wonderful job and I am proud to say we are the future. We didn't take the situation lying down and we rose to the situation! Go Green!

Spring "Break"

Today is my first day back at classes after my week of Spring Break. While most college students were in Mexico, Florida, or South America I was at home working side by side with my father on the farm. I think most people would agree that is not the typical Spring Break for a senior in college. My brother was working at his internship down in Detroit. My mother left Tuesday morning to attend the Farm Women's Symposium and my sister headed to Michigan FFA State Convention. That left the farm to my father and I.

My main duty was to feed all of our milk calves. When my mother left, we had 5 calves on bottles and one and a half barns full of other milk calves to feed. Needless to say, I had my hands full. My first morning, I had one new calf and everything went smooth. However, my second morning, I didn't finish feeding calves until 10:30 and I started at a little before 6. I had three new calves and the other 6 already on the bottles.

It was a long morning and I wanted to call my mother and make her come back. My father strictly told me no and I sucked it up. My final morning of feeding calves myself went smooth, I was finished around 9:30 and all the calves drank great. At the time, the experience was overwhelming and it was frustrating. Just when I thought I was going to be finished, another calf was born and my job got longer.

I enjoyed my time working with my father. I was in charge of the house which did not go to bad either. I only ruined one loaf of bread, which I thought was pretty respectable. The time I spent with my father, was priceless. I understood what he goes through every day. Since I moved to college, I have appreciated everything my mother does for me, that was not the issue. I now understand why she's so excited when I come home on weekends. She enjoys the help I give her.

Even though that one week was crazy, I still see dairy production as the career for me. I just need to learn to take the punches and just roll with the reality of living on a farm. Sitting at a desk all day studying makes you forget what dairying really is all about. I will not forget those lessons anytime soon!

Classes, Clubs and Conferences

Well, the neglecting of my blog has begun again. With the 17 credits and 5 classes I'm carrying, I'm not exactly surprised. I looked at my schedule and I have at least one exam each week for the rest of the semester! Wow, that is all I can say about that. But otherwise, the semester's going well and I'm off to a good start. Hopefully it will carry through even though I'm going to be busier than I ever imagined.

I am also wrapped up in all of my clubs. In Dairy Club we are having an animal welfare speaker from Michigan Farm Bureau come and talk to the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. We have over 100 people that have send an RSVP for the event! It will be our biggest even of the year. In the National Agri-Marking Association we are working ruthlessly on our marketing plan. Our product is called the Wrap Bandit and it's used to remove wraps while in the parlor. My family's hoof trimmer invented it and it truly is a great product. I just go some video of it being used, I might have to post it on here some time!

Of course, I have conferences! The GLRDC is coming up and I am going to be driving between Grand Rapids and Lansing for Thursday. Then I will be spending the night on Friday and I cannot wait. The following week I am off to Texas with the rest of the MSU Block and Bridle for National Convention! I might not write for the next couple weeks, but I will try my best to do so after! Stay warm for those of you in the Midwest and the East Coast!

Back to Classes

Well, after 4 weeks of solitude and relaxation, I am back to classes. With 5 classes including Music and Culture, Trigonometry, Anatomy and Physiology of Farm Animals, Introduction to Beef Management and Introduction to Marketing; I have a full plate this semester. In addition to my normal load of clubs, these classes will keep me busy from sun up until sun down. However, the experiences I have, the people I meet and the skills I learn will make it all worth it.

Don't worry, I get to have some fun this semester too! As much as I dreaded coming back, I get to take a break from the classes too. In February, I have two trips which will hopefully ease my school day blues. In the very first part of February I will be heading to the Great Lakes Regional Dairy Conference to learn more about the dairy industry and to network and visit with my fellow industry professionals.

The following week in February, I will leaving Michigan for 4 days to attend Block and Bridle National Convention. A group of 40 some MSU students will be heading to San Antonio, Texas to see how to Brand it Big in Texas! I an very excited about this trip, with so many members going it is sure to be a good time.

Even though I've been dreading the beginning of this semester, it will be a great time to finish off my senior year here at Michigan State.

More of London

Well, when I last finished, I was showing my pictures from Buckingham Palace. The place we went was my favorite sight of the entire trip. BIG BEN! Actually, Big Ben is the bell inside of the tower, it's not the name of the actual tower. Did you know that? It doesn't matter what his name is, he still awesome.
Then we walked to Westminster Abby. It was an amazing sight and I wish we had time to go inside! It just wouldn't be a trip to London without a phone booth!

After that we went and visited the British Museum and a few other places. The next morning, before we left London to head to Paris, we went to Hyde Park to see the Princess Diana memorial. Here are a few pictures from that.

London...The City of My Dreams!

Yes, I do have to say, London was my favorite place in the European tour. I could have stayed there the rest of the trip. Since I was young, there was something about London that intrigued me and I dreamed of going there. I was afraid I would be disappointed, with such high expectations. However, I loved it and I cannot wait to take another trip to London.

We began our trip to London with a bus tour. We got to see St. Paul's Cathedral. It was an amazing sight. We didn't get to go inside, but it was still amazing to see it up close and personal!


One of the coolest spots we went to was London Bridge. This is the bridge the nursery rhyme, "London Bridge is falling down!" is all about. We got to drive over the bridge as well.






























Next on the tour was Buckingham Palace. We didn't stay to watch the changing of the guards because we wanted to see other landmarks in the city. We did get to see one of the British Guards slip. It was hilarious. Here is a picture of the gates in front of Buckingham Palace and then a picture of the actual palace.
































Of course, how could I forget the guards! : - )

Well, this is all I will put in this post for now. I will have another London post ready soon!

Winter Woes

Anyone who knows me well, will know that I HATE winter. This past weekend is a true testament to this despise! A horrible blizzard ripped through Michigan yesterday. There were 25 or 30 mph winds all day and with a barn full of sick calves made those 36 hours miserable. The wind was so fierce, it was hard to breath while walking from barn to barn. My Dad and brother were on a hunting trip over the weekend, which meant it was the three women doing all of the chores. Luckily, out two helpers showed up, which I am still thanking them and God for showing up and making it home safely.

The morning was not too terrible. We bedded the calves and tried to make sure all of the barns were closed up. We went out that evening and the calf barns were full of snow. One of the already sick calves had gotten its calf coat off and was covered in snow. In the other calf barn, the newest calf was covered in snow and it's pen was one of the worst! The three of us did not know what to do. We found the spot where the majority of the snow was coming in and put bales over them and it made the barns a little nicer. However, with our sick calves wet and cold, it made the evening stressful.

We're so crowded in our barns, that we even have 5 hutches outside the two calf barns. The first two hutches were full of snow and there was nothing we could do about it. We tried cleaning them out and then gave them more straw. My Dad and brother got home at 11 last night and they headed straight out to the barn. My Dad cleaned the driveway out so the milk man could actually make it down the road. The men of the house moved the two hutch calves into one of our open calving pens. My Mom said they were having a great time in there this morning.

Last night was so stressful, it was one of those days where I wish I did not live on a farm. I do not pretend to like winter and it will be a test for me to farm in the winter for the rest of my life. I dream of moving to Arizona or somewhere else warm to farm. I know they have their problems too, but I will take them over snow! At least today.

I hope everyone else is staying warm and getting excited for Christmas! I will try to post another Europe post with some of my favorite pictures!