The Dairyman's Daughter

Sharing Blog Posts

2010-07-08T07:12:00.002-05:00

Recently I became aware of two blogs that posted recent travels to farms. One visited a dairy farm and one visited a beef farm. I want to both share their blogs and thank the authors for their comments and viewpoints.

Here is a bit about each author and their blog. Read for yourself about their farm visit experiences and then if you have never visited a farm, now is a good time to make an appointment with one that can show you where your cheap, nutritious and safe food supply comes from in the United States!

Sherri Schuber, a New York City mom, active blogger and soy beverage consumer visited a California dairy farm, interacted with dairy producers and saw how dairy cows are raised on a modern dairy farm: http://momtrends.blogspot.com/2010/06/travel-to-modern-dairy-farm.html.

Ryan Andrews, a registered dietician, personal trainer and vegan visited a Colorado feedlot and saw for himself how beef cattle are raised: http://www.precisionnutrition.com/cattle-feedlot-visit.

Cheers & Happy Eating!

Celebrate June Dairy Month with Some New Recipes - Homemade Butter

2010-06-01T07:45:00.000-05:00

Well June Dairy Month 2010 has officially arrived! It is one of those months I love both because of the weather and that we celebrate my favorite foods - anything made from MILK!

Here is a fun recipe to make with Kids during the summer or all year long.

Homemade Butter

2 cups cold whipping cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
A few drops yellow food coloring (optional)

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream at medium speed until light and creamy in color and the liquid separates out. This step may take 8-10 minutes. Drain off liquid; rinse butter with cold water. Work butter back and forth with a spatula or rubber scraper to remove more water and buttermilk. Drain well and add salt and food coloring to butter. Beat again to ensure good mixing. Chill (Makes 1/2 pound or 1 cup of butter.)

Freezing Homemade butter: Butter can be frozen for up to two months. (You can shape your specially made butter in molds to make for a special occasion.)

Using Buttermilk: The liquid drained from the butter may be used in a variety of ways. It can be used as a beverage as is, or mix it with fruit juices for a different flavor. Buttermilk can also be used in making sauces and gravies.

ENJOY!

Sykora's New Calf

2010-05-19T07:28:00.003-05:00

Sykora made an investment this year into the Jersey breed by purchasing a Spring Calf at the Wisconsin Spring Spectacular Sale. Sykora plans to show this calf at the little britches class at Isanti County Fair. The name that Sykora gave the calf is 'Buttercup'. Even though the calf has another name on her registration paper, Sykora likes to give each of the calves she shows a 'special' name.

Here is Sykora & Buttercup after the sale.

Buttercup lives at my parents farm in Minnesota and Sykora gets to work with training the calf to lead, learn about what to feed her and helping her to grow on the weekends we visit the farm.

Stay tuned to more details about Buttercup.

Governor Doyle - Please Veto the Raw Milk Bill

2010-05-14T07:06:00.003-05:00

This just in - Governor Doyle VETO's the Raw Milk Bill. - Check out Story here.

A Win for Public Health and the Dairy Industry's Image.

His reasons for the Veto - The governor wrote:

"I recognize that there are strong feelings on both sides of this matter, but on balance, I must side with the interests of public health and the safety of the dairy industry.

"I am listening to the unanimous voice of public health professionals including leading doctors at the Marshfield Clinic and Gundersen Lutheran Health System who have found the sale of raw milk to have potentially harmful health effects.

"I also have to protect the safety of the dairy industry, which is critical to our state economy. We have worked successfully over the last seven years to modernize Wisconsin's dairy industry. An outbreak of disease from the consumption of raw milk could harm our reputation for providing healthy dairy products, and damage the entire industry.

"A group of experts will continue to study the question of whether or not the state should allow and regulate the sale of unpasteurized milk in the future. This group will make certain that the concerns and interests on all sides are fully analyzed."

This morning I sent off a quick personal message to our Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle encouraging him to VETO the Raw Milk Bill. I hope he and/or his staff get the opportunity to read it and I hope it makes an impact on his decision.

Yesterday, I was pleased to hear that the Governor hesitated about signing this bill, it gives Wisconsin's 26.5 Billion dollar Dairy Industry another chance to be herd. The public's health is at stake as well as the name brand MILK's image is at stake.

This morning a group that represent a wide and varied coalition of farmers, residents and business people from across Wisconsin who are against the Raw Milk Bill are holding a Press Conference to share their reasons! I am with them in spirit today and I hope their message is heard. Here is a bit about that group.

If you haven't seen my reasons for opposing the Raw Milk Bill read my previous blog - Milk Should Be Pasteurized.

Signing off for today! - Drink Milk - (pasteurized milk that is!)!

Holstein Bull Pilot Is Proven

2010-04-08T07:13:00.005-05:00

I am happy to report that we have sent a bull to stud and it is now officially proven...014HO05360 S&E Shottle Pilot. This bull was bred by my husband Joe and his partner Jamie Endvick and is from a cow family that Joe has owned an bred for many years.

Here is a bit about the Pilot. 014HO05360 Pilot is an early Shottle son. His dam is an Excellent-93-3E Patron daughter, Gunners-Will Patron Patti and was a Gold Medal Dam and Dam of Merit. She has high milk production records: 2x 37,070M 4.7% 1,728F 3.6% 1,333P.

The next dam Staussdale G-W Phantasy EX-90 has records to 42,920M 4.0% 1,696F 2.9% 1,251P. And the third dam back is Staussdale Blackstar Pansy EX-91 being Excellent across the board GMD, DOM and has records to: 34,510M 4.1% 1,408F 3.1% 1,062P.

Pilot has two full sisters that are doing well. S&E Shottle Pixie-ET VG-86 with production at 2-9 2X 305 24,350M 4.0% 983F 3.2% 788P and S&E Shottle Panda-ET VG-89 3-2 2X 305 28,230M 3.3% 944F 2.8% 787P.

Accelerated Genetics sire analysts report that Pilot daughters are tall, strong, deep-ribbed cows with wide sloping rumps. He comes in at +1887 TPI and he is a good type bull at +2.08 PTAT. Pilot is also a high component bull being +.07% fat, +53 fat and +.06% protein, +43 protein.

For more information on Pilot, go to Accelerated Genetics website www.accelgen.com.

Milk Should Be Pasteurized

2010-03-22T06:58:00.003-05:00

With the topic of raw (unpasteurized) milk in Wisconsin's Legislature, and after spending a weekend working with Dairy Producers, I thought it was time to voice my opinion about the importance of drinking Pasturized Milk!

Since its introduction over a century ago, pasteurization has been recognized around the world as an essential tool for ensuring that milk and dairy products are safe. Here is a link to the article 'The Dangers of Raw Milk: Unpasteurized Milk Can Pose a Serious Health Risk" which is posted on the U.S. Food and Drug Administrations (FDA) website and quotes the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

Milk is something that my family goes through by the gallons each week and the milk we drink is pasteurized and bought at the grocery store each week. (Funny side story, my daughter Sykora loves to 'milk' the pretend cow at the Viking Grocery store in Reedsburg, it is so cute. Even though she has had a chance to milk real cows at her grandparents farm, she still likes the pretend cow too.)

What is Pasteurization?
Pasteurization involves the heating of raw milk to a minimum of 145˚F for 30 minutes or to 161˚F for 15 seconds, followed by rapid cooling. This step is very important to continuing the production of safe and wholesome milk. Research has shown that there is no significant difference in the nutritional value of pasteurized and unpasteurized milk. (Research source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Food and Drug Administration. Grade 'A' Pasteurized Milk Ordinance - 2005 Revision. Washington D.C.: USDHHS, PHS, FDA, 2005.)

In a recent report, the U.S. FDA and the CDC reminded consumers that even with sanitary collection practices, raw (unpasteurized) Milk could contain harmful bacteria. Federal law prohibits the retail sale of raw milk across state lines and many state have banned the sale of raw milk. Here is a great fact sheet. (Its called raw milk fact sheet).

I was very disappointed last week when I learned that the Members of Wisconsin's Senate Ag Committee decided to pass the proposal that would allow state dairy farmers sell to raw milk to consumers. Read here for more information about what the Ag Committee decided.

I encourage families who are concerned about the safety of their families to contact your legislators about this Public Health issue. To find out who your Wisconsin Legislator is and more information about what they are up to go http://www.legis.state.wi.us/.

For the safety, of my family, I will never serve raw (unpasteurized) milk and I hope that the Legislators in Wisconsin realize the Safety of Public Health and keep raw milk from being sold in Wisconsin.

Here is a link to other dairy websites for more great information about Dairy Farming and Dairy Foods.

Have a great day! And enjoy a refreshing, wholesome glass of pasteurized milk!

New Tidbits

2010-03-11T07:22:00.003-06:00

I am back. Yes, I have been a bit lax on my blog, and its time to get back to work on it.

Recently, my family along with a couple of friends took a great, adventurous trip to Peru. We started in Lima, then Arequipa, Puno, Lake Titicaca (and visited 3 islands on the lake where we were able to look into Bolivia) and then we visited the cities around Colca Canyon. It was definitely a fast paced trip, seeing and learning a lot about Peru's culture.

Here is a cute photo of our daughter Sykora with a baby Alpaca!

On the farm news front, I would like to let anyone know who is interested in Jersey cattle and wanting to expand their herd that we are selling a fancy, Fall Calf at the Midwest Spring Jersey Sale on Saturday, April 10 in Rochester, MN. Here is the calf's info.

Golden Hill TBone Lucky
Birthdate: September, 2009
Sire: Richies Jace TBone
Dam: Suess Millenium Linda
2-10 305 14,610 5.0% 732 4.3% 623

(Owned by: Diamond S Farm & Joe and Kari Stanek)

For questions about the calf contact Joe Stanek - 608/434-4110

Also, if anyone is interested in either breeding age bulls or bull calves prior to weaning contact Dave & Kathy Skiba at 651/674-7318.

Happy Thursday!

Drink Milk!

“Advocating for Agriculture” Awards - Jolene Brown is Up For Ag Worman of the Year

2009-12-10T07:25:00.001-06:00

Yes, I have been sleeping on my blog, but I am back with a great way to start it off again.

A good friend of mine, Jolene Brown from West Branch, IA is up for a special award - Ag Woman of the Year!

Ag Woman of the Year Award

For 37 years, Jolene has been involved in Agriculture by helping agricultural producers throughout her career as a speaker and family business consultant. Her career has spanned many years and has given her the opportunity to speak with agricultural people all across the United States as well as Australia and New Zealand. Jolene developed several CD series; The Top Ten Stupid Things Families Do To Breakup Their Businesses and with an economist,a Seminar in a Box for transition and succession planning of family businesses- Royal Bank of Canada. As a public speaker she has received the Certified Speaking Professional. Meeting hundreds of farm families, Jolene helped with difficult events and decisions in their personal and professional lives. I've known Jolene as a friend and agriculturalist for over 25 year. She deserves this award because she has touched so many lives and has helped them improve their situations and encouraged them through difficult times.

I have personally known and worked with Jolene Brown for the last 11 years through Accelerated Genetics Young Producer Program and she such a treat to work with and I am proud to be able to call her a friend. Jolene's tenure with the Young Producer program goes back over 20 years! And I can tell you she has lifted up, enriched and empowered many producers over those years!

So please vote for Jolene Brown for Ag Woman of the Year!

The web site is: www.agconnect.com/About/General/Awards/ ; the category is: Ag Woman of the Year; Voting started at noon yesterday and continues throughDecember 16; and then you can cast up to 50 votes per e-mail address per day! (In my opinion, this is a crazy number to accumulate votes, but that is the guideline.)

Dave & Kathy Skiba Honored With The 'Elgin' Award At Minnesota State Fair

2009-10-12T22:31:00.005-05:00

The Minnesota State Fair is always a special occasion for our family. This year was no different as we worked together to compile a great string from our herd to exhibit.

During this year's show day, Larry Tande found me on my lunch break and asked me into the Open Class office. I wasn't sure what was in store for me. But when I got in the office, he asked me to read this: (which was located in the Holstein Show Catalog)

The 'Elgin' Award, Karl L. Mueller Memorial, new in 2006. This award, exclusive to the Minnesota State Fair Cattle Show, will be presented to the herdsman/showman who exhibits exemplary leadership and sportsmanship throughout the current Minnesota State Fair. An anonymous committee will make the selection, with the recipient being honored on Wednesday, September 2, 2009 during the Open Class Dairy Cattle Show. This award will be given to any person, any breed, at the current Minnesota State Fair Dairy Shows. A traveling trophy will be awarded to the winner each year. The Mueller Family will present the award.

Past Recipients:
2008 - Steve & Vicki Searles, Stillmore Cattle Co., Minnesota
2007 - Lowell Peterson, El-Low Holsteins, Minnesota
2006 - Henk & Bonnie Van Dyk, Willows Edge Holsteins, Wisconsin

When I was done reading this, Larry said to me, "This year's recipients are your parents." WOW, I was shocked, elated and excited for them.

Then Larry said, that they would like to try to keep it all a surprise, so I had to figure out a way to get my parents in the ring during the 2 year old class.

After a little quick thinking, my mom was going to be leading a two year old Jersey, so that works for her. So then I enlisted our long-time family friend, Ron Flor, to get my dad into the center of the ring. (And I had to make sure the ring 'security' let the guys into the center of the ring too.) It all worked out well and my parents were 'surprised' and 'honored' to receive the award.

What a neat recognition for two such hard-working individuals! I am very proud of them both!
Congratulations Mom and Dad!

2009 Elgin Award Winners - Dave & Kathy Skiba - Diamond S Farm, Minnesota

Jersey Classification Highlights

2009-09-18T07:46:00.000-05:00

Okay, yes, I need to do my Minnesota State Fair updates and my friend Bridget's Ironman update! They are coming soon.

First I want to quickly share some Jersey classification results!

My parents Dave & Kathy Skiba owners of Diamond S Farm in North Branch, MN highlights include:

Diamond S Golden Jasime was raised two points to EX-90%

Reina Golden of Diamond S was raised a point to EX-91%

Diamond S Kaptain Sandia is now VG-88%

Diamond S Balance Joya was raised to VG-87%

Diamond S Legion Venture is now VG-87%

And then the 'Golden Hill' animals that we own in partnership with my parents also had a good day. Highlights include:

Golden Hill Kaptain Fortuna was raised to VG-88%
2007 All Breeds Access All American Fall Yearling
Watch for her 'Comerica' Spring Calf on the colored shavings at this year's World Dairy Expo!

Golden Hill Big John Gusto was raised to VG-88%

Golden Hill Blair Josta is now VG-88%

Golden Hill Lemvig Hija was raised to VG-88%

Also at World Dairy Expo this year, watch for a 'Governor' daughter out of Golden Hill Bomber Orbit EX-90%!

Minnesota State Fair or Bust!

2009-08-28T12:16:00.004-05:00

This is my motto for the next few days and I am completed pumped up! I love the Minnesota State Fair, the cows (yes, cows 1st), the people (family, friends and fair-goers alike), the butterheads (Princess Kay & Finalists too), and of course the food (Pronto pups, Deep Fried Cheese Curds, Flat Bread Tacos, and ICE CREAM Galore)!

So Joe, I and Sykora have to finish packing our gear after work today and then we are heading north about four and half hours to my parent's farm - Diamond S Farm in North Branch, MN! It'll be late when we get up there, so tomorrow I will start clipping cattle for the show! As a family we are bringing about 16 head of cattle and then our friend's Ryan & Cleitus Bass - Bass-Vall Farm of Reedsburg, Wis., are bringing up 2 more to tie in with us! We will have a mighty large string of animals to care for at the fair.

Besides clipping animals this weekend, we will lead the animals to make sure they will walk properly for the show and pack up all the gear and feed for our exhibit and animals. There will be many family and friends involved in the string and I hope to have time to report from about the fun things we do.

My family has been exhibiting at the Minnesota State Fair since I was 6 years old. I am not tell you my age now, but its been a few years. Exhibiting our cattle is a great way for us to market our Registered Jerseys as well as take the opportunity to educate fair-goers about how my family produces food for the world, along with caring for the animals and land!

If you are at the Minnesota State Fair - August 31-September 4 - look for Diamond S Farm/Skiba's Jerseys farm sign and a huge string of Jerseys with a couple of Holsteins mixed in for color (hehe). We always love to chat with people, so stop by and say hello!

Also, if you are in and around the Moo Booth area of the Dairy Cattle Barn, my parents tell me some of the Jersey photos are of the cows from their farm! Plus, the Moo Booth is a great way to learn all about dairy cows and much more!

56th Princess Kay of the Milky Way Crowned - Elizabeth Olson

2009-08-27T12:15:00.009-05:00

Last night was a truly special night, as it was the 'eve' before the start of the Minnesota State Fair. Which means it is the night the new Princess Kay of the Milky Way is crowned (Minnesota's Dairy Ambassador).

This night has always had special meaning to me. As it was my dream since I was a young girl on to one day represent the dairy industry as Princess Kay. My dreams did come true and I was the 44th Princess Kay of the Milky Way, a year I will treasure forever.

Yes, this is me Kari (Skiba) Stanek as Princess Kay #44.

Even though I have held the precious title, I still get excited for each new group of Princess Kay Finalists. The excitement never fades. The Princess Kay program is a long-standing, rich tradition that is truly special to Minnesota. And every year I am blown away with the talented group of young women that represent Minnesota's Dairy Producers! And this year was no different.

As a past Princess Kay, we have an 'Honor Society' where we keep in touch through a annual newsletter, which is compiled by Betty Cole, PK #6. She does a great job keeping it up! Kudos Betty. Do you know other past Princess Kay's, look for them here.

Betty Cole Princess Kay #6

Besides having the opportunity to return each year for the Princess Kay banquet and coronation, we have a Pick-A-Winner contest. I enjoy this and I can say I am two for two in the last two years.

Actually, I have a long history of picking winners. As a little girl, I remember receiving the Midwest Dairy Association newsletter before the fair and devouring all the information about each candidate. Then I would pick my favorites. Finally, every year during the Minnesota State Fair while my family exhibited dairy cattle, I would run to the Dairy Building to see the butterheads and try to meet the new Princess Kay and finalists. (Okay, call me a big kid, I still do this every year.)

This year the Midwest Dairy Association crowned Princess Kay #56! And I am excited that I know her and her family well. Elizabeth Olson made history last night by not only joining a long line of dairy ambassadors, but also by her family having the first pair of sisters to hold the Princess Kay title. Elizabeth's sister, Sarah Olson was Princess Kay #49. But the history doesn't stop there. There are three butterheads in this household. Another sister, Lana Olson, was a Princess Kay finalist in 2005.

Congratulations Elizabeth! Good luck with your year! I know you will represent the dairy industry well and make us all proud that we are in the dairy business!

For the full details about Elizabeth as the new Princess Kay click here!

Now I can share with you my link to the Olson family. For 50 year's the Raylore Farm (Olson's) has exhibited at the Minnesota State Fair. My family has exhibited there about half that time but I have gotten to watch this family show since I started exhibiting and they are a great family, very passionate about the dairy business.

The year Sarah was crowned Princess Kay, my relationship with the family grew closer. Sarah now works for Holstein World (a dairy breed publication and website), so through my work at Accelerated Genetics, we get to 'work' together sometimes.

Sarah Olson, Princess Kay #49

Then two years ago, I hired Lana as my summer intern! And I really got to know the Olson's! Lana was a treat to have working with us that summer, still miss her warm, bubbly personality! She is an Editor for Hoard's Dairyman, another great dairy producer publication! And again, because of my work in the dairy industry, our paths cross quite often.

Here is Sarah, Elizabeth & Lana with Sarah & Lana's butterheads. Soon to be three.

Over the years, I have also seen and watched Elizabeth grow and mature, while marching to her own beat in her sister's footsteps. This past year while I was an advisor for the Wisconsin Junior Holstein Association, I got to visit a bit more closely with Elizabeth as she and a few other Minnesotans ventured to Wisconsin for the Wisconsin Junior Holstein Convention. At that point, I was even more impressed with this young lady.

Here is the in-process butterhead for Elizabeth.

Minnesota is lucky to have the Olson family producing a wholesome, nutritious and delicious product...Milk! And Minnesota Dairy Producers should be proud of Elizabeth as their Princess Kay as well as all of the Dairy Princesses throughout the state that promote dairy and educate consumers throughout the year!

For more information about Princess Kay of the Milky Way go to Midwest Dairy Association.

Also, you can become a fan of Princess Kay on FACEBOOK (MDA has a goal of 1000 Fans!) and follow her throughout the year through ExploreDairy.com.

Check out Orange Patch Dairy Blog...another fellow, past Dairy Princess reports!

Happy 40th Birthday Mike Skiba!

2009-08-19T07:33:00.005-05:00

I wanted to wish my brother, Mike, a very happy birthday today as he turns 40 years old! A family friend of mine just told me that 40 is older than dirt! So I will have to ask Mike what it feels like to be that old!

Actually I would like to give my brother a 40 cup salute...with 40 glasses of milk!

Thats a lot of milk! Cheers!

Pick The New Princess Kay of the Milky Way

2009-08-13T07:47:00.001-05:00

It's getting close to one of my favorite events of the year, the Minnesota State Fair. I have attended the fair every year and have been exhibiting dairy cattle there since I was six years old. I have many treasured memories with both my family and friends. My family and I will be exhibiting again this year and we are preparing our string of animals and are ready to educate fairgoers about the dairy industry, so stop by to visit us during the open class dairy exhibition time - August 31-September 3, 2009 in the Dairy Cattle Barn. Just look for the Jerseys!

Another reason why this fair will always hold a special place in my heart is the crowning of the new Princess Kay of the Milky Way takes place the night before the fair begins. Princess Kay is Minnesota's Dairy Ambassador and spokesperson for the dairy producers. I was in awe of this position from a little kid on and remember telling my parents about wanting to be a butterhead one day...as Princess Kay and all the finalists get their head carved in a 90 pound block of butter during the fair. And I was blessed that my dreams came true and was able to be a butterhead and Princess Kay. It was a year I will always treasure as I felt like I was on the front lines of dairy industry educating and promoting our great product and all that we do to care for our animals and land.

One thing that I have done ever since I can remember is reviewing the list of finalists for Princess Kay and picking the winner. And this year is no different. I thought it might be fun to share it this information and see if anyone wanted to share with me who they thought would be the next Princess Kay!

Here is a link to more information about the 2009 Princess Kay Finalists. If you want to participate in picking the winner, post your winner in a comment or email me at goldenhillcows@gmail.com and I will let you know who is correct! And as the event gets closer, I'll post my pick.

A few other interesting links to check out are the list of Past Princess Kay's and information about the Butterheads.

Government Needs To Gain Producer Input Before Making The Decisions On 'How To Farm'

2009-08-03T12:30:00.001-05:00

This letter was to me by the Dairy Business Association. I agree that Government Officials need to gain producer input before telling them 'How to Farm'.

Please read and share with others.

Dear Elected Official,

My name is Laura Daniels, I am a dairy farmer from Cobb, Wisconsin. My family has been farming for just under 4 years, we love this business and savor the chance to raise our children on a farm the way we were raised. We rotationally graze our jersey cows while implementing the very latest science has to offer. We believe that the diversity of farms in Wisconsin is our greatest strength, we seek to learn from them all, big, small, young, old, etc. We take pride in the way we care for our cattle, land and employees with gentleness.

I am writing to you today to let you know about some concerns I have about the future of our family dairy farm. I am not writing to complain about the price, or to beg you to do something to help us make it through this financial crisis. I would imagine you are hearing a lot about that these days. However, I am worried about special interest groups telling me or any other farmer how to farm. We really do have enough to worry about these days, we do not need a kick while we are down.

I have just returned from the national meeting of the American Farmers for the Advancement and Conservation of Technology, known as AFACT. I had the chance to talk to farmers from across the country I am alarmed that farmers from California have had their businesses changed so drastically by Prop 2, and now there is legislation to regulate whether or not the farmers dock the tails of their cows. Even more frightening is the fact that farmers in Ohio have no choice but to negotiate with the Humane Society of the United States! HSUS is threatening the Ohio farmers that if they don’t do what they demand they will bring prop 2 to Ohio. I ask that you please do the research on HSUS and know that they seek the end of animal agriculture, only a tiny portion of their funding goes to help cats and dogs in shelters, much of their budget is aimed to put me and every other farmer out of business. Since they are so well funded they can win at ballot initiatives, and it is exactly the exposure they need to generate even more funds.

HSUS has set up an office here in Wisconsin and has registered a lobbyist at the capital of our dairy state. I do not believe for one second that their agenda here will be limited to dog fighting. Please please talk to farmers if agriculture comes up in any discussions. We can help you understand the extreme measures we are taking to care for each and every one of our animals. We can and do make the right choices for their care. We need you to understand and trust that we are the ones who should be making changes to do an even better job as time goes on. We do not need regulation in this area, we are honest and hard working people. Wisconsin dairy farmers have made more advancements in animal care over the last decade than the 50 years before that. We did this with no government intervention, no mandates and no standards set by others. Please let the people who know the cattle/livestock best make the decisions for their care.

Thank you for your time and please let me know if I can help in any way.

Laura Daniels
Heartwood Farm
Cobb, WI
lauradaniels@uwalumni.com

Bright Spot In The Dairy Industry - Youth

2009-07-27T12:50:00.001-05:00

This past Saturday I spent the day with my daughter, Sykora, and my nieces and nephews at the Isanti County Fair in Cambridge, MN. It was a special day, 4-H & Open Dairy Show Day!

The morning started off at Diamond S Farm with the washing of all the Spring Calves for the the Little Britches class.

Sykora to Joe and I this year that she was gonna wash her calf all by herself...and she did as you can see from the photos above.

Next the calves were hauled to the fairgrounds in time to watch the 4-H Dairy Show where my niece Meghan and nephew Caleb showed a few Jerseys and did well in their classes and in showmanship.

A quick little touch up before the class...learning the ropes of fitting.

Then it was time for the favorite event of the fair...the Little Britches class...ya never know what's gonna happen with such enthusiastic dairy show persons all under the age of nine. I know we had a couple of tired kids and calves, with the latter ones laying down in the ring. But overall it was a fun-filled event for all.

Sykora is all smiles and is all ready to go into the ring with her March 7, 2009 Spring Calf named Fleur. If you would like to see more of Fleur, this sweet little calf will also be heading to the Minnesota State Fair Open Show!

The Dairy Industry has a bright future from the looks of this group of enthusiastic show persons. This is a photo of the grandkids of Dave & Kathy Skiba (my parents).

From left: Nathan Skiba-5, Caleb Skiba-10 is holding Abigail Skiba-10 mos., Mikayla Skiba-3, Bryce Skiba-6, Meghan Skiba-13, Sykora Stanek-4, Peter Skiba-3, and Victoria Skiba-8.

The Sad State of the Dairy Economy

2009-07-15T08:00:00.002-05:00

Everyone knows that the world economy is in crisis. People are struggling to pay bills, get or keep a job or just putting food on the table for their family.

But do you know how it is affecting your rural neighbors...the American Dairy Farmer?

Dairy farmers across the country are facing 'an unprecedented financial catastrophe'! At a time when inputs (feed/grain for the cows, gas used to help grow food, electricity used to milk and care for animals, etc) and expenses are at the highest levels ever. Producers are being paid for the milk their cows produce at about $10-11 per hundred weight...a level they got paid for milk about 30 years ago. And 30 years ago inputs and expenses were much lower. (Just to put it into perspective about a year ago milk was about $18 per hundred weight).

Dairy farmers are losing money every day they stay in operation. WHY you may ask? Because they must and WANT to feed and care for their animals. Yes, Dairy Farming is a business, but most who are in the dairy business are passionate about producing a high quality, natural, nutritious, American made food product - MILK! And they DO CARE fully about their animals well-being. Today, Dairy farmers are struggling to put feed in front of their cows and food on their family's table. (99% of Dairy Farms in the U.S. are family owned!)

Do you want to push American owned family businesses out and import all of your food products?

I am not necessarily saying that the government should 'bailout' the dairy producers like they did with the banks and car companies...but my question for you the average American citizen. 'Where do you want your food produced?'

Do you want it locally grown in the U.S. or are you happy to import it like we do with oil and so many other goods and products.

The U.S. food supply is the SAFEST in the world as well as the cheapest. Don't you think we as American's could pay a little more for our food to know it was produced in the U.S. where farms are inspected by government officials and where processing plants are inspected by them as well.

Well the government has heard the cry of the American Dairy Farmer and yesterday their was a hearing. Here is a link to the opening statements from the House Agriculture Committee - Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry – Public Hearing - To review economic conditions in the dairy industry.

Here is good overview about what was said at the hearing. The problem is their is full agreement that there is a problem; but no consensus on solutions.

My closing comment for the day - Support an American Dairy Farmer and Drink Milk, Eat Cheese and Enjoy Yogurt! And enjoy the American grown product today...as who knows where it will be produced tomorrow.

Have You Hugged A Cow OR A Farmer?

2009-06-30T12:02:00.000-05:00

With today being the last day of June Dairy Month I wanted to dedicate my blog to Dairy Producers and their cows! So have you hugged a cow or farmer recently! Happily I can say YES to both! When I was at my parents farm for Father's Day weekend I was able to hug my Dad and Mom, dairy producers, and while there I always have to hug or scratch a cow or twenty of them. Plus, I just hugged my heifers last night on my own pasture!

But in a seriousness, the time and dedication that goes into dairy production is great. A Dairy Producers job seems never to be done, it is 7 days a week with many long days. They must milk the cow 2-3 times a day, feed all the animals, produce the feed (like planting and harvesting hay, corn, etc) for the cows to eat, clean the barns and equipment, there is always on-going farm maintenance, and just so much more. All this is done with great care and pride just to produce a rich, wholesome, nutritious, safe and delicious product called MILK.

So if you haven't done it yet, Thank a Dairy Producer and a Cow...give 'em a HUG!

Here is one of my favorite poems that I closed many of my speeches with when I served as Princess Kay! Happy June Dairy Month! - Drink MILK, Eat YOGURT and Enjoy some CHEESE!

This poem's author is unknown and I did a little editing. :)

We walked in the lane together
The sky was covered with stars
We reached the gate in silence
As I lifted down the bars
She neither smiled nor thanked me
Because she knew not how
For I was only a Farmer's daughter
And she was a Jersey Cow.

Crave Brothers Farmstead Classics Chocolate Mascarpone Pie - June Dairy Month Recipe

2009-06-30T12:00:00.000-05:00

After visiting Crave Brothers Farm and Cheese plant last week for work, I had to put in this recipe as Mark said it is one of their favorites! I need to try it but is sounds fabulous!

Crumb crust:

1 cup chocolate wafer cookie crumbs

3 Tbsp. sugar

¼ cup butter, melted, plus more for pan

Filling:

16 oz. Crave Brothers Farmstead Classics Mascarpone

6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, melted

2 Tbsp. Kahlua or Amaretto

For the crust: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter a 9-inch pie pan. Stir the cookie crumbs, sugar, and melted butter together. Press the crumbs evenly in the pan. Bake six minutes. Set aside to cool. (Or you can purchase an oreo cookie crust.)

For the filling: In a large bowl and using a large spoon, stir the mascarpone and melted chocolate together until blended and no white streaks remain. Stir in the Kahlua or Amaretto. Immediately spread the filling in the cooled crust. Cover and refrigerate one hour. Serve with whipped cream. Serves 8.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Milksicles - June Dairy Month Recipes

2009-06-29T12:00:00.001-05:00

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups lowfat chocolate milk
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 TBSP cornstarch
1/4 cup reduced fat creamy peanut butter
4 (6 ounce) plastic or paper cups
4 popsicle sticks

Directions

Combine sugar, cocoa and cornstarch in a medium saucepan and gradually whisk in milk. Place over medium heat; bring to a simmer whisking frequently. Reduce heat; simmer until thickened, about 2 minutes, whisking frequently. Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter until it melts. Spoon mixture into plastic cups, place cups in an 8-inch baking pan or pie pan. Place popsicle sticks in centers. Freeze until firm.

Variation

For pudding, increase quantity of milk in recipe to 2 cups and proceed as directed. Serve pudding warm, at room temperature, or chilled topped with additional milk. Top with chopped pecans.

Kick the Can Ice Cream - June Dairy Month Recipes

2009-06-28T12:00:00.001-05:00

Makes 4 servings
Prep time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

1 cup milk (can use lowfat, fat-free, flavored)
1 cup whipping cream (can use half-and-half)
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Ice
Rock salt
Large and small cans with lids (like coffee cans, cleaned)
Duct tape

Directions

Pour milk, cream, sugar and vanilla into small can. Cover the can and duct tape well. Shake the can to mix. Put a layer of ice and rock salt in large can. Add small can and layer more ice and rock salt. Cover can and duct tape well. Kick or roll the can for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the small can. Scrape the ice cream away from the side of the can. Retape and put back in large can with more ice and rock salt. Kick or roll for 5 to 10 more minutes. Open can, stir and serve.

Variations

For reduced fat ice cream, use lowfat or fat-free milk and half-and-half.

For strawberry ice cream, add 1/2 cup of fresh or frozen sliced strawberries.

For chocolate chip ice cream, use chocolate milk and add 1/3 cup chocolate chips.

Hot Potato Soup - June Dairy Month Recipes

2009-06-27T12:00:00.000-05:00

Makes 10 servings (1 cup per serving)

Ingredients

1 cup carrots, chopped
1 cup onion, chopped
2 tablespoons jalapeno pepper, seeded, minced
1/2 teaspoon cumin
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cans (16-ounce) fat-free chicken broth
5 cups baking potatoes, peeled, diced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup flour
2 1/2 cups fat-free milk
1 cup reduced-fat Jalapeno Cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup reduced-fat Cheddar cheese, shredded
10 green onions, diced

Directions

Sauté carrots, onion, jalapeno, cumin and garlic in olive oil in large sauce pan until golden brown. Stir in broth, potatoes and salt; bring to boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 25 minutes (until potatoes are tender.) Combine flour and milk with whisk; add to pan slowly. Cook on medium heat until thick, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and add cheeses. Stir until melted. Serve in bowls with green onions as garnish.

Wagon Wheel Alfredo - June Dairy Month Recipes

2009-06-26T12:00:00.000-05:00

Makes 4 servings

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

8 oz. dried small pasta wheels

1 1/2 cup 1% lowfat milk

3 tbsp. flour

2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream

4 oz. lean deli ham, diced

1 1/2 cups frozen peas, thawed

Directions

Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside. Return the saucepan to the stove (do not place over heat just yet). Add the milk and flour and whisk until well blended. Place over medium-high heat and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly. Reduce the heat and continue to simmer and stir gently until the mixture thickens slightly, about 2 minutes. Add the Parmesan cheese and sour cream and stir until well blended. Stir in the pasta, ham, and peas, heat through.

Pizzas On the Grill - June Dairy Month Recipes

2009-06-25T12:00:00.000-05:00

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

1 pound pizza dough (from your grocery store)
Olive oil

Toppings Suggestions:

Four Cheese Pizza

3/4 cup of ricotta cheese
4 ounces of fresh mozzarella, sliced
3/4 cup Monterey Jack, shredded
4 tablespoons of Asiago or Parmesan cheese, grated
Fresh basil leaves

Asparagus, Prosciutto & Provolone

1/2 cup of asparagus, thick stemmed removed
4 slices of prosciutto ham, sliced thinly
6 ounces of provolone cheese, sliced thinly

Directions

Preheat grill. Divide pizza dough into four balls and on a surface dusted with flour, roll out into 8-10 inch circles. Brush grill rack with olive oil. Place pizzas on grill and cook for 5 minutes (pizzas will immediately puff up). Turn pizzas over, brush with olive oil and quickly divide toppings among all four pizzas. Cover grill and bake about 10 minutes (until pizza is golden brown and cheese is melted). Serve.

Speed Tip

Use precooked pizza shells (like Boboli) to cut down on grilling time. You can place the toppings right on the shell and then place the shell on the grill for about 10-15 minutes - no need to flip it over!

Peanut Butter Balls - June Dairy Month Recipes

2009-06-24T12:00:00.001-05:00

Makes 1 serving
Prep time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

2 tablespoons peanut butter
1/3 cup of your favorite cereal
1 tablespoon marshmallow fluff
8 ounces fat-free milk

Directions

Mix the peanut butter, cereal or oatmeal and marshmallow.

Roll into balls. Top peanut butter balls with ice cold milk and enjoy!

Sunshine Lemon Smoothie - June Dairy Month Recipes

2009-06-23T12:00:00.000-05:00

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

2 cups fat-free milk
2 cups lowfat lemon yogurt
1/2 cup ice
3 tablespoons powdered lemonade mix
1 lemon, cut into wedges

Directions

In a blender, combine all ingredients and blend until smooth and creamy. Serve in tall glasses and garnish with lemon wedge, if desired.

Quick Turkey Wrap Sandwich Lunch - June Dairy Month Recipes

2009-06-22T12:00:00.000-05:00

Makes 1 serving

Ingredients

1 flour tortilla
2 teaspoons reduced fat ranch dressing
2 slices roasted turkey breast
1 Swiss cheese slice
1 lettuce leaf
2 thin tomato slices
1 small orange, peeled, sectioned
1 cup fat-free milk

Directions

Spread tortilla with dressing. Top with turkey, cheese, lettuce and tomatoes; roll up. Serve immediately. Or wrap tightly and refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve with orange and milk.

Make-Ahead: Sandwich can be stored, tightly wrapped, in refrigerator for up to 12 hours.

Dulce de Leche (Caramel Jello) - June Dairy Month Recipes

2009-06-21T12:00:00.000-05:00

This recipe is in tribute to all fathers on Father's Day - including my dad, father-in-laws and my husband, Joe!

Makes 5 servings, approximately
3 ounces of milk per serving.

Ingredients

8 ounces caramel
2 cups fat-free or lowfat milk
¼ packet of unflavored gelatin

Directions

Heat the milk at low temperature with the caramel. Bring to a boil and add the natural flavor gelatin. Continue stirring. Once all ingredients have been incorporated, remove from stove and pour mix in a mould, previously sprayed with oil. Refrigerate until set. Serve very cold.

Nutritional Facts per serving for individual food recipe:

150 calories; 0 g fat; 0 g saturated fat; 0 mg cholesterol; 5 g protein; 35 g carbohydrate; 0 g fiber; 210 mg sodium; 125 mg calcium (10% of daily value). Nutrition figures based on using fat-free milk.

Easy Italian Pasta Bake - June Dairy Month Recipes

2009-06-20T12:00:00.000-05:00

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients

3 cups mostaccioli or penne pasta, cooked, drained
1 jar (27 1/2 oz.) light tomato sauce
1 package (8 oz.) 2% milk shredded Mozzarella cheese
2 cups thinly sliced mushrooms
2 cups yellow squash, sliced and halved
2 cups zucchini, sliced and halved

Directions

In large bowl, mix pasta, sauce, 1 cup of cheese and vegetables. Spoon into 13 x 9-inch baking dish; sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake at 375° F for 20 to 25 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Wagon Wheel Alfredo - June Dairy Month Recipes

2009-06-19T12:00:00.000-05:00

Makes 4 servings
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

8 oz. dried small pasta wheels

1 1/2 cup 1% lowfat milk

3 tbsp. flour

2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream

4 oz. lean deli ham, diced

1 1/2 cups frozen peas, thawed

Directions

Breakfast Quesadilla - June Dairy Month Recipe

2009-06-18T12:00:00.001-05:00

Makes 1 serving
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

1/2 cup egg substitute
1/2 cup grated Cabot 50% Light Jalapeño Cheddar cheese
2 soft fat-free tortillas (6-inch)
1 tablespoon diced green pepper
1 tablespoon diced onion
Nonstick cooking spray
2 tablespoons grated Cabot 50% Light Cheddar cheese

Directions

In a skillet, prepare egg substitutes with green peppers, onions, and 1/2 cup cheese. Flip once. Cook until done. Heat tortillas in the microwave about 30 seconds, until warm. Layer a tortilla, egg mixture and tortilla with cheese on top. Cut into six pieces.

Scrambled Egg and Mozzarella Breakfast Pizza - June Dairy Month Recipes

2009-06-17T12:00:00.000-05:00

Makes 2 servings

Prep time: 4 minutes
Cook time: 9 minutes

Ingredients

1 whole wheat English muffin

2 mushrooms, sliced

2 green onions, finely chopped

4 tablespoons diced green or red bell pepper

1/2 cup egg substitute

1/4 teaspoon pepper oregano or Italian seasoning, dash

4 teaspoons pizza sauce

1/2 cup shredded low-moisture, part-skim Mozzarella cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Split English muffin in half and toast; set aside.

Heat a small non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms, green onions and bell pepper. Cook, stirring continuously for 2 minutes, or until vegetables are softened. Stir egg substitute, pepper and oregano into vegetable mixture. Cook, stirring continuously until egg substitute is set, about 2 minutes.

Spread 2 teaspoons of pizza sauce onto each English muffin half. Spoon a quarter of the egg mixture over pizza sauce and top with a quarter of the cheese. Spoon the remaining egg mixture and cheese evenly on top of the muffins. Place the muffins on a baking sheet and bake* for 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

*Or, bake in a toaster oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 5 minutes.

Banana and Yogurt Crepes - June Dairy Month Recipes

2009-06-16T12:00:00.000-05:00

Here's a healthy recipe that's perfect for any time of day. For breakfast, lunch or dinner, these crepes are a great, tasty way to stay fit and be on your way to 3-A-Day of Dairy at the same time.

Makes 4 servings (Each serving = 2 crepes, 5 tablespoons yogurt topping)

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups lowfat (1%) milk
3/4 cup flour
1 egg
1 egg white
2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup, divided
1 (8 ounce) container lowfat banana or vanilla yogurt
1 banana, diced
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Fresh mint sprigs
Powdered sugar, optional

Directions

Whisk together milk, flour, egg, egg white and 1 tablespoon of honey in a medium bowl. Allow batter to rest 5 minutes at room temperature. Heat a 10-inch non-stick skillet over medium heat and spray with cooking spray. Pour 1/4 cup batter into skillet; quickly tilt and swirl batter to coat bottom of skillet. When crepe is lightly browned at edges, use a thin spatula to loosen and turn over. Cook turned crepe about 20 seconds or until lightly browned; slide onto plate to cool. Continue making crepes with remaining batter. To prevent sticking, place a piece of wax paper between each crepe.

Puree yogurt, vanilla and remaining honey in a blender or food processor until smooth. Add diced banana. Spread each crepe with about 2 1/2 tablespoons of the yogurt mixture. Roll crepes into cylinders. Place 2 crepes on each serving plate and garnish with mint sprigs and powdered sugar.

Black Forest Cherry Mocha - June Dairy Month Recipes

2009-06-15T12:00:00.000-05:00

Makes 1 serving

Ingredients

1 ounce (2 tablespoons) Torani Chocolate sauce
1/2 ounce (1 tablespoon) Torani Sugar Free Black Cherry syrup
1 cup of lowfat milk
1 shot of espresso or strong coffee
Dollop of whipped cream
Cherry

Directions

Pour sauce and syrup into 20-ounce chilled stainless steel pitcher. Add cold milk, then steam. Add espresso and pour into mug. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream and a cherry on top.

Note: If using stovetop, heat sauce, syrup and milk in saucepan over medium-low heat; do not boil. If using microwave, heat syrup and milk in large, shallow bowl for 2 to 3 minutes. Use whisk rapidly until milk is airy and frothed. Add espresso and pour into mug. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream and a cherry on top.

Courtesy of www.torani.com

Big Bowl Cheese Dip - June Dairy Month Recipes

2009-06-14T12:00:00.000-05:00

Makes: 20 servings
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 5-8 minutes

Ingredients

1/2 cup diced onion
1 cup regular or non-alcoholic beer
8 ounces (2 cups) shredded Cheddar cheese
8 ounces (2 cups) shredded Pepper Jack cheese
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons taco seasoning
1-2 tablespoons chopped chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
1 cup sour cream
Tortilla chips or roasted potato wedges, for dipping

Directions

Place onion and beer in a heavy medium-size saucepan. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer 3 to 4 minutes.

In a large bowl combine cheeses, flour and taco seasoning. Slowly add handfuls to hot beer until melted. Repeat until all of the cheese is used. Stir in chipotle pepper and sour cream.

Amaretto-Mascarpone Fondue - June Dairy Month Recipes

2009-06-13T12:30:00.000-05:00

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups mascarpone cheese
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons amaretto flavored liqueur or espresso coffee
1/2 teaspoon orange extract, optional
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
9 firm ripe peaches, nectarines and/or pears, cut in halves, pits and stems removed
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick) melted

Directions

In small-size saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons butter and mascarpone cheese over low heat, stirring constantly, until melted. Stir in sugar, amaretto and orange extract; heat 1 to 2 minutes.

Transfer to ceramic fondue pot and keep warm over burner. Sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg.

Preheat grill or broiler. Brush lightly with melted butter. Grill fruit over medium-hot coals until just heated through, 2 to 3 minutes on each side (don't allow fruit to get too soft.) If broiling, broil fruit 3 to 4 minutes, turning once.

For serving, use skewers to dip fruit into fondue.

MVP Pudding with Milk - June Dairy Month Recipes

2009-06-12T12:00:00.001-05:00

Makes 6 servings

Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: 10 min

Ingredients

4 cups 1% lowfat milk
2 packages (4 serving size) vanilla regular pudding
1 cup of 1-inch lowfat brownie pieces (using fat free or lowfat brownie mix)
2 cups sliced strawberries
1 cup blueberries

Add milk to pudding mix and prepare according to directions on box (instant pudding may be substituted). Place half of the brownie pieces on the bottom of a medium glass bowl and layer with half of the vanilla pudding, 1 cup of strawberries and 1/2 cup of blueberries. Repeat layers with remainder of ingredients. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate.

Note: If fresh berries are unavailable, you can substitute frozen berries, thawed.

Creamy Banana Walnut Oatmeal - June Dairy Month Recipes

2009-06-11T12:00:00.000-05:00

Makes 1 servings

Prep Time: 3 min
Cook Time: 3 min

Ingredients

1 cup fat free skim or 1% lowfat milk
2 packets instant oatmeal
1/2 ripe banana, mashed
1/2 tablespoon chopped walnuts

In a small bowl, combine milk and packets of oatmeal; Microwave on high for 1 to 2 minutes until steaming hot, but not boiling. Stir until creamy. Stir in mashed banana. Garnish with walnuts and serve.

Wake up to this tasty, satisfying bowl of oatmeal that is made with milk instead of water. Try using your favorite flavored oatmeal to add an extra kick.

Bow Tie Pasta Salad - June Dairy Month Recipes

2009-06-10T12:00:00.001-05:00

Makes 8 servings

Prep Time: 15 min
Cook Time: 15 min

Ingredients

1 (8-ounce) box bow tie or other shaped pasta
1/3 cup light mayonnaise
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper, or to taste
1/8 teaspoon hot pepper sauce, or to taste
4 ounces reduced-sodium baked ham or smoked turkey, diced
8 ounces reduced-fat Cheddar cheese1/2 medium red pepper, finely chopped
2 scallions, green and white parts, minced
1/8 teaspoon paprika

Cook pasta according to package directions, drain. Immediately rinse with cold water, drain well. Meanwhile, whisk together the mayonnaise, vinegar, relish, white pepper and pepper sauce in a small bowl; set aside in the refrigerator to chill. Combine the cooled pasta, ham, cheese, red pepper and scallions in a large bowl. Stir in the mayonnaise mixture just before serving. Garnish with paprika.

Skinny Hazelnut Café au Lait - June Dairy Month Recipes

2009-06-09T12:00:00.000-05:00

Skinny Hazelnut Café au Lait

Makes 1 servings

Prep Time: 5 min
Cook Time: 2 min

Ingredients

2 tbsp (1 oz.) sugar-free hazelnut syrup (30 g)
1 cup fat free milk (245 g)
2/3 cup brewed coffee (158 g)
cinnamon

Pour syrup into 20-ounce chilled stainless steel pitcher. Add cold milk.

If using a stove-top, heat syrup and milk in saucepan over medium-low heat; do not boil. If using a microwave, heat milk and syrup in large, shallow bowl for 2 to 3 minutes. Whisk rapidly until milk is airy and frothed. Blend in coffee, dust with cinnamon and serve in a bowl or mug.

Dairy Is In My Lunch Today

2009-06-08T12:48:00.003-05:00

Since it was a bit rainy and cold over the weekend, and still is today, I felt like a little comfort food therefore I made the soup and am enjoying the leftovers for lunch today. I am just sitting down to enjoy my lunch of Baked Potato Soup, when I realized I actually made a dairy recipe in disguise. I call it in disguise because you don't always think about Potato Soup having dairy in it, but my homemade recipe does because actually it is Cheesy Wisconsin Style Baked Potato Soup. I need to go home tonight and get this recipe to put on the web, because it is wonderful and contains quite a bit of milk and cheddar cheese!

So have you had your three-a-day of dairy yet? I am on dairy overload, but I love it and can't get enough of it! I had yogurt for breakfast and now am enjoying my 'dairy-good' soup with milk! And guess what the day isn't over yet, I might just have to have ice cream for dessert tonight!

Road Trip Rollups - June Dairy Month Recipe

2009-06-08T12:00:00.001-05:00

Ingredients:

8 large flour tortillas
1 package (8 ounce) Cream Cheese
1 package (8 ounce) sour cream
16 large turkey breast slices
1 package (7 ounce) fresh spinach leaves, rinsed well and drained
1 package (4 ounce) alfalfa sprouts, rinsed and dried
2 large tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1/2 pound Wisconsin Provolone cheese, shredded

Cooking Directions:

Spread each tortilla with 1 ounce cream cheese then 1 tablespoon sour cream. Arrange 2 turkey slices atop each, then divide spinach leaves, alfalfa sprouts, tomatoes, and cheese evenly over turkey. Roll up each filled tortilla tightly from one side to the other, securing with toothpicks. Chill. At serving time, cut crosswise into slices for tasty wheel-shaped sandwiches.

Variation: Use vegetable flavored wraps instead of tortillas; ham or other meat slices; sliced olives; chopped roasted red peppers; shredded carrots; Cheddar or Baby Swiss.

Classic Wisconsin Grilled Cheese Sandwiches - June Dairy Month Recipe

2009-06-07T12:00:00.000-05:00

Ingredients:

8 slices firm-textured sandwich bread
Mayonnaise, optional
Mustard, optional
1/2 pound (8 ounces) Wisconsin Cheddar cheese, mild, medium or sharp, grated
3 to 4 tablespoons butter, softened

Cooking Directions:

Spread bread slices with a thin layer of mayonnaise and/or mustard. Evenly divide the grated Cheddar over four slices of the bread. Top with remaining four slices.

Heat half of the butter in a large (12-inch) skillet over medium heat. Place sandwiches in skillet. Spread remaining butter over top slices of bread. Cover skillet. Cook about 3 minutes, until underside is golden brown. Carefully flip sandwiches with spatula and continue cooking, uncovered, 2 to 3 minutes, until cheese is melted and underside is browned. Serve immediately.

Tip: Using 2 to 3 ounces of processed cheese to replace part of the Cheddar imparts a creamy, silky sandwich. Processed cheese was traditionally used in grilled cheese sandwiches.

Berry Lemon Cream Tarts - June Dairy Month

2009-06-06T12:06:00.001-05:00

Ingredients:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
6 mini graham cracker pie crusts*
1-1/3 cups berries (6 ounces)**

*You may substitute one 6-ounces graham cracker crust for the mini crusts, if desired. Refrigerate at least 2 hours prior to serving for ease in cutting.

**Any fresh berry may be used.

Cooking Directions:

Beat cream cheese in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Add brown sugar, sour cream, lemon juice, and vanilla; mix well. Divide cream cheese filling among tart shells, spreading evenly, then top with berries.

Easy to Please Breakfast Yogurt Parfait - June Dairy Recipes

2009-06-05T12:00:00.000-05:00

Easy to Please Breakfast Yogurt Parfait

Servings: 1

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

1 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt
1/2 cup crunchy low-fat cereal or granola divided
1/2 cup fresh fruit, sliced (i.e. strawberries, blueberries, bananas)

Preparation:

To assemble parfait, begin with spooning half of the yogurt in the bottom of a bowl or tall glass. Add 2 tablespoons cereal and 1/2 cup fruit. Spoon on the rest of the yogurt. Top with remaining 2 tablespoons of cereal.

Substitution Idea:

Use any favorite flavor of yogurt as a base. You can also subsitute canned fruit (drained) for fresh fruit.

Join the campaign to get Conan to the Minnesota State Fair

2009-06-04T12:00:00.004-05:00

I found the following news story on Twitter from a friend of mine, and it just hit me that this would be a great way for those of us in agriculture to share our story about all the wonderful products we produce and how great we take care of our animals!

Join the campaign to get Conan to the Minnesota State Fair
"I've heard you guys have a chocolate-covered bacon. I will take the Tonight Show to the State Fair for a week if I can get my body weight in chocolate-covered bacon," Conan said in the KARE story that aired earlier this week.

Now, viewers have joined in the campaign to get Conan to come to the State Fair for a week.

One viewer even started a facebook page that you can join at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=104158776083.

You can click on the link and become a fan of "190 Pounds of Chocolate Covered Bacon = Conan O'Brien at the MN State Fair!"

"Recently in a KARE 11 News Extra, Conan O'Brien told reporter Jeff Olsen that he would come to the Minnesota State Fair on one condition."

Personally, my first thought is that Conan could join us past and present Minnesota Dairy Princesses as an official 'Butterhead'! Sounds better than chocolate covered bacon. But I do love the State Fair for all its foods on a stick.

So my message to Conan is "Come visit the Minnesota State Fair, the Great Minnesota (Midwest) Get-Together! I would personally like to share the story of Dairy with you! Conan, you would be treated to so many great dairy treats and if you wanted you could have the experience of showing one of my family's Jersey calves! Plus, I would gladly show you around the fair and show you my favorite things to do at the fair. I have been a fairgoer since I was 1-year old and I have been actively showing dairy animals at the fair with my family since I was 6 years old! So Conan join me this year at the Minnesota State Fair, it'll be an experience you'll never forget!"

Cheesy Chicken Crunchers - June Dairy Recipe

2009-06-04T12:00:00.001-05:00

Cheesy Chicken Crunchers

Servings: 4 - 6

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour
salt
pepper
4 egg whites
1/2 cup 1% low-fat milk
1 1/2 cups cornflakes, crushed
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded reduced fat Cheddar cheese
6 chicken breast filets, cut into strips
non-stick cooking spray
ketchup or BBQ sauce (optional)

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375° F. In small bowl, combine flour with a pinch of salt and pepper. In second bowl, make egg-wash by beating eggs and milk. In third bow, combine cornflakes with cheese.

Coat a 13x9-inch baking pan with non-stick cooking spray. Dip chicken pieces in flour, then into egg-wash, then roll in cheesy-flakes mixture, coating entire piece of chicken. Place on baking pan. Discard any unused corn flake mixture after coating chicken. Bake for 25 minutes, turning halfway through to ensure even browning. Serve with ketchup or BBQ sauce, if desired.

Substitution Idea:

Kick it up a notch by adding your favorite spice, like cajun or garlic seasonings, to the flour mixture before coating chicken!

Confetti Quesadillas - June Dairy Month

2009-06-03T12:00:00.003-05:00

This recipe is courteousy of the Midwest Dairy Association!

Confetti Quesadillas

3-A-Day™ of Dairy

Ingredients:

2 cups fat-free plain yogurt
1 cup finely minced cilantro
1 teaspoon cumin
12 soft corn tortillas
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded reduced-fat Monterey Jack cheese
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded reduced fat Colby cheese
1/2 cup fresh corn kernels or black beans
1/2 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
1 red bell pepper, finely minced
1 jalapeño pepper, finely minced

Servings: 6
Cost/recipe: $10.00
Cost/serving: $1.67
(figured using canned black beans)

Preparation:

Line a large strainer with a coffee filter or paper towel and place over a mixing bowl. Pour in yogurt and let sit until some of the liquid has drained away and yogurt is consistency of sour cream. Transfer to small mixing bowl. Stir in cilantro and cumin.

Preheat large skillet over low heat. Line up six tortillas. Divide cheese, corn, cilantro and peppers among tortillas, then cover each with a second tortilla. Place a tortilla on dry skillet or grill and warm until cheese is melted and tortilla is slightly golden. Flip and cook other side until golden. Cut into wedges and serve. Repeat with remaining quesadillas. Serve each wedge with a dollop of cilantro yogurt dip.

Substitution Idea:

Entertaining Idea: Make these ahead and serve at room temperature, or set up an assembly line "grillside" and let guests select their own blend of cheese and "confetti."

WI Has Many June Dairy Events

2009-06-02T16:45:00.000-05:00

Don't miss out on the many great dairy foods at the numerous Wisconsin June Dairy Month celebrations! For a full listing and all the details click here. And I know Wisconsin is not the only state to host these type of events, so if you are from outside of Wisconsin try Googling 'Dairy Breakfasts' or 'June Dairy Events' to help you find some local events!

About 11 years ago, my parents hosted the Chisago/Isanti Counties Farmer's Share Lunch in June. And this event featured the inner workings of my parents dairy farm of course, had a dairy foods sampling tent, and ag education tent and the meal which consisted of Cheeseburgers and all the fixings only cost the about 50¢ which was the farmer's share of what they got paid for the production of the food within the meal. It was a great educational event and I believe we hosted closed to 2000 people that day at the farm.

Cookies & Creme Pudding Pops - June Dairy Month Recipe

2009-06-02T12:00:00.001-05:00

Here is a good recipe for big and little kids alike!

Cookies & Creme Pudding Pops

Prep: 10 min. plus freezing.

Ingredients:
1 pkg. (3.9 oz.) Jello Chocolate Instant pudding
2 cups cold milk
6 Oreo cookies
1/2 cup whipping cream

Directions:
Beat pudding mix and milk in large bowl.

Place cookies in a resealable plastic bag; seal bag. Use rolling pin to crush cookies.

Add cookies and whipping cream to pudding and mix.

Spoon into 9 small paper or plastic cups.

Insert wooden pop stick or plastic spoon into each for handle. Freeze 5 hours or until firm.

Enjoy eating them on a hot summer day!!

Dairy Recipes For June Dairy Month

2009-06-01T12:00:00.002-05:00

I thought it would be fun to post a few recipes during June Dairy Month! This is one of my favorite months of the year as it gives me good reason to over indulge in all of my favorite dairy products because they are every where! Maybe this year I will keep tract of how much cheese I actually consume!

Here is the first recipe:

Strawberry Pretzel Squares:
Prep 25 Min plus refrigeration
Makes 20 servings

Ingredients:
2 cups finely crushed pretzels
1/2 cup sugar, divided
2/3 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 pkg. (8 oz.) Cream Cheese, softened
2 Tbsp. milk
1 cup whipping cream
2 cups boiling water
1 pkg. (6 oz.) Jello - Strawberry flavor
1 1/2 cups cold water
1 qt. (4 cups) fresh strawberries, sliced

Directions:
Heat oven to 350˚F. Mix pretzel crumbs, 1/4 cup sugar and butter; press onto bottom of 13x9-inch pan. Bake for 10 min. cool.

Beat cream cheese, remaining sugar, whipping cream and milk until blended. Spread over crust and refrigerate.

Add boiling water to gelatin mix in large bowl; stir 2 min. until completely dissolved. Stir in cold water. Refrigerate 1 1/2 hours or until thickened. Stir in strawberries; spoon over cream cheese layer. Refrigerate 3 hours or until firm.

Enjoy!

Vote for a Dairy Farmer's Daughter to Win Miss Oklahoma!

2009-05-29T15:22:00.002-05:00

I just got an update from my Jersey friend, Shelley Thompson-Haley, that her sister, Betty Thompson is up for Miss Oklahoma this next week. And one of the papers is running a neat competition! Basically you are to vote for your favorite.

After Miss Oklahoma is announced, she will randomly pick a winner from those who voted for her. The winner gets to have dinner with Miss Oklahoma. The winner will be announced June 7 during Miss Oklahoma's first press conference. Go to this link to vote! So go and vote for Betty and support a dairy gal who's platform is "Milk - It really does a body good!"

Quick background on Shelley & Betty. I met Shelley in 1996 at the National Jersey Queen competition. She was the one I got to pass my crown onto as the new National Jersey Queen that year and we have stayed in touch ever since. Then a few years ago, her sister Betty was crowned the National Jersey Queen too...a neat honor for the family. And that year was also the 50th Anniversary celebration of the Minnesota Jersey Queen program and we invited Betty to the celebration, so I got to know Betty as well!

So it is very exciting have a Dairy Advocate running for Miss Oklahoma! Best Wishes Betty!

Little Farm Worker

2009-05-28T12:04:00.001-05:00

Sykora is definitely a hard worker, especially when it comes to working with farm animals. Here is a picture of her a few weeks ago at my parents farm. Sykora decided the heifers needed their hay all pushed up, which is something I do when I am at the farm, but I was impressed that she beat me to it and did a great job. And as you can tell she had a very attentive audience!

She truly amazes me all of the things she has learned over the years working up at my parent's farm and working with cattle at shows and such. She definitely has the knack to working with animals and knows what to do. And now with the heifers in our pasture...it is an everyday thing for her to be 'talking to the girls' and finding reasons to work with them.

Speaking of 'talking to the girls', I visited with one of our neighbors this weekend as he was out walking his dog. I found out that between the two of them (him & his dog), they get a real kick out of the heifers and how friendly they are. He wished he had camera one day as his dog and one of the heifers were both going in for a 'kiss'. He and his dog enjoy walking by the 'girls' everyday. It was a fun visit to talk about the different breeds of cattle we have on pasture and talking about the heifers in general. I love educational moments like this one!

Princess Kay of the Milky Way Finalists

2009-05-27T12:40:00.002-05:00

Ever since I was a young girl I have been a dairy advocate always finding ways to promote nature's most perfect food...MILK! Through Minnesota's Dairy Princess Program I was able to polish my dairy promotion skills while serving as a Little Miss Dairy Princess, Junior Dairy Princess and then the coveted Princess Kay of the Milky Way...where I represented all of the dairy producers for the state of Minnesota for one year. (For more info about PK click here!)

Each year I enjoy watching a new talented crew of dairy princesses go through the program and vie for the Princess Kay title...it gets me excited every year. A few weeks ago the new Princess Kay Finalists were selected here are the 2009 candidates!

Twelve county dairy princesses from across the state have been named finalists for the title of Princess Kay of the Milky Way 2009-10. The winners are:

Sarah Brauen, 18, Benton County, daughter of Bill and Joan Brauen of Foley;
Chelsey Fast, 18, Cottonwood County, daughter of Chuck and Suzanne Fast of Bingham Lake;
Yvonne Freese, 17, Fillmore County, daughter of Jeff and Carolyn Freese of Lanesboro;
Emily Lahr, 20, Stearns County, daughter of John and Joanne Lahr of Sauk Centre;
Jessica Oelfke, 18, Sibley County, daughter of Jim and Jody Oelfke of Hamburg;
Elizabeth Olson, 18, McLeod County, daughter of Loren and Laura Olson of Hutchinson;
Lindsey Olson, 18, Wabasha County, daughter of Richard and Liz Olson of Plainview;
Renae Schaefer, 20, Becker County, daughter of Roger and Anita Schaefer of Frazee;
Emily Schueler, 19, Kandiyohi County, daughter of Jim and Sue Schueler of Raymond;
Maria Siegle, 21, Carver County, daughter of Steve and Sandy Siegle of Cologne;
Jacki Tveten, 19, Winona County, daughter of Dave and Kristi Tveten of Lewiston; and
Bethany Urban, 19, Kandiyohi County, daughter of Larry and Jean Urban of New London.

The contestants were announced at the close of a weekend event attended by more than 90 young women who live or work on dairy farms and serve as county dairy princesses. The entire group participated in dairy promotion training and 66 of them also completed judging for the coveted Princess Kay finalist positions.

Each of the twelve finalists will have her likeness sculpted in butter during the Minnesota State Fair. One will be named the 56th Princess Kay of the Milky Way during ceremonies the night before the fair opens.

The dairy princess program is sponsored by Midwest Dairy Association’s Minnesota Division through checkoff funds provided by dairy farmers to help increase sales and demand for dairy products. The current Princess Kay is Kristy Mussman of Claremont in Steele County.

I wish all the young ladies good luck in PK contest, it is truly a special program and they are great spokespeople for dairy, plus they will all get their heads carved in butter!

Now that I am a retired Princess Kay it doesn't mean I or the other past PK's have retired from our dairy promotion efforts, we have just hung up our banners and stored the crowns while continuing to spread goodwill about dairy and agriculture!

As June Dairy Month is just a few days way...watch my blog for Dairy Recipes!

Fence Cleaning

2009-05-26T12:13:00.000-05:00

I thought this was the perfect title for what Joe, I and Sykora did on Friday evening. We literally cleaned the fence line in part of our pasture...which some of this fence must not have been used for quite a while as there were all kinds of tree's and shrubs growing up through the fence or right next to it. So we cleaned it up so we can get make a 4-wheeler path all around the pasture next to the fence.

It was an interesting adventure that including carrying Sykora through parts that she didn't want to walk through and I also got to carry her bag-o-snacks which is ever so important when we do projects outside. Joe used the chainsaw, I stacked the brush in various burn piles (for later dates) and Sykora she carried a little brush but mostly told us how do things...she likes to tell us how to do things...and direct what projects we work on. I think she'll make a great boss someday!

Anyways now all we have left to do is finish stringing electric fence wire up through this area and the heifers can access the new portion of the pasture. We hope in the future to set up 'paddocks' in our pasture and rotational graze the heifers. Lots of work there yet, so it won't be real soon as we have other projects to get to first.

Weekend Projects

2009-05-22T07:19:00.003-05:00

Well it is another gorgeous day in Wisconsin...as they say God's Country.

I am certainly looking forward to the three-day weekend so I can work on some projects at home. Our first project is to do some fencing work in our pasture. Currently the heifers have access to about half our pasture and we need to do some fence fixing and string up some more electric fence and then they will have the whole pasture. I can't tell you how great it is to have heifers out their and work with them. Their personalities are so fun. Yesterday we were tail chalking them as we need to get this group bred, and anyways a couple of these girls are quite feisty. But then as a whole they are very curious. Joe went to go check something out in the pasture away from the shed and had the whole group follow him their and back. One heifer in particular...Star...was right behind him the whole time. It was cute to watch.

Other projects this weekend include finishing planting our garden both vegetables and flowers! Its a big garden so I hope it gets done. And then we really need to get started on building Sykora's play set. She really wants it done, and so do I because I know how much she will enjoy it when it is done. So we have a busy weekend ahead, but the great thing about it is we will be outside all weekend and it sounds like it is supposed to be a fairly decent weekend!

We Have Heifers On Pasture!

2009-05-21T12:26:00.005-05:00

We have finally done it! We got some heifers on our pasture again this past Saturday. Which our pasture is across the road behind our house. (Remember we live in a lake development area, most people have a 1 acre house lots and this pasture has always had some sort of animals on it, but they were typically beef cows or bulls.) Three of the heifers have returned as they were out there last year (the 3 Jerseys) and the other three are newbies (3 Holsteins).

I need to take their pictures yet, so I can properly introduce them to you. I know the Jersey's names are Star, Chance and Lemony. The Holsteins I need to look them up...I don't know their names, but that is because they are not ours. Those girls are owned by friends of ours...Ryan & Cleitus Bass of Bass-Val Farms in Reedsburg, WI. Ryan was a college buddy of ours at UWRF and an AGR brother of Joe's as well. We also own a few animals in partnership with Ryan & Cleitus including one of the Jerseys that is on pasture – Lemony. And these guys housed our heifers during the winter.

I can tell you that Sykora is thrilled to have some heifers on pasture. Just this morning she saw they were grazing right behind the house and she had to 'yell' out the window to them a good morning message! Sometimes I wonder what our neighbors think, but hey most of them have dogs or cats and I know they all talk to them.

So now that we have heifers again, we have chores to do...not much, but better than none in my book. And since a couple of these girls we will probably show later this year, we have to do some work with training them to lead better, clip their hair and of course give them a good scrub down. And since we don't have a well at the shed where the heifers live, we bring them into our yard to wash them.

Here's story I have to share about washing: One September evening two years ago, I was washing my heifer Fortuna, who I really liked and ended up winning her class at World Dairy Expo that year. So picture this there are five houses in our cul-de-sac and one of our neighbors was out washing their $70,000+ black corvette in their driveway like they always have, but then look at our house and driveway where Sykora and I were washing Fortuna...it was just priceless! At least in my book! I'll have to find the video I made of it and post it, sometime.

Well until later! Enjoy the lovely spring weather!

How We Spent Our 10th Anniversary

2009-05-20T06:54:00.006-05:00

Yes, I can't believe it but 10 years ago on May 8th, Joe and I were married. It is amazing how fast time flies by and all that has happened in our life since. We didn't have any major celebration planned for us, instead, we headed north to my parents farm for a weekend of farm work. But when I think about it is kind of fitting because we were married in Minnesota and part of our wedding celebration was on the farm. So it was good to be up there 10 years later. And we did have a celebration of sorts, since it was also Mother's Day weekend, we had a Mother's Day dinner on Saturday night with my parents, grandparents, and my three siblings and their spouses and all their kids...so it was quite crazy and fun!

When I think back 10 years ago, I have great memories of our wedding, and basically our wedding was a 3 day celebration. I must quickly explain that my dad's family is Polish we have some neat ways to celebrate weddings. It started out the day before the wedding with the setting up of the reception hall and decorating and all the prep work at the farm. Then I picked up my dress and the guys picked up their tuxes. The guys then proceeded to go out to a few establishments and the girls we stayed at the farm and relaxed a bit.

On Saturday, of course the big day, we got married at the church I attended while growing up in Cambridge, MN and it was a very special ceremony with numerous friends and family in attendance. Then when we exited the church...waiting for Joe and I was a big International Tractor (my family likes red, Joe and I don't care what color the tractor is.) with a tiny, brand new manure spreader hooked up to it. Now I must quickly explain, I am the only girl in my family and ever since I could remember, my dad always said the day I got married he was going to wash up the manure spreader and give me and my husband a ride in it.

Well, needless to say once I was engaged, my dad recalled this story too, and started teasing me about cleaning up our manure spreader at home. So in those days leading up the wedding I kept checking out the manure spreader to see if had gotten cleaned off. When I left for church the morning of the wedding...thankfully it was still covered in manure and I knew at that time, that Dad didn't have time to clean it up and get to church in time for photos...so I thought I was saved. Well needless to say, he had been planning ahead with another family friend and they rented a tractor and the little manure spreader for the day (one that had never been used). So when we came out of the church, we did get to ride in the manure spreader...along with our maid of honor and best man! It was definitely quite the site along the streets of Cambridge.

So then after the great ride the wedding party all loaded into cars for my parents farm because we had to get a photo of Joe and I and the wedding party with calves on the farm. Animals have just been such a big part of our relationship and such. And since I was from a Jersey farm we had a Jersey calf and Joe being from a Holstein farm we had hauled a Holstein calf from Fall Creek, WI to the farm for the photo. We got some great pictures and since our whole wedding party had worked with cattle it was easy to do and pretty entertaining as well. The guys didn't complain much that they had 'hair' on their tuxes after the photos as the Spring calves were shedding. Then we headed for the reception site and ate and dance and celebrated the night away.

I am sure you are wondering about the 3rd day of celebrating and why. Well everyone who was invited to a wedding in my family is always also invited to the day after celebration and it has a special name that for the moment has left my memory. But the gist of the day is it is more laid back and the bride and groom get more time to visit with everyone, open presents, eat and drink more and then are entertained by family and friends with a mock wedding. And for those of you who have never seen a mock wedding, it is where the men dress up like women and women dress up like men and then they do a little 'play' about the couple who just got married and tell stories about them growing up and funny episodes from their relationship. I think the best part of the mock wedding is the fact that some of our guy friends were dressed in dresses and had on make up and I have it on video and have numerous photos. So if you know Ross Van Overbeke, Jamie Endvick, Dave Jauquet, Bill Pirkl, Tony Scheffler, and my brother Patrick and you want to see them in dresses...let me know! hehehe!

One other story from our wedding, was the on-going joke from our wedding party...they wanted shirts that said 'Stood up in the wedding of the 44th Princess Kay of the Milky Way'. And this was because I was Princess Kay a few years before and I had made shirts for my parents to wear to wear to industry events and such and they proudly did. They said Mother/Father of the 44th Princess Kay of the Milky Way. I also had my own shirt too. So of course our wedding party was jealous and wanted one too. I know I promised them shirts and I never quite got them done...I still feel bad about it today, but hey, maybe I still can when we celebrate one of our wedding anniversary's! So if you 'stood up' for us watch out...you never know quite what I will do!

So back to the weekend at the farm this year...I spent most of that weekend with a pair of clippers in my hands and I was shaving off the 'woolie' winter coats on any new cows that had calved from the last time I was up, which was 19 cows. And then I started clipping off some of the heifers on the farm to get rid of their 'fuzz' so that they will be cooler and grow better. So I started with the Spring Yearling pen which there were 25 of them. Yep, 25 heifers. I clipped 23 and then my niece, Meghan, showed up and she clipped the last two...so for the weekend I clipped 42 animals. And I have many more heifers to clip when I go back up in a few weeks. FYI - I didn't clip there heads, just basically everything else. And a few of the heifers and cows were a bit kicky and not a fan of being clipped, which happens, but I was only kicked once...and a week and a half later still have a good bruise on my leg...I love reminders of the things I do with animals! hehe

Also during the weekend we put cows and heifers on pasture...after a few mishaps they are all on pasture. And we also moved heifers around and some steers. The heifers we moved included about 7 that were spring calves last year that my nieces and nephews showed and a few other friendly ones meaning they can be a little more challenging to move. But I have to say the group of steers we moved were either just plain stupid or way to excited. We had more issues moving them than any group of heifers, but again they are moved.

I do have one funny story to tell about the steers. Joe and I were trying to get them cornered in one end of their pen and I was holding the fence that we were using to corner them and Joe was trying to get them in the corner. Every time we thought we had them all, one of the smaller ones would see a whole and run out...making a mass movement so the rest of them would run out...well Joe was trying to go after one of these little guys with some determination and because he was so intent on getting in front of the steer so it wouldn't run all the way to the end of the pen again, he didn't realize that their was a tree stump on the ground...his foot hit the stump and it was a slow motion fall as he couldn't get his feet back under him...he hit the ground hard...and then of course...I couldn't help but laugh because it was so funny...to watch...Joe didn't think it was that funny and didn't appreciate me laughing so hard, but I couldn't help it...and well that is just married life I guess, when we can share those precious moments!

Overall, it was a great weekend and I couldn't have asked for a better way to spend my 10th Anniversary than working with my husband and daughter at the farm! Yes, I know I might be a little strange, but since I am stuck in the office most days, I enjoy being outside and I love working with animals. And on beautiful days like today is, I wish I was outside. And even on those crummy cold days, I enjoy it too. I just love cows and the farm business.

Cow Camp Adventures

2009-05-19T07:50:00.009-05:00

This past weekend was definitely a fun one, as I spent it with about 80 Holstein enthusiasts at the Wisconsin Holstein Association's Cow Camp for junior members ages 9-14. It was a great learning and networking weekend for the juniors. There is a great future for the dairy industry with so many interested and excited youth!

Here is the whole group of Cow Campers and JAC leaders! What a spectacular group!

Currently, I am working with a few other adults in Sauk County, WI to re-start our Junior Holstein/Dairy organization and I offered to drive a couple young men to the camp and then stayed to help as did a few other adult leaders. At this camp the WI Junior Activities Committee (JAC's) were the camp leaders. The 8 JAC's each had their own team of campers that they got to know and they also helped lead some of the educational sessions: fitting, feeding and bedding at a show, what to pack for a show and much more. Also they had some other adults speakers that came in to lead educational sessions on Dairy Judging and Showmanship.

This is a picture of part of the showmanship demonstration led by past JAC and current National JAC Linda Behling.

The Wisconsin Holstein Princess, Laura Elliott, was also on hand to work with the kids. The youth, especially some of the girls loved having the princess around! Some even got to wear her crown!

My main role of the weekend was working with food prep for the 80 kids and adults at camp with WHA staff, Ashley Yager; JAC Advisor, Lisa Behnke; Danielle Nauman and a few other adults. We had a great time talking about anything and everything and making food in large quantities! Many of our conversations were about the industry and our experiences as juniors and showing and just with different people in the industry! That is always my favorite part...stories!

It was a bit of a challenge cooking for a group this size in the small kitchen, but we managed because we were creative...we just never thought we would break a pizza cutter only a quarter of the way of cutting pizzas...it only added to our kitchen duty fun...here is Lisa with the end result of the pizza cutter.

Besides learning about dairy related stuff, the cow campers got to sing around a campfire, watch some movies till late in the night.

During the campfire...the cows came out with some udderly fun sing-a-long songs!

Further the camp ended with the annual Ag Olympics activities with a few different races and such which end up with the big whipped cream, chocolate and shaving cream fight...which was a big messy fun for the campers to 'cream' their JAC camp advisors!

This is some of the kaos during the Ag Olympics 'cream' fight...

The is the after Ag Olympics shot of the Cow Campers & JAC's. Can you recognize anyone??

After a weekend of learning, fun, celebrating the dairy industry and meeting other kids with the same interests, I think the campers were finally worn out...I know I was.

Pre-K3 Farm Visit

2009-05-15T07:27:00.005-05:00

On Wednesday of this week, I got to go on a field trip with my daughter, Sykora's, Pre-K3 class, and what a treat! The farm hosts Brad & Kim did a great job explaining everything about the farm to the kids. But you have to love how they began the tour...petting kittens and a bunny. I think that was a huge hit...as we stayed there with the kids for quite a while.

Sykora with one of the kittens.

I know it was a favorite part with Sykora as we had a tragic accident with one of our house cats, Bootie Boots (it was Sykora's new cat we adopted in November 2008). He got hit by a car and is now buried beneath the big pine tree in our front yard. And so now Sykora is waiting for the kittens at Grandma and Grandpa Skiba's farm to get big enough for us to adopt. Sykora really wants a family member of Bootie Boots...even an distant one.

Back to the tour, the kids got to see and learn exactly where milk comes from as Kim squirted some milk into her hand from one of their cows. It was a neat moment to watch the kids reactions. Then the kids went into the the milking parlor and learned about the milking machines and got to stand right where the cows do when they get milked and pretend to be a cow for a moment.

Here are some of the kids and parents in the milking parlor. Sykora is int he pink rain coat as it was a rainy day.

The next stop was to see where and how the cows lived in big barns with sand for bedding that was soft and clean. They were just been fed a great mixed ration of hay, corn, soybeans, minerals and much more. Then the kids got to sit inside a big green John Deere tractor, which they all thought was pretty cool. And then is was off to see the heifers and calves. The calf barn was another hit of the tour as Kim had prepared 10 bottles of water, so the kids could experience feeding a calf. And it was fun to watch the kids get into feeding the calves and watch their excited reactions when the calf would take the nipple and suck it. Some kids were definitely naturals with feeding calves and I think would do a great job helping any farmer with calf chores!

Then the tour was over and it was 'Snack Time'. Which was also a celebration for one of the classmates as we wished him happy birthday early (he has a summer birthday). He brought rice krispy bars for his classmates and the teacher had milk. Then Brad and Kim also had a treat for all of us Cheese Curds and String Cheese which is like my favorite! And I can't forget after snack the kids did get to meet the family dog, a Great Dane, he was definitely very big. Some kids petted him and others like Sykora, stood back and just looked, she doesn't really like big dogs and this was a really big dog!

The class posed for a photo in front of the milking cows.

It was a great way to spend a couple hours with kids and watch and help them learn about agriculture. And even though Sykora has experience on a farm, she loves animals so any trip to the farm is great.

Happy Birthday Joe!

2009-04-21T12:00:00.003-05:00

I can't forget my wonderful husband's birthday today! I wished him Happy Birthday before I left for work this morning! And tonight Sykora and I made him a sweet treat to enjoy! It'll be a quick birthday celebration as I have to run off to the Sauk County Junior Holstein Meeting, which is also tonight! I am excited to get this group re-invigorated again after 8 years. I am hoping for a good turnout! Tonight's main objective is for the youth to hear from a WI JAC - Brian Coyne about all the great things you can do in Jr. Holstein and to get kids registered for WI Holstein Cow Camp!

Prayer for You

2009-04-21T07:29:00.001-05:00

I haven't had the time to blog about this past weekend at the farm yet...still don't have time. But I got this little prayer via email from a friend, so I thought I would share it.

Saint Theresa is known as the Saint of the Little Ways. Meaning she believed in doing the little things in life well and with great love. She is also the patron Saint of flower growers and florists. She is represented by roses.

Make a wish before you read Saint Theresa's prayer. That's all you have to do. Prayer is one of the best free gifts we receive.

"May today there be peace within.

May you trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be.

May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith in yourself and others.

May you use the gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.

May you be content with yourself just the way you are. Let this knowledge settle into your bones, and allow

your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of us.'

Have a wonderful day!

Cows On My Mind

2009-04-16T12:06:00.003-05:00

Well, cows are totally on my mind this beautiful, sunny Thursday! I am thinking of cows for many reasons...tomorrow I am going on a daughter tour to view some of Accelerated Genetics progeny...I am also thinking of all the exhibitors at the Midwest Holstein Spring Show in Jefferson, Wis. and wishing I could see the show, but...I am not going to the show because I am heading north this weekend to my parents dairy farm to put in one of our power-packed farm work weekends and spend time with family...and this weekend I have to make the final decision about what we might bring to the Wisconsin Jersey Spring Spectacular show next weekend...if anything and further...I am getting cow/calf information for some signs I will be making for our show string next week and I am still have some more information to gather from our crew yet. So therefore...I am thinking cows and loving it!

I also feel like I am coming out of a fog of work from dairy proof related projects and I am still holding onto this terrible head cold, which I got some medication from the doctor yesterday, so hopefully that will put me in prime form for all my cow-related tasks the next few days.

And our little cow girl, Sykora, is extremely excited to be heading north this weekend as well. She wants to start training her spring calf, Fleur, and do all her cow fun projects too...including our book project, Saturday looks to be a good day for taking photos. Stay tuned for some fun stories from this weekend!

Hipity Hopity It's A Monday!

2009-04-13T06:58:00.001-05:00

I had a choice this morning, I needed to decide what my attitude was going to be. And I decided that I was going to be excited that it's a Monday morning! I hope you feel the same way. So hipity hopity, lets make it a great Monday!

The past week has been a bit of a blur just because many hours were spent writing, editing and designing a newsletter and various other projects for work all the while I have been battling a bad head and chest cold. And that is why I took a break from the blog. But I am back at it now.

Our Easter celebrations were of course fun as we have an energetic four-year-old in our house, who just loves holidays. And she got the pleasure of going on four different Easter egg hunts...one at her Grandpa and Grandma Stanek's, one at home, one at church and one at her Great Melville's house where we enjoyed a great Easter dinner with family. The silly Easter bunny left great treats for her at each place and she enjoyed each hunt.

Well I am still in the 'bunny' mode as you can see from my title...so I hope you have a great day. And if you haven't had a chance to sing a good, funny song lately try "Little Bunny Foo Foo". It'll perk up your day!

I Voted!

2009-04-07T07:52:00.002-05:00

Yes, I did my good civil duty and voted today. Did you?

In my township we are having some land-use issues and heavy discussions, so our elections for our town board are pretty important. Further, the Reedsburg School District has two important issues up for vote. One is for a referendum and the other is to start up 4-Year-old kindergarten. So it was important that I make sure my vote is heard!

Today, is dairy proof day, and its supposed to be the day when the production data comes in...well it will, but the official type data is now delayed till Wednesday, so it just makes things a bit more interesting and spread out. Oh well, we roll with the punches here! I can tell you when everything is official it will be posted on Accelerated Genetics website.

By the way the weather is sunny and its starting to warm up now this week...so we will see temperatures in the 50's! Yeah!

No Snow.

2009-04-06T17:36:00.002-05:00

Yes, its true, we didn't get a bit of snow. The weather forecasters got us all worked up for nothing in this area. But needless to say I know other parts of the country did get snow, some quite a bit.

Today's message is short, but I thought I would share a website for you to view. If you haven't had the chance to ever check out Dairy Farming Today's website, I would recommend you do. It contains a great deal of information about dairy farming practices and much more. It is a great resource of information.

Keep Smiling! I am!

No Snow and No Cows, yet.

2009-04-05T13:03:00.005-05:00

As my title says, we haven't gotten any snow yet, but we are expected to get something yet, as I keep getting the Winter Weather Advisory warnings on my phone and on emails. We will see what this afternoon and tonight brings.

And we don't have any heifers on our pasture yet. Which isn't a bad thing right now, as the grass isn't quite ready to be pastured. The three animals that we bought for my parents from the Kentucky National Sale and then the two we bought yesterday from the Budjon Sale, got on a trailer today for North Branch, Minnesota. Which made much more sense and is less of a hassle for all. Yet it is a bit sad that we don't have heifers on our pasture yet, because I love looking out my bedroom window in the morning and seeing the animals there. Last summer the heifers we had seemed to like spending their mornings munching in clear view of my window, so that I could watch them while I got ready for work. I loved it. I just have to be patient as I know we will soon have some out there and then also will begin our daily chores again, which can be interesting with our full-time work schedules sometimes. But its such a pleasure working with the wonderful animals.

I need to share a few photos from yesterday's sale. Sykora did pick out a few top selling animals that she would have liked to buy, but she didn't quite have that kind of money in her bank account, but I think she is developing a pretty good eye for cattle. Also, she made some new friends.

This is Sykora posed with one of her picks. And no we didn't buy her. But Sykora liked her.

Here Sykora met a little boy who shared his tractors and truck. They kept busy for quite awhile pushing, loading and hauling sawdust around while the sale was going on.

After the sale concluded, a new set of auctioneers took over the bench, a much better looking crew too! (Rachael and Hannah Kietzmann and Sykora.) The girls were excited to discover that there were even drink cup holders in the auctioneers stand.

This week is Dairy Proof week (proofs are officially released the morning of Tuesday, April 7), so I am going to be quite busy at work this week with many different deadlines for projects and my blogs might lag a bit or be really short this week, even though I am completely enjoying this blogging thing. (For those of you not familiar with the dairy cattle genetics or the artificial insemination industry. The dairy proofs are a compilation of milk production and type data on each of the bulls offspring that the USDA and breed associations (and Interbull-international information) put together for all bulls in the country and world that our company (Accelerated Genetics) and our competitors use to market our bull semen.) It should be an exciting week, but it also seems to be a long one as my division is responsible for creating all the new printed sales material and website information about all of our bulls.

I do know once I get through proof week projects and such I am going to do some blogs about the places we've travelled over the years and what we have learned about each culture and their agricultural and dairy industries. And I know my first one will be about Costa Rica. A country that I have visited 4 times, Joe 5 times and Sykora 2 times. Yes, Sykora is a world traveler too and has been to 7 countries so far and loves to travel just as much as Joe and I do. The reason I am starting with Costa Rica is that is where Joe and I went on our honeymoon in May 1999. Yep, we will be celebrating our 1oth Wedding Anniversary on May 8, 2009, so its only fitting that I start talking about that country. Even though our first international experience was a 3-week cultural diversity college class that took us throughout Mexico during our Senior year at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. That class gave us the itch to travel and learn more about this world we live in. And we have met so many wonderful people along the way.

So stay tuned for some interesting tails about our trips and experiences.

Cow Crazy and Web Savy Again

2009-04-04T05:49:00.003-05:00

Alrighty, its a bit earlier than normal, but wanted to blog a bit today.

In 2002, I started my first website and for quite a few years I was really good at updating it and such. The last few years, its always on my to do list and never gets done. I have no good excuses, the only thing I can say now is that I am making a renewed effort to update it and eventually redo it all. My first effort is just to update what I got, because its live and its embarrassing how old the information is. And if I use that website properly, it will be worth the effort and accomplish the goals I have in mind. So with that, here is the website: www.cows4u.com. Please remember its still a work in progress and some links are bad. I'll keep you updated when I update it more.

Also, Joe got a bit busy buying Jerseys yesterday from a sale in Kentucky...and our pasture might just be getting stocked today. He bought a couple of springers (springers is 'cow talk' for heifers that are pregnant) for my parents herd. And since they aren't due to calve for a while, we'll probably keep them here until my parents have a planned trip to visit us for Sykora's dance recital later this spring.

And I must report to those who don't live in Wisconsin, that we are in for an interesting spring treat...SNOW. Yep we are to get 3-6 inches of the stuff late tonight and into Sunday. Should be fun!

Cow Bug

2009-04-03T07:34:00.006-05:00

I am excited that today is sunny and gonna be warm like a whole 50 degrees. Just Awesome!

And I am happy its friday, because tomorrow we (Joe, I and Sykora) are heading to a dairy cattle sale. And I have what I call the 'cow bug'! Its not a flu or illness or anything like that, its more the feeling and wanting to spend more time with cows and cow people.

So, I am looking forward to see what the sale offerings are first hand. I have seen the splendid sale catalog, but I like to see the animals first hand as well. Plus, I know I am meeting some friends at the sale and I know I will see many more people from the dairy industry. Any time that we in the dairy industry get together it always seems like a celebration, whether its a sale, a show, a meeting, a convention, etc. I just love that about our industry! So I plan to celebrate with everyone a bit tomorrow. So yes, I got the 'cow bug' bad. I did forget to tell you its contageous, because I think Sykora has it too. Check out the photo below of her kissing her first show calf named 'Mini Moo'.

Sykora is also interested in investing in a some calves or cows. She told me last night that she wants to buy three. So it should a very interesting day to see which ones she picks to bid on. I know last year at a sale, when I asked her what animal she would like to buy, she ended up picking out the top selling animal...whether that was good cow knowledge on her part or a bit of random luck, we will see in the future as she gets more involved in animal breeding and selection, etc.

We do want to help Sykora invest in some animals so she can experience the challenges and joys of raising and breeding cows. And she has such an interest in anything and everything related to cows...hence the reason she has the 'cow bug' too. Her enthusiasm is infectious and just makes me want to be able to work with cows and calves everyday.

Well, I share with you later how the sale goes, but here are a few fun pictures I had to share of Sykora and some of her Skiba cousins at the county fair last year and the second one is of some of them helping to mix beet pulp on show morning at the 2008 Minnesota State Fair.

What a Beautiful Day

2009-04-02T07:09:00.008-05:00

I love it when I wake up and feel wonderful and ready to tackle any challenge that heads my way. It's a beautiful morning, the sun is trying to peer out and it is 28˚F. Not that 28˚ is warm by any standards, but it is refreshing as I look out my bedroom window and see green peeking its way out of the ground and that means spring is here.

I can't say I wake up every morning like this, and I know this winter I definitely did not wake up this way, but lately I have and I love it! This morning I want to thank god, my family, friends, and even a few doctors...who helped me through a dark winter when I was having a medical mystery.

I feel I need to share this story otherwise, many of you reading my blog won't understand my re-newed spirit for life and everything in it.

It began on the morning of December 8, 2008, I woke up with some pain and stiffness in my knee and I hadn't done anything strenuous that would have caused the pain. As the day at work drew on my knee got more painful and I started limping around and that night was awful, and I started my first of many sleepless nights. On December 9, I started visiting my first round of doctors and every day that went by my knee got more painful and more swollen. By December 14-15 it was the biggest it got and my knee well didn't look like a knee and I was using crutches at this point to get around and had seen 4 Doctors and had 3 others that had reviewed my case and had a zillion tests run.

On December 18 I got checked into UW hospital in Madison, Wis. where I felt I was on an episode of 'House' or 'Gray's Anatomy', because of all the doctors, residents and interns I got to deal with plus because what was causing the inflammation and pain in my knee was a mystery. After many more tests, x-rays, ultrasounds, etc...a team of Rheumatologists diagnosed me with Seronegative Spondyloarthropathy which is a large family of rheumatic diseases. But they had more tests to run to further decipher which family line I was afflicted with, which meant more tests and a few weeks of knowing nothing.

Now while all these tests were going on the doctors did find one other issue with me...I had gall stones. Which once the doctors told me this and I researched the symptoms on my laptop in the hospital, it was like wow, because for years I had been having symptoms and attacks from gall stones and didn't know it, but now I knew I could fix that problem. There is nothing like the feeling of knowing you can fix a problem. And for me, not having this on and off or sometimes constant chest and back pain that I had with my gall stones was awful. I set up my surgery for February 10, when I knew I would be able to take some time off of work to recover.

In the mean time, from December 20 to January 20 (when my next rheumatologist appointment was) I tried to learn about the group of diseases classified under Seronegative Spondyloarthropathy, which were a bit mind boggling and very depressing. During this time even though I had gotten a steroid shot in my knee, the swelling, stiffness and pain didn't go down quickly and I also had to learn to walk again on my leg after a few weeks of being on crutches. On January 20, I got to my appointment ready for news, what I got was a very brunt doctor that didn't seem to care and he told me after tests and such that I had Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) {Ankylosing spondylitis (pronounced ank-kih-low-sing spon-dill-eye-tiss), or AS, is a form of arthritis that primarily affects the spine, although other joints can become involved. It causes inflammation of the spinal joints (vertebrae) that can lead to severe, chronic pain and discomfort. In the most advanced cases (but not in all cases), this inflammation can lead to new bone formation on the spine, causing the spine to fuse in a fixed, immobile position, sometimes creating a forward-stooped posture.}.

Wow, I was a bit stricken, as now I was 'classified' as something that would forever follow me and my medical records. But the doctor didn't explain anything other than he wanted to put me on the drug Humira right away. Not that there is anything wrong with drugs like Humira, as one day I may be on it. But he didn't give me any other options of drugs and he just wanted to put me on it. I was in too much shock of the diagnosis let alone the fact of being put on a drug for the rest of my life, I couldn't deal with it all at that moment. And I also knew enough about Humira (watched commercials on TV) that I wasn't going on just like that, and instead got another steroid shot in the knee, which then for a about a week got rid of all my swelling and most of my pain.

Now I was on a mission to find a new Rheumatologist and get a second opinion, but in the mean time I had some big things going on at work like my Young Producer Winter Get-Away conference. And from the stress (good stress as I love these events) of preparing and putting on this event my knee started to swell again. Plus, I had my upcoming Laparoscopic Gall Bladder Surgery coming up and my knee was getting huge again.

Well on February 10, I got rid of my gall bladder and stones, yet I felt like a train wreck. If you have ever had a similar surgery you'd understand the intense upper right shoulder pain, its awful. Plus, my knee was big, swollen and painful again. I was a mess and if anyone who was a friend on Facebook during this time saw this through my status updates. Thank you to all of you who sent me messages during this time, I can't tell you how much it meant to me.

A week after my surgery, while I was still at home recovering, I went to my new Rheumatologist appointment with Joe. And needless to say, he confirmed that I have AS, but he explained things to me, answered my questions and gave me a variety of options for medications along with telling me where I could check into alternative supplements that may help. And maybe it was the time I had to research between doctor visits or just time to accept that I had AS, but it was a huge relief to feel I was getting answers and solving problems. So I was started on a medication which took some time to start fully working, but within a few weeks I was finally starting to feel normal, well I look at it as my new normal, because after going through something like this you can't go back to normal. But that's okay with me.

Through all of this mess this winter, my husband, Joe, was wonderful and more understanding that I could have ever imagined and my sweet daughter, Sykora was a trooper and a big helper. And I have a great group of friends and family who have also been very supportive and I thank you.

I can tell you I have had an attitude adjustment, one that came out of the deep, dark of night during those many sleepless nights. At the beginning, I didn't know where I was heading or if I would ever walk, run, or have fun like I always have. But then over time as I have accepted the AS and got rid of my troublesome gall bladder, I felt I had a future that was wide open in front of me and that I just had to decide how I wanted to live it again. Well as you can see I chose to live my life with a huge smile on my face and I am dancing through the challenges that I face every day. Sometimes you need that life altering challenge to help you reset your priorities.

One of my new priorities is spending more time with my family. One way that I decided I can do this is by writing a book or two or more. And not just any old book, its actually a tag team effort with my daughter, Sykora. I wanted to find a way to spend more time with her and teach her some of life's lessons along the way. Since she doesn't get the opportunity to grow up on a farm like I did, she gets the next best thing, time at Grandma and Grandpa Skiba's farm (Dave & Kathy Skiba). Since even before Sykora was born we have spend about one weekend a month up at the farm because Joe and I own cattle with my parents and go there to work with them and help my parents. And when Sykora goes up there she is Grandma's little helper with the calves and she always tells me or shows me what she is doing and learning on the farm.

So now with this children's book in my mind, I am working with my mom to ensure that Sykora understands the how's and why's that go on in calf care. So that I can have wonderful conversations with Sykora (taking notes) while she tells me what she does at the farm and how she helps Grandma care for the calves. This is such a fun process and I enjoy the excitement that comes from Sykora as she talks about each new experience she has on the farm. As for the book, its still a work in progress, but it is also so much fun. So stay tuned to hear more in the future.

Here Sykora is working hard to help feed calves.

I know blogs are supposed to be short, but this is just a bit of explanation of why I am blogging now and why my priorities in life are what they are! Thanks for taking the time to find out about me and I look forward to sharing more about myself, my family and our experiences in the cow business.

P.S. I have to add this because its another reason why I am fired up this week. It is residual from hosting my most recent event at work, the Young Producer Leadership Conference.

Have a fabulous day!

It's Almost Time

2009-03-31T12:35:00.007-05:00

Last night after work, Sykora and I were able to take a walk as it was a nice, sunny evening. As we walked by our shed and pasture, I was getting excited as the grass is just starting to come alive and turn green, meaning that soon we will be able to bring some of our heifers back to our pasture for the year. And we can work with them and raise them ourselves. It is so rewarding to have the heifers in basically our backyard. And Sykora just loves being a little 'farmer's helper'!

For those who don't know, we live by a small lake with many houses all around, and a few years ago we were able to purchase about 10 acres that is located across the road behind our house. The majority of it is pasture, but it also came with a garage, a 3-side pole shed and a small storage shed. Prior to our heifers being on the land the previous owners rented it out and they had a few beef animals there. So our neighbors are used to seeing animals there. The only difference is we have dairy heifers and some neighbors have seen us walking show heifers up and down the road, which has led to some interesting looks and fun conversations with the kids in the neighborhood.

Since we've owned the land we have been able to re-side and re-roof the garage and put in a new 5-wire fence along the road, plus we keep the ditch mowed nicely. All of this has improved the image and look of the place and helps it fit into the area better.

Here are some before and after photos of the shed and fence line!

It is raining today, so I am not sure if I'll get to take another walk, but then that leaves me time to get working on some other projects in the house.

My First Blog

2009-03-30T11:42:00.004-05:00

Greetings!
This is my first blog on the Dairyman's Daughter. Starting this blog is something I have thought about doing for a long time, but I just finally made time for it. The purpose of this blog is to share my passion and enthusiasm for agriculture with my family, friends, neighbors and even with people I have never met.

Along the way, I will share my family's experiences with our animals; our travels around the world learning about other cultures (some will be past stories about places we've been and what we've learned); our everyday struggles and challenges; and this blog will also includes bits of this and that.

So stayed tuned to the exciting journey with the Stanek family! I encourage your input or questions that you may have along the way.

Cheers,
Kari Ann Stanek