Sugar Creek Farm

A New, Global Oil Quandary: Costly Fuel Means Costly Calories

“This is the other oil shock. From India to Indiana, shortages and soaring prices for palm oil, soybean oil and many other types of vegetable oils are the latest, most striking example of a developing global problem: costly food.”

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Specialty crop growers look for bigger share

“[Specialty crop growers] aren’t eligible for the billions of dollars that flow primarily to Midwest and Southern growers of the big commodities: wheat, corn, rice, cotton and soybeans. The growers of those five crops receive more than 90 percent of subsidy payments, even though specialty crops account for slightly more than half of the nation’s farm production value.”

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A health haven for bees

“‘Luscher Farm is a shining example of what agriculture could be,’ Vaughan said. ‘There’s crazy stuff there. Weeds grow all over, which is great stuff for bees. There’s a wetland, and there’s plant diversity, which we need because it results in a nice mix of pollen and nutrients.'”

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It’s been a busy day, and my brain is tired, so I’m not feeling particularly verbose tonight. Except to say, nothing died today. So it was a good day.

Instead I’ve been playing around in Adobe Photoshop Elements with a picture of our cow “Good Ol’ Number 68”.

Here’s the original:

an Andy Warhol-esque version:

I forget what this effect is called, but it’s interesting:

a “painted” version:

this one has sort of a vintage-y feel:

Which one do you like best?

2 years ago:

Winter dog

Chefs’ New Goal: Looking Dinner in the Eye

“LAST Friday, in front of 4 million television viewers and a studio audience, the chef Jamie Oliver killed a chicken.”

(Hat tip to Cheap Healthy Good for the link.)

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Buying local produce should give you food for thought

“What sort of food will we be eating this year? My wish list includes fresher food with fewer food miles, which means more home-grown produce.”

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Organic seed alliance wants to stop ‘Roundup-ready’ beets

“The suit was filed after USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) approved the use of a new type of genetically altered sugar beet that is resistant to the herbicide Roundup. The plaintiffs are concerned it could lead to the creation of Roundup-resistant ‘super weeds.'”

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Winter corn field disappearing into fog

Another pig, smothered under the pile.

And that’s all I really feel like saying about that today.

I googled my own website just now and discovered that I’ve used this same post title on two other occasions:

Here, and also here.

1 year ago:
Winter ducks

Gates Foundation’s agriculture a hard sell

“the foundation’s nascent agricultural program is encountering more resistance than much of its other work, with critics concerned that its market-oriented, technology-centric approach will open the door to big agribusiness interests and genetically engineered food.”

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Sustainable farming is not an easy sell

“We want our farming methods to be sustainable, but we have to make this sustainable as a business also,’ Kupers said. ‘You can hug and kiss and talk about sustainability all you like, but this still has to pay the bills.”

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The lowdown on topsoil: It’s disappearing.

“While many worry about the potential consequences of atmospheric warming, a few experts are trying to call attention to another global crisis quietly taking place under our feet.”

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The mudroom changes with the seasons. This time of year it’s loaded up with snow boots, insulated coveralls, heavy coats, mittens & gloves, facemasks & hats. The bottoms of everyone’s coveralls are caked in mud. A bucket of frozen water sits on a rug, thawing out so that I can take a fresh dose of hot water to the chickens and ducks.

Soon enough all of this will be replaced with sweatshirts, flip-flops, rubber chore boots, and balls – softballs, basketballs, footballs, soccerballs.

Not that I’m in any hurry.

1 year ago:

Winter cows

Limiting sales of unpasteurized milk could be raw deal for farmers, critics say

“On Thursday, in the Statehouse, lawmakers and farm advocates unveiled legislation that would abolish the cap on raw milk sales and allow farmers to advertise their wares, a practice also prohibited under Vermont law.”

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It’s not easy being green

“organic farmers in Michigan complain that a number of factors have made it difficult for them to put their products on the tables of Michigan families: A downturn in the economy has hurt demand — organic products can cost as much as double what conventional products do. And the economy has hurt the state budget, triggering cuts in funding for agriculture programs like marketing organic products.”

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Unused school property slated to be edible garden

“The energy that goes into food production is not going to be sustainable,” said Moss, referring to the oil and gas consumption involved in growing and transporting food around the world. “If anything happens, our Safeway will have two to three days of food. If we can get people growing their own food in their backyards, we create a sustainable food supply.”

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Biobased economy should be more than just biofuels

“A recent example of this phenomenon is the production of camelina in Montana and other western states. This high-yielding crop is being commercialized outside the corporate structure of Monsanto or Pioneer/DuPont, and is moving forward thanks to collaboration between farmers, entrepreneurs, and university researchers. Talk of this new crop and its potential brings a smile to the face of many of us who have been frustrated by the vast amount of resources being expended on the main crops such as corn, cotton, and soybeans, while efforts to develop a diverse assortment of crops are limited.”

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Bringing home the straw

You probably know, it’s been brutally cold here this weekend. Morning tempertures have been at 15 below the last 2 mornings. We do our best to give everybody extra feed and plenty of bedding, then cross our fingers.

Saturday morning found us with a dead cow, and a dead feeder pig.

The cow had somehow got rolled on her back overnight Thursday and bloated way up. Matt got her rolled back up Friday morning. The bloating subsided but she never got to her feet. Our vet came in the afternoon, veined her and gave her fluids. Matt stacked cornstalk bales around her Friday night, but in her weakened condition the cold was too much for her.

The pig we think suffocated. Despite heavy bedding they piled and this one was at the bottom of the pile.

We’re supposed to slowly warm back up into the 20’s over the next week. 25 is going to feel downright tropical!

Didn’t you bring anything for us?

2 years ago:

Picture of health

An extended, weekend version of links – both news links and some of my favorite posts from the blogosphere this week. Morning choretime temperatures have been 15 below zero the last 2 days. It’s been extremely hard on the animals, but more about that in a different post. On to the links!

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Congratulations to Linda, on a $250k appropriation for a sustainable agriculture program and entrepreneurial farm at Marshalltown Community College! Read more about it at High Hopes Gardens.

That’s a Cute Little Farmhouse and the ongoing saga of their new corn burner – any of you with corn burners out there have any advice?

The Homesick Texan posts her uncle Austin’s granola recipe – looks yummy!

Angie @ Children in the Corn talks about her dehydrator – at my request. Thanks, Angie! I’m inspired to put mine to work this summer!

Ethan @ The Beginning Farmer is reviewing “Making Your Small Farm Profitable” by Ron Macher.

And three new-to-me blogs I’m reading:

Future House Farm – jump over and get in on Part 1 of 4 of their Rain Harvester expermiment.

Fast Grow the Weeds (ain’t that the truth). Gardening in southwest Michigan (and now I remember who got me going on the feather-legged chickens!)

The Slow Cook – a great mix of recipes, nutrition and food facts.

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We need to tighten our belts…our days of cheap food are about to end
“That’s what is going to have to change. We must value our food, expect to pay a reasonable price for it and stop wasting it. And our politicians must think very, very carefully about the wisdom of using precious arable land to grow fuel.”

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Countdown to the 2008 Farm Bill: Part V
Direct and value-added marketing in the farm bill

We here at SCF are especially interested in passage of a provision to allow interstate shipment of state-inspected meat. Please consider urging the conference committee to adopt the Senate version in the final farm bill.

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Aurora organic dairy responds to lawsuit
“The dairy recently agreed to change some of its practices after the USDA found more than a dozen violations of organic standards, including the finding that cows had little access to pasture. The dairy was put on probation for a year but kept its organic certification.”

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Attacking it from the bottom up

Not much to report from the farm this week. I’ve ventured outdoors as little as possible, leaving the chores to Matt & Madeline because baby it’s cold outside! Saturday’s high is forecast to be minus five degrees with windchills at thirty-five below. My job is to get busy in the kitchen and have hot food ready for them when they come in. I like my job.

The cattle stand around and eat their way warm, provided the wind isn’t blowing too hard. In that case they go out and eat, then return to the shed to get out of the wind. The pigs burrow down in the hay in their sheds. The chickens don’t come out of the coop. Those crazy ducks still fly back and forth to the creek. There’s getting to be precious little open water left for them, though.

This calf’s a boy. You know how I know? Because our veterinarian tagged the boys in the right ear and the girls in the left, because “boys are always right”. Very funny, Dennis!

2 years ago:
Easter eggers

1 year ago:
Salmon Faverolle