Farm It Maybe

Lil Fred has put together the next big thing in farming parodies.  His video, Farm It Maybe, is a parody of Carly Rae Jepsen's, Call Me Maybe. The video was published on July 14th and already has 438,500 views. Fred and his family appeared on Fox and Friends recently, where they said they were inspired by the Peterson Farm Brothers to write the farm parody. If Lil Fred is any indication of what the future of Agriculture has to look forward to, then I think we are in very good hands!

You can find Lil Fred on Facebook and you can follow him on Twitter as well.

Social Media Options for Born to Pharm

If you just can't get enough from the blog we now have a few new places where you can follow us and keep up with our day-to-day activities.  The Born to Pharm Facebook page has been created and so far it already has 56 likes.  Head on over there and help us reach 100 likes by next Friday!  Just click on the link and hit "like" and whenever we post something on the page it will show up in your newsfeed. 

I've recently created an Instagram account, and I have to say I love this app on my phone!  You can find me on Instagram @BorntoPharm

You can also follow us on our YouTube page: www.youtube.com/borntopharm

If you're on Pinterest you can follow me at www.pinterest.com/borntopharm

There is one last place you can follow along at and that is Twitter. You can search @BorntoPharm or click the link to follow!

What other social media sites do you follow and which outlet do you like the best? 

Be sure to leave a comment if you have a blog, Facebook page, Instagram, or Twitter account.  I would love to follow you and learn a little bit about what is going on in your lives!

Hauling Water

This summer has been trying for farmers and ranchers.  The drought and high temperatures has left the crops stunted and shriveled. The pastures are brown and there is hardly any grass left in them. The water sources in the pastures have dried up and we have been hauling water to a few pastures the last two weeks now. In order to haul the water Adam has put a water tank on a flat bed truck.  We fill the tank up at night from the water hydrant at our house, then Adam drives it to the pasture first thing in the morning where he has put a stock tank in the pasture. He hooks up a hose to the tank on the truck and fills the stock tank up so the cattle have water throughout the day.  It has has been so hot recently that he has also started hauling water at night to ensure the cattle have enough water to drink. 

Since the pastures are not providing the cattle with much to eat, Adam and his dad have been chopping corn silage to feed to the cattle.  In a normal year this is not done until around the end of August. The silage is then put into a silage pit or upright silo where it is allowed to ferment for a few months. This year Adam and his dad are green chopping the silage, which means they are not putting it in the silo, they are just feeding it straight to the cattle. Before they started doing this, Adam's dad chopped some samples of silage and sent it off to the lab at K-State.  He did this in order to test the nitrate level of the silage. He wanted to be sure the nitrates were not too high.  In order to feed the silage to the cattle, the nitrate level has to be below 6,000 parts per million.  If it gets over this amount then there is a chance the cows can abort their calves, and we did not want to risk this. They are also feeding hay to the cattle as well to ensure the cattle are getting enough to eat.

Please pray for rain for the Midwest and that farmers and ranchers across the Nation will get some relief from the drought and high temperatures soon!

The water truck used to haul water to the pastures. 

Filling the stock tank with water from the truck. 

Water, water, water, water, yeah!!!! Cattle need water, man!!

The green silage we're feeding the cattle. 

The cows and calves circled around one of the piles of green
silage as they chow down on it. 

This is the freeze brand on the bull from Swearngin Angus. 

The freeze brands from the heifers we have branded in the past. 

Adam smelling the green silage as the cows look at him.  

Mmmm, this is good stuff!

Momma and baby eating the silage. 

Another one of the freeze brands that we did last year. 

One of the calves that is still managing to grow and put
on weight in this heat. 

I'm partial to all black cattle, but the white-faced and brockle-faced
cows and calves are pretty darn cute!

Full-sized view of the bull we have purchased from Swearngin Angus. 

The drought has taken its toll on the pastures. The lack of rain
has left the pastures brown and with little food for the cattle.  

A closer picture to show there is not a single blade of green grass. 

The stock tank is almost full.

Drought Update

Rain, or the lack of it, has been the topic of conversation among farmers, ranchers, and farmwives across the Midwest for the past few months. 

From http://www.plantmaps.com/interactive-kansas-drought-monitor-map.php

Yellow- Abnormally Dry, Peach- Moderate Drought, Orange- Severe Drought, Red- Extreme Drought

Most of NE Kansas is in a severe drought right now. This summer has been unusually hot and dry.  We have only received 4.2 inches of rain since April 1st, and the average rainfall for this area is 12.9 inches.  If you sit outside you can almost hear the grass curling up and dying.  My potted plants have given up on trying to live, even though I water them twice a day.  The many days of above 100 degree weather and hot dry wind have just scorched everything I have planted around the house. Adam and I have only mowed our yard twice this summer and we normally mow it weekly during a normal year. The cracks in the ground are massive and it is just so depressing to walk outside and see that nothing is living.

However, my plight with my few potted plants, hanging baskets, and brown yard can't even hold a candle to what many farmers and ranchers are experiencing right now.  No rain and the excessive heat has stunted the corn and left it looking curled up and shriveled. Farmers and ranchers, who are usually the most optimistic people I know, are losing hope and their conversations now have a tone of pessimism in them.

It is not only the crops that are suffering from this drought, but the pastures are also being baked by this weather.  This means the cattle are running out of grass and in some pastures we have already started feeding hay because the cows don't have anything to eat.  The hay we baled this summer is already being fed to the cattle.  Normally we would not start feeding hay until October or November. Also, with the lack of rain we have begun to haul water to the pasture because the ponds or creeks are drying up.

Last night thunderstorms popped up across Kansas, the radar looked so promising, but we didn't get a drop. There was a lot of lighting, thunder, and wind, but NO rain!  It was such a let down after getting our hopes up that we might finally get a rain to refresh the crops and land.

Please pray for rain, not just for Kansas, but across the nation.  The wild fires in Colorado have been so destructive and taken so many acres, homes and lives.  We need a long, soaking rain to refresh the Midwest and cooler temperatures would also help out too, but I don't think that is in the forecast anytime soon.

From http://www.ktka.com/weather/default.aspx

The only highlight right now during this depressing time is that the soybean crop is actually looking good.  It will need a rain to stay on track, but as of right now it is hanging in there and is still green and growing.

My potted plants have given up on trying to live. 

A huge crack in the yard. 

Another huge crack in the yard. 

The dry, brown yard. 

The corn is very short and shriveled. 

The once broad green leaves of the corn are now all curled up. 

The dry pasture. 

The creek that was raging with water last summer is now
barely a trickling stream. 

The soybeans are still hanging on and looking pretty good so far.
We are hopeful that this crop will pull through and produce something
this fall.