Skip to main content

Warm Days Cool Nights

        Warm days and cool nights. This is one of the things I like about September. Our weather the past week and for the week to come has been sunshine and 80’s during the day and 50’s at night with very low humidity.
         This not only is great weather to work in but also is speeding the crop to maturity. We continue to get equipment ready for harvest and manure application which are our two biggest jobs in the fall.

          Taking care of the pigs is a full time job so in the fall everyone puts in a few more hours to get the job done. It is still warm enough during the day that we need to take advantage of the cool mornings to move pigs. These little guys are getting moved from the nursery to a finisher down the road.

          Another sure sign of fall is field days. Most seed companies invite farmers to come and have a free meal and look at seed plots to see how their brand of seed has performed. There are also field days that are educational. Last week I went to listen to a farmer talk about cover crops and how he has utilized them on his farm.
           We have been getting some experience with them the last 3 years. Cover crops have two main goals. The first is to help save soil by reducing erosion when we have big rains. The second is to improve soil health which hopefully leads to bigger yields. Like most occupations farming is always changing and hopefully improving.

          Almost every Tuesday our crew gets together for lunch. We take the opportunity to look at production and financial records as well as any other topics that may be related to the farm. This helps keep everyone in the loop and gives them the opportunity for input. It is also a chance to fellowship and find out what is going on in each others lives. 

           Hopefully by next week we will have began harvesting and will have some photos to share. Enjoy the beautiful fall weather.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Backing Away from Basics

How many times have you said to yourself or to others that there is a need to get back to basics? A return to the basics can help us realign with the fundamental principles of the task at hand. It’s generally very helpful. When I was struggling in a sport, I often backtracked to the fundamentals to discovered my point of error. Other’s use it in work, family life, and in cooking. Unfortunately, I believe that we have remained a bit too basic in our approach to pork. Go to a retail store and you will see the same cuts that have been available for the past 30 years. You will see chops, shoulder and loin roasts, tenderloins, ham steaks, etc. Now there is nothing wrong with those cuts as they present a myriad of cooking opportunities. But the wonderful pig produces so much more! Take for example some of the dishes we served this week at a pork education event. We made street tacos out of pork steaks (it’s the Spinalis muscle if you want to get technical). We made Chulet...
1 comment
Read more

Can you power wash?

              Can you power wash? It may seem odd, but this is often one of the first questions I ask someone interviewing for a job with us. There are generally two reasons for asking this question. The first is practical in nature. Pigs can kind of be like your kids sometimes, leaving a mess where ever they go.            This makes power washing a frequent event especially in the farrowing house. Grant does a good job of making sure the next mom has a clean place to have her babies.             The second reason is it may give you an idea of the persons work ethic. If they hesitate or try to appear that they are “over qualified” to power wash that may be a red flag. All jobs here are important, whether you are in charge of the books or cleaning farrowing pens, what you are doing is vital to the success of the farm.             ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Merry Christmas!

Christmas has finally arrived here at VG Farms. It is finally white and actually looks like Christmas. Before I go on, let me issue an apology for the lack of blog posts these past few weeks. Between my end-of-semester finals and my father’s busy work-load, it has been difficult to find the time to write. So consider this special Christmas edition a gift from us to you. As any family does, the Van Gilst’s hold several Christmas traditions. Some are small and informal – like watching National Lampoons Christmas Vacation at least a half dozen times. Others are a bit more significant – such as gathering with each side of the family (Van Gilst and Branderhorst) to celebrate the holidays alongside grandparents, aunts and uncles, and an endless supply of cousins. We watch the Iowa Hawkeyes play in their bowl game (fingers crossed for a victory in a few days) and occasionally us boys will head off to Iowa City to catch some hoops. Whatever it may be, there is never a dull moment ov...
Post a Comment
Read more