Our farm families have passed down generations of knowledge, strive to be on the cutting edge of today’s technology in every aspect of their farms and they can’t imagine doing anything else as a profession. To me, that’s pretty impressive.
I kept hearing the term “field corn” on the Martz farm, but didn’t understand what that meant until I actually got to look at it and touch what they were growing for myself. Read more +
It was nothing like the corn we buy in stores to feed our families! I had no idea there was a difference between corn grown for people and corn grown as feed for animals before that point. Read less -
Combines are massive!
I really didn’t realize until I was in it how massive the combine actually is. Read more +
The thing I found really neat about riding in the combine is that it actually steers itself straight through the rows of crops – only a few manual adjustments needed to be made. Amazing that such a large piece of machinery could actually drive itself! Read less -
The flies were missing
On the Martz farm, Mike made a point to mention that no one had said anything about the flies after we were done touring the cattle operation – because there weren’t any (or at least, not many). Wasps brought in from Texas control the fly population by eating the flies before they ever develop into adulthood.
Farming is still important
One of the biggest things I took away from the day was how important farming is to the people we got to visit with. For some reason I’ve always pictured farming as more of a hobby, but by the end of the day I realized it’s a business for each of these families. Read more +
Their livelihood depends on the weather, the land, the animals – things often outside of their control. Their workplace is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The level of dedication they all showed to what they do was truly inspiring. I don’t know many “city” people who would be willing to go to work at four in the morning every single day, or who braved the blizzard last winter to go into the office, but for the Martz and Drendel families, that sort of thing is part of the job description. Read less -
