Birthday on the Farm!

We are so thankful for all the kids who have come this year to celebrate their special day in a farm-tastic way!
These are a few of the images from those events. 
Included in every party is: use of the barn, picnic area, barnyard friends, corn box, straw maze, bottle feed calves, hayride, and dairy snack.
Most people bring cake and ice cream and sometimes food for their guests.
It's a fun, easy, and unique way to make memories for a lifetime!

Neighbor Night 2011

Once again we are completely amazed by the support and encouragement from our community. There were over 700 visitors at SwissLane tonight from 6-9pm. Everyone enjoyed a delicious pork sandwich dinner, milk, ice cream, Hayride tours, and a Robotic Milking Demonstration.







When we were thinking about what we should say (besides "Thank you for coming" of course) to our visitors/neighbors. We decided on 3 things:
1) Praising God for our blessings
2) Honoring the anniversary of 9/11 and
3) Why are we doing this(in regards to our business plan)? I was the lucky one who got to address our crowd with this task:)

Number 1 and 2 were easy.
1) I read a verse out of 1 Corinthians. The Apostle Paul reminds us that it is not us that makes the plants grow. We are God's workers. Basically, this is not just about us. We are called to be stewards of His creation.

2) I read a quote from Pres. George W Bush from 11/11/2001. "Time is passing. Yet for the USA there will be no forgetting Sept. 11. We will remember every rescuer who died in horror. We will remember every family that lives in grief. We will remember the fire and ash, the last phone calls. We will remember the funerals of the children."

#3 though... why? hmmm... well
3) Our farm was started just shy of 100 years ago. My great-grandpa had a storybook farm with chickens, rabbits, and a couple cows. When my grandpa decided to stay on and take ownership- they expanded to milking 22 cows in the 1930's. When my dad and his 2 brothers decided to stay on and take ownership- they expanded to milking 150 cows. Now we have come to the next generation and we pray that we can continue this tradition! There are several family members from the 4th generation that are ready for the challenge. We are building a whole new farm on a whole new site about 1 mile north of the original farm. The new farm will house 500 cows that will be milked by 8 robotic milkers!

We are very excited for next year's Neighbor Night to be held at the new site!
This year was the 6th annual event. The entertainment/location may change but the purpose of Neighbor Night won't: To educate/update the community about SwissLane Farms practices and goals through open dialouge while enjoying good food in a family-fun atmosphere.

Farm Fresh Food Blog

Two months ago I was asked by the Michigan Ag Council to participate in their new Farm Fresh Food Blog! This blog is a collaboration of Michigan farmers who share stories and recipes right from their own farm! Very exciting! My first thought was "No problem- I already blog so this should be easy." Well here we are 2 months later...I think I was suffering from Blogophobia or something! Finally submitted my first post! We have lots to get caught up on and first up- Maple Syrup Season 2011! Better check it out...I even give out our 6th generation Swiss Pancake recipe!

Team BEEF at the Boston Marathon!

We all know that physical activity is more effective in conjuction with a protein-rich diet becuase it maintains muscle while burning fat. I have been a runner since 7th grade track and believe that it is always important to "protein up" to provide the fuel to finish!
On Monday April 18, 2011. A dream came true. A goal was accomplished. A check off the Bucket List. I ran in the 115th Boston Marathon!

I knew that there was a reason that I was able to qualify, register, and scrape up enough money to go to the Boston Marathon. Seriously, if I told you all the little things that had to work just right for this to happen...it can only be explained as Devine intervention (Hebrews 12:1-2)! It was such an awsome experience.
One of the highlights was being a member of Team BEEF/ZIP!

(Me at the Team BEEF booth at the Fitness EXPO)

I enjoy promoting my farm, Dairy Discovery, the dairy industry, agricluture, etc... through Facebook and Twitter. A few weeks before the race I asked a some "friends" and "followers" how I could promote beef or dairy at the Boston Marathon and was directed right to Team BEEF/ZIP(Zinc Iron Protein)! There were 18 team members that recieved a jersey and $75 off the registration fee for Boston 2011.
The back of the jersey read: Running powered by BEEF!
My family usually ends up eating some sort of beef (its whats) for dinner at least 4 times/week (steak, tacos, meatloaf, roast,etc..). It works well for us because it is readily available, fills my kids bottomless pits, and provides protein that is essential for runners in training.
While I did enjoy some exquisit seafood, the here are a 2 of the Boston beef dinners that you need to see to believe! YUMMY!

Veal Parmagiana

And my post-race reward (and nutrients you need to start the recovery process)... Tenderloin carved tableside!

A few days after the race I was asked to be a guest on a radio program Rural Route with Trent Loos. The most intersting part of the conversation was on the subject of changing the name Team ZIP to Team BEEF.
Trent's view: Team ZIP forces people to think about the nutritional benefits we get from eating beef.
Beef Council: Team BEEF is more recognizable.
Me: I ran for 26.2miles wearing a shirt that read Team ZIP. Several spectators cheered out "Go ZIP!" but did they really have a chance to grasp the concept? I feel running for Team BEEF would mean more to me personally. I know that in the end, the purpose of beef is to provide essential nutrients but, for me, its about more than that. Not only does beef mean zinc, iron, and protein to me- it means my livelihood, heritage, future, and more.

RESULTS
My finish: 3:36:38
Overall Place: 9566 of 23879
Gender Place: 2235 of 10073



Weeknights are crazy. Here is a quick and easy go-to recipe of mine. For some classier fare check out www.beefitswhatsfordinner.com

Monday Night Meatloaf
2 lbs ground beef
2 eggs
1 box Stove Top Stuffing
3/4cup ketchup

Preheat oven to 350. Mix beef, eggs, stuffing, and 1/2cup ketchup in bowl. Shape into 2 loaves and place in 2qt casserole dish. Top with remaining ketchup. Bake 45-50min or until cooked through. Makes 6 servings.

Snow Day!

I often get asked "What do you do (with the animals) in the winter?"

The answer is quite simple- whatever it takes!

We found out last night that school was closed and the kids cheered. I turned to Jerry as the lightning-yes lightning!!-flashed outside and asked if he was excited about a snow day. We came to the conclusion that we were scared more than excited.
Already this week the weather has brought on a lot of extra work: pumps, pipes, watercups, equipment- just to name a few and that was only by Tuesday! We didn't know what a big pile of snow would add to the mix....

About 16inches of snow fell and drifted at the farm last night/early this morning. And really, it wasn't as bad as we anticipated. Everything just took a lot of time. Mostly due to snow removal, making sure everyone got to and from work safe, and pulling folks(myself included) out of (well I was going to say ditch but really it was just the drifts in the road! A couple roads weren't cleared until after 5pm around here).
Here are some pics:


Uncle Tom came to the rescue and pulled the Kent County Plow Truck out of a drift with the big bad 4 wheeler tractor and then plowed the road and driveway for my sister so she could go to work as an RN.


Every single door/walk way needed to be shoveled.


Snow even managed to blow into the barns! Look at how nice and snug that little heifer is peeking out of her straw bed with her little jacket on:)


The guys went around yesterday and buttoned up the curtains in all of the cow barns. Not much snow got in and even better kept that awful wind off the cows. Check out the icicles on this barn though!! Makes me a little nervous- we heard of a roof collapsing at a dairy today.


These piles are amazing! The kids had a blast playing on them after chores tonight!

I saw this post on facebook and wanted to make sure to share it:
BREAKING NEWS: There will be no farms closed due to the upcoming BLIZZARD.

Each & every farmer will be out in the blistery, cold, blowing wind and heavy snow fall tending to their livestock. They will be praying for machinery to work and non-frozen water pipes. If you know or LOVE a farmer, say a prayer for him or her and repost so the... prayerline may grow for all our farmers to be safe through the blizzard.

Well those prayers worked! We survived! Well so far anyway....Jerry is making the last round for the night as I type...lets just keep praying!

Massive Manure Spreader

I try to shy away from posting on manure. Its really just not my thing. I mean I love my cows, and I know how valuable it is as fertilizer and all, but geesh that stuff stinks. Luckily, we have a Manure Management team at the farm that is second to none- manure IS their thing.
However, when I saw this roll in the driveway...



I was AMAZED.
This. Thing. Is. MASSIVE!
Word is that this 'Meyer' spreader is 1 of only 12 of its kind in the country.
The main selling points for us were:
1. Quick- The girls make a lot of milk and a lot of manure too. When we get the chance we need to be able to get that stuff out fertilizing the soil ASAP to comply with our CNMP.
2. Efficient- It will save $$ in fuel and labor costs.
3. Versatility- This can also double as a Silage Truck during harvest- AMAZING!
I hope you are realizing how many times I have been insipired to use all caps in this post to convey just how EXCITED I have become over a piece of equipment- manure equipment no less. It truly is something you just need to see to believe!

A story fit for a farm

This past week we had an older, pre-fresh(or really pregnant) cow that wasn't feeling so good and we just couldn't figure out what the problem was. Our vet gave us some tips on how to treat her symptoms and keep her comfortable and we were kind of relieved when she started to calve in hopes that would turn things around. Little did we know that she was pregnant with TRIPLETS!
My dad claims that since the beginning of Swisslane's existence there have only been 2 cases of triplets before this and none of the calves have survived. I would love to say that this case ended in storybook fashion but it's just a good ending with some farm-life reality too.
All 3 calves were heifers! This is not only rare but great because when cattle have multiples that are different sexes the females are sterile in about 80-90% of cases. These heifers are called a freemartin and raised along with the bull calves.
Sadly, one of the calves didn't make it. As for the other 2, they are happy and healthy. There is just one small flaw with baby #2- she has no ears!



Just these little buds- its very strange-but we still like her! She won't have eartags- everyone will just know her and she's already getting some special treatment as the kids fight over who gets to feed "No Ears" her bottle at night.

The cow did end up passing away 2 days after calving. Her legacy will live on through her girls. And we have another case to support using ultra-sound technology on our pregnant cows- something that we have talked about but just haven't been able to justify that kind of an investment. Its hard to not question "What if...?" But looking at how far technology has advanced cow health it won't be long before cases like this will end happily ever after!