Get Out and View Farmers Struggles
By John Parker If one lives in town and wants to know more about farming in the area, there are some good opportunities. One of…
By John Parker
If one lives in town and wants to know more about farming in the area, there are some good opportunities. One of these is the Ashtabula County Fair coming up in a few days. The other is a continuing opportunity by just traveling around Ashtabula and Geauga counties and taking a real good look at the many fields of corn and soybeans that have been planted.
At the county fair, plan to spend time in the livestock and poultry barns talking to 4-H members or their advisors about their animals. Ask them questions about feeding, watering and generally taking care of the animal that is their 4-H project. Talk to them about various breeds of livestock and what they like best about the one they have.
Raising questions and listening to these youth can be both interesting and educational to visitors and to the members with the livestock. But, be friendly, not antagonistic like some radical animal rights people tend to be. Let the young folks know you are truly interested in learning.
Open class livestock are those being exhibited by adults and not part of the youth show. Walking through open class barns and finding adults to visit with is also a good idea. These exhibitors are proud of their animals and generally ready to talk about them and the care they get.
It takes much work to prepare and take a group of animals to the fair. People should take their hats off to those willing to take that time. They also have that spirit of competition and want to see how their animals compare with some of their neighbors.
At the Ashtabula County Fair, the Holstein Dairy Bar and the Grange buildings are where one will find the best and healthiest foods. One of the milkshakes or cheese sandwiches from the Holstein Bar is worth a trip to the fair. And one might find some of friends gathered round solving the worlds problems.
All the wet weather the area had this spring and summer has presented some real problems for local farmers. If one takes the time to travel around the area and really observe, one will see some of those continuing problems.
Some fields with a yellow look to them say too much water. Others have spots where nothing is growing because the crop couldnt stand all the rain. And other fields may have crops very irregular in their growth because of excess rain or drain tiles have allowed crops to grow better in some places than others.
In some spots, especially in the southern and southeastern areas, crops like corn look good. That tells the observer that the rainfall varied considerably around the area.
Unfortunately, the last two or three weeks have seen much late made hay. To be top quality, hay needs to be made in late May and early June. But everyone knows what happened – rain and in some areas, a lot of rain.
Late made hay does not have the nutritional value of early hay. But some farmers say it beats a snowball next January. So, they harvest it and supplement their feed rations with more grain or corn silage if the weather allows them to harvest their corn silage at the right time.
So, people have good opportunities to learn more about farming in the area. Just get out and take advantage of them. In addition, think about the risks farmers take to put good, safe food on the dinner table.
Parker is retired from The Ohio State University and is an independent agricultural writer.
