Monday Night Movie Night: 9th edition!

You may have noticed, I missed Monday Night Movie Night last week. No worries! I'm making up for it this week with a few extra movies! One of my favorite bloggers, Dairy Carrie, is one of the nominees for U.S. Farmers & Rancher's Alliance's New Faces of Farming and Ranching. She recently posted her contestant clip on her Facebook page. After looking into the award a little more, I ran across the stories of seven other farmers and ranchers eager to share their passions. Take a few moments to learn about each agvocate by watching their videos below! I hope their passion for ag excites you!

Jay Hill advocates for a variety of crops including pecans and pinto beans. I enjoyed his unique perspective as a grower of non-commodity crops. His 3 T's, trust, transparency, and taste priorities really encouraging to me as a consumer.

Darrell Glaser works hard on his turkey and cattle farm to achieve sustainability. Using the natural resources created by the operations to compliment each other has allowed Darrell and his wife to be better stewards of the business. With sustainability as such a hot topic in the industry, it's great to know producers also see it as a priority.

Carla Wardin is a dairy farmer and blogger who works hard to demonstrate how much farmers care about their land, animals and products. Her unique perspective as a mother allows her to connect with consumers who visit her farm and read her blog in a special way. Women like Carla always inspire me with the many hats they wear in the operation, their families, and community. 

Erin Brenneman is from my neck of the woods in Southeast Iowa. Her goal is to share with consumers that big farms have a face too. Large farms like hers are often labeled as factory farms, but as she explains in her video, "there's no conveyor belts here." Check out her video to meet Erin and her family farm operation.

Brian Jones is proud of watching the circle of life over and over on his 4th generation family farm. He's also enjoyed raising his kids on the operation. Much like his peers, Jones enjoys telling the story of agriculture to so many people who haven't experienced raising food.

Jessica Potter is proud of the fact that she and her husband started a ranch from scratch. She's scared cowboys and cowgirls are a dying breed. One of her goals is to preserve that icon of western America and the history that goes along with it. Watch her video for more reasons she feels agvocacy is her calling.

Thomas Titus farms with his family in Illinois. He wants consumers to know that animal welfare is one of his top priorities. Check out some of the things he and his family do to take care of their animals. He enjoys raising his children around the farm and supporting organizations like 4-H and FFA.

Last but not least, Carrie Mess, a city girl turned dairy farmer offers a unique perspective in her agvocacy work. Like many consumers, her farm is concerned with sustainability and animal welfare. I encourage you to take some time to watch her video as well as check out her blog. 

I find each of these individuals inspiring and hope I am a positive face for agriculture as they are. Best of luck to each of them as they pursue this honor! Thanks for reading!

Monday Night Movie Night, 8th edition!

This weekend many of my classmates went home to help with harvest. My Facebook news feed was full of family pictures in front of combines, meals taken out to farmers in the field, and wagons full of grain. As I drove to Des Moines via the scenic route on Saturday, I found myself going below the speed limit gawking at the scenes of huge green and red combines hard at work against the gorgeous, crisp blue sky. Old red barns and bright orange leaves passed by making me wish I was anywhere but the car. In that spirit, I decided to dedicate this entire Monday Night Movie Night to harvest videos. I hope they make you as proud to be an Iowan as they do me.

This video was shot in South Dakota, but features the same crops we raise here in Iowa. I found this clip very interesting because it uses a GoPro camera mounted on a drone. Drones are fairly new technology that have a lot of potential in the agricultural industry. Check out this video to see harvest from a different angle!

Harvest season takes help from the whole family, young and old. This homemade movie shows just how much pride farm families take in their operation. Take a look and follow this little boy and his family through the harvest time.

This video is a little longer, but I really love it's historical perspective. It includes photos of this farm's past and present. You may recognize "God Made a Farmer" by Paul Harvey, re-popularized by a recent Super Bowl commercial, in the background. Enjoy a glimpse of several generations participating in harvest, and other farm activities by clicking below.

I'm sure you can tell if you've been following my blog the past several weeks, I just love this time of year. (Fall on the Farm, Fall Industry Tour) It makes me so thankful for all the farmers who feed our world, the beautiful crisp weather, crunchy colorful leaves, and the privilege to be a part of the agricultural community. Thanks for reading!

Monday Night Movie Night, 6th edition

This week's Monday Night Movie Night is a mix of a few different topics within agriculture that interest me. While browsing through YouTube, it really made me thankful for all the diversity within agriculture.

Recently, I found this super helpful YouTube channel, americashearland. They have all kinds of Agriculture 101 videos that explain common agricultural practices. Check out this one defining crop rotation.

In honor of #NationalPorkMonth, I'm sharing this video of Leah, a hog producer, and her daily morning chores routine. It's so cool to see other people my age advocating for agriculture by sharing their stories.

Did you know Ashton Kutcher is from Iowa? Click below to see the viral video of his "Iowa Story." After CALS Week last week, it really made me take time to think about what he said and I have to agree, "the greatest natural resource in Iowa... [is] the people." 

As always, thanks for reading! I hope you learned a little Agriculture 101, looked into #NationalPorkMonth, and Ashton Kutcher stirred up a little Iowa pride for all you Iowans out there!

Monday Night Movie Night, 2nd Edition!

I was excited to see so many people checked out last week's blog post, Monday Night Movie Night, I decided to share other clips I've been enjoying lately. As always, I'd love to hear your feedback and let me know what gems you've found on YouTube!

Even though I study agriculture, work in agriculture, and dream about agriculture I have a lot to learn on the subject! Despite my love of dairy products, the industry is something I know very little about. Check out this clip to learn about the production of some of my favorite foods.

(Click the photo)

A Monday Movie Night isn't complete without a little fun. The now world famous Peterson Farm Brothers have several parody videos that are sure to make you laugh. Listen closely to their clever lyrics and you may learn a bit too! Here's their latest video, All I Do Is Farm. Visit their YouTube channel for hours of entertainment.

I had never heard of gluten until high school when a close friend's mom found out she had Celiac disease. Now, gluten-free items are advertised in nearly every aisle of the grocery store. This video breaks down all the rage to simple facts that are easy to understand... and there are sweet doodles!

Here's another parody video I just had to share with you! This kid isn't even in high school yet, and is already a great agvocate! Cute, inspiring, and pretty catchy!

Animal health and comfort is a priority for livestock producers around the country. I recently discovered this YouTube channel, and have enjoyed learning about real farming practices and why farmers do what they do. Learn about keeping hogs healthy here.

Watching all these videos again makes me so proud to be a part of the agricultural industry. Maybe, I'll even make one of my own some day. Thanks for reading!

Monday Night Movie Night!

It's Monday night movie night! Okay, so I may have just made that up, but really, check out some of these video clips I've run across while working on different projects for Iowa Corn. They're pretty neat and hopefully you'll pick up some interesting facts. You may need a kleenex box for the last few! Enjoy!

I've always thought time lapse videos are cool and the hog buildings that dot the Iowa landscape intrigue me. Check this clip out to see the process of building one and learn more about the Coalition to Support Iowa Farmers. Give their website a peek if you have a chance!

Farmland is a movie that recently came out documenting 6 farmers and their day to day lives. Before you let the word documentary scare you away, watch the trailer below. Thanks to the ISU Corn Club, I got to see the full length movie in theaters last spring. If you get the chance to take it in, I highly recommend it!

This is one of my favorite video clips because it features my boss, Shannon Textor, and a farmer from my hometown, Wayne Humphreys. This one is sure to make you smile!

The other day, our office received a call from someone wanting to learn more about high fructose corn syrup. A member of our team was able to answer all their questions and clear up a lot of misconception, and it made me interested to learn more about a product that is in so much of our food. You're sure to learn something new here:

(Click on the photo. I couldn't get a video linked up like the others)

I saved my personal favorites for last. Since Beck's Hybrids came and spoke to the Ag Business Club last year, I have been obsessed with their "Why I Farm" campaign. It was so hard to chose which videos to put on the blog, so be sure to check out all the others on their YouTube channel. Make sure to have some tissues handy! These videos give me goosebumps no matter how many times I watch them!

I hope you've enjoyed these clips as much as I did and they've inspired you to learn more. Thanks for reading!