He had me at "I've Got a Horse"

Who knew Steve's pick up line, "I've got a horse..." would be the catalyst leading to a relationship that has lasted nearly 37 years?  It was early October in 1980 when Steve used that line on me at a wedding dance in Snyder.  I sat across from him at a table full of alumni from a college in Curtis, NE.  We were all sharing our stories about instructors, dorms and night life.  During the conversation Steve learned I had a love for horses.  He must have thought it was his chance to make a move when he commented, "I have a horse that can turn on a dime!"

Throughout the course of the evening, whenever Steve had the chance he would go back to telling me about his horse named Duffy and his family's farm north of Snyder.  I admit I enjoyed looking into Steve's blue eyes as he talked and before I knew it the dance was over.  I couldn't remember Steve's name so when he stood up I looked at the back of his belt and saw "STEVE" imprinted on it.  I had a first name and, yes, I was looking at his belt.

The following morning I drove to Omaha to visit my aunt.  Aunt Kathy was my mom's only sister and a favorite aunt of mine from childhood.  Aunt Kathy was known to bring my siblings and I gifts for birthdays and Christmas's and she was a fun adult to be around.  I sat down on a stool at her counter and told her all about a guy named Steve I had met the night before.  She was the first person to hear about this guy with a great horse.

This is one of my favorite pictures of my family with my Aunt Kathy in it. 

On Monday morning, two days after I met Steve, I was unlocking the vet clinic door where I worked.  As I jiggled the key in the lock I heard the phone ringing and I rushed to get inside to answer what I thought was a large animal call for our veterinarian.  It was Steve.  He wanted to know if I would like to ride his horse sometime.   I laughed and said yes. We made plans for me to drive to the farm that Saturday.

I guess Steve couldn't wait for Saturday to arrive.  He stopped in at the vet clinic on Thursday afternoon to see me.  I needed to meet our vet on a nearby farm to treat a horse so Steve offered to take me.  What a gentleman!

Saturday arrived and I headed out to Steve's farm.  When I arrived Steve met me at my car and we walked over to the horse pen.  We caught the horse, saddled him up and off I went.   I had plenty of space to ride.  As I rode through the nearby fields I noticed how well kept their farm was.  When I rode back up to the barn Steve was waiting and asked about riding along.  Before I could say anything he was up in the saddle sitting behind me.  We began our riding tour of the farm until the rest of his family had left for Saturday night mass.  I don't think he was ready to have me meet the family yet!

That first date kindled the spark that had been lit at the wedding dance.  We continued to date, talk about our common interests and then plan for a wedding.

As we searched for a place we could live Steve's uncle approached him and asked if we would consider living on the farm where Steve's grandfather had raised a family of thirteen children.  The uncle, Roman Ruskamp, had retired, moved to town and married late in life.  Steve took me to the farm located about eleven miles from his own family's farm.  It was a bit rustic after having two bachelors living in the house for twenty years.  Steve saw beyond the broken fences, weeds and run down house.  His enthusiasm was contagious and I supported the decision to not only live on the farm but also buy the 40 acres the house and barns were on.

This aerial photo was taken in 1991.  We had added some new
cattle pens and lived right in the middle of all the activity.  The
highway shows up as dirt because it was worked on that year.

This aerial photo was taken in 2007.  We built a house in 1996
to the west end of the feedlot when our old house was beyond
repair.  Another dream for Steve was to have a fish pond and
that is located to the right of the house.

 The excitement about having our own farm dimmed when we learned my Uncle Melvin, was diagnosed with cancer.  We made several visits to see him in the hospital in Omaha.  On one late night visit the conversation was about our wedding.  Steve wanted the wedding in Snyder since they had farm chores to work around.  Uncle Melvin was very persuasive in telling Steve the wedding should be in the bride's hometown.  On our way home Steve apologized to me for his lack of understanding and the wedding was moved from Snyder to Resurrection Catholic Church in Grand Island.

Uncle Melvin is the first one in the back row.  He is standing next to my
dad.  This is my dad's family with Grandpa and Grandma seated in the middle.

Another tragedy hit us when Steve's brother, Ed, died suddenly in a car accident.  Ed was Steve's partner with the feedlot they built up.  It was surreal for me to be sharing this grief with Steve and his family. I felt a little out of place since I wasn't really a part of the family yet.  As I lay in a sleeping bag the night before the funeral Steve's mom came over to me, touched my shoulder and said, "I'm so glad you are here."  I was family.

Steve's family.   Front row: Julie, Teri, Barb, Louise, Marguerite
Back row: Steve, Jerry, Francis, Bernardine, Ed, Joe, Rosie

We said goodbye to Ed in July.  We said goodbye to my Uncle Melvin in August. 

In early September we took Steve's horse and a 3 year-old filly I bought over the summer to the Labor Day Parade in Omaha.   We had joined the Dodge Saddle Club and one of the first events we attended was the parade.  I was a little apprehensive about taking a young horse to a parade but I had been reassured the older horses would keep my horse in line.  Our third traumatic experience before the wedding was about to unfold.

The horses were saddled and excited.  We were in downtown Omaha with lots of people and unfamiliar sounds all around us.  Our saddle club mounted up and started walking towards the parade route.  While we waited for the parade to start, a high school band decided to warm up.  I could feel my horse trembling inside as I kept a flag folded tight around the pole in my right hand.  Suddenly she reared up and I felt the both of us go over backwards as she fell on the right side of my hip.  In my mind all I could think about was getting my feet out of the stirrups and letting go of the flag.  As she stood up I looked at my right hand and saw one of my fingers bleeding and then I tried to stand up.  Pain immediately shot down my back, hip and legs.  Steve jumped down to my side with a look of fear on his face.  Someone called a rescue squad and soon we were whisked away to the hospital.

I did not ride my mare in anymore parades and I did not
sell her.  She did produce some nice foals like this one!

While Steve and I waited for the x-rays we talked about what we might be facing.  My hip could be broken.  I could feel pain so that was a good sign.  My leg could be broken.  We had a wedding in three weeks.  What would we do?  Was this a sign?  If it was a sign, what did it mean?

The doctor returned with good news.  Nothing was broken.  I was going to need crutches for awhile for the bruising that had occurred.  We could handle that.  If there was a sign, it was that someone special was watching out for us and we could go ahead with the wedding.  I was fitted for some crutches and sent home to heal and get ready for the wedding.

Cheers!  September 26, 1981

From, "I've got a horse," to saying, "I do," Steve has kept his commitment to love me and honor me all the days of my life.  We've shared 13,140 days together as husband and wife.  Those 13,140 days have been filled with more blessings than burdens.  I can only hope God blesses us with thousands more days together that start with Steve's daily greeting, "Goooooood Morning Joanie!"

The gift of faith has helped us weather the storms of married life. 
The Holy Spirit is truly the glue that keeps us together.  

 "All things work for good for those who love God, 

who are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28

Two became one leading to a family of seven and now a family of fifteen!

"Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, who walks in his ways! You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the LORD. "   Psalm 128:1-4

Waste Not, Want Not: The Feed

When my husband Steve and I bought our farm we were able to store our cattle feed ingredients in structures that allowed for as little waste as possible.  Those initial structures were put into place by Steve's grandfather and uncles as they sought ways to cut down on feed waste with better storage and proper handling.  We utilized those bins, bunkers and wooden fence line bunks to continue a tradition in agriculture that seeks to responsibly use resources in a way that allows for little or no waste.

This photo shows how Steve's grandfather fed the cattle hay in the 1950's.  He did
save some feed by keeping the hay on the outside of the pen but, we've come a long
way with nutritional research, genetics and better pen design to help cattle thrive.

I was a brand new farmer in the early 1980's with much to learn.  Growing up in the middle of the heartland with cornfields all around was not enough to fully understand the spirit of the American farmer.  I was drawn to the farm to utilize my experience as a veterinary technician to help with the health care for our cattle.  However, I lacked an understanding of growing, storing and utilizing the crops we would grow.  I would like to share with you a few things I have learned in regards to reducing as much waste as possible from the corn crop we produce each year.

During the early years on our farm I learned how to be a mom, too!  Our son,
Scott, is swinging in front of the house Steve's dad grew up in.  This was our
home for many years until the structure needed to be replaced for safety reasons.

Every late April thru the month of May planting season hits northeast Nebraska. Fields are prepared using less tillage, fertilized (with our feedlot manure), and seeds are carefully chosen to thrive in their designated fields.  The soil type, climate and topography allow farmers, like Steve and I, to grow corn well as partners with Mother Nature's natural resources.  On our farm we hold all of the water from the feedlot in a holding pond so those nutrients can be used on our growing corn instead of going into streams.  The humid summers of Nebraska help those corn plants thrive as they seemingly grow overnight. When football season arrives we begin our corn harvest.

This pivot is taking water from our holding pond that has nutrients like
nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus as well as many micro-nutrients and
giving it to the corn plants to thrive on.

Some of our corn is chopped when the moisture of the corn is around 25%.  We can chop the whole plant with the ear and make corn silage.  We can also chop only the ear with the cob and leaves to make earlage.  When we choose to make earlage we are allowing more of the plant to remain in the soil to help build up organic material.  Our crop consultant helps us decide between silage and earlage by taking soil samples so we can monitor the soil health.  As the corn is chopped it is delivered to a cement bunker for storage.  The material is packed, covered with plastic and sealed down with tires.  By carefully storing the silage in this manner we are able to maintain consistent quality with very little waste.

The chopper blowing silage into a truck.

The truck dumps a load for Steve to spread and pack.

A covered silage pile eliminates spoilage by keeping the rain
and snow out.  Raccoons can tear holes so sometimes you will
see duct taped patches as winter turns to spring!

The rest of our corn is harvested with a combine.  Generally farmers wait until the moisture in the corn is under 16% so it stores well in metal bins.  We also have dryers in some of the bins if the corn needs to be dried down.  It is important to the farmers we buy corn from to prevent waste by monitoring the corn in the bins for moisture throughout the storage period.  On our farm the bins storing the corn are located near the rest of our feed storage area for efficiency and waste prevention.

We use a payloader to put different ingredients on the feed truck.  The rolled
corn is to the left, our distiller's grain are next and then ground hay is
next to that.  We keep our ingredients out of the rain and snow to manage waste.

Storing our corn and other feed ingredients properly helps us show respect for the environment by reducing waste.  Utilizing cement structures like bunkers and fence line feed bunks allow us to store, mix and deliver quality feed to our cattle so those cattle can provide quality protein for us to eat.  Those cattle also give us numerous by-products including manure that can be used to nurture future corn plants for feed.

This is a sharp contrast to the photo at the top!  We have cement bunks to provide
nutritionally balanced rations for the cattle to eat.  They also have a cement
pad on the inside of the pen to keep the eating area free from mud.  A scale on
the feed truck makes sure each pen gets an exact amount so every speck is eaten.

My experiences as a farmer continue to grow as innovative ideas help us take better care of the land, the water and the cattle.  A very important piece of that innovation is reducing waste while maintaining quality allowing us to be more sustainable in the use of resources for food.  In my next blog I will talk about reducing waste on the consumer side and how we can all participate in responsibly using our resources for food production.

This is a Peruvian roast beef recipe that our daughter, Emily, has made for us.

Emily was a missionary in Chimbote, Peru.  When we visited her we saw more
beef heart on the menu then a dish like this.  I would highly recommend the
  "Estofado de Res" (Stewed Beef) versus anticucho (beef heart).  The ability to
export products like the beef heart, tongue and stomach improve our sustainability.

 Estofado de Res (Stewed Beef)

 Ingredients:

 2.5 lbs beef (chuck roast), cut in about 2” pieces

Salt, pepper, and cumin

Vegetable or olive oil

2 onions, peeled and chopped finely

1 T. chopped garlic

3 carrots, cut in small cubes or slices

3 tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped

3 T. tomato paste

1 tsp. sugar

¾ c. cooking wine

1 c. peas

3-4 potatoes, peeled and cut in halves

3 bay leaves

1.     Heat oil in a pan. Season beef with salt, pepper, and cumin. Place in oil and fry over medium heat until browned. Remove from pan and set aside.

2.     In the same pan, cook onion until soft. Add garlic and carrots. Cook 2-3 minutes. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, bay leaves, and wine. Mix and bring to simmer. 

3.     Add meat. Cover and cook about 1 ½ hours.

4.     Add potatoes and peas. Simmer until vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.

5.     Remove bay leaves. Serve with white rice.


Enjoy!  Let me know what you think of this recipe.   

"Peruvian food is so simple yet amazingly flavored with their traditional spices" L'Wren Scott

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Peruvian food is so simple yet amazingly flavored with their traditional spices. L'Wren Scott
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Dialogue

As we enter the final days of the 2016 Presidential Election campaign we continue to see discussions take place on major news channels, social media, at the supper table and wherever two are gathered to dialogue about the candidates.   One concern I have is how the dialogue between candidates, the news channels and folks wanting to express their perspective has become more tense and personal than ever before.  Even though political campaigns use a strategy of putting the opponent down, I don't believe we have to do that in our conversations about divisive topics.   As a farmer I have had many opportunities to engage in divisive conversations about how food is grown. There are some techniques I have learned through CommonGround that I believe would be very helpful in discussions we have with one another.  These four tools can be the basis for a conversation that leaves room for respect and another person's point of view.

Be Positive.    When we are positive we allow room for other opinions, other ideas, other thoughts.  We can seek to find common ground by first focusing on just that.  As a mom I can often find common ground with other moms when I talk about how much I care about my children and grandchildren.   I can talk about how my family drinks the water on our farm and we eat food produced not only on our farm but we buy it in grocery stores just like they do.  When we seek to find something in common with another person we can separate the problem from the relationship.  We can share our ideas about a problem and even if we disagree on the solution at least we can keep a level of respect for one another.

My husband and I have five children.  This picture was taken in
around 1990.  Two of my children and a niece are sitting on my
lap.  Our children are all adults now but I will forever be their
mom and will always care about their welfare.

Be Inclusive.  In agriculture we are often pitted against one another by outside forces.  Big farms are often portrayed as impersonal while small farms are put on a pedestal as the only way to produce food.  As a farmer I choose to join the both/and crowd in recognizing the need for both.  We need modern tools that allow us to develop seed technology that will survive the threats of drought, floods, insects and other natural attacks a seed faces.  We also need farmers that will produce food in a way that allow consumers to have the choice to buy food right from the farmer.  When we build on the initial respect for one another we can find ways to be inclusive to more than one way of doing things.  Most of the time we can find a both/and solution versus either/or.  There are times when we will not reach an agreement and when that happens we can agree to disagree.

Be Credible.   We are able to look for information so quickly now.  Sometimes an infographic or blog can influence people to believe an idea that has no basis in science or fact.   One example is of a discussion I had with a radio host about sugar.  She saw a picture on Facebook of a liver wrapped in netting and the writing below it said that if you eat high fructose corn syrup your liver would look like that.  I went through the steps of explaining how an Iowa State researcher had proof that the body does not recognize sugar by the source it came from.  If she had sugar from beets, cane or corn it would all act similarly in the body and none of them result in netting around the liver.  Even though I had credible information this person had trouble getting that visual out of her head and still struggled with believing me.  Finding the right sources to get credible information can be a struggle for many people and that is why we have many farmers reaching out to consumers to talk about how we produce food.  We base our decisions on science and research so that we can build trust with consumers.  .

One way for me to visit with consumers about how food is
grown is through an invitation to have a conversation by
spending time in supermarkets for CommonGround.

Be Real.  You are who you are because of your lived experiences, education, beliefs and choices.  As a farmer that works with our cattle I can share the experiences I have of caring for cattle in a feedlot setting because I live it each day.  My values from my faith flow over into the way I care for our land and our animals.  My education gives me the foundation of how and when to administer antibiotics.  I admit I do not have all the answers and so I depend on other professionals like our veterinarians, nutritionist, nutrient manager and crop consultant to help us make the best decisions we can to be responsible, sustainable and successful.  When I travel I utilize photos from our farm to help in conversations that happen in places like the airport.  Once, I was sitting next to a gentleman from Miami on a flight from Chicago to Omaha.  He was telling me about his condo and the beautiful view he had.  I shared some information about my farm and the beauty I see.  He got his phone out and started showing me pictures of that beautiful view he had.  I asked him if he would like to see photos of my farm.  The first picture I pulled up included grain bins, cattle, fields, etc…   He burst out “you have a REAL farm” with such enthusiasm that I nearly fell out of my chair!  I don’t know what fake farms are but I do know that there are a variety of ways to show people our real side.

When I share this photo of our feedlot many people are
surprised at how much room the cattle have to move around.

Using the CommonGround approach to being positive, inclusive, credible and real in our conversations with one another can help us keep our relationships strong and provide room for the exchange of ideas.  I would like to share with you this quote from Pope Francis about dialogue.

“Dialogue is born from an attitude of respect for the other person, from a conviction that the other person has something good to say.  It assumes that there is room in the heart for the person’s point of view, opinion and proposal.  To dialogue entails a cordial reception, not a prior condemnation.  In order to dialogue, it is necessary to know how to lower the defenses, open the doors of the house, and offer human warmth.”