Hearts

It’s my favorite week of the whole year! I am super excited for my birthday on Valentine’s Day and with it being such a short month, I think it is appropriate to celebrate pretty much every day! The month of February is always decorated with hearts and I always think it’s just for me! I will turn eighteen on February 14th and will finally be considered an adult. This is fitting because I have been really busy doing adult things lately, like finishing up farm records, getting ready to file my first taxes, and filling out college scholarship applications. Also while thinking about hearts for Valentines Day, it got me thinking about just how important a heart actually is.

Growing up, I watched my dad give his whole heart to agriculture. It takes a true love for agriculture to feed cattle in brutally cold temperatures. It takes heart to believe the grain markets will turn around or the rain will come to make a crop. It takes heart to be a farmer. It takes heart to feed the world.

When I was in Clover Kids I got the opportunity to raise my first bottle calf. I gave my whole heart to my first calf. Since then I have raised multiple calves each year and have loved every one immensely. I have realized I love agriculture. It is in my blood, pumping from my heart.

I am also no stranger to heart problems. My little brother was born with a heart condition and has had numerous procedures and medications over the years to control his extremely high heart rates. It took great faith in new advanced medical practices to believe in the high tech cath lab ablation procedure to fix his heart when he was only 4 years old. I’m happy to say he has been heart-healthy ever since.

It was also a heart attack that took the life of two of my uncles, both at the age of 50, one of which was my godfather. Watching my family go through the shock of losing them so suddenly at such young ages taught me to live everyday to the fullest and to always follow my heart.

Our hearts are extremely important. They are what show our passion. They allow us to follow our dreams. Most importantly it takes a healthy heart in order to accomplish all of that. I hope you all have a Happy Valentine’s Day and that you spend my favorite day doing what you love! 

 ~ Kesley Holdgrafer

Farmers and Chefs

Recently while I was doing my annual livestock records for FFA I realized something while I was making lunch that day. I realized livestock farmers are kind of just like a big chef. When I was filling out my records with feed cost I was flipping through what my dad likes to call his Bible, his cattle binder filled with all his feed rations, feed cost, cattle weights, and prices. I had to write down all the rations for different weights of cattle. It actually reminds me of a cookbook.

During harvest season I helped my grandma in the kitchen. It wasn’t until then that I found out how much work it was to create the perfect recipe. Certain ingredients at specific measurements are mandatory if you want your cookies to come out of the oven looking like cookies. My grandma even made me my own little cookbook of my favorite recipes. She wrote down all of the recipes and put it in a little notebook for me. Since then I have been attempting these creations and if our fire alarm in our house could talk it would definitely tell you I have had multiple fails. If you asked my brothers they would say it’s okay, but it definitely doesn’t taste like grandmas no matter how exact I follow that recipe book.

All livestock farmers have their own recipe book. Not every ration they mix up is like the ration the next door neighbor uses. However, just like in a recipe book, each entry is designed to get to the same end goal. To fill you up. Every livestock farmer does it differently, but their livestock always reach their market weight and get full. So livestock farmers if you have always said you can’t cook, I believe you are fibbing because you cook up a mean ration for your animals everyday. They must like it too if they keep coming back to the bunk for more. Happy recipe testing, although my brothers claim I still need more practice!

- Kesley Holdgrafer

Change is Good

For some people change is bad. Most people like to keep everything the same. However with the crazy times we are living in right now, nothing is the same. The way we go about our everyday life is changing. We have even gotten much better at accepting these changes. Farmers have always been good at adapting to various situations and they know that plans can easily change in an instant. I think it is because farmer plans tend to revolve around the weather and we all know how fast an Iowa forecast can change!

This past week I had to adapt to change because my plans changed within a moment's notice. I was on my way to Oklahoma in the Cedar Rapids airport when my flight got cancelled. It was a crazy day. I had to quickly change airlines and airports. I was headed to the Cattlemen’s Congress, which was actually a change in venue for the Denver National Western Stock Show. Even locally, we have had to adapt to change. The pandemic is not allowing big gatherings, so the Clinton County Cattlemen will change their agenda as well. Their usual steak dinner banquet with an auction is now a drive thru ribeye meal.

Farmers have learned how to make changes on the go and many are used to it, however they haven’t accepted other things that need to change. Farmers usually dislike new clothes. They stick to their original uniform; plaid shirts, jeans, and boots. It’s never a good day when their favorite work boots have been discontinued and they must break in a new style, especially if their new boots give them a blister! Which reminds me, that’s my new nickname. When I got home from Oklahoma, I quickly changed my clothes and headed out to the cattle yard. My brothers were working some new cattle they just bought. As soon as I got in the yard, Brad was letting a calf out of the chute as he hollered, “Hello Blister!” I must’ve looked confused as he quickly explained, “You always show up when the work is done!” I would really like to change my new nickname but I must admit it was funny and I was really glad it was the last calf! 

~Kesley Holdgrafer

 

Winter Activities!

We were welcomed into the new year of 2021 in a glorious Iowa fashion, with a huge winter storm covering the ground in a brilliant fresh winter white color that also graced us with multiple layers of ice leaving us with slippery roads and slick sidewalks. The year 2021 welcomed me with a big grand hello. On New Year's Day while walking to the truck to do night chores, I slipped on the ice and fell face first on the cement. Happy New Year to me!

While I wanted to spend my first day of 2021 playing in the snow and doing fun winter activities, it started with work first. I quickly realized that the older you get, the snow days do not just mean a full day off to play in the snow. It begins now with scooping bunks in the feedlot yards for Dad before he feeds the hungry cattle. This especially was not fun this time when most of it was ice chunks stuck to the bunks. However, once you finish shoveling, scraping sidewalks, and pushing snow in the driveway and around the yard, that is when the real fun starts.

Sledding used to be my favorite thing to do as a kid when it snowed. Now since we are all older we like to tie the sled to the back of the gator taking turns sledding around the whole farm. With three brothers I usually get bucked off pretty regularly. Also around our yard and even all around the county you can find snowmobile tracks.

I have learned that once you get older you advance into a different version of sledding. You start getting pulled in a sled by a parent as a toddler to sledding with your own plastic sled on a small hill until you realize you don’t have to walk back up that hill if you attach the sled to a motor. Then as you grow even older you realize the best version of sledding there is, a snowmobile. My older brothers finally got rid of their older junk sleds and recently bought bigger snowmobiles. It was simply amazing how fast they could scoop bunks and feed their cows last week! They couldn’t wait to play on their new toys. All in all, even though it’s cold, snowy, and icy, you can still find the joy in it. Even if you happen to do a face plant on the hard ground by slipping on ice, it is still possible to enjoy a good old fashioned fun snow day with your family!

~ Kesley Holdgrafer

Christmas Gifts for a Farmer's Wife

Christmas is officially here and the smell of sugar cookies and pine trees fill the air. For most people, the presents are already wrapped and under the tree. For some though, they might be doing some crazy last-minute shopping. That is okay, farmers work best while under pressure. Just imagine instead of putting Christmas presents under the tree on time, you must get the last of the crop out before that snow or rainstorm.

Last year I informed you all about the perfect gifts to get a farmer-- duck tape and WD-40. I realize now that there is someone pretty important that I am forgetting, the farmer’s wife. Now farmers, if you are reading this and realized you haven’t bought her anything yet, that is okay I am here to help.

First off, no your wife does not want that tractor or that planter you were looking at online, and they definitely do not really want a new washing machine or a post-it note of something you plan to buy her because you forgot to shop... again.

Here are some options that you could get her instead. You could give her some peace and quiet. It’s December, you are no longer in the field, and it is off-season. If you are not working on something in the shop, chances are you are in the house either snoring on the couch or asking when lunch is. Remember your wife probably did all of the family Christmas shopping and decorating. She is the one that needs the nap!

Another thing you could do for your wife is to tell her thank you. Sometimes it might go unnoticed what all they really do. They are the person that cleans up the floor after you walked across it not knowing your boots had a hole in them and now her kitchen smells and resembles your cattle yard. She also just washed your coat because your hydraulic hose somehow just exploded all over it. They are the person doing your nasty dirty farm laundry and somehow manage to get the dirt and grease stains out of your work jeans every day. Farm wives deserve so much more, but seriously an honest heartfelt thank you is a great start. Farm moms are busy all through the holidays as the kids are all home from school which means more meals and more laundry.

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and get everything you ask for and I am sorry farmers, but Santa can not fit any new equipment on his sleigh or under your tree. Also farmers, do not forget about your wife. She deserves a nap, a thank you, and so much more! Merry Christmas! 

- Kesley Holdgrafer

Christmas Cards

For the past week, your mailbox has probably started to fill up with lovely Christmas cards. People have been sending Christmas cards to each other for many years. These Christmas cards — at the time called Christmas Greetings — first appeared in the United States in 1840. This was very expensive though, so most could not afford to send them. It was not until later when they became mass-produced that they became affordable. In 1915 John C. Hall and two of his brothers created the extremely well-known Hallmark Cards. I bet even some of your Christmas cards you receive this year are Hallmark cards. Another type of card received is one with photos on them. These became popular in 1910’s and 1920’s. Today some people even send letters along with a card informing others about the year they had.

The type of Christmas cards you receive in the mail varies. Some contain family photos, some contain animals and pets, some even contain letters. I remember all the past years standing in front of a camera getting my picture taken for our annual family Christmas card. One of my favorite Christmas cards we ever had was when we got a new manure spreader and we took it by that and the card said, “Spreading Christmas Cheer!” Another one of my favorite cards is from the year my little brother was born. He was born 2 months early so he was pretty small! We gift-wrapped him in a small box as my older brothers and I held it, poor Luke looked like a Jack in the box with a holiday bow, while the card read, “Our little package was delivered early this year!”

With or without silly manure spreader pictures or funny sayings, Christmas cards are a fun way to spread Christmas cheer to all of your family, friends, and neighbors. This year has been so weird, maybe you haven’t seen some people in a while, so send a card. I know the process of sending a Christmas card is no fun because it involves licking the stamps and envelopes which leaves a terrible taste on your tongue after sealing a number of them. However, in the long run, everyone loves to get fun mail other than bills. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and receive many memorable Christmas cards this season.




- Kesley Holdgrafer

Memory Lane

This year I am finally a senior and recently I have been finding myself going through old photos. I needed a baby picture for the high school yearbook and I am also starting to look for old pictures to display at my graduation party. I never thought about how much photos have evolved over the years and the meaning and stories they can hold. This simple snapshot in time can store so much. A single photo can bring back a countless amount of stories and memories from just one glance.

Today, as teenagers, we store all our photos on our phones and rarely if ever get them printed off. In a matter of seconds I can share any photo with anyone across the country by Snapchat, email or text. Still, nothing beats taking a day, sitting down, and going through drawers of old photographs, a fun trip down memory lane. Looking through them you recall memories — some good, some bad — or learn new stories that people have not talked about in a long time. The things you can learn from looking at old photos with your grandparents is incredible!

Picking out which baby photo I wanted to use for school was quite fun. I found one that was well suited to me. I was sitting up holding my favorite pink tractor and on my shirt it said parts girl. I guess starting from the young age of six-months-old my future was already planned and I was destined to be a parts runner! My parents have made sure the caption on my shirt was true and since I turned 16, I have gone on more parts runs than I could have ever imagined. I need to take a few pictures of them, or of the ice cream stops on the way home, so I will remember them forever in photos.

As we roll into December, our farmers are becoming less busy in fields. On cold or rainy or snowy days you can even find them in the house earlier in the evenings. This is prime time to stop them and sit down to go through old photos. We all know farmers have great stories and if you pull out some pictures of their old trucks or farm equipment the stories will come flowing. Remember to take and PRINT more pictures for future trips down memory lane!




~ Kesley Holdgrafer