A PROUD FATHER AFTER HARVEST

Harvest is one of those times that are demanding, causing one to lose sleep. On the other hand it is also one of the most rewarding times. This is when a years worth of work and worry come to fruition. To me it was more than a years growing time I am talking about.

Having worked every harvest since 1977, I would have to say that this has been by far the most fun. While driving a truck for the first time in a field and having that responsibility was good nothing beats this year.

Most harvest memories revolve around what I was able to accomplish or certain highlights. This year was different because of being a parent...and a proud one at that.

The way my two boys stepped up this year and met the obligations and responsibilities head on will always be at the top of the list (unless it might be grandchildren in the future). 

Dillon ended up getting strep twice this summer and Logan stepped up to fill his spot with mowing, weedeating, and helping dad with jobs in the shop. Dillon was well enough to finish swathing a late first cutting alfalfa while I went to a meeting.

While I view these things as something most kids their age should be doing, not necessarily swathing, but helping out around the house without backtalk or complaining, their growth was more.

Dillon ran combine by himself for the first time and Logan was in charge of the bill of ladings and dumping the wagons. Both jobs were challenges I set out for them and they met them head on. 

I vividly remember some of my firsts on the farm and how nervous I was. I didn't quite see fear in their eyes but there were drops of sweat on their foreheads.

So why was this my most fun and memorable harvest? As a father you want to see your children grow and progress, not only in school but with life skills. I new they were nervous of making a big mistake but after the jitters went away their faces lit up every day.

Farming is a unique profession where a family can do most work together. Now I am not saying that everyone will be talking with each other at the end of the day (hasn't happened yet) but there is a bond between "teammates" that is created that makes the family bond stronger.

Looking back at this year we are fortunate to keep this tradition going of teaching our young farmers and ranchers responsibility and fun. If it were in the hands of the Department of Labor and the Obama appointees this year could not have happened.

While there are many years ahead for Dillon and Logan to grow, learn, and make mistakes I am certain that this year will be one of their most memorable because there is nothing like meeting a challenge head on and looking back with satisfaction at the end of a day with a job well done.

I guess that is why this is my most memorable is I feel that looking back on being a parent and how Dillon and Logan have grown makes me look at them with satisfaction. 

Oh, I had better mention the glue that keeps all of us together, Rhonda. If it wasn't for her being a great mother, wife, and farmer this year could not take place. Her understanding (and cooking) keeps everyone going.

And me, I hope that I am a good father and manager. My job as both is to set people up to be successful. I hope to give them the tools to (physical or mental) to perform and challenge them enough to grow.

This harvest I believe that we all grew in different ways. Me, trusting young adults with their jobs, Rhonda probably trusting that I knew what I was doing, and the boys, smiles after harvest for becoming young men. What father could be prouder?

NOT ME!

I know it has been awhile, but life does get in the way. I have been to D.C. three times, London, Holland, Philadelphia and places in between. Somewhere in there I was able to poke seeds in the ground. The weather has been too wet and there are jobs that need to be done on the farm that should have been finished by now. BUT IT’S NOT MY FAULT!

How many times do we hear and see this during a day that we are not to be blamed? If only my parents were better or if the coach would just put me in or corporations are keeping me down are common themes on Facebook, the media, and in communities. It is the fault of the previous administration!

There is a pattern I believe that develops…the more people complain that someone else is at fault the less successful people are. Being a farmer I am able to see a group of people that might complain about the weather or the government, but at the end of the day they are still successful and get their jobs done. No one is there to take up the slack to bail them out.

Another pattern has developed that rewards bad behavior. Charlie Sheen comes to mind. Drugs, prostitutes, and other bad behavior are now being rewarded with money from an influx of commercial spots. Society also seems to reward those with bad behavior while people that stay steady and keep their nose to the grindstone are looked down upon.

We all have to make choices in life, one way or the other… and not doing something is a choice. I can either stay home and watch TV, work on the farm, or spend time with my family at sporting events. Whichever I choose something else has to lose out. I either get work done or I don’t. No one else is going to do it for me.

I am not looking for sympathy, as a matter of fact I believe it is overrated in most cases. Most of the time sympathy is given by enablers. “Oh you poor thing, it’s not your fault it is the fault of (Fill in the blank).” The choices we make every day effects our future outcomes and there are people out there that are a bad influence.

Food stamps also come to mind. While I do believe in helping others we ultimately have to help ourselves. Being dependent on the government, parents, or a sugar daddy is no way to live. They are enablers of bad behavior as well.

Food stamp expenditures have double since the last Farm Bill and the media is having a field day putting blame on everyone except those that want to be dependent. Go one step further and look at where our government’s largest expenditures are outside of military…dependency payments (Social Security, Medicare, Food Stamps, etc.)

The solution lies within each of us. Instead of placing blame for a failure or an outcome that is not wanted the problem needs to be defined and a solution (or solutions) needs to be made. Attitude and outlook on life is everything and if a person has a goal in mind they can be successful.

If life was easy and without hurdles how fun would it be? We wouldn’t be overjoyed by our successes that keep us going. These little steps to success in reaching out goal are an important part for an individual and for those that look to us as a role model.

The world’s greatest basketball player said it best: “Some people want it to happen, some wish it to happen, others make it happen.” ~ Michael Jordan. His six championships didn’t come easy and they came towards the end of his career. He didn’t blame anyone but worked harder to achieve his goal.

It is ultimately ours to take or give away. To be or not to be, to do or not to do. Society needs to quit blaming everyone else and do some self analysis. Which reminds me, the equipment didn’t get fixed today but it’s not my fault. It is yours! If I didn’t think you wanted me to write this I would have had my jobs done.

LEAVING HOLLAND BEHIND

I am writing this from the Amsterdam, Netherlands airport. Bags were packed early this morning, breakfast eaten not long after. When we were finished it was time to load luggage onto the bus. It took awhile with 70+ people traveling.

Even though this is the last day in Holland meetings were not finished. We traveled to Koeppert Cress Monster. My initial thought was it might be a cousin to the Loch Ness Monster. However, "Monster" means sample.

This business is a greenhouse that sells high end plants for cooking. They grow them right there and have a kitchen that is also set up as a studio. Top chefs come there to learn how to use these plants and how special they can be for culinary masterpieces.

Our time there started with a speaker talking about marketing agriculture products to the public. His presentation was pure gold for a farmer to utilize if they want to market their crops directly.

After that it was time for lunch. I skipped out on the question portion to take pictures of a meal that you would pay a fortune for in a restaurant. Each item was centered around a plant that was grown in the greenhouse. 

The meal was started off by being handed a test tube of a lemon grass drink. Even though it looked nasty it was very refreshing and delicious. Then we had a free for all...wine included.

During lunch a person showed up that looked kind of suspect. However he was very interesting to talk to and his profession was a plant explorer. He travels around the world searching for plants that are rare and for ones that have unique characteristics for cooking.

He was a virtual encyclopedia of plants. It was amazing at his memory of the scientific name of plants, where seeds can be obtained, and who the contact for a certain plant was. Interestingly enough he has been to Moscow, Idaho.

Then we listened to the owner of Koeppert Cress, Rob Baan. He owns a movie studio and is also a farmer. He talked to us about his business and were given different plants to sample. One tasted like oysters. That was very interesting.

Rob then took us on a tour through his green house operation that is state of the art. What he has been able to do is find the light spectrum to make them grow the best and then they are shipped all over the world.

After that we headed directly to Amsterdam and the airport. Checked my luggage in without any overweight fees and got through customs fine. I finally was able to find power to charge my laptop to take pictures off the camera card .

Had a Big Mac, fries, and a coke and went through security. The plane ride was good and I was able to catch a cat nap to take the edge off. 

Made it through customs at London Heathrow (it is huge) and onto the bus. I am finishing the blog at a Holiday Inn with my same roommate. I gained an hour so there is only an 8 hour difference. It is now 1:30am and the alarm is set for 5:30...going to be a long day tomorrow.

SECOND DAY WITH THE NUFFIELDERS

Dang 5am comes early when only having minimal sleep the day before. Wake up call was 5am to be on the bus by 6. We grabbed out box breakfast and headed out to the flower auction. It is dark when we arrive at Flora Holland, the larges flower auction in the world.

We drive around for awhile and then disembark the bus. We head upstairs for some coffee, chatting, and dividing into groups to go on the tour. I could not believe how insainly large this auction was. We are given headphones and a power pack to listen to our guide and head out.

We go onto a walkway above the working part of the flower warehouse. I can't believe how many flowers there are and the variety. The floor looks like an anthill that someone stuck a stick into. Things are moving everywhere.

We do the tour and then head into the conference room to listen to a board member of the Flora Holland Co-op. This is the 100th anniversary of the first flower auction in the world. We spent most of the day in the conference room listening to experts talk about co-ops and then doing a couple group exercises.

From there we get back on the bus and make our way to the Port of Rotterdam for a dinner cruise. What a great time being with the Nuffield Scholars and seeing the sights of one of the busiest ports in the world. We also saw the largest dry dock in the world as well. There are cranes there that look like an erector set on major steroids.

All of the ships, tugs, and containers is something of the likes I have never seen. I can't imagine how much money is in the infrastructure let alone all of the containers and products that are waiting to be loaded or unloaded.

Well, we got back to the hotel around 10pm after starting at 6am...one long day. It almost felt like it was harvest time with those hours. I am finishing up my picture processing and getting ready to head for bed for another early cock-a-doodle-doo. I will try my best to keep up with the posts.

New World Travels to the Old World

I know that it has been awhile since last writing. I have traveled to Chicago, Boise (3 times) and Washington, D.C. along with getting things done. Oh, Christmas and New Years was in there as well.

Right now I am on another adventure in my Fellowship life. I and the other 2011 Eisenhower Ag Fellow (Rhett Proctor) were invited to attend the Nuffield Scholars Contemporary Scholars Conference in Holland and the UK.

I left home Friday morning from Lewiston (5:30am flight) via Salt Lake, Detroit, and then Amsterdam, Netherlands (Holland). I arrived at 6am (9 pm home) and sailed through customs. I was also lucky enough to have my suitcase be one of the first 10 onto the carousel.

Schipol airport is home to the largest Burger King in the world. I also knew I was in Holland when I saw a large bronze sculpture of a clog. From he airport I took the train to Rotterdam and a cab to the hotel. I checked in, unpacked some, Skyped home, and tried to sleep. It felt good to get horizontal for a little. I was just getting to sleep when my roomate from Tasmania walked in.

We chatted for awhile and got to know each other a little. We both changed to get ready for our tour of Holland with the other Scholars from the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, France, and Holland. We hopped on the bus and headed to the aiport to pick up the ones that were coming in at noon.

After picking them up we toured through Holland and stopped at a little fishing/tourist village for some pickled herring. I was able to take some good picts and see a shop where you stick your feet into a tank and have fish "kiss" them.

From there we went to a 150 head dairy. It also produces energy with large windmills and biofuel from dairy waste. A housed generator produced the energy for the dairy. They also had a settling pond and extracted the water from the solids, which were dropped into a pile for future use as compost.

That night we had a dinner with all sitting at tables. It was informal, but a good chance to get to know each other. I left there around 9:30 (been up 33 hours with just a 1/2 hour of nap in that time) and went to bed.

With our schedule I don't know when I can write again and have to cut this short to head for lunch and today's functions. Take care and keep it in the fence rows!

Merry Christmas From The Blair's 2011

At Christ the Redeemer
in Rio de Janeiro

At a church in Rio

First off, we hope that this finds you and your family doing well. If you are like us we can’t believe that another year is gone and passed. If you paid any attention to the news it seemed like the world was going to implode with unrest in the Middle East due to bread prices, regime change in North Korea, economic instability in Europe, Japan’s tsunami, and our own troubles in the U.S. Just think, the Mayan calendar calls for complete destruction in 2012. With that in mind you had better of enjoyed 2011 ;)




Dillon & Logan in the shop
with Dixie Dog

 

My name is Wally Weather Station and I will be your host this year. I am in position to give you a great account of what happens on the farm. Not only with weather, but with everything else. I live on a pole in the center of the farm, giving me a bird’s eye view of everything that happens. Since weather played a big role in 2011 I was asked to do this.



And what a year 2011 turned out to be. You could say that it was the year of different weather. We had snow into May, rain that prevented us from planting crops this spring, tropical weather in Brazil, and freezing cold when we arrived home. May set a record for rainfall, causing haying and harvest to be late. Even Bandit was tired of the weather. Without any spring crops harvest was done in eight (8) days, but we have more winter wheat planted than we have ever had on the farm. And it is looking really good.

Dillon turned 15 in February and has his learners permit so watch the roads next year. Logan turned 13 while in Brazil (will talk about that later) and had the best present of his life. Rhonda and Robert celebrated 17 years of marriage, meeting each other in Sao Paulo, Brazil on their anniversary. This is the first year they have been able to spend that day together without anything going on for several years. However, I won’t tell you their age because they will unplug me.

Sports and school take up the most time. Dillon is a sophomore and Logan is in 7^th and both carry straight A’s. Both boys played basketball. Dillon spent time on JV, but played some varsity earning his letter. Logan played on an AAU team from the Craigmont area and his class was moved up to play Jr. High basketball. The 7^th Jr. High almost went undefeated, losing in overtime on the last game. They both played 3-on-3 at Locust Blossom and Logan had his cousins as teammates. They attended a basketball minicamp with a former coach at LCSC and Dillon played summer league. Dillon also went to NBC Camp and won the “Grit” award.

Dillon & Logan
with coach Walker

Dillon played on the Kendrick Golf team and they made it to State. Logan played baseball, was a pitcher and played different positions. Logan and some of his friends played in a baseball tournament in Potlatch…for Genesee. It was tough for Robert to see him in those colors, but he said a Genesee uniform never looked better. Both played football this fall and Dillon received his letter in that. Now basketball is in full swing again.

Chris (Robert’s brother) started working full time on the farm taking place of Dean King who had worked for 7 years. Dean had been diagnosed with cancer and beat it. Dean is doing well and was able to drive truck at harvest and helped with fall fertilizer. Chris started at the right time helping to clean up the 23 trees that blew down or were topped out during a windstorm last November. We also had lots of fence to fix due to that.

In June the America’s Heartland film crew was at the farm. They were interested in what was being done with Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs) and precision agriculture. It was an interesting experience that everyone partook in. You can watch the video from our website www.threecanyonfarms.com or this link http://vids.kvie.org/video/2169504176.

Brazilian Whitetails

The biggest news was Robert being named an Eisenhower Fellow. In April Robert traveled to headquarters in Philadelphia to meet the other U.S. and International Fellows. General Colin Powell is the Chairman and there are just over 2,000 Fellows worldwide with 18 being Ag Fellows. In May Gong Weibin, a Fellow from China, visited the farm starting what they hope will be many visits from people around the world. To learn about the Eisenhower Fellowship you can go to http://www.efworld.org/ .

Robert’s Fellowship took him to Argentina, Uruguay (where he spoke in front of 1,000+ farmers), and Brazil where he learned about their agriculture, precision farming, remote sensing, and UAVs. He met with Eisenhower Fellows in the respective countries creating a closer bond between the countries. He spent a total of 6 weeks down there totaling 51 meetings.

Rhonda & I with Flavio
Nogueira & family

Rhonda joined him on November 5^th in Sao Paulo and as mentioned, they were able to celebrate their anniversary together. They traveled north of Sao Paulo to different towns for meetings along with stops in Brasilia and Belo Horizonte. In Belo they spent time with Robert’s friend and 2011 Brazilian Fellow Flavio and his family. They had a weekend together seeing some sites and celebrated Robert’s birthday and their last day having dinner with Flavio’s family and other Fellows.

Then the fun really began, Dillon and Logan arrived in Rio de Janeiro on November 19^th. They traveled alone and met up with mom and dad at the airport. During the week in Rio they toured the sites like Sugar Loaf and Christ the Redeemer along with playing on the beach. Everyone became sunburned at some point and there was not enough aloe in Brazil to sooth the pain.

Dillon & Logan with the
Girls from Brazil

The highlight of their time in Rio was traveling to Petropolis (north of Rio). Petropolis is the home to the summer palace of the last monarch of Portugal and Brazil. There is also a strong German community there because farmers were needed to harvest their cash crop, coffee. It is something of a retreat and there had been a casino there built in Bavarian style architecture that is tourist site…and that is where the real fun began.

While going through the old casino a group of students were on a fieldtrip there. We walked down a hallway and a group of girls followed and went past. Robert saw them huddle up, look back, and giggle. He motioned to the group and Dillon and Logan to get together for a picture. That picture started about a ½ hour of picture taking with many girls.

Dillon & Logan going
bananas in Brazil

Since it was Logan’s birthday (the driver told the girls this as well), it is customary for girls to give the birthday boy a kiss and they lined up to do it. Dillon was watching and said “I wish it was my birthday” prompting the driver to tell the group of girls this and they started kissing him as well. Needless to say Dillon and Logan both want to return to Brazil.

Now it is time to finish up and get back to work tracking weather. It is cold, but there is no snow. We hope that you had a great year and wish you a Merry Christmas and an Awesome New Year! Take care and God Bless! Adios, Feliz Navidad y Feliz Ano Nuevo! (Spanish)  Feliz Natal e Feliz Ano Novo! (Portuguese)

SINCERELY,

Three Weeks Down

We watched the tower do
different things for about
an hour. It was spectacular.

My oh my, time is fllying by like a comet in overdrive. It still feels like I just arrived a couple of days ago. I am now in Sao Paulo...and my wife Rhonda is with me. It is nice to have someone to talk to and to recap my experiences.

We both arrived in Sao Paulo on Satuday, November 5th which happened to be our 17th anniversary. She arrived before I did, but because of baggage claim and getting through customs she didn't have to wait that long. What a sight for sore eyes she was.

We were both tired. Her because she hadn't been sleeping much while getting ready to travel, the last night home and then over a day of travel. Me because I couldn't really sleep and was worried about catching my flight from Montevideo to Sao Paulo (I had to leave the hotel by 3am).

We made it to the airport, through security, and to the hotel. Then we met my program officer Luciano and his wife and daughter. We went over the schedule and then went for lunch to a restaurant built around a 100 year old fig tree (the restaurant is called Figueira). It was awesome.

The time was 8:11, but I
took it because it
represents the year! Go
The EF Class of 2011!

They had a buffet style lunch that they only serve on Saturday (at lunch time) based upon the food the slaves ate. It would be similar to the start of American BBQ and the types of meat. We went through and had a little of everything including pigs ear, pig tounge, sausages, and other meats. There were also great vegetable dishes and beef. Lots of meat.

We also tried the local drink made from sugar cane alcohol and limes. They also brought another type of drink to the table with 4 shot glasses. There were two types of alcohol (same base) but one was straight and the other had honey. They were delicious.

We finished lunch after 3 hours, went back to the hotel and grabbed my cell phone for Brazil. We had to put a new sim card in, buy credits, and set it up. Now I have contact within the Brazil. We went to our room, took some pictures and went to bed around 8 or 9 pm. We were exhausted.

Today we didn't do much except work out, eat breakfast and pack our luggage for easy use. We combined clothes into certain cases for easier access. I organized pictures, cleaned powerpoints off my thumb drive to make room, and sized pictures from previous adventures for use later this week.

We are getting ready to head out of the room for some sight seeing and dinner. We are just begining our travels in Brazil and hope to keep things up to date better. Ciao for now!