Innholdsfortegnelse for April/May 2022 i Farm and Ranch Living

Sharon Blumberg Pflugerville, Texas Natalie Bright Canyon, Texas Courtney Buser Stoughton, Wisconsin Jenna Chalfant Ridgeville, Indiana Rachel Ekberg Loma Rica, California Kerysa Ford Phoenix, Arizona Karen Giebel Republic, Washington Donald Lee Grob Norman, Oklahoma Emilee Haubner Burnet, Texas Bethany Heldman Morgantown, Indiana Rob Kennedy Maryville, Tennessee Amber Kersenbrock Colby, Kansas Amber Mathys West Mansfield, Ohio Callie Miller Geneseo, Illinois Carrie Miller Kinsman, Ohio Lisa Minnick Logansport, Indiana Jennifer Myers Gardners, Pennsylvania Barbara Schumacher Mountain View, Missouri Cheryl Stunkel Buckeystown, Maryland Lisa Trice Cambridge, Maryland Dixi Wellman Waverly, Nebraska EDITORIAL CONTENT DIRECTOR Kirsten Schrader ASSOCIATE CREATIVE DIRECTOR Christina Spalatin DEPUTY EDITOR Marija Andric SENIOR EDITOR, FARM & RANCH LIVING Ellie Piper SENIOR EDITOR Lindsey Anderson Rios ART DIRECTOR Jessie Sharon LAYOUT DESIGNER Lulu Rader DEPUTY EDITOR, COPY DESK Dulcie Shoener COPY…

1. THIS LITTLE PIGGY LOVES FUN My mini pig Oliver and his brother, Henry, live at a horse stable in nearby Orange Park Acres. Oliver is 2 years old, and his favorite things include playing chase, belly rubs, new toys and tomatoes. ASHLEE DuCOING NEWPORT BEACH, CALIFORNIA 2. TEA FOR TWO On our dairy farm we have cows, donkeys, chickens, ducks, goats, alpacas, sheep, dogs and cats. But my daughter Lilly bonded with this particular chicken, Millie, right from the start. Millie is full-grown now and laying eggs. She always runs to Lilly first when we’re all outside. REBECCA BALLINGER JEFFERSON CITY, TENNESSEE 3. UNDER THE RAINBOW I farm in southern Wisconsin and our farm, Bec-Wel, is home to 40 Holsteins. I captured this photo while bringing them in from…

• We couldn’t do without our SMALL COMPACT TRACTOR. We use it on the farms to mow pastures, move round bales of hay, clean manure and put in fence posts. • We love our POLARIS RANGER, which makes it possible to get around the farms quickly. We can zip back and forth moving supplies and hauling manure, with a handy pitchfork, out of the smaller barns. • Whether we’re shearing our llamas, weighing them or giving them treatments, we couldn’t do it without our LLAMA CHUTE, which keeps both the llamas and humans safe. Designed by a breeder, this multipurpose piece of equipment lets us remove bars and adjust ties and the neck stanchion. • The CATTLE BLOWER is another useful tool for fiber animals. We use a high-velocity blower…

Submission Guidelines SEND US YOUR STORY Share stories and photos with us using the online form at farmandranchliving.com/submit. HELP US SORT THINGS OUT Include the name of the department your submission is for (Prettiest Place, Tractor Talk, etc.). For any photos you submit, please identify the people, city, state and year the photo was taken. We reserve the right to use submissions in any section of our magazine, or elsewhere. WHAT YOU’LL GET If we print your submission in the magazine, we will send you a complimentary copy of the issue in which it appears. PHOTOS We accept high-resolution digital images. Digital images should be about 4 x 6 inches at a minimum resolution of 300 dots per inch, or about 1200 x 1800 pixels. Photos must be in focus…

...and every other color under the sun! For many of us, it’s been a challenging few years, and some days it can be tough to look on the bright side. But springtime, with its warmer weather and brand-new blooms, always brings a smile. Sure, spring also signals cloudy skies. But to paraphrase the great Dolly Parton, if you want to see a rainbow, you have to put up with the rain. I’d like to think Dolly would enjoy this issue’s photo feature, which is brimming with rainbows and starts on page 50. You’ll find yet more color in Amber and Ryan Anderson’s ag diary (page 24). This Idaho couple has contributed to past issues of Farm & Ranch Living, and I’m so pleased the stars aligned to make their diary…

Hello from Ryan, Amber and Colby Anderson! We live in north-central Idaho between the Snake River and Salmon River canyons on a plateau called Joseph Plains. We ranch cattle with Ryan’s parents, Joe and Connie. They own most of the cattle (we basically work for them), but we’re growing our own herd. We’re up to 15 mothers. Six of our cattle, purchased from Amber’s uncle, go back to a herd once owned by her Grandpa Geis. The rest we’ve bought or kept from our mother cows as replacement heifers. Our cattle wear Ryan’s grandparents’ brand, the Flying W. Joe and Connie’s brand is the 3K, which goes back five generations. Our kids are the sixth generation to be here and the fifth set of kids to be raised at the…

He didn’t need to, because all the fresh produce in the store was grown the same way—using traditional, organic farming practices. But when he moved to the United States in 2008 with his wife and son, he quickly learned that here, affordable, good-quality food was not something one could take for granted. “I remember the first time I realized after coming here that I had to shop in different places to get different produce,” Mohammed says. “Back home everyone is using the same techniques and it’s just called organic. After coming here, there were so many terms for that: free-range chicken eggs, organic, real organic, sustainable. And honestly, we were having trouble finding good food for economic reasons.” Mohammed emigrated to the U.S. as a scientist—he currently works as a…

PATENT PENDING On page 20 of the Oct./Nov. 2021 issue, Ellen Bishop asked if we had any suggestions for naming her brother’s pot-warming invention. Mine is: Pete’s Penny-Pinching Percolating Poultry Pots. Love this magazine, I’ve subscribed for many years. DICK VENEMA HUDSONVILLE, MICHIGAN BACK IN THE SADDLE I have been a subscriber since Farm & Ranch Living first started, but over time I became disenchanted with the magazine. But when the latest issue arrived, I changed my mind. The stories are better, the photos are better—it’s just better all around. Whatever you are doing, keep it up! KATHY FORSYTHE MANHATTAN, ILLINOIS EDITOR’S NOTE: We welcome all kinds of feedback—and that includes constructive criticism. A magazine is nothing without its readers, so we depend on you to let us know how…