Another Blog…More Farm Stories

Well call me crazy, but I have started another blog.  I was asked a few months back if I would be willing to write for Agriculture.com on their Women in Ag section.  After rolling it around for awhile, and figuring out if I could fit yet another writing assignment into my schedule I kept coming back to how exciting it was to have someone want you to tell your story on their site!  So after a week of hmm-ing and haa-ing, I decided that yes, I could do this.

So I’m excited to say that for the last month I’ve been writing on their website.  I have my own page on there, you can access it by clicking on this link: http://community.agriculture.com/t5/Women-in-Ag-Brenda-Frketich/bg-p/brendafrketich

Agriculture.com Blog

I post once a week and while it will still be a blog talking about this farm, I will usually be covering different issues and stories each week.  I hope you get some time to check it out and let me know what you think!  Thank you for all your support with NuttyGrass and keep on coming back to read.  Like I said…I do love sharing my farmer’s point of view!

The Day After Thanksgiving

…and I’m still thankful. Mostly for the dedicated guys we have working at the farm. It’s a balmy 28 degrees here this morning,

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And on a day that we always give our guys a break, I asked them to please come in. We have a field of grass that gotten eaten by slugs and disappeared in a matter of days. It’s a small field of 10 acres, but lost 9 of that field to slugs.

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The ground has been freezing and thawing for over a week so the soil on the top is really lose and very sticky. Except when the ground is frozen, so we are giving it a try.

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So yes today I’m thankful that even while in a slight still food coma these guys are still hard workers and know I wouldn’t ask unless it really had to be done.

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Stay warm and hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!!

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FFA Agricultural Sales Competition

I volunteered this past weekend to help judge an FFA competition called Ag Sales.  The students have a product and they have a mock sales situation where they try to sell you the product.  To be honest I had a long night before, I was feeling very tired, and wasn’t sure I was up to spending my Saturday morning working with high school students.

But then after I got there and started to go through a few scenarios, I realized how glad I was that I took the time.  These students reminded me not only of how important FFA was to me as a student, but also how much it has helped me even to this day.  With something as easy as selling a product (or as difficult as it feels sometimes) there are so many skills you are learning along the way.  Some examples are how to talk to adults, how too work in situations where you have to think on your feet, and how to prepare before walking into a task.

A lot of the parents of high school students that I talked to during breaks mentioned that the best thing FFA has done for their kids is teach them so many good lessons that are lost in schools today.  Even something as simple as how to shake a hand, how to look people in the eye when you talk to them, and how to be respectful.

I don’t have kids in high school yet, my first is actually still incubating in my ever growing middle section, but I am glad to see that there are places in school to still find where manners are being taught.  Many times people think of FFA as just a group of people who want to farm, but the reality of what students take with them from the FFA experience is so much more than that.  In the end it comes out as a group of people who range in occupations from farmer to lawyer, from teacher to engineer, even doctor to salesman.  All walking into life with just a few more of those common skills, that at times feel as though are lost in our modern society.

I’m glad that I took the time that Saturday morning.  It was a great reminder of my good FFA experience, but also it was great to participate with students now, who in 15 years will be looking back realizing how lucky they were to have the same opportunities (all while wearing that interesting blue corduroy jacket!).

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