With a very heavy heart we unexpectedly say goodbye to our beloved Daisy.

Hello everyone.  I have some very sad news from here on the farm.  I came home Friday night from work to find our girl Daisy very very weak and ill.   At first I thought she had eaten something she shouldn't again as this has been a problem for the last 6 - 7 months or so.  I called my wife who was almost home and we hurriedly fed the animals and put daisy in the car to take her to the hospital.  She tried to stand up to watch the car ride but was only able to do so for a few minutes and then collapsed on the back seat.

The Vet took a few X-rays of her to see what was going on and had some very bad news.  Turns out the last 6 months when Daisy was getting sick it wasn't because she was eating things she wasn't supposed to.  The problem was actually due to a cancerous tumor that had been growing in her spleen for an unknown time.  Each time she got sick it was because it ruptured and bled, but, because it was not that big, the bleeding would stop and she could recover in a couple days.  

This time however this was not the case.  By the time we got her to the hospital and got the diagnoses she was barely able to hold her eyes open to tell us goodbye.  Due to the advanced stage of the cancer, even if they did surgery, they only gave her a 5% chance of surviving more than a week or two.  We could not put her through that since we knew she had already been fighting it on her own for so long.  She was finally ready to take a break from all her hard work and was waiting for us to say it was ok.  

Her Thursday was spent with the kids and I in the truck.  I came home from work early and took her with me to town to get parts and feed, then we picked up the kids to go to swimming practice.  I had to help her in the truck not knowing that she wasn't getting old but was fighting a battle I knew nothing about. When we got home she wanted to ride in the tractor and after helping her into the tractor she helped my wife and I feed all the animals and checked the piglets before coming back into the house.

I would like to share some pics of how we will always remember her.   She was a great help on the farm and my closest friend.  She never judged, was always here when I got home from work, and always showed unconditional love to everyone she knew.  This was evident at our customer party every year where she kept everyone company and went on the hayrides in the tractor to keep everyone safe.

Daisy helping check the cows.

Every time I went to check on the cows or pigs she was there to help.  She became very skilled at riding the 4-wheeler with me and constantly helped fix fence, herd cattle, and hunt mushrooms.  

This was a pic from a few years ago showing all the flowers in bloom.  We were on our way out to check the cows and as you can see she was with me and ready to go.  She is now resting beside the trees in the background where she can see the sunset and watch over our house each night.  

My wife and I rescued her from the pound the winter after we got married.  I have never been without a dog my entire life and after moving into our house I knew I couldn't go long without a companion.  When we found her she had been found roaming the streets in Wooster and was adopted once before but the family brought her back because their child wasn't taking care of her.  They have no idea what they lost by doing that.  When we brought her home she was very quite and shy.  But that wore off in about a week and the true Daisy came out and shined ever since.
 Little did I know how much she would become a part of our lives.  She constantly tried to ride our first open station tractor with me but the deck was small and it wasn't safe.  So we got a bigger tractor with a cab so she and the kids could go with me.  I could not start the truck or the tractor without her being there to go along.   Yesterday was the first time in 10 years that she was not with me for a ride in the tractor 

The pic below was Daisy and I taking a break after a long day on the farm.   I didn't realize until she was gone just how close she always was.  She literally met me at the door every single time I came through it and was with me until I left through it to go to work.  One winter she even went with me to work while my wife and daughter were in Japan.  It was that winter that someone approached me in my plow truck in the middle of the night.  She jumped up and started barking and they immediately left the area.  I never had a problem again after that.

Here is a picture of her helping birth piglets.  She was such a great mother and would wait for each one to be born and then would vigorously clean it off and nuzzle it until it was up and running.  Once she started helping with the pigs farrowing we had much less piglets die during and just after being born because of this.  She was also very protective of the barn and would quickly run off anything or anyone she didn't think should be there without my permission.



My wife has shown our entire family the joys of camping when on vacation.  Because of this we were always able to take Daisy with us on our vacations.  Below are a few pics from our last vacation to the outer banks.  She literally went everywhere with us, and yes, she would even sit at the table when she was allowed to when we were camping.

Mom, is that mine?

She was waiting for her part of breakfast, when I snapped the picture she thought my wife was going to eat her treat and was very concerned!

Hey, that is mine, don't eat that!

Below is our last family picture together.  I believe she started getting sick not too long after this picture because that is when she started having trouble getting in and out of the truck and tractor.  She was very good at hiding it and we didn't realize her decline until the last 4 or 5 weeks.  However, we still thought, after a visit to the vet over the holidays, that she was just having upset stomachs and would get better soon.

It will be very hard to go back to the outer banks without our baby.  She would sit under the truck and watch the kids play.  It will be even harder to come home from work every day to a house without her, or go on a trip without her standing on the center console of the truck watching where we are headed.  We will never replace her nor will we ever forget her.  I only hope that we can find another as caring as her that can take over all her duties here on the farm.

My wife and I both feel as though we have lost our closest companion we have ever had.  I long for the day when we can be back together as a family again.  This is gonna hurt for a while and I hope that over time I can remember our times together without the pain of missing her taking over so badly.  I can deal with almost anything life has thrown at me but saying goodbye to loved ones is something I am very bad at dealing with.  It seems like it gets harder each time.  The difference now is the one I confided in and had comfort from when no one else was around is no longer here to help.

Until we meet again,

Kenny, Natsuko, Lisa, and Alex.

American Farmland Trust and EPRI Farmer video and an article we were featured in for the program.

I just found out today that the video that I was interviewed for has been posted on the American Farmland Trust (AFT) and Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) websites and on youtube. 

Ohio River Basin Water Quality Trading Project Farmer Interview: Conser Run Farm

Check it out, my video is #3.   There are more videos in the series but #3 is mine and it turned out very well.  It is well worth watching and is just a snippet of  everything we discussed but still got a lot of information in it.  

The star of the show is my first cow 50!!!!  She got almost as much air time as me!!

We were also featured in an article for the program as well.  This year they are looking to grow the program and reach more people.  This program has the ability to affect the world as we know it. Similar programs are used elsewhere in the world already.  

Multi-State Water Program Hopes To Stand On Its Own Two Feet In 2016

Here is a simple example of how it works.  Power companies supply the electric that powers the world.  Everyone relies on them daily for even the simplest task.  However, the side product of being able to read this post, make coffee for your breakfast, turn on the lights in your house, or even pump the water that you use to feed your family and clean, is pollution.  The power companies, and many other businesses have already spent an unthinkable amount of money trying to eliminate this pollution.  However, the law of diminishing returns cannot be avoided and eventually the cost per unit of pollution control is unrealistic and un-achievable.  

Lets say you take $10,000 and invest it on pollution control measures at an electric power plant.  Lets say the return on investment equals one nutrient credit or one unit of pollution control.  Now, take that $10,000 and invest it in a grass roots location where the impact per dollar is greater.  That same $10,000 invested into a project like mine can create 450 or more units of pollution control.   The return on investment and the impact that comes with it is enormous.  It also affects every single person that comes in contact with the water that this affects.  

Every drop of water that flows down a ditch along your street, gets flushed down your drain, runs off of a field, or any other runoff ends up in the ocean eventually and takes with it anything that is dissolved in it or carried by it with it.  If this gets out of balance with what is naturally normal you get pollution problems.   A program like this would take the money being spent on small gains at a power plant out into the rest of the world and can help farms, small towns, and small businesses that are not able to financially do it on their own but genuinely want to make a difference.  

So please watch all the videos, read the article, educate yourselves and share this information with someone you know.  I am very happy to be involved with this program and I am encouraged by the possibilities I see ahead.  

Have a wonderful day everyone.  

Kenny

Happy new years everyone!!!

Another year comes to a close!  I have been been doing my annual New Year's blog post for 5 years now.  This will be the first one that doesn't start with me standing in the very cold weather giving thought to the year past.  This year it is actually quite mild!  I had a friend and coworker over today for some fun and spent some much needed time with the family as well.   There is more work on some projects that I want to finish soon but are not huge priorities so they can wait another day or two!  

Nothing like the last few new years eve's!!!  40 degrees and no snow!!!

I like to reflect on the year past and see where we have come from and where we are headed.  At the end of last year I was still catching up from two months of being down due to illness and a broken finger.  Through that experience I learned that I cannot rely solely on myself to get everything done.  I learned that prioritization is very important and perseverance is extremely important!  

I knew last year that as a family and a business we were at a huge milestone/turning point.  As a family my wife and I have seen our kids go from malleable little children into individuals who have an opinion, personality, and world of their own.  Both of our children our now in school and beginning to build a world of their own making.  I am continually amazed at how different they both can be even though they both come from my wife and I.  My wife and I are challenged every day with how to help them the best way possible to help them succeed in life.  However, it is a challenge we both accepted when we decided to bring life into this world and we will work till we cannot work any more to help them succeed.  

My wife is going through a tough transition in her life right now with the end very near to a position she has held for five years.  She is currently back on the job market and looking for a long term position that she can grow with moving forward.  She does not know where this road will take her and it will probably be bumpy along the way, but, she knows now that she has the support of all of us to get through it!  I look at her current situation as a huge opportunity.  She gets a chance to start an entirely new path of her making.  We are currently in a position that she can take some time and find what is best for her.  In the mean time she can spend some time with the kids and work here around the farm.  This was not an option before and I envy her being able to do this.  I am blessed every day to have her as a companion.  Even when I am upset I remind myself that I would not be where I am today without her continual guidance through life!

As for me I have had many changes personally since last year.  I went from a field management position at work to more of a full management position.  It has been a struggle at times this year stepping out of the world I have grown to know and love into a world where I cannot do everything myself and I have to motivate those around me to accomplish the tasks at hand efficiently and timely.   I am used to being in total control of a job site and being able to make the physical world bend to my will.  However, the physical world of dirt and wood and stone is completely different than the world of employee relations, management of budgets, and growing everyone around you along the way.  In the past year I have realized where some of my greatest weaknesses lie and where my best strengths can take me.  I have and will continue to learn every day how to control my emotion and see the worth in everyone around me before I see their faults.  Every person has value and every one has something they do really well.  The key is finding what everyone does well and grow on that.  I am excited beyond belief for the new year at work.  I finally have an opportunity to show another level of my potential.  I also am excited to know that I will not be able to get there alone and can only achieve this by taking everyone around me with me!  

As a family farm we have turned a huge corner with the passing of this year.  We have finally seen some financial return from the farm.  The first 6-7 years were spent just busting our butts and doing whatever needed done to get to a point where we could be productive.  The money and time we have spent to this point will take another 6-10 years to be fully paid back if we stay the course.  The future is ours to make.  If we continue to grow and learn and fix the tiny little things along the way the big things will work themselves out.  While it didn't seem like it, we did sell a lot of cattle this year without reducing the total head count.  We are expecting a new record of calves born on the farm this year of 17.  While this may be a day's worth of calves on a big ranch that is a years worth of income for us!  It was only a short time ago that we were unbelievably excited over having three calves in one year!  With the new building being done, the equipment updated, and the herd tweaked to our best cattle, we are looking to grind out a couple years of fine tuning and paying off debt.  After that the sky is the limit!  Our only competition will be ourselves moving forward 

This year as I look into my pasture I see huge challenges and even bigger opportunities.  I see two young children that are in the most influential point of their lives.  I want to give them the opportunity to do whatever they put their minds to.  I see a herd of cattle that just a few years ago was a dream of mine that I could envision but wasn't sure when or if we would get to that point. I see my wife who has supported me, and most importantly helped me make better decisions along the way.  Without her I would still be where I started years ago.  I see a new group of pigs that I was ready to give up on last summer when I lost our beloved boar Redballs.  Double stuffed has picked up the torch with his new girls and is slowly getting things back to normal.  Our first litter of the year is due any day now!  

I want to close with a quote from Steven Covey.  He wrote a book called The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.  I am not one to read.  For me to read it either has to be required or it has to be something that grabs my attention and holds it with a force that is unbreakable.  This book was given to my by my fellow manager at work.  At first I started reading it and wasn't really drawn in but I knew if I wanted to grow as a person I needed to push through.  By chapter two I was completely drawn in and hooked.  This book is a long read and there are audio versions available that are much shorter.  In the second chapter of the book this quote is what grabbed my attention.  This hit me pretty good because this is so true for me as an individual.  

“ You can buy a person’s Hand but not their Heart.  Their heart is where their Enthusiasm and Loyalty is!  You can buy a person’s back but not their Mind, that’s where their Creativity, Ingenuity, and resourcefulness is contained.”

As a leader you cannot force the best out of people.  The best you can get out of a person by forcing them is the bare minimum.  If you want their heart and their mind you have to earn it, you cannot buy it, you cannot force it, and you cannot take it from them!  There are some people that I will never be able to earn their heart or their mind and I accept that but I still try.  

You can only grow if those around you grow as well.  If you only enter into something with yourself in mind you will not be successful.  So as you go throughout your year please take a moment and start thinking about the outcome.  Begin with the end in mind.  How will you benefit from what you are doing?  How will those around you benefit?  Are you the only one that will learn and prosper from this or will someone else share in your victory?  What good is a victory if you celebrate it alone and lose those around you along the way?  

As I reflect back over the years of my past and look out into my pasture I can now clearly see that when I started with the end in mind and worked on something that benefited those around me as well as me I was successful.  When I was simply doing something to benefit myself it rarely turned into something good and prosperous!  

I want to wish everyone a prosperous New Year!  Keep in mind that every day is a new chance to start again.  If you slip two weeks from now don't wait until next year to change.  Get back up and get right back on course.  I hope someday you can come tell me about your experiences and show me what you have in your pasture and what you have grown and those around you grew as well!

Thank you everyone and here's to 2016!!!!!!

Kenny