March Comes in like a Lamb

March came in like a LAMB! It is that time again to sell some lambs. Yesterday the kids and I took a trip across town and sold some lambs to Blystone Farms. Whenever I head out anywhere with a trailer full of sheep and two small children there is bound to be some type of excitement. To my surprise, we made it there and got the sheep and children unloaded without any issues.


There have been a few trips when I had to pull over the truck and trailer three times because a certain child thought it was funny to unbuckle their seat belt and then there was the time when one of the lambs jumped over the gate at the farm and was running loose, I guess he didn’t want to know how much he weighed that day.

This is a short video blog of our trip.

Once the lambs are tagged, the customer can go to the barn sale pen and pick out their sheep, goat or even steer and have it processed. Blystone Farms has a large ethnic customer base. It is very traditional in their cultures to see the animal live and then leave the farm with the processed animal. Their customers have a very deep respect for animals and their health and safety. The customer can see the animals that their family is going to eat and know that they are buying quality, healthy protein.

Once the lambs are weighed, we go inside to the new retail shop to settle up on our sales. We are paid for our lambs on a per pound basis. It is very important that we keep our lambs between a certain weight to obtain the highest dollar amount. Most customers like their lambs to be between 135-140lbs. At Blystone Farms their customer sometimes like a little smaller lamb and this is based on tradition and costs. As mentioned in the video, each lamb is given a letter based on weight. The letter of the sheep is written on a board by the sale pen and the customer knows exactly what they will pay for their animal.

You can stop by the farm, just outside of Canal Winchester, or call and let them know what you would like and they will have it just the way you want it whether it be a half of beef or a whole lamb.

The new retail meat case is now open. They have been working for months to get their retail custom shop up and running. It is really nice inside and their meat looks and taste great. If you do not wish to purchase a whole animal, you can now buy it by the individual cut. If you live in the central Ohio area you should stop by to see their family operation. They sell beef, poultry, eggs, lamb and goat. If you stop by, there may even be some of our lamb in the case.

Harvest Time: Corn Harvest in Ohio 2011

Ohio Corn Harvest 2011 Video

As the 2011 harvest comes to a close I want to thank all the grain farmers who work so hard to feed our country and even our world. They not only work hard to feed people but the animals that I and many others raise.

I put this documentary style video together to showcase how corn is harvested. It will take you out into the corn field and end  at the grain bin. Even if you are around fields of corn,  I think you may take something away with this shoot. I even learned a thing or two. Farmers work hard and use  technology more than you may think. They have many new tools that can keep them even more efficient. Farmers are naturally resourceful and value technology.
Did you  know while in the combine or on the go they can use an App on their phone or tablet computer  to control their grain dryer? I am excited to see what will be developed in the next 5-10 years to help even more.
Thanks so much to a few of my favorite farmers for taking time to help  me make this video possible. The corn harvest is still underway in Ohio, it has not been a typical year due to all the rain. Many farmers still have corn out in those fields. The joke was some may be harvesting into December and I laughed, it just may be true for some farmers in my area.

This field corn will be used to make ethanol here in Ohio or possibly be shipped
out to N.C. to be used to feed chickens and hogs. Fields are averaging around 200 bushels per acre.
Around 1,000 bushels of corn will fill a semi trailer.