From: mpleis@iastate.edu (Cowboy)
Subject: Re: misc.rual.misc was  Re: Real Farms
Organization: Iowa State University, Ames, IA
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1992 02:04:39 GMT

In article <bill.715567658@chaos.cs.umn.edu> bill@chaos.cs.umn.edu () writes:
>In <1992Sep3.205924.27072@news.iastate.edu> mpleis@iastate.edu (Cowboy) writes:
>
>>We need a discution about real farms here. I mean a farm you make your living
>[stuff deleted]
>>Our farm this year is as follows:
>>2500 acres crops
>>90 head dairy soon to be 300+ (Reg. Jerseys)
>>4 families live and work the farm
>>N.E. Iowa location
>>We are all computerized.
>>Plus we write software for farms, sell software and hardware, and design new
>>special equipment for farms and dairys.
>
>now is this a 'real farm' (tm) or is this a 'university farm'?????
>no the size bugs me not, 'cause that sounds normal? for what i know about iowa
>but judging from your address i'm curious.

This is the "family farm" it is incoperated.

>btw most 'real farms' (tm) around here are run by people who wouldn't know
>how to change the station on a computer much less post to the net. and
>they are to busy being farmers / diarymen (sorry but i refuse to neuter that 
>word!) to use a computer. yes i'm aware of the potential and wish i could

Well I am a Student at ISU and a partner in the farm.

>do something about it (ok so email me some info on what you have, maybe
>we can get something going. please include a dotted address, as this
>machine has poor maps and to many times i can't get mail out). so what do
>you grow? do you row crop or just grow silage? what kinds og tillage methods
>do you use? how many / what kinds of studs do you have? do you farm out the
>ferilization of your cattle? do you have or are you planning on having a vet
>on site? is this a family farm (as in do any of you have children who would be

He damn near is on site as much as he is here.
 
>interested in taking over when you retire) or is this a corporate farm (when
>you all retire will you just sell out and move to hawaii?) so whats 
>computerized? only the feeding? do you have a method of determining what cow
>is producing the most milkfat or do you wait for the tests (do you do them
>once a month or biweekly?) so of all those cows how many are you milking?
>of the new ones how old are they? hefiers? or productive? do you support
>the 4h kids when they are trying to buy milk cows to raise? are your

I hate 4H I am a State FFA officr this year (V.P.)

>kids in 4h? ffa? what other livestock do you raise? what kinds and what application rates do you use for pesticides /herbicides? pre emergent? post emergent?
>do you do mechanical weed control? how many passes over the fields do you
>make during the course of a year? what kind of yeilds do you get? how many
>crops of hay per season? oh and how many times a day do you milk? what times?
>have you tried other times of the day to determine when the optimum production
>occurs? have you tried serving warmed water in the winter (to the cows)?
>
>ummm. i think that will cover all the questions i have for now. yes i too would
>like to sit back and learn from a thread like this. glad to have someone with
>your background available to learn from.
>
>

>bill@chaos.cs.umn.edu


-- 
mpleis@iastate.edu     Mark L. Pleis 
Agricultural Systems Technology, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa