If it really came down to it…could YOU save a life?

Heart Saver CPR and AED Training

Sponsored by:

The Pleasantview Fire Protection District and Cook County Farm Bureau

When:                        Saturday, November 3, 2012 from 9 AM – 12 PM

 Where:                      CookCounty Farm Bureau 

                                        6438 Joliet Road

                                      Countryside, IL  60525

 Cost:                         $25 per CookCounty Farm Bureau Member

                                     $35 per person for non-members

Pre-register:            CallCookCounty Farm Bureau at 708-354-3276

 

Register by:             Monday, October 29, 2012

Program Descriptions:

The Pleasantview Fire Protection District offers instruction in CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation).  Knowing how to recognize a potential life-threatening condition and how to respond can mean the difference between life and death.  The Heart Saver AED (Automatic External Defibrillator) Course that is taught follows the American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines for CPR and foreign body airway obstruction maneuvers for both adults and pediatrics.  Instruction for Heart Saver AED is also included.  The class includes video segments that emphasize hands-on participation, recognition of emergency situations, and demonstration of proper life-saving techniques.  Participants are eligible for AHA certification upon completion of the class.  Upon successful completion of the course, a CPR card will be issued by mail.

Manifolds, Manolos and Manure

As a child my husband would follow his dad and grandpa around their DeKalb County home asking when he’d be big enough to milk cows, drive a tractor, pick corn.  Farm.  As he grew taller and older so did his desire to become a third generation family farmer.

As the years past, our farm changed.  It grew.  We added cows.  Family members.  Farmland.

For the generations who don’t remember the droughts of the ‘80s this year has been (to say the least) a learning experience.  For many of us we’ve never weathered a year where our fields were planted by April and seemingly on track for record breaking high yields just to be burnt up or abandoned by mid-August.  According to the National Agricultural Statistics Services, 74 percent of corn fields, 57 percent of soybeans fields, 94 percent of sorghum fields, and 95 percent of pastures were rated poor or very poor.  This year’s drought has impacted nearly 90 percent of the nation’s corn crop and has impacted every state in the nation.  In short, this year’s drought is significantly more widespread than the droughts of the ‘80s.

A recent Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour projected statewide corn yields of 121.6 bushels per acre in Illinois and 113.2 bushels in Indiana.  Illinois’ three-year average is 163 bushels.  Pro Farmer’s estimates are higher than USDA’s corn yield estimate for Illinois of 116 bushels.

Many farmers remain optimistic about the soybean crop, but the average pod count for three-foot by three-foot sections in Illinois totaled 944, down from the three-year Pro Farmer tour average of 1,202.  According to many farmers, the soybeans responded well to the August rains; however, increased rainfall is not expected to last into September.  The Illinois State Water Survey reported that September looks to bring above average temperatures and below normal precipitation.

Unlike the droughts of the ‘80s, advancements in seed hybrids and agronomic practices have enabled corn plants to produce some yield despite (ahem) difficult growing conditions.  Also in contrast to the ‘80s is the number of farmers who have purchased multi-peril crop insurance as opposed to only hail insurance.  The use of crop insurance as a management practice is far more widespread than in the ‘80s.  And, perhaps, the largest difference between the droughts of the ‘80s and this year’s is the number of farmers and farm families that work off the farm.  Our family is a prime example, while my husband spends his days managing our third generation dairy and grain farm and pining about his corn yields, I spend my days working for the Cook County Farm Bureau® and striving to build relationships with legislators and the public.

For many of us, this year’s drought has been a learning experience, I, like another member of my household would’ve preferred simply hearing stories as opposed to experiencing a drought firsthand, but it has been a strong reality check.

Over the years, our farm has weathered changes, natural disasters and differences of opinions.  Like many other family farms, we’re resilient.  We’re able to change.  And we’ll weather this year’s drought.

Back To School

Back To School

B: Bound by tradition, I feel obligated to at least smell the 64 count Crayola Crayons as I pass the school supply aisle.  With my youngest being a high school senior, I know I don’t need to buy them.  Binders, Bic pens, #2 pencils (not mechanical), pencil cases, folders, rulers, erasers and scissors were always on the list.  Now the list may be smaller, but the cost often greater. For example, $100 graphing calculators, flash drives, and more. Wow, those weren’t on my school supply list.

T: Teachers, the most important part of everyone’s school year.  This was and always will be the topic of most interest among students (and parents).  We used to “call” our friends to find out whose class everyone was in and who they had for each subject area and die if we didn’t have lunch or gym with our friends. The same holds true today, except it is more likely to be discussed via twitter, Facebook and texting.

S: Sandwich!  Yes, a most important part of my school day was opening that brown bag and seeing what kind of sandwich I would be eating.  It was usually salami and swiss on white, an apple, carton of white milk and bag of chips.  And then there were Shoes!  Yes, the most exciting purchase was that new pair of shoes to wear the first day. That was the BEST!

As the kids headed back to school after Labor Day (and usually much earlier these days), most of us breathed a sigh of relief.  Most of us, except the teachers who get to “start all over again” with a new group of students.  To all of you teachers out there, stay strong.  Think of where you got last year with your classroom and know that the impossible, is possible.  Our future is in your hands and we applaud your effort and your profession.  Welcome back to school!

We’ve Moved!

For the past several months Cook County Farm Bureau staff along with Capitis Media have been studiously revamping, overhauling and rebuilding the Farm Bureau’s website.  And guess what?!?  We’re done!  Well the site, http://www.cookcfb.org is still a work in progress but we’ve taken the site live and will begin to integrate our blog posts into the new sites.  For continued updates about the happenings in and around Cook County agriculture join us at http://www.cookcfb.org. 

Ag Literacy

Back To School

B: Bound by tradition, I feel obligated to at least smell the 64 count Crayola Crayons as I pass the school supply aisle.  With my youngest being a high school senior, I know I don’t need to buy them.  Binders, Bic pens, #2 pencils (not mechanical), pencil cases, folders, rulers, erasers and scissors were always on the list.  Now the list may be smaller, but the cost often greater. For example, $100 graphing calculators, flash drives, and more. Wow, those weren’t on my school supply list.

T: Teachers, the most important part of everyone’s school year.  This was and always will be the topic of most interest among students (and parents).  We used to “call” our friends to find out whose class everyone was in and who they had for each subject area and die if we didn’t have lunch or gym with our friends. The same holds true today, except it is more likely to be discussed via twitter, Facebook and texting.

S: Sandwich!  Yes, a most important part of my school day was opening that brown bag and seeing what kind of sandwich I would be eating.  It was usually salami and swiss on white, an apple, carton of white milk and bag of chips.  And then there were Shoes!  Yes, the most exciting purchase was that new pair of shoes to wear the first day. That was the BEST!

As the kids headed back to school after Labor Day (and usually much earlier these days), most of us breathed a sigh of relief.  Most of us, except the teachers who get to “start all over again” with a new group of students.  To all of you teachers out there, stay strong.  Think of where you got last year with your classroom and know that the impossible, is possible.  Our future is in your hands and we applaud your effort and your profession.  Welcome back to school!

Life Lessons

For the past eight months, I have been reminiscing about my childhood on the farm and the various life lessons I learned along the way. When I started this series, I indicated that some life lessons result from a positive occurrence, but (unscientifically) my life has demonstrated many times the power of the “negative” in teaching a person. As I sit here and ponder the word “negative”, I find that I no longer view those experiences as negative. Fortunately, time has a way of adjusting one’s perspective (and dulling the pain).

I must confess, part of my hope has been to draft something that I could use to influence the choices my kids make in the future. Now, if I could only figure out how to get the kids to read the Cooperator! Perhaps I should just put these life lessons in a lockbox /time vault for opening in 25 years when these kids of ours are attempting to influence, direct, teach their own children. I can picture the group of kids and grandkids huddled around the rusty box pulling out a dusty, dated and yellowing copy of the Cooperator (Holy Cow, I suddenly had an all new image of me as a grandpa! Yikes!). After discussing what a newspaper “is”, perhaps the conversation would go as follows…

“You don’t want to turn out like your grandpa, do you?” or “Wasn’t your grandpa handsome man before he allowed time to devastate his appearance?” or “Yes, people really did dress that way back in the old days” or “We sure wish grandpa would have left us treasure rather than this crappy scrap of newspaper”.

Lesson 10: Essentials of a kid’s farm life…Water and Mud

Life on the farm provided a wealth of time to dream and I was a Masters student in daydreaming class. Unfortunately for my siblings, I did not keep all of my thoughts to myself including some of the bigger dreams.

One of my dreams that I passed on to my siblings was that we would have a swimming pool. Most kids with that type of dream would try to figure out how to purchase a swimming pool or better yet, have dad purchase one. Knowing my father, I knew that he would not be purchasing a swimming pool and even “pooling” our piggy banks (actually my piggy bank was a ceramic baseball glove and ball), the Rohrer kids could not afford a bucket, let alone a pool.

Rather than accept this non-swimming pool destiny, we tried to come up with alternative solutions. The various hog water tanks around the farm were a bit too small to serve our purpose. Digging a big enough hole to fill with water for a pool reminded me of work. Area farm ponds covered in algae seemed a bit too slimy for quality enjoyment.

However, beavers (being quite busy) were very inspirational… Beavers make pools all the time! I thought that if a beaver could do it, so could we. Heck, we even have opposable thumbs! Beavers seem to do their best work in creeks…perhaps that’s their secret!

To the creek we went to create the swimming pool of a lifetime complete with rope swing, mudslide, and ultimate water sports. We even dreamed that we could add a boat if we work hard enough!

We analyzed the creek, the water flow, and the creek bank, and the localized building materials and determined the perfect spot to build a dam. A natural deeper portion of the stream would decrease the work with the water moving slowly would prevent erosion and washing away of the dam.

I assigned tasks to my siblings…rock mining (finding rocks we could move), timber harvest (picking up sticks), and clay/mud gathering (chinking for the holes). We were certainly impressed by our hunting and gathering abilities! I saved the hardest job for myself…supervising and engineering construction. Sometimes the weight of responsibility is nearly overwhelming…

We went at it hard, accumulating piles of big and small rocks, limbs and branches, blue clay, yellow clay, and mud. At first, construction went quickly as we placed our rocks and branches in carefully selected spots. The Mudding Team followed with the piles of clay being placed in holes to prevent water leaks from flowing through the cracks between rocks and sticks.

Making the “pool” increase its depth by a foot was not difficult…The water seem to magically back up behind the dam. We started to get cocky truly skilled “beavers”. However, we quickly learned three things as the water rose…

1. Water has this amazing ability to find the weakest point (or points) of a dam.
2. An earthen dam erodes quite easily with moving water…the faster the moving water and the greater the water pressure, the more the erosion occurs.
3. Our building materials were apparently substandard (as opposed to our technical expertise).
We were also covered from head to toe in mud!

We stuck at dam building construction with a lot of determination…I credit my leadership and motivational skills (it could have been my “oldest brother” traits of guilt trips and anger) to battling that stream…working side-by-side to conquer nature, gravity and hydraulic principles. Shouting phrases of “plug that leak!”…” I need clay!”…” More rocks quick!”…” We have a problem here!”…” What’s your problem!”…” We are losing the battle, people!” and some less kind words surrounded the project.

At some point, we all came to the realization that the water was winning the battle and so we had to be content splashing, skipping rocks, tackling one another, and letting the water flow over our bodies in the not swimming pool.

We never did accomplish the construction of the ultimate swimming pool of our dreams. However, the “wading pool” that we created provided lasting memories for all of my brothers and sisters (and not all were scarring memories).

Lessons learned:
1. I am no beaver nor engineer… Choose another line of work, young man.
2. Sometimes the journey can be as fun as the result!
3. Leadership is an elusive trait that requires more than a self proclamation label and chest pounding.
4. Water is powerful. Water has a mind of its own. Water can control its own destiny.

Last month, I announced that I was nearing the end of the life lessons series because I was running out of material and because the number 10 seems like a nice round number to conclude. However, when I started writing the above story about water and mud, a whole new “flood” of new, embarrassing memories came to mind (and I haven’t even gotten to the insects and reptiles). So I guess that the series will continue for now…

Next month: Essentials of the kid’s farm life…more water and mud.

Looking for a FUN-FILLED Day on the Farm?!

Well, then plan on attending our 6th Annual CCFB Family Celebration Picnic at Goebbert’s Pumpkin Farm in Barrington on Saturday, September 22^nd, 2012 from 1pm-4pm (lunch served 1:00-3:00).  Tickets are $15 for Adults (ages 12 & up), $10 for Children (ages 3-11), and ages 2 & under are FREE.  Each person will receive:  Admission to AnimalLand—including the corn & straw town maze, 1 voucher for a wagon ride, 1 voucher to be used for a pony ride, camel ride, haunted house or jumping pillow and all children will receive a voucher for 1 small pie pumpkin.  The event will feature a picnic buffet lunch which includes:  Hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken fingers, roasted corn, chips, apple cider donuts, kettle corn and assorted sodas/water.  Call 708.354.3276 to order your tickets.