Our day at Jeff and Cheryl Sowder's ranch was, "just the best day ever I heard one of my students say." I agree!! Here are some pictures that show just how special our day was. The weather was beautiful, food delicious, and facts about farming and ranching were fun to learn.
We started with Doc Kailey teaching that horses need to see a dentist and have their teeth floated. That means they need to be filed down or they keep growing. Yes, a veterinarian does dental work too!
Next we put on gloves and felt inside the boxes to see what a calf would feel like as it grows inside the mother cow. "Yuck" we all said but did what we were asked to do. It wasn't that bad when she told us what she used to simulate a baby calf growing.
We tried our hand at roping a calf. We made a loop, twirled it through the air, and hoped we caught the head of the calf.
Monica is giving it a try.
Reata getting help.
Payton caught!!
When is a cow more than a cow?
We learned that we don't just eat the beef but use other parts of the animal. If you wear make-up you better thank a cow! You mean Mrs. Butler wears a cow on her face??!!!! Our glue stick comes from a cow! Footballs, soccer balls, and baseballs are made from a cow. Bandages, marshmallows, jello and many many other items are all products from other parts of cattle. Wow! We can't go a single day with our thanking a cattle rancher for raising cattle.
We looked at different grains grown in Kansas. Wheat, soy beans, oats, and corn are some of the grains grown here in Kansas.
Greenwood County puts up a lot of hay. The FFA guys, Gideon, Walker, and our team leader Tanner talked about the swather. We got to climb up inside and take a look.
Lunch was provided from many agricultural organization. Sure was good eating that ALL BEEF hot dog.
The favorite thing of the day was having Tinkerbell show up with her trailer and give us a demonstration of how she is milked twice a day. We even saw her "chew he cud."
While we were watching she gave us 3 gallons of milk.
During our afternoon, we took a hay rack ride up and down the country roads. Mr Sowder knows that Mrs. Butler likes to go fast. So we had a great, fast, dusty ride!
Next Luke took us on a nature walk showing the grasses and RAGWEED that grow on the Kansas prairies.
We returned to school tired, dusty and dirty but glad for all the hard work that was done to make our day GREAT!!
THANKS go to Kim Douglas with Farm Bureau for organizing the day and of course the Sowders for allowing us to invade their ranch.
Mrs. Davison, Mrs. Butler and Mrs. Neill
