Today, during class the Machinery Committee, consisting of a six member team prepared the 450 farm for the spring corn planting. They used this time to do their Experiential Teaching, which is a required assignment for each committee. Dave Henderson from Van Wall Implement came and talked about the importance of changing the sweeps regularly. Their goals today were to change sweeps on the cultivator and to prepare the planter for the field by changing seed plates. The class was split into two groups and we tackled the task of changing the sweeps. Randy explains how to change the sweeps. Everybody had a chance to change a sweep with the help of the Machinery Committee.
The next task we had to accomplish was to change the seed plates on the planter. Below, Brad, explain how to grease the pivot point on the front and make sure the hydraulic hoses are correctly plugged into your tractor. Students had the opportunity to change seed plants from soybeans to corn so the Crops Committee and the farmer manager can begin planting corn!
Today, the public relations committee was able to sit down with the Buildings and Grounds Committee to talk about their goals of the farm and where they see the farm going in the next couple years.
Some of their biggest goals that they had were taking down some bins, cleaning up the farrowing house and shop. They also do a very good job of doing general maintenance, such as repairing latches, and putting down gravel.
This is a lot of work for a six member team to do, but their philosophy is to divide and conquer! Some of the guys in the group would rather do simple maintenance and clean up, while others like to do large projects such as making the grain leg sturdy and taking down the bins. In the future, they would like to see the farm prosper and grow, while also keeping it clean and up to date. Today their main goal was getting rid of the telephone poles on the farm!
Today at the 450 farm we interviewed the PR committee. They said that some of the immediate goals of their committee were to prepare for the 100 anniversary celebration and to work on organizing all of the farms internet network sites. Some of the long term goals of their committee were to create a farm resume, which could be used to publicize the farm and what is occurring throughout the operation.
Today, during their presentation, they showed the class how to correctly form a blog. This started with correctly identifying the audience to be addressed and then they proceeded to show us how to correctly take pictures and how to upload blogs. These skills could be utilized throughout the rest of the class and later in life as well. Their presentation was very informational
The machinery committee is getting fired up for the spring season. Currently they're replacing the rusty worn shanks that were clearly neglected on the cultivator. Every tractor has been lubed, cleaned, and inspected in order to prevent any breakdowns. One goal near the top of their priority list in the next few weeks will be dusting off the planter and making sure it will get the job done. At any given free moment you can find these 6 greasy guys with a smile on their face and a wrench in their hand.
After interviewing the finance committee we discussed how much work they havc done. In the first half of the semester they concluded the work on the buget, balance sheet, and cash flow. Now they are starting to slow down and are stuck paying bills and working on the net worth statement. There red folder of confusion is becoming smaller.
The finance committee is great group of people, they get their work done on time. They seemed to have worked hard during the first of the semester catching up on the previous classes unfinished business. They really care about the 450 Farm, having lost our insurance money by a 1/10 of a bushel they seemed upset.The rest of their semester looks to consist of more bills and lots of thrills.
The Customs Crop Committee here at Iowa State 450 farm has been very dedicated to making positive changes on the farm. Some of their biggest and main goals are to graduate here in May and to leave an outstanding impact on the farm. They said the farm when they got here has improved from their contributions and just recently accomplished there experiential teaching exercise where they taught the class how to be safe when working with machinery. On a daily basis they come in and work towards some of the things that need to be done in the classroom as well as trying to find liquid manure handling transportation system. So far they have talked to Mark Honeyman and Ken Burns helping getting the farm in good shape.
The swine committee had a very enlightening meeting today with the crops committee. In an interview style format, the swine committee had some questions for the crops team:
What are your goals for the rest of the semester?
- We would like to learn the mobile GPS system, tile options for the fields and get a plan for spring planting.
What are your main strengths/weakness?
- A main strength is working in a large group that always works as a team to accomplish our goals. A weakness relates to waiting for fertilizer from their supplier
What is the main issue you expect to have this year during planting season?
As always, weather is the main concern as in Iowa it changes often. This week we've had tornado warnings and now we're looking at snow in the forecast. Hard to plan around that!
This semester has 44 students eager to get out of the classroom and get their hands dirty. With the nice weather lately, many of the committees have been outside doing things on the farm working hard to make the farm look nice after the long, cold winter! During the first couple weeks of class, the students were divided into eight committees based on their interests. Since those first few weeks, each committee has been very busy accomplishing tasks, both in and out of the classroom!
Buildings and Grounds Committee: Has been busy cleaning up the shop and working on tearing down some un-used grain bins. They also worked with the Swine Committee in hanging a curtain on the finisher.
Finance Committee: Has been working hard at putting together a budget for 2011 and paying off bills as they come up. They have been really good at staying organized and keeping every committee award of our financial status.
Public Relations Committee: Has been working on the 100th Anniversary Celebration plans of the Agriculture Curriculum at Iowa State University. They are continuing with updating their web resources and taking pictures of the students.
Custom Crops Committee: Has been doing a lot of work with researching manure handling, and possibly cattle. They have been also planning which fields we will be planting first.
Swine Committee: Has been doing a lot of work with our pig provider, making sure we do our best for the pigs. One way they are trying to reduce problems is by hanging the curtain on the finisher. Their latest activity is looking into installing a Call System in the finisher for the farm manager.
Crops Committee: Has been busy doing research on buying new SMS mobile devices. These devices, which were approved for purchase March 1, will help with soil sampling and crop scouting during the spring and summer months.
Machinery Committee: Has been working with Buildings and Grounds Committee in getting the farm shop organized. They also recently ordered parts for the tiller and will purchase parts to repair the ripper. They are eager to get everything ready for the spring planting.
Marketing Committee: Has been busy selling the last of our beans and meeting with the co-op about insurance and our current grain situation from last fall.
The next task we had to accomplish was to change the seed plates on the planter. Below, Brad, explain how to grease the pivot point on the front and make sure the hydraulic hoses are correctly plugged into your tractor. Students had the opportunity to change seed plants from soybeans to corn so the Crops Committee and the farmer manager can begin planting corn!
