Music and patriotism have been an integral part of America since its founding. This spirit lives on through the Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps, where musicians like Brooke Stevens from Hampton, Iowa, showcase the soundtrack of America’s story.
“We are the goodwill ambassadors of the U.S. Army,” said Stevens, a U.S. Army staff sergeant and bugle player in the Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps. “We have a unique opportunity to share our music with people worldwide.”

Founded in 1960, the Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps brings U.S. history to life. Stevens and her fellow musicians wear distinctive uniforms of red regimental coats, waistcoats, black tricorn hats, white wigs and colonial coveralls patterned after those worn by the musicians of Gen. George Washington’s Continental Army, circa 1781.

In support of the president, the Corps performs at all armed-forces arrival ceremonies for visiting dignitaries and heads of state at the White House. The Corps has also participated in every presidential inaugural parade since 1961.

One of Stevens’ first missions with the Corps involved Barack Obama’s presidential inauguration in 2013. “The Corps is the official escort to the President of the United States, so we were right ahead of the president’s motorcade,” said Stevens, who has served with the Corps since September 2012.

Let freedom ring
Stevens’ spectacular journey to Washington, D.C., from Franklin County, Iowa, started with the Hampton-Dumont school’s concert and jazz bands, where she played the trumpet. She credits her father, Brian, a retired middle school band director, for inspiring her love of music.

“Dad taught me to set goals and follow through,” said Stevens, a four-time All-State Band member. “I also learned that hard work and dedication pay off.”

After graduating from Hampton-Dumont High School in 2002, Stevens earned her music degree in trumpet performance from the University of Northern Iowa in 2006. Then it was on to Indiana University, where she earned her master’s degree in music in 2008 and began working on her doctorate in brass pedagogy and literature.

Stevens also began looking at job opportunities. She was intrigued by the Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps, which offers more than 500 performances annually and has appeared at NBA games, NFL games including Super Bowl XVI, the Kentucky Derby and the Indianapolis 500.

Since the 70 members of the Corps are active-duty military, Stevens enlisted in the U.S. Army and completed basic training in June 2012 before joining her unit in September 2012. She is stationed at Fort Myer, Va., near Arlington National Cemetery.

“One of my highest honors was playing taps at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier,” said Stevens, who added that the Corps supports all U.S. Army funerals in the Washington, D.C. area.

While Stevens has always been patriotic, serving with the U.S. Army and Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps makes the 4^th of July especially meaningful, she said. “Experiencing military life and seeing the sacrifices that servicemen and women are making for our country and their families gives me the utmost appreciation and respect for the U.S. military.”

A taste of Iowa
While Stevens travels extensively with the Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps, part of her will never leave Iowa. “I’m proud to be from Iowa and represent the state,” said Stevens, who shares her all-time favorite bar recipe from home.

Last week I got a call from farm broadcaster and writer Ty Higgins, host of Farm & Country. This interview reminded me why I started speaking out for agriculture. Ty gave me an opportunity to talk about crop conditions in our area and to also talk about my pigs.

Of course, Ty and I also had to talk about the weather! (I honestly don’t think people who make a living off the land can have a conversation that doesn’t touch on this subject.) There are many farm fields across the Midwest where too much rain is wreaking havoc on the crop. Fortunately, where I live in North Central Iowa, the conditions are nearly perfect. I have the best looking crop that I’ve seen in 5 years, but I’m saying prayers because weather and growing conditions can turn on a dime!

Ty gave me an opportunity to talk about how much pig farming has changed over the years. When I was a kid, we raised pigs in the pasture. Pigs don’t sweat, however, so they needed help staying cool on hot summer days. Did you know that today’s fair-haired pigs also can get sunburned?

Now I raise pigs in temperature-controlled buildings where there’s no threat of sunburn and where pigs have access to food and water. I’ve shared before how the number of sick pigs and our death loss decreased after we started producing hogs inside. I’ve also that during the 1980s Farm Crisis I supplemented my farming income but starting a construction business that focused on building hog units.

Recently I accepted an opportunity to oversee the remodeling of existing hog buildings and acting as the general contractor for new construction. Making a better, safer place to raise pigs is something I’ve been involved with for decades. We continue to learn and improve the buildings, as well as our methods, as we go along. The same is true for those farmers who only raise crops… we’re always improving. Producing more with less is always the goal.

Technological advancements in agriculture are comparable to what’s happened in the medical field, as I was reminded while making a doctor’s visit. I’ve been battling a sore foot for a couple of months. Being a stubborn old farmer, last week I finally made a doctor’s appointment. The first thing I had to do when I got to the office was complete a stack of paper; more paperwork was required before I left.

Medicine reminds me a lot of farming. It makes use of state-of-the-art technology – and lots of regulation. “State-of-the-art technology and regulation” define modern farming, too. But technology is accepted in medicine! Almost everyone understands that new technology makes people healthier, and as a result of better healthcare and nutrition, our life expectancy has increased.

Penicillin is a great example of a medical breakthrough. It was discovered by accident but has become a miracle worker. But wait. Is penicillin a chemical?! Of course, it is! What about the equipment used in the medical field like X-ray machines? We used to have to wait for film to be developed, but today’s technology provides us with nearly instant results. The same is true for farming: GPS, auto-steer, drones, grid sampling and tissue sampling. All these things can make farming more efficient and “sustainable“!

Just as they are in farming, burdensome regulations are holding back future innovations and inventions. Safeguards are needed, but unnecessary regulations increase the cost of medical services, procedures and even vaccines. Some people are being denied procedures and medicines that could save their lives. This is true in agriculture as many small shareholder farmers in developing countries can access the newest seed technologies, and others in their country are being denied biotech crops like Golden Rice even though it could save millions of lives. The GMO rice has such a huge potential to save lives, but emotions – and politics – keep holding back its potential.

Emotion and politics are directly linked in the United States, too. We enjoy food choice, but a loud minority of people would like to change that. I’ve written before about how confusing food labels have become, and paying more for “hormone-free chicken or turkey” is a case in point. I know there are a group of seed industry officials support federal H.R. 1599 Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act to standardize regulations nationwide.

Choice and common sense are very important to innovation. After all, the medicine field could still be using techniques such as bleeding and leaches!

In the “good old days,” people received local newspapers weekly in rural areas and daily in the cities. Radio made news in the 1920s, and television nightly national news was introduced in the 1950s. It could take months to disseminate information about “current events.”

It’s been difficult to narrow down today’s blog topic because there are so many “current events” from across the world that impact my life on a daily basis. The more I read, the more I see. Studies estimate that we’re bombarded with anywhere between 3,000 and 20,000 messages daily! Wouldn’t it be wonderful to stick your head in the sand and ignore it all?

Ignoring a problem doesn’t make it go away, so today I’m going to key in on the issue of Pope Francis’ encyclical on the condition of the environment. Many people have jumped on the wagon of climate change in recent years. I know… I know. There is “evidence” that proves this theory, but even National Geographicwarns that information in charts can be misleading; charts can be manipulated to make a desire points. According to the guy who reportedly invented the Internet, the polar caps should have all melted away and New York City should be under water by now!

There have been and continue to be “doomsday” theories, but great improvement has been made and will continue to be made! I agree that everyone in this world can – and should – do a better job of managing resources from the amount of water they use when showering to reducing food waste. Farmers also should take advantage of new farming practices and technologies that allow us to better care for the environment. But do we need to break our economy and the businesses that are pushing our economy ahead by making laws, rules, and regulations that in theory may help the climate?

Pope Francis also writes about the waste in today’s affluent countries, and I think he may be on to something here. We live in a throw-away society where it often costs less to replace rather than repair something. Our landfills are unbelievable. Recently, I visited a landfill on Des Moines’ east side and was flabbergasted by the vast quantity of garbage going into that place. Just think how much waste must come from a larger city like Chicago or New York City!

What happen to all of this trash? At one time, big cities loaded barges with garbage. They can’t still do this, can they? (I’m seeing another research project here.) Sanitation and clean water systems are definitely key infrastructure needed for a healthy country. A healthy, steady food supply is also important to a country’s health and stability. (This reminds me of National Geographic articles I read recently about What the World Eats and Where The World’s Hungriest People Are.)

Kathie Obradovich did a nice job in her opinion piece, “Pope’s message challenges caucusgoers, candidates, in The Sunday Des Moines Register. We can all live a simpler life by making do with fewer things. But let’s not let government break the bank with untried, unproven technologies, pushed by people with nothing to lose but have a fortune to gain on our tax dollar!

Last Friday on TheFieldPosition.com, we shared how Andrew and Jennifer Holle spent their senior year of college planning to fulfill their dream of returning to his family’s dairy. As new college graduates and as newlyweds, they purchased Northern Lights Dairy in 2003. Jennifer shared how she climbed the ladder of responsibility until finding her niche as the calf manager.

Like their mother, the four Holle children are working their way up the ladder of responsibility.

“We are all so excited now that school’s out for the summer!” says Jennifer enthusiastically. “I LOVE having my kids home because summer is a time where we work hard as a family but we also play hard. Each morning we start in the calf barn where they help: re-bed the stalls with straw, fill up the waterers, get baby calves up and put them in the auto-feeder, feed calf crunch, clean, and whatever else is needed. Then we head to the office where I do all my computer work and they either mow the lawn, clean the office area, pick-up the yard, or other tasks. From there, it depends on the day. Sometimes we sort heifers on 4-wheelers or on horseback, run into town for parts, or take the semi-truck to get a load of feedstuffs. They really do everything we do on the farm.”

Northern Lights Dairy is truly a family farm. Andrew is the General Manager. Jennifer says, “My husband multi-tasks so many different aspects of the farm that it blows my mind! My father-in-law, Kenton, lot of the truck driving and feed hauling. He also travels frequently for various boards like National Dairy Board and the Mid-West Dairy Association.”

Jennifer shares her father-in-law’s passion for promoting dairy. She serves on American Dairy Association District 3 Dairy and Promotions Board. She also is Board Director of the North Dakota Dairy Coalition.

“I want consumers to understand that dairying is something we live and breathe, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. This is what we were born to do,” she explains passionately. “Farmers were made to take care of God animals, the environment, the planet, and the people around us. We care about each and every animal on our farm. We care about each acre that we farm. We care about everything we touch.  We understand the level of responsibility we have. There are 1,200 animals depending on us to feed, care, and nurture them each and every day. 

Our mission statement is, ‘Northern Lights Dairy is an efficient, innovative, and profitable family dairy business always producing the highest quality milk.’ To produce the highest quality milk, we must take the best possible care of our cows. Every decision we make is always based around the cows.

If it’s 2 a.m. and we see a cow needs help giving birth, we go.  If it’s minus 60 degrees Fahrenheit and we’re so cold that we feel our body, we have to bed the heifers with fresh straw so they are warm. If there is a pre-mature calf struggling to breathe, we go sit with them and in any way we can.  If hay is ready to be baled but we have a prior commitment, we go make hay.  This is not just a job, this is how we live.”

Because of her involvement in the industry and in promoting dairy products, Jennifer was named Midwest Dairy Farm Mom, 2014 Northwest Farm Mom of the Year by “America’s Farmers” and the 2014 Farm and Ranch Guide Country Woman of the Year. Also in 2014, she was name the ND State Soccer Association Recreational Girls Soccer Coach of the Year.

Extracurricular activities continue even though the kids Holle kids a break from school in the summer. They’re active in sports, church, 4-H, scouts and rodeos. Jennifer, who played soccer in college, coaches all of her kids’ teams. She also plays on a soccer team and is an avid runner. She enjoys being a part of Team Dairy, a group of dairy enthusiasts from across Midwest Dairy Association’s 10 states who enjoy running. Jennifer’s family members also love to run, so they often meet up in various cities to complete races together. Last fall they met in Washington, D.C. for the Marine Corps Marathon. (Click here to read Jennifer’s blog about that experience.) She enjoys traveling, too.

“God made an amazing, beautiful world and I love to see and experience it! I live life to the fullest extent. When I get up to heaven I want to be flying in at 100 mph, burning rubber, and say, ‘Wow… what a ride!” So go out there and have a great ride. Leave a legacy that you are proud of. Make a difference, for you were created to be great. Go be GREAT!”

Make it a great summer! You can celebrate June dairy month by downloading one of the Holle family’s favorite recipes from TheFieldPosition.com. Plus, the newly published Dairy Good Cookbook also features 100+ recipes inspired by America’s dairy farmers including the Holle’s.

This is a special week for supporting pollinator health. Latham Seeds accepted the White House Garden Challenge back in 2015 to increase pollinator habitats in urban, suburban and rural areas.

These 22 organizations have formed the National Pollinator Garden Network that is promoting the Million Pollinator Garden Challenge. Every American can join the cause simply by planting pollinator habitat, from window boxes to patio containers to home gardens, to city parks and roadside prairies to acres of meadows.

Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds is pleased to be a part of a positive initiative that is seeking to increase pollinator habitat in urban, suburban and rural areas. Even though these pollinators are small, they play a valuable role in the gardens!

Attract pollinators by planting specific flowers to draw in birds, bees and butterflies. There are two main essentials for attracting birds and keeping them in your backyard: (1) an environment that is attractive to insects, which is a main food source for birds; and (2) cover, which is a place for them to live and build nests.

Similar actions can be taken to attract butterflies and bees. Know the 3 P’s to plant a pollinator-friendly garden: Plan, Plant & Provide. There are various phone apps and planting guides available to help narrow the search of which plants to use in your garden based upon regional needs; such as soil, amount of sunlight, preferred type of pollinators and flower color. Remember, you can always alter the type of plant you grow, but you can’t change the soil type or sunlight, so check out the guides to ensure success in your garden.

Become a part of the buzz and start planning a pollinator friendly garden! This can be a great family activity as well as an effective way to reach out to your community. Happy National Pollinators Week!

Guest Blog Post by Kilah Hemesath
Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds Intern

While consuming a gallon of milk with supper is not unusual for some families in Iowa, there are many children across our state who suffer from milk insecurity. Milk is one of the most requested items by food banks, according to Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization.

On average the Food Bank of Iowa can only provide those in need less than one gallon of milk per year. The recommended milk consumption per person is significantly higher at 68 gallons/year.

In accordance with June Dairy Month, Feeding America is hosting a Great American Milk Drive throughout the month of June. The Food Bank of Iowa was one in 10 food banks across the U.S. chosen to compete in the Great American Milk Drive!

You can offer support to this organization by incorporating #MilkDrive and tag the Food Bank of Iowa into tweets and Facebook posts. The Food Bank of Iowa will share your post to spread the message about milk insecurity throughout Iowa. Each post will generate points towards the Milk Drive competition.

The winner of the Great American Milk Drive will receive $10,000 towards milk purchases to help supply milk for children, families and seniors in Central Iowa. 95% of food banks say they don’t receive enough milk to meet their clients’ needs. Contribute to this cause by simply mentioning the Food Bank of Iowa in a post or tweet using #MilkDrive.

June 16^th is an important day for this cause. The Great American Milk Drive will MATCH DONATIONS towards this cause, and provide DOUBLE POINTS towards the national contest for posts and tweets composed by people like you!

You can make a difference by donating directly, or sharing your message with the click of a button. Help those in need who miss out on the 9 essential nutrients provided by milk. Find The Food Bank of Iowa on Facebook and Twitter and start posting!

Last week I wrote that “Political correctness is making everyone wimps!” Then yesterday I came across an article with this headline: “Oxford University Press Bans Word ‘Pork’ To Not Offend Muslims.”

Let me get this straight… The world’s top book publisher is banning the word “pork.” Oxford University Press is also reviewing the classics and deleting any references to “pig” and “pork products.”

We certainly wouldn’t want to offend someone who doesn’t eat pork! Right?

I truly don’t understand why Muslim’s preference trumps a Christian’s. Without bringing religion into this conversation (because we know that’s wouldn’t be PC), why can’t we let people exercise their freedom to buy. If they’re offended by children’s books with pictures of pigs, for example, there are certainly several thousand other books from which to choose.

At what point does this PC absurdity stop? Being an old white male who lives in the middle of Iowa, I know that I don’t have the “right” to be offended. My status as “majority” only affords me the ability to offend. There can be no prejudice against me… after all, prejudice and discrimination can only happen to minorities. (Oh my! I have a feeling that wasn’t a PC statement.)

Today’s society seems to have a need to blame everyone for everything that is wrong. We nit-pick about certain laws and regulations. We’ve declared War on Lemonade Stands. Over the weekend, two Texas girls were told by police they had to shut down their lemonade stand because they lacked the proper permit. The girls, ages 7 and 8, were attempting to raise $105 for their Father’s Day gift. All they really wanted to do was earn enough money, so they could take their dad to Splash Kingdom.

Whatever happened to letting kids be kids? Whatever happened to igniting that entrepreneurial spirit and encouraging youngsters to pursue the American dream? Whatever happened to taking pride in hard work and being rewarded for it?

There are several “socially acceptable” situations that made headlines both across the state and our nation over the weekend. Quite frankly, I found each one of them offensive. But I’m supposed to be tolerant and accepting. Why? Why should their freedom of choice trump mine?

I think every American should celebrate the freedom to worship. I think we should celebrate the freedom of expression, even if my thoughts are not your thoughts! Since I can’t solve the world’s problems alone or overnight, I’m just going to have some bacon and celebrate that I still enjoy the freedom of food choice!

Everyone has heard how our elected officials are being stalked by lobbyists. Sometimes this is even a good thing! Our representatives in Congress need help understanding all the different issues. But lately, I’ve been disturbed to see how much “lobbying” goes the opposite way.

We’re being bombarded by information – maybe a better term is propaganda – to influence public opinion. Unelected bureaucrats, social media campaigns, commercials, TV talk shows, and all ways imaginable are being used to convince the public of problems that bureaucrats think they can solve.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Chief Gina McCarthy, for example, says Americans must “just trust us on climate science.” She maintains the EPA’s so-called “Clean Power Plan” will signal to the world the U.S. is serious about global warming.

Trust the EPA’s 44 years of experience dealing with environmental issues, she says. “We can speak to the science because it’s complicated…”

This once again reminds me of the old saying, “I’m from the government. I’m here to help you!”

Now don’t get me wrong, I believe in climate change. I always have and always will. But why trust the EPA to spend billions of tax dollars, deciding which “green” businesses will thrive and stimulate the economy? This is our government!!!

The new WOTUS rules are even a bigger story. Ironically, the EPA’s water rule is likely to slow to adoption of conservation practices. These rules are almost certain to create new burdens by adding permitting requirements for normal farming practices like fixing or installing grassed waterways. As the Farm Bureau blog states, “Lipstick can’t dress up EPA’s troubling waters decree.”

Speaking of troubling waters, questions are being raised about whether the EPA broke the law by soliciting positive comments during its public comment period on WOTUS. I understand EPA officials posted statements on Facebook that were favorable to their rules. EPA officials also counted the likes on Facebook as positive comments during the comment period. In fact, EPA sponsored a drive on Facebook and Twitter to promote its proposed clean water rule in conjunction with the Sierra Club. Soliciting endorsements and support is a far cry from simply educating the public.

Such actions overstep grassroots lobbying efforts. Let’s review the making of a law… after our elected officials pass a law, it goes to a rule-making committee. The committee is usually made up of unelected official appointees, or bureaucrats. This committee makes the rules by which the law is enforced. It’s their interpretation. Then there are the agencies, like the EPA, that enforce the law. Agency officials again interpret what they think the law means. Any thought as to why a rule needs to be hundreds of pages? Then, of course, we have the “we must pass it before we can read it” Obamacare rule!

Another big debate now is the use of antibiotics in the livestock industry, and it was certainly a top issue last week at World Pork Expo. Even though there is absolutely NO PROOF that antibiotic use on farms causes ANY resistance, our current administration is pushing forward with banishing it! There’s no proof, yet our “government” must fix it!!!

Last week I heard that 29% of an American’s income goes to cover regulations. That means 29% of your income goes to pay a hidden expense that raises the cost of everything you buy!

Think about all the regulations that impact our live:

• New dietary guidelines that are wrong but the Administration is pushing them anyway!
• New school lunch rules that all kids hate!
• Common core standards that make kids learn just to pass test!
• Gun control laws that have been proven to be ineffective and downright dangerous!
• Media that just prints what the government wants it to say!
• Political correctness that is making everyone wimps!

Any one of these topics could be its own blog post. But, I’ll stop here for today!

What regulations have you concerned?

This is a great time of year to be a farmer! I love feeling the warmth of the sun on my face. I enjoy hearing the birds sing each morning as I go outside to do chores. I love how the earth smells after a rain, but fresh cut hay is the best perfume ever smelled by an old farmer!

Farmers in North Central Iowa are getting ready to make their first cutting of hay. Most of them have their crops in the ground and have moved their attention from planting to scouting crops for weeds and disease. The wet, cool spring conditions made prime conditions made the weeds grow like, well weeds!

In spite of all the work there is to be done on the farm at this time of year, it’s still a busy meeting season. I’ve written before that winter is the meeting the season, but meetings seem to have branched out to year around.

This week I’m part of a panel discussion at the National Pork Board office in Des Moines. Cristen Clark, who blogs at Food and Swine, and I have been invited to share some of our experiences with a group of new leaders, who also raise pigs. The theme of this week’s leadership training session is, “If not you, who?”

It’s important for real pig farmers to tell their farm stories because consumers want to know about how their food is produced. I can’t blame them because food is a very personal choice. Although most of us don’t eat what we should, we all want to think we are eating as healthy as possible! If the folks who raise the food don’t share what they are doing, then someone else will tell their story. Who will tell the farm story… a computer programmer? a TV doctor? a food blogger?

No one can tell the pork story better than a pig farmer! This group of farmers with whom Cristen and I spoke will also attend the World Pork Expo, June 3-5, on the Iowa State Fairgrounds. This three-day event brings together folks from all over the world to learn the newest and greatest ideas about everything piggy.

This year I’m not obligated to any duties at the World Pork Expo. I’m free to watch the pig judging and the pig races. I can attend seminars to learn the latest technology. It could spend days visiting all the booths displaying everything from new knee boots and the latest computer programs to wind turbines and natural fertilizer haulers.

As much as I enjoy all of these things, the best part of World Pork Expo is getting to see friends. I’ve made many dear friends during the 30 years I’ve been involved with pork organizations and activities like Operation Main Street.

I’ve made many more friends through my involvement in social media. I’ve been known to travel the state – and even out of state – to deliver a free speech. Some people wonder why…

If not me, then who? If I don’t tell my farm story, someone else will and I may not like it! If you’re a farmer, ask yourself what can you do to tell your farm story. If you’re a consumer with questions, talk to a farmer!