Help Grow Your Soup?!

One of the things I love about my job is the fact that I get to see new things before they really "hit the masses". Help Your Soup Grow. Did you know you could do that? Well Campbell's Soup, The National FFA Organization and (get this) Grammy Award nominee Jewel have started a new campaign to reinvest in the future of Agriculture. Not only are they willing to donate to up to $250,000 for those that go to the website http://HelpGrowYourSoup.com . Pretty neat, huh?! All you have to do is click on that link and then click on the Red Barn. Pretty simple. And for each click on the Red Barn - Campbell's will donate $1 up to $250,000. I've even got it linked on our website.

This is from the Campbell's Website:

OUR MISSION

We all rely on farms and farmers to nourish our families. Now it's our turn to give back to them.

As part of our corporate mission to nourish people's lives everywhere, every day, Campbell Soup Company is committed to supporting the farmers that have provided the wholesome ingredients for Campbell's® condensed soups for nearly 110 years. Through a partnership with the National FFA Organization, which is dedicated to developing our next generation of leaders through agricultural education, Campbell has committed a quarter of a million dollars to help support the future of American farming.

Join us as we help good things grow: Our Food. Our Farms. Our Future.

The other part of this program is the FFA Alumni is teaming up with the National FFA Organization and Campbell's to restore old barns across the United States. Why? Because Red Barns are iconic and represent America's Farmers. So they've decided to restore historic barns and there's even been a restoration here in Illinois. To see that restoration - click HERE. In my opinion - not only is Campbell's investing in the future of American Agriculture.. They are also preserving the thought and the history of what Agriculture means to us...

We'll have more on the Help Grow Your Soup Campaign later this week... check back to our website http://ag.1290wirl.com!

~m

Weekend Update

As you know - I mentioned last week Amos Moses was going to his forever home. I was ready for this... What I was not ready for - is proceeding to cry like a baby! To make matters worse... My mom was at the house with me - and we hardly got past the introductions and she was crying. Hrmm.. SO much for her not loving the little guy like I do!! The couple were so nice and in hindsight had I not felt such a strong positive feeling about them - I wouldn't have let Amos go home with them. Jim and Bonny came to the house and as soon as they walked in the door and introduced themselves Bonny got on the floor and Jim sat on my couch. They spent about an hour getting to know him and me. Amos left and part of me was so, so sad and the other part of me... Was incredibly excited for him to go to a home where two people can spend all of their free time with him!

Sunday was filled with sorrow around our family... Our beloved deaf dalmatian, Mati will have to be put down today. She's been battling cancer for awhile and her quality of life has seriously deteriorated over the past few days. So this afternoon mom and I will be taking her to Doc's office to be put down. She's been such an amazing dog and so loved and loved so many... Just a quick funny story - When Mati was younger and we would lost power at my parents and have to use flashlights... Mati would chase the flashlight beam across the house... or the flying' nun ears when she'd come to attention... All part of the things we loved and will always cherish about her. If you get a moment keep my mom in your thoughts today.. She needs them.

Now, on another sad note... "Sometimes, Nothing is a real cool hand." It's a quote from one of my all-time favorite movies. "Cool Hand Luke" and on Friday, Paul Newman lost his battle with cancer. His contributions to Hollywood were amazing. From Hud to the Hustler, Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, The Color of Money and even Cars... Just to name a few... There will never be another one like him. The piercing blue eyes, the amazing talent and the kind heart. Paul Newman will be missed. And in his manner - his daughter wants him to be remembered as a kind and giving man.. She is quoted as saying "And if anyone's interested in honouring his memory, you could bring a bowl of soup to a friend or you could be philanthropic in some way, and just, you know, look out for each other."

Love... The unconventional route.

So many of you know I've been fostering a dog since April. His name is Amos Moses. I named him after a man of the cloth. Actually... It's a Jerry Reed song. But it is definitely one of my favorite songs by him. I thought originally I was going to keep him - because I fell in love with him. His personality is something else - he watches Animal Planet (AP for future reference) every morning while I'm getting ready (no, really - he actually watches it). This morning I was getting ready and there was some show on AP and it was about weird animal sex and his head was tilting back and forth. Like he was really getting in to it. Anyway (that was a huge rabbit trail) this dog is so hilarious. He's a great dog and I wish I could keep him. But with my travel schedule, living alone, and the additional travels with this Leadership Program it is nearly impossible. Because if I were to keep him - I'd be home even less and he deserves to be in a home that is loving and can give him the attention he deserves.

I got a phone call on Monday telling me they think they've found Amos a forever home. I almost cried! I guess when we decided to post him for adoption and there weren't any "hits" on his page - I wasn't worried about losing him so soon. After all, who knew you could become so attached to a dog that you didn't think you'd have forever anyway. I had thoughts of fully adopting him recently - trying to figure out how I could make it work. I thought it all figured out when I received the phone call. Part of me was excited for him and the prospect of his new home and part of me was so sad and quite frankly, I don't have the heart to tell the soon to be adoptive parents of Amos that I really want to keep him. They seem like great people. They're a bit older, retired and from the sounds of it really need him in their lives after recently losing the second of their previously rescued Cairn Terriers. I wish the best for them... They're coming to my house on Saturday - and if they like him... They get to take him with them. It really makes my heart heavy to think about him leaving... that day no less!

There are lessons in life... I guess this one is - we chalk up to loving someone or something you're willing to give them up so they can have a better life. I have a new found respect for parents that give their children up for adoption (saying that - our family has been so blessed with two amazing children that were brought to us from God via the birth mothers). I know my experience is nothing along those lines - and is not as deeply emotional and "tough", but I can (on a very small scale) understand how they come to make those decisions.

And now for my PSA - if you're looking for a puppy adopt from a shelter! Those dogs are greater recipients of love than others. Simply because it will be the first them they ever truly experience it. I'm not sure if I'll ever "foster" again... but I am certain - when I go to look for a puppy or dog - I'll certainly look at a shelter or a rescue organization first....

So I'm Back on the "blogging" Wagon.

I am so horrible at this. Wait... atrocious at doing this. Let's face it... I'm a horrible blogger. I guess I figure I have better things to be doing then talking about myself. So.. I'm going to talk about what we've done this summer. The 2008 Prairie Farms Dairy Hometown Fairs and Festivals Tour ended a couple of weeks ago - and we had so much fun. I really am blessed with such a great staff to work with. Mike is an awesome engineer and he's always prepared. If you want to see more pictures of our 2008 PFD Hometown Fairs and Festivals Tour click on the picture and it will take you to the Ag website. We're getting ready to start our 2008 1st Farm Credit Services Harvest Tour. When we talked to Joe last it sounds like we'll be at a few elevators and a few farms throughout Central Illinois Currently it's National Farm Safety and Health week and this week we're headed to the Pharis Farm in Logan County as part of our Harvest Tour and the Meals In The Field Program that Farm Credit Services of Illinois does to promote a safe harvest. This is our first year doing that - I'll let you know how that works out for us!

So what else have we be up to at Classic Country 1290 WIRL this summer? We were in Boone, IA for the Farm Progress Show. It was a very, very wet three days in Iowa. But needless to say - it was definitely entertaining and educational experience. We're looking forward to the show moving back to Decatur, IL next year (hrrm, I suppose I ought to make my hotel reservations pretty soon.... maybe tomorrow).

A new thing we've added. We've embraced the "Twitter" technology. Keep track of what we're "twittering" about by clicking HERE.

I think that's good for now, right? Remember it's National Farm Safety and Health Week - and with harvest just around the corner... remember to take it safe!

Support Your Local Pork Producers....

... Because everything is better with Bacon!

It's October and it's National Pork Month. All this month listen during The Noon Show and I'll ask one question that has to do with Pork (some way, shape or form) and you can win The Illinois Pork Producers Association "Celebrating 60 Years of Service to the Pork Industry" Cookbook as well as a Gift Certificate for a Pork Product all courtesy of the Illinois Pork Producers Association.

Here are some fun facts about pork....

** Due to its similarity to human skin, pig skin is used to treat burns in humans....

** Pigs are found on every continent except Antarctica

** Pork is the world's most widely eaten meat.

** The world's largest hog was "Big Bill"... Weighing it at more than two tons, he was 5 feet tall and 9 feet long... He was a Poland China.

** A female pig that has not had babies is called a Gilt.

** A female pig that has had a litter of piglets is called a Sow.

** Since 1990, pork has become 31% leaner.

** All of these products are made from pig byproducts: Glue, Paint Brushes, Cosmetics and Linoleum.

Also, this month we're going to talk to a few Pork Producers throughout the area that are doing remarkable things. Today we talked to Steve Ringger who works for United Feeds and he and his three brothers own Gridley Meats. His family has stepped up and raised the bar for producers and people involved in agriculture. Two of Steve's brothers still own and operate a 600 sow farrow to finish operation. Here is where the raising the bar comes in to play... Steve and his brothers are taking their cull hogs and light hogs and slaughtering them in their meat locker and in return taking the processed ground pork and sausage and donating it to the Midwest Food Bank. With Steve's connections through the feed and livestock community he has arranged for several pork producers to pledge their cull and light hogs (and Gridley Meats will cover the processing) and the finished product (the ground pork and sausage) is given to Midwest Food Bank. As it is now, the Midwest Food Bank is receiving between 3,000 and 4,000 pounds of pork products a month courtesy of Gridley Meats.

Kudos to the Ringger family and stay tuned for more excellence in agriculture!

For more information email: ag@1290wirl.com

Until next time... Remember to support your local pork producers because everything IS better with bacon!!!

Weekend Fun...

This past weekend... Courtney Lynne (Program Director and Afternoons on WIRL) and myself (The Ag Chick)... put us together and you get "The WIRL Girls"... traveled West to take part in the first weekend of the Spoon River Drive. We took the WIRL Van on an adventure like it's never been before! Cranking the Classic Country and armed with a pair of tickets to see The Oakridge Boys we traveled the hills of the Spoon River Drive. What an experience. I guess you could say we traveled it "backwards". We started at the Southern Tip of the Spoon River Drive and then worked our way back north. We went to Lewistown, Ipava, Marietta and then we hit Smithfield... Apparently people forgot to forewarn us that it is one of the "hot tickets" to the Drive. Courtney and I no sooner got out of the van and this couple came up to me and was telling me how the station was her favorite and she said the "secret word" to win the tickets. It was pretty cool. Okay, back to the drive adventures... After almost being killed by a car... We made our way up to London Mills... What a mess that was! It took us almost an hour to get in to London Mills. Apparently... another blip on the map that's the "hot spot" of the Spoon River Drive.

I'd be curious to know how much added revenue those little towns get from all the added traffic. It has to be a huge source of income to their towns and villages. I think next week we may venture to Canton and just set up shop and let them come to us!

The rest of the weekend wasn't too out of control... Friday was a lot of fun. Courtney and I went and saw The Heartbreak Kid (it was absolutely horrible... extremely disappointed). Then I headed over to Christy's in Washington to hang with some co-workers.

Sunday was little Collin's 4th birthday... Man I feel old. There is such a generational gap between all of us... The "cousins" are lined up like this.. Me - 26, Kristina - 22, Derek - 19 and Collin - 4... It is almost like he's more of a nephew than a cousin. Especially since I have a Goddaughter that is soon to be 7 and a Godson that's 4 (they are my cousins kids on my mom's side of the family's). Anyway, it seems like just yesterday he was a tiny baby and I was driving home from WIU to come and see him because he is just that cute. There is a funny story about the birthday party yesterday though... Apparently Collin is a HUGE fan of the Disney movie Cars. Collin loves the cactus' that are in the movie... So I asked what to get him for his birthday... So I got him two cactus'... Everyone at the birthday party couldn't figure out why I would buy him cactus'. However Miss Meghan has rocked the birthday again... He loved it (second year in a row, btw). I generally like getting him loud and noisy educational toys... Just to irritate his parents.. (that would be the loud and noisy... NOT the educational aspect of the toys).

Okay enough for now.. I need to get my work finished before the show.

Travels...

A whole new lifestyle... You may have thought I was going to talk about some of my travels, which indeed I am... But a different kind. More of the start of a personal journey and where I'm headed.

As most of you know I started as the Agri-Business Director in May of this year.... I think my official first day was May 18th.... But those are just details... Anyway -- It's been a whole new world for me..

I hit the ground running this Spring.... What a lifestyle adjustment this has been. I've always been very much a night owl and I've had to completely turn my schedule around. I have to be at work by 4:30 every morning. So my late night and early mornings have been changed to early nights and very early mornings. It's been a good change. I've become more mindful of the things that surround me. I have noticed some personal changes more so than anything. I started in this journey kind of timid and unsure of myself. Through a lot of help and guidance and encouragement from my friends, my family, my coworkers... I've taken that timid more reserved person who isn't afraid to share her opinion... Who isn't afraid to take the jump and build her wings on the way down. I guess I'm finding my way now.

So here is the adventure at hand... New job, Lifestyle changes, New adventures in life... It will all be here... for you to read and even you can comment on what's going on. I forewarn you... Some posts may be political.... some may lean towards hot topics in the Agriculture world and if you know me... as always... They will be rather opinionated...