Maple Syrup

There are not a lot of maple trees in Northeast Iowa, however it was fun for my Nephew to harvest the sap and make some syrup.  These pictures were recently sent to me with a request that I publish a post on how Iowa Tractor Boys are able to produce much of what they enjoy in life.  The pictures tell the story.

Fertilizer

a.k.a. Manure

 Shown here is a young Iowa Tractor Boy traveling to the field to spread manure from the cattle barn.  If you look closely you can also see two young farmers in the cab of this John Deere Tractor.  The youngest one is the nephew of the tractor operator and his important task is to open the gates from the cattle yard to the field.

Highlights of a 4-H

Career as a

Young Iowa Farm Boy

in the 1950s



I was twelve years old in 1952 when I had a
Baby Beef Steer named "Ike" for a 4-H
Project.  You can see my brother in the
background.  He had a female Baby Beef Project.
Her name was Miami.  You can guess who
was President in 1952!





I believe that I was thirteen or fourteen when I began
showing sheep at the Clayton County Fair.





All of my siblings had Jersey Milk Cows and Heifers
for 4-H Projects.  Here we are showing a group of four.
I do not remember the awards we received, but I do
recall the fun, as well as the work we performed to show our
Jersey Projects.





We were all members of the Jefferson Go-Hawks 4-H Club.
The club had members from Jefferson Township therefore
our name.  Every year the Fair Association awarded prize money
to the clubs with the best barn decorations.  I was the decoration
chairman in my club for several years.  If I recall correctly, we usually won
first prize.

I have wonderful memories of when I was a young Iowa Farm Boy and my involvement in 4-H Club Work.

It certainly developed a sense of responsibility in a young person.  We were responsible for the feeding, grooming and showing of our projects.  Sure, we had parents to assist us, but their role was usually limited to guidance and recommendations as to what needed to be done.  I always took great pride in being able to show any animal project I had.  We bathed them clipped them, shined their hooves and trimmed the hair around their heads.  





Winter

March 6, 2013

Northeast Iowa

U.S. Highway 52 looking North at Sutton's Corner.

Checking the water system to insure that the cattle have
water.  A challenging, yet essential task.

Even the cattle realize that their is safety in
numbers as they huddle together.

Of course this young calf quickly learned that it is much
warmer in the barn.

The above photos were taken on 6 March 2013.  I understand that today, March 11, 2013 again has severe weather - rains and more snow for Northeast Iowa in the forecast. 

An Iowa Tractor Boy

Performs

Chores

Is Spring In The Air?

It is always nice to have a campanion when you are engaged in the chores such as checking on the livestock and also making sure that they have adequate feed and water.  Here you see a young Iowa Tractor Boy, who also happens to work at the John Deere Harvestor plant in Moline home for the weekend.  Of course he has two campanions.

Northeast Iowa

Clayton County

Kale Avenue

Tractor Boy Pictures

Today I publish a series of sixteen pictures that I have received from the major picture contributor to this Blog - Iowa Tractor Boys.  Thank You Norma!!!!

This series of pictures was taken during the period of 19 September 2012 through 26 December 2012.

The mobile sign welcoming visitors to
Volga City

4 October 2012

Wood Center Road
18 October 2012

23 October 2012
A Nephew with his Winter
Food Supply

The Nephews each
wearing their "Seed Corn"
Promotion Jackets

The Nephews and they are all Siblings
The two on the ends also work for
John Deere

The two in the middle are engaged in endeavors
that involve the Mississippi River

8 December 2012

This view and the following three show
the extent of the
20 December 2012 Snow Storm
12.8 inches

The box structure shown here is
actually the furnace for the nearby
two story farm home

The Snow has stopped and
on 21 December 2012 the
snow relocation task commences

It takes a Bob Cat to complete the task for the
close in work.

26 December 2012
An Iowa Tractor Boy and his
nephews engage in an
appropriate indoor
endeavor

The Take Down of a Silo

Many years ago My Sister and her family operated a large Dairy Operation near Luana, Iowa.  In recent years she has turned her farm operation into a Grain Operation.  The primary crop grown is corn.  Therefore there was no longer a need for the storage of silage to feed to the cows.  On August 28, 2012 she had a firm take down the Silo which stood about 100 feet in the air.  The silo was a landmark, but it was no longer needed.  My Sister reported that the take down crew commenced work at 9:00 A.M. on August 28, 2012.  The silo was down on the ground one hour later.  Of course the clean up and removal of the steel hoops and concrete took a bit longer.  Here is a series of pictures that she forwarded to me.

A difficult task completed in an hour.