Author Archives: maryjane

I know Super Bowl ads have been making the rounds, but these two are a farmgirl must see. Let me preface this first one by sharing a a portion of an e-mail I received yesterday from Shery, our Ranch Farmgirl blogger.

“Six farmgirls and I planned to go on an antique hunting trip last weekend … an overnighter … 2 antique malls, 3 shops, and a BARN full of antiques that opens by appointment in the winter. Icy, snow-packed roads nixxed the plan. Arrrrgh. Coverage of our fab outing was to be my blog THIS week. Drat. Soooo, instead I’m making a recycle type of bird-feeder from an old blue-swirl enamelware pan and matching lid … and offering up instructions.”

Shery continued: “Also, I said goodbye to a dear friend in my horse-life. 24-year-old Bluebelle laid down and left this life last week. She & Dolly & I became ranchers together. We grew gray hair together. She was ‘the easiest horse on earth’ … and when it was her time to depart, she laid down and quietly left. She was never sick a day in her life and if she had anything to say about it, she would have spared us the anguish of putting her down when the time came. It appears that is exactly what happened. She always made the ride easier. She lifted each hoof on cue for the farrier before he asked for it. She dipped her head in her halter and bridle. When we moved bulls, she made certain that I never had to get off. She would reach deeply into a thicket of trees and like a land shark, she’d peel the hair of a bull’s rump until he bellered and fled. She *always”* made things easier for me. She took great care in being the ‘dude’ horse and read each rider according to their ability … or lack thereof. She even died by the gate so that it would be easy to move her for burial. How I loved her and her easy peaceful nature. I will miss Bluebelle wrapping her neck and head around me in a ‘horse hug’. She was buried in the manner in which all great horses are laid to rest: standing, facing the rising sun.”

As evidenced in the following ad, the way we feed our country is on the cusp of change. As we start to see that healthier harvests are born of nurtured land, we are seeing a new breed of farmer step up to the plow, and SHE is breathing new life into agriculture. Tip your hats to Dodge for recognizing that women are farmers too, especially since a woman now manages 1 out of every 7 farms in the U.S.