Interview with a real Farmer: Chris Domino
- Mar, 22 2013
- By Machine Shed Blog
- Family, Interview
- Comment
Family farmers Chris and Nicole Domino of Storm Lake, IA raise turkeys year round. Chris took a moment out of his busy day to answer our questions and to help us understand what it is like to be a farmer.
How long have you been a farmer? My whole life – 30 years. Livestock and crop farmer.
How did you get into farming?
Dad, Grandpa and Great Grandpa were all farmers, basically he was born in the field. Chris went to college and worked for John Deere for a few years but he knew since kindergarten he wanted to be in agriculture.
What do you raise? Turkeys and some cattle.
How many Turkeys do you raise at a time? 99,000 – Which is considered a large farm. We have two sites that have 9 barns, each barn can hold up to 11,000 turkeys.
Do they really say gobble, gobble? No, they gobble, but it doesn’t sound like it. Overall, they are quiet, but if you walk in the barn and make a large noise they will gobble.
What do they eat? Pellets made from corn.
How long does it take to raise them? We get them at 2lbs at 4 weeks old and raise them until they are 20 weeks old and weigh around 40 to 45lbs. When they get the baby turkey’s in, they are very cute and my five girls just love them.
Do you raise them year round? Yes we do. After the 20 weeks we load them out and it takes two weeks to clean it out and get ready for the next load.
Hardest part of raising turkeys is? Their last week, they get ornery and will peck at you and be difficult.
Do you eat turkey all the time? Yes we do, I love it.
Is it a dirty job? It is, it’s dusty, but any job can be dirty.
Did you like the Superbowl commercial “God Made a Farmer”? I didn’t see it, life is busy, but I do agree God Made a Farmer.
Why is farming important? I get to feed America and the World – the Turkey meat goes everywhere. Very rewarding job, very proud to be able to do it.
Chris also hopes that one days, one of his girls will also continue the heritage and become a farmer like their Dad, and his Dad, and his Dad….The Machine Shed Restaurant is dedicated to the American Farmer and we thank Chris and his entire family for their dedication and supplying food for all of us!
Homemade Caramel Corn – make with the kids!
- Mar, 01 2013
- By Machine Shed Blog
- Cooking, Family, Recipes
- Comment
Make it a family night and prepare this classic recipe that the whole family will enjoy. Small kids can pop popcorn while older kids or parents can heat up the caramel. Break out a board game or moive and enjoy family time tonight!
Caramel Corn
Prep: 20 Minutes, Bake 20 Minutes
Ingredients:
Nonstick spray coating
8 cups popped popcorn
3/4 cub packed brown sugar
1/3 cup butter (no substitutes)
3 Tablespoons light color corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1. Spray an 18X12X2 baking pan with nonstick spray. Remove unpopped kernals from popped corn. Place popcorn in pan; keep warm in a 300 degree oven.
2. Butter sides of heavy 1 1/2 quart saucepan. Add brown sugar, butter, and corn syrup. Clip candy thermometer to side of pan. Cook and stir over medium heat to 225, hard-ball stage (about 4 mins.) Remove saucepan from heat. Stir in baking soda and vanilla; pour over popcorn. Stir gently to coat.
3. Bake in a 300 degree oven for 15 minutes. Stir and bake 5 minutes more. Remove from oven; spread onto a large piece of foil and cool completely. Break into clusters.
Nutrition facts per serving: 171 calories, 7g total fat, 4g saturate fat, 18 mg cholesterol, 113 mg sodium, 27g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 1 g protein.
Recipe is available in the “Now That’s Cookin’” cookbook available at the Machine Shed restaurant.
Cooking with Teenagers – make it fun!
- Feb, 25 2013
- By Machine Shed Blog
- Cooking, Family
- Comment
Encouraging your teenagers to cook may need some….encouraging. One of our restaurant chefs recently helped his son and his friends find inspiration in cooking by creating a “Chopped” food competition. This activity is ideal for youth groups, siblings, or a party. Here is how one of our Chefs, Steve Hall, organized the “Chopped Event”.
Start with a theme – our theme was “Breakfast”. The youth created a breakfast entrée out of mystery items as well as pantry items. We stocked the pantry with eggs, butter, spices, flour, sugar, etc., then we created a “mystery basket” of 4 items to be incorporated into the dish. They were given 35 minutes to consult, prepare and cook their entrée and then present to a group of judges (parents).
The mystery items we chose were:
- Pears
- Parsley
- Goldfish
- McDonald’s French fries
Teams were seleceted and divided into two groups. They were also given a one time pass to consult with the chef.
Both teams quickly reviewed the items and grabbed from the pantry items and planned their entrée. One team worked on creating an omelet, the other team prepared a puffed pastry mini egg casserole. After a 10 minute warning, the kids started to feel the pressure of time management and getting an end product plated in time. When time was called, one group was finished, while the other group learned that baking a casserole took longer than they expected. To make the tasting fair, we gave them extra time so they could present a finished product.
In the end, we got to taste two awesome breakfast entrees that tasted great.
The groups were creative, learned about time management and how to work as a team. The mini egg casserole was the winner, but both teams really won and can’t wait to do it again. Best of all, the parents were shocked that “their child” prepared a dish! Cooking with teenagers is fun, just make it fun.
Our theme for the next “Chopped” competition: Dessert
The words to “So, God Made a Farmer”
- Feb, 06 2013
- By Machine Shed Blog
- Family, Made in the USA
- 6 comments
It had to be somebody who’d plow deep and straight…and not cut corners. Somebody to seed and weed, feed and breed…and rake and disc and plow and plant and tie the fleece and strain the milk. Somebody to replenish the self feeder and then finish a hard days work with a five mile drive to church. Somebody who’d bale a family together with the soft strong bonds of sharing, who’d laugh and then sigh…and then respond with smiling eyes, when his son says he wants to spend his life “doing what dad does”. So, God made a farmer!
You watch the video, you share a badge, the Ram brand makes a donation.+ Help raise $1 million to support FFA and assist in local hunger and educational programs. (visit the Ram site here for details)
Thank you Farmers!
So God Made a Farmer
- Feb, 04 2013
- By Machine Shed Blog
- Family, Made in the USA
- 4 comments
We, at the Machine Shed, were all so moved by ’So God Made a Farmer’ commercial created by Ram Trucks that aired last night.
Mike Whalen, CEO and owner of the Machine Shed restaurant comments: “We are dedicated to the American Farmer. That dedication meant that we worked hard to have a restaurant that wasn’t just “farm themed” but would be something that farmers could be proud of. The spirit and courage of these men and women live on, we are proud to salute the American farmer.”
You watch the video, you share a badge, the Ram brand makes a donation.+ Help raise $1 million to support FFA and assist in local hunger and educational programs. (visit the Ram site here for details)
Thank you Farmers!
30,000 pigs,OMG! Talkin’ farming with REAL farmers – Aaron and Trish Cook
- Nov, 26 2012
- By Machine Shed Blog
- Family, Pork
- Comment
Iowa pork producers Aaron and Trish Cook of Winthrop will be the featured farmers for “Talkin’ Farming at the Shed” to be held Saturday, Dec. 1, 5:30-8:30 p.m. at the Shed’s Urbandale location. It is sponsored by the Machine Shed Restaurant, Iowa Food & Family Project and the Iowa Pork Producers Association (IPPA).
Aaron and Trish took time out of their busy day to answer some general questions we had on what it is like to be a hog farmer.
Tell us about your farm?
We raise 1200 sows (sows have litters of piglets), in which we then raise 30,000 pigs a year. We grind our own feed and sell our hogs to Tyson Fresh Meats inWaterloo.
What is the life span of a sow? A sow lives on the farm for about 2 ½ years. In that time period she will have 2 litters per year of approx. 10-12 piglets per litter. An average sow may have up 55 babies.
What do you feed them? Ground corn, soybean meal, salt, minerals and vitamins. The Cooks make the feed themselves, which allows them to have more quality control of what is going into the pigs and produce a healthier product for consumers.
Are hogs noisy/loud? They can be – they squeal and are hungry in the morning when it’s time to eat.
Do you compete with other Hog farmers? Actually we spend more time together to help each other out and to network. We try to make each other do better; we are very collaborative, especially on health and production of hogs.
How did you learn this trade? I grew up on a farm and always enjoyed livestock and took a liking to pigs and when the technology improved, I found it very challenging and cool. I went to IA State and earned an Ag degree from IA State. The degree gave me a great background on the science of farming. I learned a lot on trial and error and working with friends, vets, pork producers, feed companies, etc. It is also very important to keep good records; to have a benchmark to see if you are moving ahead is essential to good farming.
In the last 20 years farming livestock has really changed. The biggest change was moving the pigs outside to inside. Once we moved the pigs inside, we really saw advancements in the product. It was quite an investment (to move them inside), as a result consumers are receiving a much better product.
How do you feed all of those pigs? Every building has a holding bin outside. For the market hogs there are automatic feeders available 24/7 to feed and water. Sows get fed once a day, typically in the morning, we need to manage their care, otherwise they will overeat.
Do your kids help with chores? What is the first chore a child can do? The kids help wean baby pigs when they are 10-12lbs and help count and move them.
How early do you have to get up? Start around 6AM.
Favorite things about being a farmer? Being our own boss and independent. Every day is different. I take pride in a product that people enjoy and how far our industry is coming – so much leaner and healthy.
Really cold days or really hot days – what is worse? Really cold days are worse on us (humans), really hot days are worse on the pigs – we have coolers to help keep them comfortable.
Thank you Aaron and Trish – the farming that you do impacts all of us and we appreciate your hard work and efforts to help feed our families!
Meet the Cook Family on Saturday, Dec. 1st, 2012 at the Iowa Machine Shed in Urbandale, IA.
Aaron and Trish are Master Pork Producers and Pork All-Americans and recipients of the Gary Wergin Good Farm Neighbor Award. Trish serves on the IPPA Promotions Committee, while Aaron is a member of the East Buchanan School Board. He also serves on the board of directors for Camp Courageous of Iowa and is a Buchanan County Zoning commissioner.
“Iowa farmers appreciate the opportunity to tell our story,” says Trish. “We are passionate about caring for our animals and producing a quality and economical product for the consumer.”
“Most importantly, we give back to the community through donations of our products to school and non-profit groups,” she adds. “Donating to Toys for Tots is a great way to give a message of hope to less fortunate children this holiday season.”
In the spirit of the season, the Machine Shed will host a Toys for Tots toy drive the evening of the event. There are children in Iowa who won’t receive any gifts this holiday season. The Machine Shed will be collecting new, unwrapped toys for boys and girls, newborn to 14 years old. Patrons who donate a toy valued at $10 or more will receive a complimentary apple dumpling for dessert. Toys also will be available for purchase and donation in the Shed’s gift shop.
The combination of real farmers and real food is the idea behind “Talkin’ Farming at the Shed.” Contests and activities, including the chance to win fine cuts of Iowa pork, will take place throughout the evening and a special pork entrée of cranberry-stuffed pork chops cordon bleu will be added to the menu.
“The Machine Shed is a Midwest landmark known for its down-home cooking served family style and we’re excited to partner in this celebration of good food and the farmers who grow it,” says Steve Britton, chief operating executive for the Urbandale Machine Shed Restaurant. “We’re also pleased to offer an opportunity for those who would like to donate a toy to a child in need during this season of giving.”
“Talkin’ Farming at the Shed” is held periodically throughout the year. Each event showcases a different farmer and commodity. For more information, log on to www.machineshed.com and www.iowafoodandfamily.com.
Top 5 Pork Dishes – make one this week!
Pork makes a great meal for families, tailgating and special holidays. We are sharing 5 top rated pork dishes from the Pork Producers.
Now you know what to make for dinner this week!
1. Boneless Pork Loin Roast with Herb Pepper Rub - click here for recipe
2. America’s Favorite Pork Chops – click here for recipe
3. Raost Pork Shoulder Caribbean Style – click here for recipe
4. Honey Pork Tenderloin Kabobs – click here for recipe
5. Low and Slow Pulled Pork – click here for recipe
Did you know????
- Oct, 12 2012
- By Machine Shed Blog
- Family, Uncategorized
- Comment
This month we are celebrating Pork Month and honoring the American Farmer. Here are some interesting Farm Facts:
Every 1 second, 3 people are born on our planet. Every 3 seconds, there’s one less acre of usable land available for food production.
The average Iowa farmer produces enough food in one year to feed 155 people.
Farming has changed a lot over the years. Most cows, pigs, chickens and turkeys are now raised indoors.
To meet the needs of a growing global population, farmers must double today’s food production by 2050.
Thank you farmers!
2 Fun Games for kids (or yourself)
- Oct, 03 2012
- By Machine Shed Blog
- Family
- Comment
In honor of Pork Month, have your kids (or be a kid again) and play these great games.
The games are divided by age (even better!).
Our favorite was the “Pick the Pork” in which you are at a grocery store check out lane and have to put only pork items in your bag – see how well you (I mean your kids) do.
Click on this link below:
Pigs love marshmellows + what’s it like to be a Hog Farmer
- Sep, 27 2012
- By Machine Shed Blog
- Family
- Comment
Blog post written by staff writer, Stacy Christoffersen
This week I had the great opportunity to interview a farmer!
Lindsay Greiner, a grain and livestock farmer from Keota, IA took some time out of his busy harvest day to tell me what it’s like to be a hog farmer. I know very little about farming and it turns out several of my colleagues didn’t know much either. We came up with these simple and amusing questions that Lindsay chuckled and gratefully answered. We hope this gives you a little insight into a farmers life and how appreciative we should be for these dedicated farmers!
You can also meet Lindsay in person this Saturday (9/29/12) at the Iowa Machine Shed in Des Moines where he will be at the featured guest throughout dinner. Click here for more info
How long have you been a Grain and Livestock Farmer?
35 years.
How many hogs/pigs do you have at one time?
Varies anywhere from 5,000 to 8,000 hogs. (sidenote: Farmers call them “hogs”, non-farmers, like myself, call them “pigs”).
Where do they live?
In confinement sheds. Each shed is 400 feet long and 52 feet wide. 30 pigs per pen, 2500 full grown hogs in a shed.
Do you order pigs or do you breed them yourself?
We contract a grower, the owners bring the hogs when they are 10lbs, 10 days old. Within 160 days, a good healthy weight is 280 lbs.
Are baby pigs really that cute?
Yes!
What do you feed them?
Primarily ground corn and soy bean meal.
Do pigs have a favorite snack or treat?
The show pigs like marshmallows and a liquid oil that tastes like chococlate chip cookies, and Ensure protein drinks! Show pigs are cared for and treated like our own kids. Lindsey’s son is in charge of show pigs, he’ll raise and take care of them and sell about 150 show pigs to students and kids.
Are they scared of anything or any animal?
Hogs are scared of about everything – they will run away at anything. However, mothers with babies aren’t sacred of anything and will bite you!
Is it smelly? Do you get used to the smell?
Yes it is smelly and you get used to it.
How much do you get for a full grown pig?
A full grown hogs is worth $150. Just this week, we sold hogs for $0.56 cents a pound at 260lbs that would be $145.60 each.
Is there a down time or seasonality to hog farming? Do you get the winters off?
No down time on the farm. When the hogs go to market, we are down for one week. We powerwash the sheds and get them spotless and then fill it up! Harvest time is the hardest, for 6 weeks you need to harvest and take care of livestock. That’s when farmers work the hardest and longest days.
What questions would you like to ask a farmer? I’m planning on interviewing another farmer this month!
Join the Family