Page 10A Cold Spring Record Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Milking cows for a living turns out to be
the second worst job there is... just behind
lumberjacking. That's according to
CareerCast in its annual list of the 10 best
and 10 worst jobs. If you go by their num-
bers, even soldiers and oil-rig workers have
better jobs than a dairy farmer.
I was hoping they had actually inter-
viewed dairy farmers, maybe even visited a
farm to see what kind of work is being done.
But as I researched their methodology, I
found they rely on Bureau of Labor numbers
and formulas designed by physicists to
measure work. (Yeah, I had the same reac-
tion.) They measure things like stress, lift-
ing, pulling, stooping and climbing. Being a
dairy farmer involves a lot of that. Plus the
added bonus of being greeted in the morning
with "cows are out".
But isn't hard work supposed to be good
for you? At least that's what I was told at
rock picking time every spring. Plus you get
plenty of sunshine and fresh air.
No denying there's plenty of stress in
dairy farming along with hard work and
long hours. But it also comes with the satis-
faction in running a good operation and pro-
viding a quality product to help feed the
world. Guess those experts haven't come up
with a formula to measure the pride of rais-
ing a herd of high producing Holsteins. Or
seeing your kids grow up on a farm instead
of a suburb. I've had the pleasure of knowing
quite a few dairy farm families over the
years. They wouldn't trade farm life for any
of those "top jobs". Farming isn't a "job
choice".., it's a "life choice".
The "best jobs" list
had jobs like software
engineer, financial
planner, computer analyst and mathemati-
cian. All done while sitting at a desk! The
only "lifting, pulling, stooping and climbing"
they do is in an air conditioned gym.
I got to thinking about who decided the
good jobs from the bad. I'll bet you a good
pair of work boots they have no idea of what
it feels like to work so hard you can hardly
walk. Maybe it's because each generation
gets further away from the farm but based
on the comments of my kids and their
friends they have no intention of working
that hard. They'd rather come up with those
formulas that gauge how much other people
work. Walking a mall for 6 hours is my
daughters' idea of a long day. Try "walking
beans" for 6 hours.
If you can't tell, I'm kinda partial to dairy
farming. Is it OK to say I actually like the
smell of a dairy barn? My city friends think
I'm nuts but something about the mixture of
cows, hay and manure triggers a lot of fond
memories of our family farm in Canada.
There was plenty of hard work but boy did
we feel good about ourselves at the end of
the day.
By the way, also on the "worst jobs" list
were newspaper writer and broadcaster.
• Guess they were wrong about that too.
......... .jussayn.
© Copyright 2012 Strom Communications.
All rights reserved
This column sponsored by
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St. Boniface School is proud to introduce students who participated
on the school speech team this year. These students met after school
twice a week during the month of April to practice and coach each
other on appropriate speaking and presenting skills. These students
then participated in the annual "Speech Festival" held at Holy Cross
School, along with other area Catholic schools. Pictured here is the
speech team for this year: Sara Morris, Sophia Kelly, Jenna Barker,
Kya Binsfeld, Rece Winter, Josh Eisenschenk, Kate Fredin, Timothy
Harris, Tracy DuHoux, Emily Kieke, Whitney Wenner, Skyla Sprague,
and Jayda Woods (not pictured are Jaden Philippi and Alex Holen).
Chamber seeks nominations to benefit from breakfast proceeds
The Cold Spring Area Cham-
ber of Commerce is currently
seeking nominations to be the re-
cipients of this year's Hometown
Pride Breakfast proceeds. In the
past, proceeds have been donated
to a local project which benefits
the Cold Spring Community. Re-
cent examples would include:
Please send nominations or re-
quests to the Cold Spring Cham-
ber of Commerce at 20 Red River
Ave. S. #110, Cold Spring, MN
56320 or email us at info@cold-
springmn.com by May 15, 2012.
The Cold Spring Area Cham-
ber of Commerce represents its
members through communica-
tion with the city, school district,
MN legislature, and MN Cham-
ber. The Chamber provides many
networking opportunities
throughout the year. For mem-
bership information call 320-685-
4186 or visit www.cold-
springmn.com.
hance the Cold Spring Communi-
ty in some way. Preference will
be given to projects which have
not been recipients in recent
years. Those wishing to suggest
recipients should email or write
to the Chamber with a descrip-
tion of the project, organization
involved, date of the project, etc.
ROCORI Area Community Foun-
dation, the Cold Spring Area
Historical Society, Scout project
to repair Brewery Creek Bridge,
Cold Spring City Police Depart-
ment drug dog, and Banners for
the city.
The criteria for such projects
are those which benefit or en-
+
i COLD SPRING
Left to Right: Chaplain Gerard
Dols, Senator Dan Hall, and Jeff
Howe. Jeff Howe attended the
Capital Prayer Network's weekly DNR QUESTION
meeting on April 26th with
Chaplain Gerard Dols of OF THE WEEK
Midwest Chaplains at the State
Capital in St Paul. Jeff Howe
said he was honored by the invi-
tation from Chaplain Gerard
Dols to attend the Capital Prayer
Network meeting in order to
share the purpose of his candi-
dacy for the House of Repre-
sentatives in District 13A.
Chaplain Gerard Dols is original-
ly from Richmond, MN and cur-
rently works for State Senator
Dan Hall and the Minneapolis
Salvation Army. Senator Hall is
the founder of the Capital Prayer
Network and one of the founders
of the Midwest Chaplains. The
meeting was well attended by
members of the Capital Prayer
Network who pray for Minn-
esota's capital and government
leadership.
The price of Minnesota hunting
and fishing licenses will increase
in March 2013 for the first time in
12 years, the Minnesota Depart-
ment of Natural Resources (DNR)
said.
On Thursday, May 3, Gov.
Mark Dayton signed a House- and
Senate-approved bill that, among
other things, raises the cost of an
annual resident fishing license
from $17 to $22 and a resident
deer hunting license from $26 to
$30. Most resident youth hunting
and fishing licenses will be $5 or
free. Youth under 16 do not need a
fishing or small game hunting li-
cense.
License fee increases were wide-
ly supported by hunting, fishing
and conservation organizations.
The last general license fee in-
crease was approved in 2000 and
implemented in 2001.
"This action was critical to
maintaining the world class fish-
ing and hunting that Minnesota
enjoys," said DNR Commissioner
Tom Landwehr. "I appreciate all
the efforts of the organized groups
and the individual hunters, an-
glers, trappers and others who
supported new license prices. I also
thank the Legislature for its bipar-
tisan leadership and support on
this important conservation initia-
tive."
Enacting the license fee bill
maintains the solvency of the
state's Game and Fish Fund for
the remainder of this biennium,
which ends June 30, 2013. New
revenue will begin to come into the
game and fish fund in March 2013.
The DNR estimates the fees will
generate about $5 million in fiscal
2013 and approximately $10 mil-
lion per year in following years.
"The fishing and hunting com-
munity has spoken that they are
willing to pay for good conserva-
tion," said Landwehr. 'Wge will put
these dollars to their highest and
best use for game and fish man-
agement and enforcement. That
means providing the results that
hunters, anglers and the conserva-
tion community are asking for."
Landwehr said specific uses of
new license fee revenues will be
proposed in the months ahead as
the agency develops a biennial
budget proposal that the governor
will submit to the Legislature in
January 2013
Q: I saw a bluebird in my back-
yard this week. Do I still have time
to put up a bluebird house? And
which direction should it face?
A: Yes, you still have time to
put up a bluebird house. Although
many bluebirds are already nest-
ing in Minnesota, it is not too late
to provide them with a nest box.
Bluebirds that have not nested yet
or whose nests might have failed
will also use the boxes. The boxes
should face an open field with a
clear flight path to the box. Blue-
birds prefer open, grassy areas
where they can easily watch for
predators.
- Lori Naumann, information of-
ricer, Nongame Wildlife Program
Nature provides a free lunch
but only if we control our ap-
petites.
-- William Ruckelshaus
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