To all the wonderful people in and around the Marais des Cygnes school district who have touched my life this semester: thank you. To all of the staff at MdCV: thank you. You welcomed me with open arms, and have helped me along the way. You have reached out to me when I have been afraid to ask. You taught me how to communicate within the school, areas to consider with students, and taught me new ways to handle situations with students. You helped me understand the teamwork in staff, and help me to better understand our students. To Mr. Rice: thank you. Words cannot express how thankful I am to have been placed in such an amazing program with you and your students. You allowed me free rein this semester and helped me reflect on the times when I achieved and times when I felt I failed. You allowed me to grow as a person and teacher, and build truly phenomenal relationships. You allowed me to fail and helped me reflect and improve. You allowed me to steal the spotlight and grab the students’ attention while you worked outside of the limelight. To the Animal Science classes: thank you for dealing with me for all 17 weeks. We started the year so rough and so in depth, I know you often felt in over your heads. Thank you for teaching me the balance and that it is okay to slow down. You gave me the first experience with taking students to contests on my own, and you continued to be that group all semester long. You treated me with respect and have been so good to me- even through all the contests we went to, and I did not know where I was going. You were always there to make pit-stops and explore the area- from the bridge near Ottawa Cemetery, buying puppy shots at Orschelns, the flooding at Carnahan Creek, and cheering with me when I got the job call at Rocky Ford. We learned so much together this semester. Reflect on that and know that I am proud of you, and am thankful for the dedication you gave in all of the contests I “made” you do this semester. You truly taught me how I can be friends with my students while maintaining a teacher role, and helped me develop stronger relationships with you and the rest of the students once I learned how. You have created a great team and I hope you continue to work as hard in the program next year and continue to make me proud. To all of the students who have made me, at times, feel like I want to leave and not come back: thank you. Without you, I would not be strong enough to handle students (who will probably be even more crazy) in the future. You allowed me to push past one bad day and make a difference in the next. Without you, I would not have been challenged. I would not be allowed to grow or learn how to cope through a situation that can be so frustrating. I would not be able to see you are not always the problem- sometimes my teaching, my instructions, or my rules are. You taught me how to reflect on how I can change, or what I can do to make myself and your actions better. You are truly great students and helped me recognize that you are unique and I need to also be unique to reach you. To all of the students who have made me laugh: thank you. You have brought me joy in one of the most stressful times in my life, and often you have laughed with me. Without you, I would not have built such strong relationships or respect with each and every one of you. To all of the students who I have seen cry: thank you. Without you, I would not have been able to see the impact and relief that a teacher can provide a student who is struggling. I would not see how much teachers could influence the life of a young adult. You have shown me raw emotion, and you have let me help you through it. Discussion and conversation can be difficult but it challenged me and it challenged you: together we got through it. I have become a better teacher by knowing I am able to make a difference in your life, both in and out of the classroom. Thank you all for making me cry. Not only at our chapter banquet, not only on the last day, but even beforehand when I began thinking about leaving. You gave me something to miss- something I will cherish my whole life. You gave me so many memories, and I hope you all look back and reflect on what we have done in such a short time. You have all come such a long way- and because of you, so did I as well. You've taught me numerous skills that I can continue to use. I wish I continue to grow, and that I can reach and impact so many more lives. I hope my future students will also impact my life just as much as you all have, to continue to help me grow. You have taught me while I have taught you, and for that I will be eternally grateful. Written by: Student Teacher- Cassandra Ebert
Thank you for the breakfast, the brownies, card and kind words, the jacket for my new chapter, and everything else you have given to or done for me.
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Have you ever wanted to build something on your property but the government said no? It’s your land, isn’t it your land? Well some believe it isn't. The people of the United States are given the right to private property it’s in the Constitution. However the definition seems to be blurry, if you asked numerous different lawyers you will most likely get several answers. Some people believe that because you have payed for the land completely, then it is your property and no one can take it from you. Although some laws pertaining to what is and is not private property are blurry, the fact that someone can put up notices and signs gives people knowledge of the owner and, that he or she does not want anyone on the property, this may give people the thought that the property is that persons and only that persons, yet if the government wants to come on your land they can, and there are few ways you can stop them. If the state wants to build a highway through your front yard, then either they will give you less than the value of the land and tell you to leave or they can make you leave. The government shows little regard for the private property laws. The definition of private property is “Tangible and intangible things owned by individuals or firms over which their owners have exclusive and absolute legal rights, such as land, buildings, money, copyrights, patents, etc. Private property can be transferred only with its owner's consent, and by due process such as sale or gift.” http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/private-property.html Private property means that the owner has the right to decide how the property is used. As I stated earlier, the government has the power of imminent domain, to an extent. They have the power to take land if necessary, but they can not take the land and sell it for profit of any kind. The government also has no right to implement a land use plan thus one of the few times that the government has the right to tell you what you can and can not do on your land is if they have found or have reason to believe there is an endangered animal on the property. If that is the case then there are protection laws in place to protect both the animals and the owners of the property. The laws are blurry because people have been trying to change laws and make them more into their needs and people are changing the constitution to the needs of the situation. I interviewed my brother-in-law-Erech Doviak a local farmer for the rest of the speech. I asked Erech what his views were on private property, and he said “what is mine is mine and i would rather the government not control it.” He also agreed that although he pays the bills on it and some of it is paid off, it is not okay that the government has so much control over something that is yours. The government has the ability to take your land and make it into something like a highway, or put a building up if that's what they need. Overall, the government has full control over all the land and property around them. Laws used to be very black and white, however now things get blurry, and more and more twisted. Steven Clower
Are Electronic identification devices costly or beneficial? Electronic identification devices allow people like farmers or scientist use to keep track of their animals. They can be costly but they help with what the farmers do in life. Some farmers like it better than tagging. This device can be costly while but I believe it is more helpful than it is costly. Farmers say this device helps them out a lot and makes a jobs easier. The farmers seem to keep more track of their animals with the identification device, and they like it much better than ear tags. But, this device can cause some farmers problems, on how much they cost, and if they can afford it or not. This device is a little on both sides they are costly and beneficial. They cost a good amount of money, but these devices can be very good for farmers and people who need them. It can cost some money if things get damaged, or if they use the device wrong and mess it up by doing something wrong with the panels. If everything checks out right, they can save and their money will be well spent. The device is made for people to identify what their animal is, so they can just do what they need to do and find what they are looking for, really easily. They can keep track of what they information they need for from a tablet, computer, or even a phones. The Electric identification device in animals is based on low frequency radio waves or Radio Frequency Identification. The benefits on having this device is less paper work or transcription required thus improving ease, speed and accuracy of data collection.No direct animal contact is necessary to achieve accurate identification, further improving speed and safety of handling. A fixed panel reader is permanently installed allowing animals to be identified automatically as they pass by. Many dairy parlours will use them to identify cows as they walk into the parlour or in each feed stall. The panel helps them keep track of information about that animal. Such how healthy they are, and if they need any medical care. People all around the world use this device and hundred of thousands of people enjoy using it. Some people do not because many have lost money by investing in this device. In some way it helped them, but then they couldn't find a way to keep it going or buy more of cattle they bring in. This device isn't bad to have if you have the time and the money to put into the device, but if your in a place where it could make you lose a good chunk of your money I wouldnt get it. People say it is really helpful and would recommend it and your whole process would go a lot better. So I would that this is more beneficial than costly because it has help a lot more people than it has hurt people . Ethan Cannon
Could you imagine life today without fires? Most people would think of it as a big plus, but it would create many problems in many areas. The use of fire in agriculture has many very positive and negative effects. You see farmers doing controlled burns all the time, but when those burns get out of control they can cause many negative things. You can take many steps to prevent fire from being a bad thing, and any area that is in threat of a wildfire should take those steps. Fires in agriculture can be very beneficial. A good example of this is using it for disease and pest control. Fire isn’t the only way to control diseases and pests, but sometimes it can be, by far, the most effective. It will effectively kill off ant pest or diseases in the area. It will destroy any waste material in the area as well. Fire is very effective in use of management practices such as burning off any unwanted or unused waste of crop in a field or to dispose waste on your farm. The use of fire to remove slash from logging is a good example. It is waste that needs to be removed or it could be a fire hazard for wildfires. Fires also have a very negative effect on agriculture. Fire has the ability to completely ruin a harvest or crop. It can very easily wipe out your entire farm. Wildfires are very devastating for huge areas and destroy everything in their path, it has devastating effects on farms. Often wildfires can kill off livestock, forcing a farmers replace their animals, which can cause trouble because it costs them lots of money and they are also losing that line of genetics that they may have been working at for years. Wildfires often are very hard to stop and there isn't much you can do about them. Fires that happen in barns, hay lots, or shops at farms can be horrible if not stopped. They can cause a huge amount of damage and cost a lot of money to fix or replace. Equipment fires are a problem too. They can ruin your equipment beyond repair and put you in a hard position to get any work done. They can cost you a lot of money in not just repairs or replacing the equipment but also in crop lost and time due to the equipment being broken. Agriculture related fires cause over $102 million in direct property loss every year. More than one half of agriculture related fire involve brush and one third are equipment fires. Two thirds are in field and orchards and another one third happens at livestock or poultry operations. Fire protection is a big must in agriculture. One of the first steps should be knowledge and awareness. The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) provides a paper with an overview to identify fire hazards, and steps to make a fire prevention plan. Fire risk can vary, depending on crops or livestock. Basic fire prevention can include minimizing possible fire hazards, removing any fire accelerants, document and locate those that can't be removed, train and conduct fire drills, and facilitate with your local fire service. Some bigger steps to take includes fixing any electrical fire hazards, banning smoking around flammable materials, and making sure you equipment and structures are up to fire code. To keep machinery from catching fire it is best to keep machinery clean, replace worn electrical equipment, keep charged fire extinguishers on equipment, welders, and cutting equipment should be used in safe areas, and store equipment in safe areas. To reduce risk of destruction from wildfires, remove flammable vegetation from 5 feet of buildings, create non combustible zones for fuel, hay, and chemicals. A good way to protect your crops is creating an appropriate size of fireguard for crops and pastures. To keep from losing livestock it is good to develop an evacuation plan to move livestock. Fire can be a very good and a very bad thing, without it, agriculture wouldn't be what it is today. Fire does us loads of good, with many uses in agriculture. But it can also be devastating and completely ruin your farm. So we have to be careful with fire and take many safety precautions in order to keep it from devastating our land. Kaelin Criqui
Have you ever thought about what those scary UFOs flying in a field were? Don’t worry, they were just drones being used by farmers to help find them data. Drones today are becoming more useful in a farmer's life. People do not know how useful drones can be in today's world. You always hear the saying “work smarter, not harder” and I think that is what drones are doing for some farmers. There are so many ways you can use a drone in today’s world and it does not even have to be for farm use. It could be for recreational use and that is what I use mine for. If farmers want to use it for themselves on the farm though, they are going to have to pay a pretty penny. So today, I’ll be going over a few things about drones. The cost of drones and how to set them up,Programming and setting up the drone to scout your field. Also, I will talk about the impact that drones have on agriculture and the uses they have. How will farmers get use to this technology and how to keep up to date with it? Drones range from $1500 to well over $25000. As you can see they are expensive so it would not be an easy buy for some people. They will end up saving you money in the long run because of the way they can make things more efficient. You don’t necessarily need to have, but it would be something nice to have. To set up a drone you just have to have the app that corresponds with the drone. You have to pair it with your phone or an ipad of some sort so you can get the data and pictures from the drone. You have to program and put your location and many little things to set up the drone and put it on the route you want it to go on and get the pictures from. It is not too hard to set up and program as long as you follow the directions and of course there is always the internet you can use as a source. The impact that drone have on agriculture is way bigger than you would think. It gives the farmer a better view of their property and what they may not always see just from there own eye. It can scan a crop field with a drone and it will help you understand the crop health of it from the data shown. You can also use the drones to check for livestock or you can have thermal equipped cameras. The drone can oversee hundreds of acres and help do a soil and field analysis saving the farmer time and work. They can get a detailed GPS version of a map to tell where they will be able to maximize their land, water, and fertilizer usage. Farmers can save big money by monitoring the fields you spray and detect which areas of land are dry or wet. Also with a drone, they can tell what diseases are where in the area and it can help farmers save that area before the disease spreads too far. An NDVI (Normalized difference Vegetation Index) can tell you where the crops are growing the best and where they are growing poorly. It can also tell you where pest are at, water damage, weeds, and other things that can inhibit crop growth. This will help make they yield better so the farmers can make more money and also save them in the long run to make many things more efficient. The developers of drones are trying to come out with a drone that can spray your fields based on the data, because it would be more safe and better on the crops so you do not have to drive a piece of machinery, or hire someone with a plane to do it. Agriculture Drone experts say it would be more safe to use a drone and would save you money because it can be operated and maintained less than a crop duster or sprayer. I believe one of the hardest parts of drones in agriculture is that farmers may not be up to date with the technology especially the older farmers. Only thirty-three percent of farmers are using drones today because they do not want to change over to something new and especially if they have to keep up with the knowledge. Twelve percent of farmers use a third party and then get the data from the people who used the drones which, would probably cost farmers more for paying the third party then actually getting a drone themselves because they have to pay that third party for using their drone and getting their data. I think part of the reasons farmers don’t get drones is because of the failures they might have, and the cost to repair them. However, it would be cheaper to repair the drones because they are cheaper to begin with and the parts are cheaper. They have adapted newer drones so that they won’t fly away, and if they get too far away they can return to where it took off from. Thus drones are fairly dependable. I think that drones will have a huge impact on agriculture and they already do have a big impact on agriculture. It is pretty cool to see how small they are and how they can give you that much data. It will also save farmers money and even get farmers more money in the long run because of all the things the drone can tell you about how good or bad fields are and what they could use to increase yields. I feel that drones are pretty dependable and will become even bigger in the future, because it is really not any different than a GPS in a tractor but a drone can do many more things for you and has a different purpose, but they are both important in agriculture. The cost of drones I don’t think would be a huge deal for them because they should be able to gain that money back if the drones help. All in all, I think that drones will continue to be a huge part in agriculture and are already becoming a big part. It well help farmers in the long run and make things more easy for them as well as more organized. Written By: Koby Vanderpool
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