Norah Palmer
14 years old
Eighth grade
When do you do chores? I help about three mornings a week. I get up around 6 a.m. and help Dad feed the calves. I also help after school sometimes when needed, and I’m not busy. I also help with the 4-H beef steers every morning.
What is your favorite and least favorite chore? My favorite is probably feeding calves, and my least favorite is bedding heifers.
What project do you enjoy helping your parents with on the farm? I like helping with vaccinations. I run the chute and give the worming stuff in the mouth. It’s a lot of moving heifers and fun stuff like that.
Tell us a fun memory you have of living on the farm. Milking with Dad. We talk about a lot of important, fun stuff. It’s a core memory.
What is your favorite animal on your farm? My Brown Swiss cows. I have five or six Brown Swiss cows registered in my name that my parents gifted me that we bought from the state Brown Swiss sale. I like showing them and working with them. Tulsa is my favorite of my Brown Swiss cows. She was my first heifer that found success in the show ring, and she’s just really sweet. I like her a lot.
What do you want to be when you grow up? A psychologist. It is really interesting how the brain works and how people act the way they act and are the way they are.
If you had a farm, describe what it would look like. The farm would have 125 cows, mostly Holstein but some Brown Swiss. We would raise our calves and heifers and milk in a parlor.
What is your favorite game to play on the farm? Water fights in the summer. They get intense. There are hoses all over. So, we hide from each other. We hide behind doors, and every once in a while, we dare to open the door and try and spray the other person. Every once in a while, we have balloons. We also haul around buckets of water.
What is your favorite meal that your mom or dad makes? Ham balls with cheesy potatoes.
What is your favorite thing to do off the farm with your family? Going to shows and working together, and working with the cattle.
Are you involved in activities? Basketball, track, softball, band, jazz band, volleyball, 4-H, FFA, middle school news source doing TV segments and the Iowa Holstein Association. My favorite is probably 4-H because I have friends that I can do activities and other stuff with. It allows me to show my animals.
Naomi Palmer
12 years old
Seventh grade
When do you do chores? I get up at least one morning a week, and then, I milk at least one night a week. Sometimes I get up another morning too. I help when needed with odd chores and odd jobs.
What is your favorite and least favorite chore? My least favorite would be bedding the heifers. My favorite would probably be milking in the morning.
What project do you enjoy helping your parents with on the farm? I like helping with vaccinating and writing down which ones need what. I keep track of who we have done and who we need to do yet.
Tell us a fun memory you have of living on the farm. Sometimes in the summer we pull mustard in the oat fields. When we are talking, it is fun. When Dad’s along and he’s saying something funny or making it a game, that is fun.
What is your favorite animal on your farm? The calves. I like pretty much any ones that are friendly. I like it when they come up and suck your hands or are friendly.
What do you want to be when you grow up? A veterinarian of some sort, because I like helping with the calves and then the vaccinations and things they need sometimes with that.
If you had a farm, describe what it would look like. I probably would have around 100 cows, mostly Holsteins. I may have some meat goats. I would milk the cows in a parlor.
What is your favorite game to play on the farm? Summer water fights. I like it because I can get back at Ethan, my older brother. He is good at water fights. You can hide and get back at him, but then he’ll get back at you 10 times worse.
What is your favorite meal that your mom or dad makes? Corn on the cob and cheesy mashed potatoes.
What is your favorite thing to do off the farm with your family? Going to the Iowa State Fair. I like to walk around and see all the different stands and walk through the dairy barns.
Are you involved in activities? 4-H, basketball, volleyball, band, jazz band and theater. I have done softball before, and I want to do it again. I might do track, but I don’t know yet. 4-H is my favorite. I have a lot of friends that I do activities with. I am in junior council, so I can help plan stuff.
Roslyn Palmer
10 years old
Fourth grade
When do you do chores? Mostly at night. I help every night when I get home from school. I get up at least one morning a week and then on Saturday and Sunday morning. I take care of mine and Norah’s beef steers at night. I help feed and bed calves at night. I take care of the laying hens, feeding them and collecting eggs.
What is your favorite and least favorite chore? My least favorite is bedding heifers. My favorite is helping Dad on the farm. I like riding around in the tractor with him.
What project do you enjoy helping your parents with on the farm? Probably just being with Dad and helping him. Following him around, riding the tractor and four-wheeler with him or going to town and getting stuff.
Tell us a fun memory you have of living on the farm. Riding with the tractor with Dad and talking about memories from where he lived and when he was little.
What is your favorite animal on your farm? Probably the calves. They are just really friendly. They are cute. Beyonce is my favorite heifer. She likes walking around with me. She likes me and is very patient with me.
What do you want to be when you grow up? I would probably be a farmer and part-time nurse. I like being on the farm, but I also kind of want to be a nurse, too, like Mom and take care of people.
If you had a farm, describe what it would look like. I would probably have 140 cows. I would maybe have chickens and maybe have a little beef farm. I would milk them in parlor.
What is your favorite game to play on the farm? Summer water fights. I like being with family.
What is your favorite meal that your mom or dad makes? Hungry Jack casserole.
What is your favorite thing to do off the farm with your family? Going down to the woods and seeing the spring. We hike down and take walks and maybe have a picnic. I like being in nature. I like hiking and being with my family and being there in the woods.
Are you involved in activities? I am in basketball, volleyball and 4-H. 4-H is my favorite. I like being able to show and that’s probably my favorite. I have friends in 4-H that I hang out with at the fair.
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