A Fusion Blogger Panel

Saturday I had the opportunity to do something a little different. I was invited to attend the American Farm Bureau Fusion Conference and participate on a blogger panel. Wow! Honestly it has been a while since my last prepared presentation, but when you get the chance to talk about something you enjoy to an audience that's eager to hear about it, why not?

The other two bloggers on the panel with me were Val Wagner and Katie Pinke. They blog at Wag'n Tales and The Pinke Post.

Katie, Me, and Val

Be honest, be personal, tell your story as it leads you. I think that would sum up much of the advice they had to give. When you gain the trust of your readers then you have made a real connection. Val said that you should always remember the potential of a post to gain steam long after you've written it. Katie shared how she used photos in her posts to bring readers in.

My advice was to never be boring, vary your posts, and to be social. And a good photo never hurts!

@Farmerbright did a blog titled "Fifty Shades of Hay" to hook in an audience, so have fun with your blog #FBFusion pic.twitter.com/xydsZDYOlx
— Kevin Hensley (@KevinHensley) February 14, 2015

 I also got to meet some other great folks there as well. AFBF President Bob Stallman was in the hallway before our panel and spent a few moments talking with my wife and I. Meeting some of my "imaginary friends," as my wife likes to put it, in real life was nice, too.

Of course my highlight was getting to meet Janice in real life.

So excited to finally meet @farmerbright! This is definitely the highlight of #FBFusion! Eat your heart out! pic.twitter.com/Pc5qw3JBQO
— Janice Person (@JPlovesCOTTON) February 14, 2015

She's one of the first people I met on social media and a blogger that I've learned so much from.

A big thanks from me to everyone that came to our breakout panel and to the wonderful AFBF staff that made everything perfect.

Just Talkin' Farm Work

Lots of things happening on the farm this week. The one I'm most proud of is that we finally got one group of calves moved. We have different fields for different sized animals. As they move up in size we move them to the next field. We have been on the receiving end of much rain lately and it has been too muddy to move them with our trailer. This week it dried out and we could finally check that off our to do list.

As spring gets closer our silage supply gets lower. This photo was taken inside of our 20 foot by 70 foot silo. About once every 10-14 days we have to lower the silo unloader to the next window like I did this day. We still have a bit of it left and hopefully enough until it is time to chop our winter wheat. In the meantime we are supplementing the cows diet with some really good lookin' leafy green hay we purchased.





I finished out the week with an off farm trip to a Tennessee Farm Bureau District Kick-off Meeting. Farmers gathering together to support one another and working together to bring a voice to consumers and legislatures alike; what a great organization to be a part of.

One of the interesting things discussed at the meeting was the new child labor law. I believe that farm work provided the discipline I needed as a child to make me a better person as an adult. I would hate to think that laws could be passed that might hinder me from providing that same opportunity to instill those values in my own children.