YF&R Conference 2012 (Part 2--The Tours)

I have to say that there are a lot of things that I enjoy about the National YF&R Conference, but the final day of tours is always one of my absolute favorites.  Sometimes it is COLD, sometimes it is LONG, and sometimes, mistakes are made and you go the whole day without drinks (they made up for it this year!)  BUT, it is always such an incredible learning experience that I feel bad we only get to go on one of the four tours because there are so many other neat places that we are missing.

As we head out on the tours it is always exciting to me to see the landscape of the area we are in--especially if it is one that I have not yet been to, and this was my first trip to Michigan.  I wanted to ask "Is there a law that the barns have to be red?"  Everywhere, the land is dotted with red barns, though, I did actually see a couple that weren't.  We have barns here in the west, plenty, but the red is not so predominant.  The land is mainly covered with cornfields.  This area is all between Grand Rapids and Lansing.

TOUR #1 GM PLANT

So, this year we loaded onto the tour buses on a chilly Monday morning in Michigan, and we headed to the Lansing/Delta GM Plant where they make their Acadia/Traverse models.

This year GM has become the official vehicle sponsor of the American Farm Bureau, a big change after our years with Dodge, but I think that the winners of our YF&R competitions are so thrilled to get a new truck that they better not complain what brand it is!

Only drawback to the tours—NO CAMERAS!  GRRRRRR!!  Take my camera away and I just might cry, but I tried to make do, so some shots are through the bus windows and some I had to find online to give you an idea of what we experienced.

I also wanted to include an article about the plant we went to because it is relatively new and uses all of the newest technology, along with being friendly to the environment, the extent that they have gone to is pretty interesting and impressive.  So, here is the link to that article:  http://media.gm.com/media/us/en/gm/news.detail.html/content/Pages/news/us/en/2011/Dec/1205_ldt

Anyway, here is a rundown on the GM tour-

We entered a huge building, that is one of three in a row on the property.  All three buildings are connected by elevated, enclosed walkways that are actually how they transport the vehicles.  They start in the first building where the metal is stamped and formed into the body, then they travel to next building where they are painted.  In the third and main building, the assembly begins.

Here you can see the cars being transported through the
'walkway' into the next building.

The whole system is incredible.  I can’t imagine what Henry Ford would think to see an assembly line working like this.  Whether they are traveling on a flat trailer, or suspended like a hanging rollercoaster ride, they travel in a smooth and even rhythm through out an amazing course of assembly.  In one area seats are assembled, in another, the motors are built and placed on the drive-train.  The drive-trains travel to the vehicle frames on a computerized vehicle that follows an outlined path, due to sensors under the floor.  There are mapped out walkways for people to stay on at all times, with signs and lights for warning in areas where you might get ran over by one of these little vehicles if you are not paying attention.  

This reminded me of the rollercoasters that you ride in
hanging from the track--these wound around and in and
out through the building as they slowly came together.

Teams of people work together in certain areas, who are trained in all the jobs of their areas so that every couple of hours they can rotate positions and not have to work the same spot all day long.   And minute by minute, these vehicles come together, doors and tires going on near the very end, but they all have been sent out in jus the right order to match up with the vehicle that they are numbered to match to.  Some are Chryslers, some are Chevy, etc., so it is crazy that they all come together so perfectly and then they are started and tested on a small course to make sure everything is firing and working the way that they should.  They even go through a water test to make sure they have no leaks.

One of the few pics I could snap from the bus window
that actually showed a little of what we had seen inside.

This plant generally puts out just over 1000 vehicles a day!  This kind of blew my mind since they are only producing 2 styles of the GM line, no other cars, mini vans, trucks, etc., are coming out of this particular factory.  WHERE DO ALL THESE CARS GO??? 

Very impressive to see an assembly line working like this, to see how it all comes together.  Thanks GM for the tour!

 TOUR #2 HEFFRON FARMS

The next stop on our tour took us to Heffron Farms, a local, family owned and operated farm.  At Heffron farms they produce some of their own feed, I believe they had some row-crops and other ventures, but their biggest, and the one we mainly came to see, was their ALL-NATURAL BEEF.  

I have to admit, I was a little bit surprised when we stepped around the calving sheds and these little black and white critters started poking their noses out to greet us.  My initial thought was, "Really?  They are using Holsteins for beef?"  See, the things you get to learn when you travel the country with Farm Bureau.  And while I come from beef cattle country in the west and that is our family background, I actually have raised Holstein calves by bottle before, so it shouldn't be a total shock.  In Michigan, surrounded by dairies, they are going to be able to come by Holstein bull calves a lot easier and cheaper than anything else--I just know that they take a lot to finish out and it didn't seem like it would be that profitable of a venture.  Just goes to show how little I know!!

This is the second stage--from the calving sheds to the barn they are now
 kept together in the same group of calves for their entire
 stay at Heffron.  They have been de-horned and weaned
 at this stage.  But the real reason I took this pic was the cat under
 the manager--it had all these calves spooked and running
 around as we came in.  They were pretty nervous about the
little thing and it caused quite a ruckus before settling down.

Crossing back to the other side of the road we were able to see the last couple of stages of finishing out these calves.  This was about the most snow we saw during our entire time here, also, and it was melting and muddy though it was a little chilly out.

Jordan Heffron is the brother in charge of the cattle.  He works with a nutritionist to plan their diet for the different stages of growth, and they also do not cut the bull calves until they reach about 600 lbs, which helps add more testosterone than a bull calf/steer would normally have in its system, also promoting growth. 

This would be the stage three group of calves

Stage four and definitely getting bigger.  I can't remember exactly how many months
they said that they take to finish a calf out, but I believe it was 17 months.

And then we are getting closer to the end with this group of steers.

Heffron Farms Beef is considered All-Natural by USDA standard.  They are not Organic, the calves receive their first rounds of shots at the dairy before they are bought by Heffron.  The Heffron's also prefer to buy from Dairies that keep the calves on their mothers for at least one week in order to get the benefits of the colostrum that makes an amazing difference in the overall health and growth of a calf, especially one that is going to be pulled off of it's mother and raised by bottle.  They usually don't do any shots or additives beyond that unless a calf is sick and in need of it, which isn't very often because of the clean conditions and the different areas they are kept in.

Heffrons market their beef in somewhat of a co-op with other producers around the area.  They sell in and out of state, all USDA inspected.  They said they actually ship a lot to Florida during the winter months--I guess some of those Michigan people go south for the winter, too.  They had a small market there at the farm, and others in different places besides that.  I was so curious to see what the prices would be on this all-natural holstein beef that would make it worth producing.  Well, if you can see the tags in the freezer, you will think that it must be worth their while, while I will never know what it tastes like, because I don't think $22.99/lb beef tenderloin is in my budget.  BUT, I am glad to see American Ag Producers finding a market that works for them and for those willing to pay those prices!!  They also vacuum seal and freeze their meat, none of it is sold otherwise, it is just a better storage life this way and longer market availability.  You can order meat from Heffron's by the cuts or by the half, whatever fits your needs or your freezer!  THANKS HEFFRON'S for sharing your farm with us!!

 TOUR #3 ETHANOL PLANT

(Carbon Green Bioenergy Plant)

Once again, this is about it when it comes to the extent of my picture taking--my camera was banned, AGAIN!  So, you'll have to just use your imagination as I take you on the tour.  This plant  buys corn from local framers to produce ethanol, about 50 million gallons a year.  What is ethanol??  Ethanol is alcohol, about 200 proof alcohol, that is used as an additive to gasoline.  Ethanol burns more completely than gas, burns cleaner, and is a renewable resource.  All though there is great debate in the country over the past few years about whether it is worth putting our corn into, or not, the fact is that it is currently blended into about 50% of the nations fuel supply, and has been used in this kind of way for decades.  The alcohol is made from the fermentation of starch sources, hence the corn.  In some places around the tour the smell of yeast and alcohol was about enough to make some of our tourers giddy. ;)  

Has ethanol production taken over the corn market, driven up prices, raised costs for those trying to feed animals?  Not a debate I am willing to get into.  But, it was interesting to tour the facility to see how the production is done.  In one end and out the other, it didn't take very long to finish--I want to say about two days, but it is hard to keep all the facts and figures straight.  I do know that they have a railway system that comes right into one of their sheds, they are able to quickly unload massive amounts of dry corn, and also ship out massive amounts of distillers dried grains that go back out to local Ag producers for feed.  From their particular plant, it is about 120 thousand TONS of distiller dried grains per year.

All of their ethanol from this plant goes out to local Michigan gas stations.  These are a pretty common site in the midwest (well over 150 refineries, maybe closer to 200), and in Michigan where I found they have at least 5 plants in production as of 2012.

The one thing that we discussed after the tour was the amount of power that went into these refineries, and my husband's question was, is it really more efficient?  But, we live in a world where efficiency is in high demand, but the fact that it is environmentally friendly tends to out weigh most costs.  

Another very interesting tour in Michigan, THANKS Carbon Green.  And I must say, we looked pretty cute in the hard hats and glasses, but thank heavens for once, we couldn't use our cameras! ;)

A Sight Along the Way....

This was about the best, and only pic I could really get of this enormous facility that is where Eggland's Best Egg's come from.  This commercial operation is huge!   We were told that it produces 5 MILLION eggs a day, supplying ALL McDonald's East of the Mississippi with their eggs.  Also, for ease of transport, the eggs are all shelled and transported in tankers.  Like I said, this is just a small portion of the buildings, which our Michigonian friends tell us is always under construction as more go up.  We also passed another large operation at a different spot somewhere along our tour, which they informed us was this same operation's 'organic' site.  So next time you are snacking on Sausage, Egg and Cheese McMuffin, maybe you'll think of this!

So, after a great day of touring Michigan, we headed back for our final event of the Conference, the Grand Finale!  But, for today, I am done, so you will have to wait until next week to see the final wrap up of our time in Grand Rapids!