[dominiquer60]

Posers at the food coop, love it, thanks for the laugh Mitch.

[dominiquer60]

Here is a video of mature Guernsey steers. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPwlUTK0Ybg

[dominiquer60]

I thought we were going to wait to print this until we fancy it up with the logo. If someone were to contact us tomorrow I would not hesitate to send this. I would wait to approach anyone until we have a finished version, I only posted the cleaned up one in case an opportunity came along, here it is for any of us to use in the mean time.

[dominiquer60]

Best of luck with the new team, they look sharp. Enjoy and have fun.

[dominiquer60]

If you want to send sponsorship information to someone use this cleaned up version until we get one with a logo. The one that Jen posted above has dollar amounts that are for internal use, this one does not have these numbers. Feel free to cut and paste or email me for the document. The logo document and brochure will be available soon after we get our logo.

Draft Animal Power Network Sponsorship Benefits

______ORGANIZATION SPONSOR ($2,500):
1) Large Banner recognition at Events
2) Logo advertisement on DAP Net Website
3) Full page ad space in Event Programs and 1/2 page in Newsletters
4) Complementary exhibit space at 4 DAPNet events (includes admission for two)*
5) Logo and Acknowledgment in Promotional Materials, Website and Newsletter
6) 1/2 hour presentation slot at any event attended
7) DAPNet Business Membership with online business directory listing (logo, contact information, and brief description)
*
______ BENEFACTOR ($1,000):
1) Small Banner recognition at Events
2) Logo advertisement on the DAPNet Website
3) Half page ad space in one Event Program and Newsletter
4) Complementary exhibit space and admission for two at one of our Events*
5) Logo and Acknowledgment in Promotional Materials, Website and Newsletter
6) DAPNet Business Membership with online business directory listing (logo, contact, information, and brief description)

______ CONTRIBUTOR ($500):
1) DAPNet Business Membership with online business directory listing (logo, contact, information, and brief description)
2) Complementary exhibit space at one of our Events
3) Logo and Acknowledgment in Promotional Material, Website and Newsletter
4) Admission for two to one Event*
5) Quarter page ad in one of our Newsletters or one Event Program

______ SUPPORTER ($300):
1) DAPNet Business Membership with online business directory listing (logo, contact, information, and brief description)
2) Acknowledgment in Promotional Material/Website/Newsletter
3) Admission for two for one Event (Exhibitor space additional)*
4) Eighth page ad in one of our Newsletters or Event Program

______ ADVOCATE ($150):
1) DAPNet Business Membership with online business directory listing (logo, contact, information, and brief description)
2) Acknowledgment in Promotional Material/Website/Newsletter

______ FRIEND ($75 or less):
1) Acknowledgment in Promotional Material/Website/Newsletter

*Admission for two will be as auditors to clinics or other hands on participatory events.

[dominiquer60]

Patterns for horse sized bonnets, but maybe you could add to them. http://www.crochetdodads.com/forthehorse.htm

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Hi Everyone,

We would like to produce more Wow newsletters this year. If you have any ideas for articles or newsletter content or would like to write a piece yourself we would welcome your ideas and some fresh faces to the newsletter team. If anyone is planning on attending any of our DAPNet events (Plowing Clinic, Wood Bee, Annual Gathering) or any other draft animal-power event we are interested in your written review of these for our newsletter. If you know of any historical text that would be interesting to share we occasionally print bits of the past to reflect on as we advance the use of draft animals today. All suggestions and help is welcomed!

Thanks for your help,

Erika Marczak
DAPNet Newsletter Chair

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Being a person of varying routine, my calves/steers also have a variable routine. Sometimes it was after morning feed as Vicki described and sometimes it was before evening chores. If it was before evening chores I would work them pass the barn as much as needed to make sure that I had their attention and not the person feeding the beef animals. This was not very often, but was a nice challenge to work through and changed things up a little once they were more handy. I was not always able to work them everyday, but I made sure that every time I feed them that they yield to me and back up before they receive their feed dish. This is an almost an automatic response now, I say almost because how I feed them has changed some since moving to VT. Since chores in VT are modeled in a manner for regular draft animal use on the farm, now they always eat first thing and are ready for work if the weather and ground conditions permit.

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Communication Committee Meeting 2/6/12 7pm Minutes and BOD Meeting Report

Erika, Jen, Ethan, Pam, Ed
Website Subcommittee- See Jen’s report here, Jen updated parts of the website this past week.
“I met with Pam R and David M at Blue Star this month and got some sense of what a website rebuild would look like and cost.

This was my starting point:

So DAPNet runs two websites. http://www.draftanimalpowernetwork.org is the main ‘Informational we bite, where members sign up, business resources are listed as well as event information. http://www.draftanimalpower.com is the forum and a very valuable DAPNet asset.

Here are (some of) the problems:

1. We have no web support. The DAP.com we master has been unresponsive for months…probably the better part of a year now. The DAPNet.org webmaster has recently been not responding to email. I am optimistic, that this is a temporary problem and I can get him back on board with a phone call. Keep in mind we pay both these parties a months fee to host our websites. Since I am virtually the only one managing these sites, I feel very vulnerable, as I don’t have extensive web design experience.

2. In regard to maintenance, the two websites take twice as much time as one. I have to post events on two calendars, cross post announcements and event info, etc. One website would make more sense in regard to keeping information in one place and up to date.

3. In addition, there is no way to track who is a DAPNet member on either site. I would like to give members some perks on the forum, but it is just too complicated to figure out who has paid for a membership (which is not tracked on either website, just by our administrator.

4. Advertising. Outside the Business directory on DAPNet.org, which highlights folks who pony up a higher level of membership, we are not making the best use of space for advertising. There are ways to do it on both sites, but again the duplication issue is a problem. In addition, I do know the necessary HTML to add banners to the DAP.com website.

5. I would like to have an online store. Right now, I believe DAPNet.org would support this, but I hesitate to pay the webmaster to construct this if we are just going to rebuild a new single site.

According to David, we can pretty much build whatever we want….but this means the planning needs to be well thought out and clear, so that we don’t have to do this again. His estimate was 75-100 hours (on his end) at 50.00 an hour, of planning and development. 25 or so to actually build the site. This assumes help from DAPNet providing copy and content. So that tallies up to much less than the 10 grand in the budget, though I think we should plan for the full amount in regard to grant proposals.

The next step is to hammer out details of how the website will function in a ‘Requirements Document’. I’ve attached a copy….its a daunting document and I will need help, both from David was well as someone(s) from DAPNet. So if you have any interest in helping on this project, let me know. I will look at the larger membership for help as well. I think Ellen Anderson would help and perhaps Bekah Bailey.

I have also attached David Milos CV for your review. He has extensive IT experience both at Fortune 500 companies and non-profits. Blue Star recommends him without reservation. Let me know if anyone has any concerns.

FYI, Phil Wilson, the other website guy has fallen off the map….I’m kind of relieved, there was definitely something concerning about him.”

Membership Subcommittee- We discussed giving membership to the host of the Annual Gathering each year. Anyone that joined for NOFA, the Annual Gathering and since are included in the 2012 membership year. It was decided to go with a membership year starting Jan 1st each year. Ethan will be drafting a membership letter for those that are not up to date and have lapsed. He will also draft a separate letter for lapsed business members that are listed in our business directory. We discussed the levels of membership (individual $20, farm/family $30, business $75) (do we still have the founder level at $100?) and feel that if a farm wants to be included in the online business directory they should pay the $75 business membership to do so.

Newsletter Subcommittee- We started the year on time with the first newsletter being mailed out and mostly in hand in the month of January! Thanks Jean and writers!
We would like to find out which ads are up to date and which are in-kind and what the agreements are for those. We also brainstormed some content for the next newsletter. Besides the regular features we think it would be great to get people thinking about the Annual Gathering with an article from Perry Farm. Ethan is interested in doing a piece on the history of NE Logging and/or another about networking with other organizations. There was talk about printing some plow tips since the next issue will be going into the mail during our spring clinic. Someone should be lined up to write an article about the Plowing Clinic for the Summer issue. Erika will post on DAP looking for articles for our newsletter, and remind committee of newsletter content.

Sponsorship- Comm comm members will be asked to select 4 contacts from our potential sponsor list, post them to a central location on DAP.com (so we don’t have repeats, pioneer may get annoyed being contacted 3 different times by our BOD) and contact them about becoming a sponsor of DAPNet. Details about sponsor levels, how to approach a sponsor and the list of potential sponsors will be sent soon.

[dominiquer60]

I don’t know much about this subject but my first thought is if you plow with 4 abreast you will have one horse struggling in the plowed ground, one in the furrow and 2 on the land. If you do 2 teams in tandem you will have 2 in the furrow and 2 on land. My gut feeling would be to do 2 teams in tandem, but I admit to knowing nothing about the details.

[dominiquer60]

Regarding vinegar, it is sold as an herbicide in strengths stronger than the grocery store 5% acidity, but it is strong and full protection is highly recommended.

[dominiquer60]

I drove through the south on my way to work earlier this week. Cherry trees in blossom in NC, red maples leafing out from SC and south, and I even saw crimson clover blooming along I-95. I usually see it in bloom the first week of April on my way back north. The amount of green grass was rather impressive. I also saw a field of oats in the foothills below the Blue Ridge in VA that was only frost nipped and still mostly green. The real kicker is that the last time I was on the Blue Ridge in the winter, it was very snowy and icy, more so than VT this year, and it was too cold to log at that time. Tuesday I watched some gypsy moth kill being brought down to a muddy landing in 50 degree weather, it was almost too warm for logging (well at least for this northerner).

Happy pasture dragging, I am looking forward to returning to my steers in a few weeks, hopefully it is mud instead of glare ice when I get there, at least they can walk in mud.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

I know that root cutters/choppers used to be used to make them more palatable and less likely to cause choke. You could also cut them up to lessen the risk of choke.

Also cattle generally like parsnips too 🙂 just saying!

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20 boxes of salad greens, 333 quart of strawberries, 666 pound of tomatoes or any combination there of will provide enough funds for the basic set up and $600 worth of implements. We’ll have to work on it, maybe I should visit when I get back from Florida (Its almost enjoyable this year because it is unseasonably warm, like most of us picture FL should be).

[dominiquer60]

that is a nice pair of brochled heifers, there is never any shame in working female cattle, they just remind us now and then that they are not castrated males. How old are they? Thanks for sharing the pic.

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