JUL 30, 2013 ROTARY IN REVIEW:
Marytina Lawrence

America the Beautiful warmed the place up with Chuck Field leading with Doug Hartford supporting on the piano.  Carol Bufton provided today's invocation requesting that we use our skills and our creativity and our fellowship to help solve problems everywhere selflessly.  Mindee Kastelic facilitated the introduction of visiting Rotarians and guests.

Vickie Gee-Treft of the Minnesota Science Museum requested help for Rotarians involved with the Friendship Exchange.   Three host families are needed September 16 to 21….Please keep charges clothed and fed. Vickie reminded members of the Friendship destination for 2014, Costa Rica and of the 2015 destination, Romania. Can you host?  Please contact Vicki at 651 221-2564 or vgee-treft@smm.org for more information.

Dennis Boom introduced new member, Jeff Otto, formerly with White Bear Lake.  He is the CEO owner of Pallet Recycling Midwest, started 36 years ago.  This successful career has given him the opportunity to winter in Scottsdale, Arizona.  Welcome Jeff!

Today's Greeters were Nancy Anderson and Jeremy Wells.  Table tents reminded everyone of the Saint Paul Rotary Blood Drive to be held on August 13th from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Crowne Plaza in Kellogg Suite 1.  Call the Rotary office to register.

Kathy Riley collected Happy Dollars.  Sherry Howe registered her happiness because of a few Rotarians who registered as blood donors.  Happy $ commercials featured a A Squeaky Clean Estate Sale offering Star Wars memorabilia and 100s of Hot Wheels cars by Carole Kralicek and was followed by a Macy’s Development promotion introduced by Lynne Beck on behalf of Compass Company.  Dick Warren and Jim Kosmo reminded us of the sacrifices being made on our behalf.  Dick went down to meet a graduating class of Special Ops Rangers at Fort Benning, Georgia. Jim showed us a thank you card received from Jeff Bauman who lost both legs in the Boston Marathon bombing. Jim and John Kriesel’s book had been sent to Jeff Bauman.  The book tells the story of losing both legs in Iraq and represented the right support at the right time. 

Bo Alyin introduced today's speakers, Marytina Lawrence who delivered the story of farming small and living local.  The Lawrence farm is a sod farm paired with a breeding facility, with 200 Hereford beef cattle used of Angus cross breeding on other farms. Their farm is 500 acre family facility near Princeton, MN with Bryan Lawrence running Rocket Sod, son Wyatt running the beef operation and Martinya running the outreach program, family and crop raising.  She and her husband have been farming together for 17 years.

This family farm, now three generations deep, had many lessons to offer.  A profitable farm since 1956 and a sod business since 1968, the Lawrence Farm started with a cow/calf pair and has become a farm working with 50 to 200 breeding cows each year.  Its sod operation requires the commitment of growing and harvesting and delivery and installation for developer customers.  It requires a 4 a.m. wakeup to a 7 p.m. back home daily commitment.

Takeaways: 80% of farmers, small, medium and large are corporate farms and incorporate with Living Wills and Investment/Tax incentives in mind; many farms have one salary off-farm to make sure health care benefits are available; show cattle are showered and air-blown dry once a day; Roundup Ready corn requires only one fertilizer application a year –   representing big savings on farm time and fertilizer application; the agriculture laboratory that offers long hours, also offers life lessons devoted to family, friends and faith, and the pleasure that comes from living within the cycles of nature.

More takeaways – the average farmer supports 155 people worldwide in the course of a year (different from 1946 when each farm supported 20 people); The farmer today is scientist, agronomist, business administrator and marketer, philanthropist and policy maker….and all of these skills must be at the core of even a small farm.  New tractors have three computer screens in the cab. GMO crops are not built in labs but pollinated in the field (and in this, Martinya suggested, some media may run with a few half-facted assumptions about lab-built hybrid seeds); Angus cows are about marbled meat, and Herefords bred with Angus offer better and more dependable Angus. Most small herds are pure bred, large herds cross bred for purpose.

President Jim thanked Marytina for her presentation and noted that a donation in the name of Lawrence Farms would be made to the Saint Paul Public Library's "Read With Me" program.  He also awarded her with an official Rotary coin featuring the Four-Way Test.  Dick Warren presented "This Day in History." Jim adjourned the meeting at 1:31 p.m.

Jonathan Strickland

Scribe