Super Smart Farm Show

This week on the Super Smart Farm Show, we're talking about packing our bags and going on vacation — but first we have to find someone to watch the farm! Plenty of folks go on vacation during the summer to relax and enjoy themselves. But for farmers, taking a trip away from the farm isn't as easy as packing a suitcase and jumping in the car. Before they can leave, farmers have to make sure their f...

America is turning 250 this week and on the Super Smart Farm Show we're celebrating by taking a look back at what farming was like 1776. A lot has changed since America was founded in 1776 and farming is no exception. Farmers 250 years ago didn't have the same tools and resources as farmers today, but they were still able to make do with hard work and relying on each other. Join host Elmer and his...

This week on the Super Smart Farm Show, we're talking about everyone's favorite cool, creamy treat: ice cream! Did you know that June is national Dairy Month? It's a time when we celebrate the farmers and animals that provide us with the milk we drink and use to make dairy products like cheese, yogurt, butter and best of all, ice cream! But how exactly does milk from the cow become delicious ice c...

This week on the Super Smart Farm Show, we're talking about one of the most iconic images in American farming: red barns. Barns come in plenty of colors, but why are so many of them painted red? Does it have to do with the paint? Or do farmers just really like the color? And why red? Why aren't more barns purple or blue? Join host Elmer and Farmer Wendy as they talk about the history of red barns...

This week on the Super Smart Farm Show, we're talking about salt licks. We all love salty snacks like pretzels or potato chips. But do animals enjoy salt licks simply for their tastes? Or are they getting something more from those salt blocks? Join host Elmer and Poppy the pony as they discuss why animals enjoy salt licks and how those same licks help keep animals healthy. Do you have a question f...

This week on the Super Smart Farm Show, we're ringing in the summer with one of the first fruits of the season: strawberries. It seems like the moment the weather gets warmer, strawberries are here and ready for picking. But how did they manage to ripen weeks, if not months before the rest of the summer fruits? Just how long have they been preparing for strawberry season? The answer may surprise y...

This week on the Super Smart Farm Show, we're talking about what it takes to get tractors moving from one end of the field to the other. From gears to crankshafts, pistons to transmissions, there are a lot of words and moving parts keeping those tractors chugging along. But how do they all work together to keep farming machines running? Join host Elmer and farmers Merle and Pearl as they discuss h...

This week on the Super Smart Farm Show, we're talking about how animal feed gets from the corn and grain fields to the feed troughs. The main ingredients in farm animal feed are grown on farms, but the process of getting the crops from the field to the feed bins is more complicated than you might think. Where does the corn and grain go after it's been harvested? How do farmers know their animals a...

This week on the Super Smart Farm Show, we're pulling on our work gloves and getting ready to do battle with one of farmers' biggest enemies: weeds. But what would happen if farmers stopped fighting and let the weeds win? Would weeds totally take over? And how are they so good at growing and multiplying so quickly? Join host Elmer, farmer Clementine and Marvin the marestail weed as they discuss an...

This week on the Super Smart Farm Show, we're sowing seeds of knowledge by asking how do farmers know how deep to plant their seeds. It's time to get seeds in the ground, but hang on a second. What's the right right depth for planting corn? What about carrots? How do farming keep track of it all? Is there a special farm school where they can learn this kind of thing? Join host Elmer and Sammy the...

This week on the Super Smart Farm Show, we're taking a big whiff as we try to figure out why farms smell so funny in the spring. Spring is a time for all sorts of scents. Some are pleasant, like the smell of fresh flowers in bloom. But others are a little more pungent … like the smell of a farm while farmers prepare their fields for growing season. By why do farms smell so funky in the spring? Bey...

This week on the Super Smart Farm Show, we're springing into action to find out if dandelions are really that bad or if they just get a bad rap. Dandelions are one of the first signs of spring, but many people see them as annoying weeds that need to be removed from yards, fields and gardens. But why all the hate? Could those little yellow flowers actually provide some benefits? Join host Elmer and...

This week on the Super Smart Farm Show, we're trotting out to the field to figure out why there are so many different words for cows. What's the difference between a cow and a heifer? What about a steer and a bull? And what exactly is a bovinae? Join host Elmer and Brody the beef steer as they discuss why cattle go by different names and why having those different names are important for farmers....

This week on the Super Smart Farm Show, we're putting away our winter coats and rolling up our sleeves to figure out how farmers know when it's time to plant corn. If farmers plant corn too early, cold weather will keep it from growing. But if they wait too long, they won't be able to grow as much. So how do farmers know when the time is right to get those seeds in the ground? Join host Elmer and...

This week on the Super Smart Farm Show, we're in done chasing our tails — it's time to figure out how herding dogs work. How do herding dogs know how to move cattle and sheep around? Have they learned how to speak sheep or cow? Is it special training? Or is there something else going on here? Join host Elmer and Ollie the dog as they discuss how dogs help farmers take care of their herds. Do you h...

This week on the Super Smart Farm Show, we're looking for early signs of spring — specifically the arrival of spring flowers like daffodils. There's nothing like seeing the first daffodils, crocuses or aconites popping up to signal that spring has arrived. But how do those flowers know it's time to start growing? Do they have tiny, underground calendars? Or is there something else going on in the...

This week on the Super Smart Farm Show, we're talking about eggs. More specifically, we're talking about what happens inside of eggs before chicks are ready to hatch. What's going on inside an unhatched egg? What does it take to make a chick? Once they're formed, are chicks inside of eggs aware of the outside world? And how do they know it's time to hatch? Join host Elmer and Henrietta the chicken...

This week on the Super Smart Farm Show, it's about time we settled the debate: Does daylight saving time actually help farmers? Why do we set the clock forward an hour in the spring and backward in the fall? Does it really have anything to do with farming? Or, could it be that daylight saving time doesn't really help farmers at all? Join host Elmer and Bessie the cow as they figure out why we insi...

This week on the Super Smart Farm Show, it's time to head over to the dairy farm to see why calves are kept in little houses.  Have you ever visited or driven by a dairy farm and noticed small houses dotting the landscape? Those are calf hutches and farmers use them to help baby calves grow big, strong and healthy. They also keep calves warm and dry during cold and wet weather and offer them shade...

This week on the Super Smart Farm Show, we're holding our noses and diving into a stinky subject: managing manure on the farm. The truth is, cows, chickens, horses and other farm animals poop and it can pile up quickly if farmers don't take care of the situation. But what do they do with all that manure? They can't flush it away! Instead, farmers use a variety of techniques to manage manure so the...

This week on the Super Smart Farm Show, we're getting revved up over the idea that some tractors are like computers on wheels. Tractors have always been one of the most powerful machines you'll find on a farm, but these days tractors have as much brains as they do brawn. Smart technology like GPS, environmental sensors and auto-steer mean these tractors are taking in information and making decisio...

This week on the Super Smart Farm Show, we're taking a break from having snowball fights to talk about how snow helps farmers. When some people see snow, they think about fun things, like snowmen and sledding. Others see snow and think about all the extra work that comes with it, like shoveling. But how do farmers feel about snow? Does it just mean a lot of extra work or could there be some benefi...

This week on the Super Smart Farm Show, we're hunkering down to escape the cold and snow as we learn what farmers do during the winter. In the wintertime, it's easy to look at farms and think nothing's going on. The crops have all been harvested and the tractors put away. But the truth is, there's always something to do on a farm. So what are farmers doing during the coldest months of the year?  J...

This week on the Super Smart Farm Show, we're venturing into the dark to shed some light how farmers grow mushrooms. Most plants and crops need sunlight to grow, but not mushrooms. Mushrooms thrive in the dark, so the farmers who grow them keep them in special buildings where they can control the amount of light. But that's not the only thing that makes growing mushrooms different than growing cor...

This week on the Super Smart Farm Show, we're heading out to the pig pen to find out if pigs are really as dirty as they seem. There's no question about it: Pigs love the mud. But why? Is it simply because mud is fun? Or is there more to it than that? Could all that mud actually be helping pigs? Join host Elmer and Piper the pig as they get to the bottom of why pigs love mud. Do you have a questio...