“The only thing that is typical about a farm family is morning and evening chores,” said farmer and 4-H Volunteer Iris Yount in a promotional video for Microsoft Office 2010.
Yes, Microsoft.
Few occasions would bring a farmer and the software giant together, but Yount made a strong case to Microsoft that the products help her family monitor their farming finances, and helps her daughters manage their winning 4-H projects.
The Yount family, from Coushatta, La., were among 50 entrants selected from 12,500 applicants in the Microsoft Office Real Life Stories program. Those chosen were documented in a short video describing how they use Microsoft Office 2010.
“They were intrigued with the farm,” said Yount, who hosted a film crew for the 13 hour shoot. “I served them five to six gallons of tea.”
In the Yount Family Microsoft Video, she explains the benefit of the software.
“I keep financial records on Excel, as far as feed, seed, there are a lot of different expenditures and I can categorize them all and see where the money is going,” yount said.
Daughters Abi and Rena recently won grand championship titles at the Louisiana State Fair, and credit the software available for enhancing the presentation of some of their 4-H projects.
“The girls did a live video of them demonstrating body parts of the goat,” Yount said. “They did it to put into a PowerPoint to make their steer project a lot more interesting to look at.”
She says the girls’ projects are like a small version of the farm. They use the software to learn farm management by tracking the growth and sale of their calves.
According to Yount, this integration of farm and technology is a valuable tool, and can contribute to the success of the next generation of farmers.
“I don’t think there is a farm, no matter what size, that can operate without having knowledge of how to deal with technology.”