Small attempt at organization

I got to the barn this morning to find a calf that was still holding her own.  I gave her electrolites with a stomach tube again because it is quicker but also because we changed her antibiotic to an oral one that tastes awful.  After milking I fed her milk replacer with a bottle and she managed to drink 2/3 of it.  She wanted to stand so Bruce came out to help her lift and balance and she stood for awhile.  Tonight I basically repeated this morning except while I was feeding the other calves she managed to stand on her own and she drank a whole bottle of replacer tonight.  She is still weak and its all work but she is doing good.  Tonight I put a storm fence over the front of her hutch.  She doesn't need to try and stand and fall out the door over night.

Bruce got the barn bedded , the fence checked,and the feed box filled at the other place and then we hauled 24 animals down there in loads of 5.  We dropped the first load off and I stayed and watched them while Bruce went to get more.  None of them have ever experienced an electric fence so there is always the fear that they will get excited in their new big space and start running and go right through it.  Four of the first 5 must have found the fence and then ventured in to check out the barn.  Evidently one found the fence by going through it on the other side of the barn from where I was, and the next thing I knew she was behind me trying to figure it all out.  By the time she found her way back inside the fence she had broken 3 gate hooks!  I had thought about bringing my cell phone but didn't so Bruce had to bring back gate hooks on the next trip.  We had the lucky timing that Ed brought down their corn so he stayed and kept track of them with me until Bruce came back.  Bruce also brought the masking tape we had forgotten.  We use tape to flag the fence in places where it's hard for the animals to see it.  If we had remembered it from the start the chances of anyone going through are much less.

Signs of Spring & Seeing Ghosts

Bruce started feeding cows this morning and after the first load the switch on the feed cart broke.  We always have an extra one of these on the shelf but fixing it added 20 minutes to feeding time.  We use an electric feed cart, operated with three 12 volt, deep cycle batteries.  It has served us well but randomly, like everything, it needs maintenance.  Purchased in 1996 it has fed out approximately 30   20'x60' silo's!  Tonight our truck is back on the road, now with a new cap, rotor and ignition coil.

We definitely have signs of spring going on here.  There are 3 boxes of parts that have been delivered so Bruce and Ed can fine tune the corn planter.  Bruce has been studying the seed literature and has ordered the rest of what he needs.  We ordered our corn a few months ago but he was working on something new for the nurse crop for our alfalfa.  Historically we have planted barley with it as a protector crop and have harvested the barley as grain in early August.  This year our silage reserves are getting a bit lower than we are used to so we need to harvest more forage.  The current plan is to plant triticale and forage field peas with the alfalfa and then chop that as silage this summer.  I have to say that the peas part makes me nervous.  They are great feed but timing is everything.  Rain that keeps you out of the field at the time you should harvest.....well, lets see what the summer brings. Bruce spent the afternoon fixing the fence at the other place and getting it ready for animals. It was warm enough he didn't need his winter coat and thoroughly enjoyed the fresh air and the birds singing.

This morning I was thrilled to see the surgery cow was eating everything she should again.  Tonight she is running a fever of 104 (normal 101).  She is already on antibiotics so Bruce gave her something for her fever and there will be a phone call to the vet in the morning for advice.  My sick calf was barely conscious this morning.  She got her electrolites and milk through a stomach tube again.  When I got home I asked Bruce how the calf was doing, expecting to hear that she didn't make it.  Bruce started to laugh and then explained that he gave her electrolites again with a stomach tube because it was faster and then proceeded to climb the silo since it had unplugged itself again.  When Bruce came down the calf was standing in front of her hutch!  Dealing with sick calves can be frustrating and amazing.  The first time I had a calf do that it had been unconscious for 3 days and the next morning was standing there complaining.. That time I felt like I had seen a ghost.  Tonight she wasn't up so I fed her again via stomach tube.  We will see what tomorrow brings.  Tonight we are down to 4 special needs cows since one has passed her drug test and can now be milked into the tank.  There are 2 heifers with udders that say it won't be much longer and we will have new calves.  They are due 4/13 but they definitely aren't going to wait that long : )

Fixing, fixing, fixing

Got to the barn this morning to find my sick calf outside complaining in front of her hutch.  She is still kind of weak but bright and aggressive and eats well so its easy to get her electrolites into her.  By tonight she is weaker but still drinking on her own. Frustrating to say the least. As far as the rest of the calves go, my hope is to move cattle to the other place this week and then shuffle calves again so I can pressure wash hutches.  We prefer to pressure wash them all after 2 calves have used them and the weather is supposed to be perfect the end of this week to do that. The trick will be to get them empty.

Bruce managed to haul 6 loads of soupy manure out of Ed's yard today.  After the rain and snow there was a pond next to the bunk so the high priority was to get that cleaned up. In the process he managed to load a chunk of ice that jammed and proceeded to shear a pin so there was fixing involved in the middle of the project.  He was using our slop spreader which has a scissors type door in the back. In order to replace the pin he had to crawl inside.  He compares it to working in an open septic tank.  Needless to say, a load of laundry was created at the same time. Ed filled the feed box today while Bruce cleaned a few loads of manure out of the lower yard here.  As of late the silo unloader has been behaving itself so it only takes one person to run it.  Sometimes its helpful when you go into a different crop of feed.  Something as simple as the moisture level or length of material can cause problems with how the unloader works. That's what I suspect has happened lately, we are in different, more cooperative feed.

Bruce came in this afternoon carrying a set of goat twins.  These are closer to the time of year we would expect, a tad early, but the weather is great and they seem to be a couple days old already and are doing great.  They are so cute when they are small.  It's fun to have a couple new ones to watch again. He moved these into the building where the other kids were started and turned on a heat lamp.  They should do great in there and we don't have to worry about them getting run over or stomped by everyone else since it gets a bit competitive around the feeder.

Today our mechanic came to work on our truck.  It seems humorous that the kid who used to come and play here with our son is now someone we call for services.  Life does move on!!

Day of Running

Milking this morning went fine but feeding calves had its troubles.  I have recently switched a couple more calves to pails and increased their milk.  This morning they both had diarrhea and since they are a bit older, I suspect I have increased the amount a bit too quickly.  One was basically fine so I added the standard electrolites and gave him less.  Tonight he is already looking better.  The one outside was already weak this morning so she got a bottle of electrolites but for most of the day she was on her own.  Bruce and I both had places to be today and with the truck not running we had to share the car.  I was able to catch a ride home with a friend so as soon as Bruce could he made sure she got more electrolites. As soon as I got to the barn tonight she got milk and electrolites again after milking.  She also is on the mend given the fact that as I tried to bed her hutch she was trying to run me over to get inside.

Bruce had 2 appointments in town today so as long as he was out he went to check on getting recertified to buy chemicals and spray our corn fields.  The normal procedure is to attend a day of class and then take a test but Bruce prefers to get the book, read it and schedule taking the test separately.  He found out today that the book he purchased last year is good this year also, and since he had paid the fees but never managed to get the test taken, he doesn't have to pay this year.  We have hired our chemical applications the last few years but haven't been exactly happy with the results so Bruce intends to do it himself this year.  It's something he had usually done himself but decided to hire someone to take it off his "to do" list.  He has nothing to lose given the fact that if he doesn't have time a phone call will take care of the problem.

We had our truck looked at today and at this point it looks like there is a problem in the ignition, perhaps a sensor or a broken rotor.  Whatever the case I hope it's a cheap fix!  

Sunday!

Today was a slow day as far as farming goes.  We fed and milked cows as usual but spent a good chunk of the day with our son and his girlfriend.  That translates into a 7 hr day for Bruce and about 4 1/2 hrs for me.  Part of our travels today was supposed to involve using our truck so we put some gas in out of the barrel here.  We got less than 2 miles from home and the truck quit.  We aren't sure if there is water in the fuel or if something else died but in any case, pulling it home had to take place after we got home but before we milked tonight.  Bruce has very few things he doesn't work on but vehicles and electric motors are on that short list so we will have to have someone look at it this week.  On the cow side of our world, all is well.  Still dealing with 5 special needs cows but they are all responding to their version of treatment well.  The surgery cow is looking brighter and eating and pooping....all the things that say she is on the mend.  It is supposed to be cold over night the next few days so Bruce has great plans to clean barns this week Time will tell if the planning will match reality : )

One Ahead, One Back

Bruce had another one of those mornings that actually started out last night.  While we were finishing up milking he started running the haylage in the mixer for this morning.  With the cool weather the haylage keeps well over night and, in theory, this would speed up feeding in the morning.  Before he had quite enough the unloader quit throwing anything down so he just shut it off.  This morning he climbed up there and found it had pulled its plug partially out so he assumed that was the problem.  Climbed down again and it still wouldn't run.  Climbed up and pushed the reset button on the motor. Climbed down and it still would not run . He  climbed up to make sure it wasn't plugged and all was well.  At that point he decided there was an electrical problem in the motor and called the electrician.  He had managed to get enough haylage down to mix 1/3 of a normal batch of feed so thats what he did, and fed it sparingly so everyone got something to eat as part of their regular routine.  The electrician was here before we were done milking and found some wires had come lose inside the motor.  As soon as milking was done Bruce hauled out the load of manure since it was darned cold this morning.  By this point Joe was here for tractor driving practice so Bruce grabbed breakfast quickly and proceeded with that plan.  It was noon by the time he had a chance to get the rest of the feed mixed and fed.  We have company this weekend, our son Jim and girlfriend Jen, so we took the afternoon off, sort of, and made a farmer shopping run and had dinner out.  That is our basic version of a day off.  We got home in time for Bruce to start mixing feed once again so we could milk.  The surgery cow is picking at her hay.  The food of choice after surgery is grassy, dry baled hay.  She looks a little tougher than we would consider normal but picking at feed is a start to recovery.  I always find surgery on cows interesting in the fact that there is never any swelling to speak of and they will lay against their stitches as though they aren't there.  Generally I am the one who takes the stitches out and that will happen in a couple weeks.

Tonight we at least had 1 less special needs cow with one passing her drug test and now getting milked into the tank.  This too shall pass, hopefully before anyone else has their calf!

Yup, A DA

The morning started with a phone call and the arrival of a heifer calf.  That makes cow #5 on the special needs list. By the time we got to the end of milking Bruce added another cow to that list, one that has developed mastitis in a quarter.  Ed stopped in to let Bruce know that the silo needed to be let down a door. We called to have a vet take a look at the cow they came to see the other day since she isn't eating again. Sure enough, she has a DA so they did surgery on her.  As long as we had someone here we had her do 2 pregnancy checks.  One pregnant, one open.  The only good news before noon was it was frozen and Bruce was again able to get some manure, well actually the rain puddle in the steer yard, hauled on frost.

They do the DA surgery here on the farm.  They first clip a patch on the side of the animal very short.  They then scrub that area with iodine to disinfect it.  A local anesthetic is administered in the area along the spine, above the area where the surgery is to take place.  This blocks 3 nerves that run down into this area, similar to an epidural.  She then is draped and an incision is made through the skin and the muscle wall.  The abomasum is located and a needle is inserted to remove the gas build up.  The abomasum is then pulled into place and stitched to the muscle wall so it can't flip back over.  Then she gets stitched up.  During the surgery she is standing and alert but doesn't feel anything.  They drenched her again today in hopes of getting her digestive system going.  She was pooping after the last treatment so she hasn't had a DA very long.  The good news is once this surgery is done she is corrected for life.

All shaved and disinfected and ready

All draped and ready to go

Her new zipper

They put a sealer on to protect the stitches.  These cows show no signs of pain after its done and  go back to eating, hopefully within 24 hrs

This afternoon Bruce let the silo unloader down a door and bedded the heifers at Ed's.  He brought the tractor we rent home from Ed's so Joe can practice driving it tomorrow.  He is getting to the end of his tractor safety class and driving is the last part of the test.  Tonight milking the regular cows took 1 1/2 hours and the special needs cows, all 6 of them, took an hour.  (this too shall pass, this too shall pass, this too shall pass)     : )

On the way home tonight I thought I heard the dogs collar and turned to look just in time to see a huge shooting star!  Very Cool!

Yeah For Frost!

I came home last night while Bruce was milking the last cow.  It was my understanding that he would be home soon but it wasn't long before I heard the skid steer running and it seemed to take forever before he actually came in.  As it turns out, by the time he got the last cow done and was heading home the cow that looked close to due last night had feet sticking out already.  When I asked him what he was up to last night he said "killing time", which made no sense until I saw the calf this morning.  Another bull has arrived.  Bruce learned in class the other day that the cow/calf (beef cow mothers) numbers in this country are at their lowest in 30 years.  Looks like we will have a few to sell next year.  Tonight that makes it 4 special needs cows to deal with.

The ground was frozen this morning and the farmer gets excited when this happens in March.  These cold mornings give him the opportunity to clean all the barns again, and more critical, the pit where the barn cleaner goes out and under which our manure spreader parks.  For a week Bruce has been cleaning the barn and just dumping it into this area in anticipation of the cold weather in the forecast.  Had we known this would be so handy we would have made it deeper.  As it is it will hold about 7 days worth of manure, and yesterday was day 7!  On day 8 it could start running out into the road.  Our neighbors like us, and in order to continue that we need frozen ground.  After milking cleaning the pit was the first project of the day since this time of year there are only a few hours to work with before the ground thaws and gets sticky.  Today Bruce got 6 loads hauled to some of our farther pieces of land so he is definitely a happy camper.

After the ground got sticky Bruce fed "all the critters".  We finally had sun today and it was beautiful and dangerous and entertaining with ice on everything.  We are both glad we managed to stay upright and enjoyed the entertainment of a border collie who has some trouble cornering on ice and goat kids who were trying to figure out how to run.

It's Spring?

Spring is under there....I know it is : )

We woke up this morning to the ground covered in white.  Crusty, icy snow but not inches of it, nothing that would ever need plowing.  I have to say it was slippery enough to make feeding calves interesting today.  We arrived at the barn this morning to find the heifer calf had died.  It's pretty tough to keep a calf that goes downhill so quickly going, and even harder when we have to deal with this kind of weather.  It bothers both of us to lose an animal, but, we did what we could do, and in the end, today is still Wednesday and we still have to take care of the other animals that need us.  I managed a work day in town again today.  I don't believe I will ever get caught up anywhere but this week is more hopeful than most.  Bruce met with an agronomist today to discuss cropping plans and weed control options.  We have not used an agronomy consultant in the past but Bruce wants to do his own weed control this year.  We have hired our spraying done the last few years but have not been exactly happy with the outcome. Having Vern involved will help Bruce get up to speed on the new things that have have come along when it comes to weed control..  He is looking forward to having an extra set of eyes keeping track of what is going on in our fields while we are taking care of the other crops and creatures here. Bruce managed to get the steers bedded today but that was a small portion of his "to do" list for today.  It's not the first time a list is continued into tomorrow.  Tonight our special needs cows all seem to be eating and pooping as they should.  Hopefully they will keep that up and be milked into the tank soon.  One of our April cows looks much closer to calving than I would like.  We will see what we find in the morning. 

Back on Track

Back on track today. I don't think this weather can be any more depressing with the cold, rain and clouds.  Bruce spent yesterday running to an appointment and then filling feedbox etc.  Monday is my day to work in town, along with any other day I can manage.  I have worked as a bookkeeper part time for probably 13 years.  The only way this has worked is I come and go when I can and set my own hours for the most part. It has gotten more complicated the last few years now that I milk full time.  On my town days I go from bed to the barn to the shower to town to home, supper and the barn.  Some days all of this is just more tiring than others.  That was the case yesterday.

Yesterday morning the sick calf was still holding her own.  She was conscious but unable to stand or drink so everything was delivered through a tube down her throat.  By last night she was brighter but still weak.  This morning she was brighter but too weak to stand.  I fed her again through a stomach tube for my own comforts since it was raining outside and, although she was trying to drink, she was taking forever and my legs were cramping up trying to hunch in the hutch with her.  She is attempting to stand up so I made sure the storm fence was tight and she would stay in her hutch.  If Bruce was here he would have helped her by lifting her but I can't begin to do that, especially in a hutch.

We had a vet call this morning for one of the cows that recently freshened.  She hasn't been eating and, as it turns out, has a uterine infection.  We have gotten lucky so far that she doesn't have a DA but her stomach was totally empty so the vet drenched her.  He does this by putting a stainless steel tube, about 18 inches long, in her mouth and past her teeth, hooking it into her nose so it won't come out.  This tube lets him insert a rubber hose into her stomach.  He can tell by the sounds and smell whether he has it in the correct place and if it's right, he then pumps in a mixture of alfalfa, salts, calcium and potassium in 5 gallons of water followed by another 5 gallons of water.  Hopefully doing this will get her digestive system going.  The vet was able to massage out much of what was in her uterus so hopefully these treatments will have her feeling better soon.

 Bruce had another appointment in town and his last grazing class so he headed out as soon as he could and I continued finishing up the milkhouse things he normally does.  It was odd being in the barn by myself finishing up.  Normally when I am there he is feeding or the pump is running but this morning it was just me and one fan running.  Strangely quiet, but enjoyable  Feeding calves is rather crazy these days.  I am only feeding 17 calves but between bottles vs pails, individuals vs groups, milk vs replacer, not to mention the addition of the sick one I am feeding 10 different combinations.  This all works fine if I can work through in a routine but yesterday morning I had to wait for the bull calf milk which changed the whole process.  Bruce laughed at me when he would come in the milkhouse and I would be standing there with a confused "where the heck was I" look on my face.  At one point he mentioned he could hear the gears grinding, much like a clock who's batteries were low, and suggested that maybe that was my problem. Of course he offered to go get me some new ones if I thought it would help.  Sometimes I just have to laugh, especially like that when that's exactly how I felt!

Bruce came home from class and then headed out to mix quite a few batches of feed tonight. He came home for supper and then we both went out, him to continue feeding and I was going to start to milk.  When I got out into the barn a cow that we had just dried up over the weekend was straining and complaining, seemingly having a calf but what I saw wasn't normal. I double checked her due date in case I made a mistake and Bruce checked her.  Something definitely wasn't right so he put on a shoulder length sleeve and checked her again.  This time he found that she was trying to have a calf.  The normal presentation for birth is both front legs in front followed by the head on top. With her he reached in and felt ribs and realized that both legs and head were turned back.  In this case all you can do is push the calf back and reposition the legs and head.  Once this was done the calf came out quickly.  He checked her again as far as he could reach and couldn't find anything else so he assumed she had just aborted 2 months early.  We continued milking another 1/3 of the cows and she was pushing out what we assumed would be placenta but once the water broke there was another small foot.  Sure enough, that one too had a leg and head turned back and had to be repositioned. Our best guess is one of them had a cord that detached and they had died. So much for that "dry" rest period between calving's.  It's funny how quickly things change.  Bruce treated the cow with the big udder for mastitis since she was just fresh and she had injured a teat.  By tonight Bruce is milking 3 special needs cows with the addition of the one the vet treated and now this new delivery.  Tonight our sick calf is still on the edge.  We have done what we can.  She is warm and dry in her hutch with her coat but it's still cool and damp.  We will again see what tomorrow brings.

Enough already

This will be a short post.  For some reason it seemed like a very long day.  If either of us could have called in sick just to have the evening off we would have.  Thankfully these days don't happen often.  I will catch up tomorrow.

Feeling More On Top Of Things For A Change : )

This mornings early wake up call was once again the phone ringing but this time it was because the power went out.  It was only off for about 1 1/2 hours and since it wasn't horribly cold or hot Bruce didn't bother to hook up the alternator.  When its really hot we need to start the alternator right away to keep the fans blowing and the air circulating to keep the cattle cool in the barn.  A few years ago a power line snapped when it was -28 and getting the alternator going became urgent since all our cattle waterer's have heaters in them.  At that low temperature it would be a very short time before everything froze up. In that case, dealing with the alternator in the cold is better than thawing and fixing pipes.  Having our own alternator comes in especially handy when it's needed during the times we have to feed and milk.  It's one of those pieces of equipment that we would prefer to own but never use, just like a snow blower

By the time we milked this morning it was 40 degrees and raining sideways.  There was random thunder and as the day went on we could see the yard turn greener!  I have said that I prefer 10 degrees to this kind of weather when it comes to dealing with calves.  Already this morning I had one that is sick and one that didn't eat as would be expected. Bruce gave the sick one a shot of antibiotics and we tied a storm fence over the front of her hutch so she couldn't get out and get rained on.  Generally by this time of year we don't put coats on anymore but now that this one is sick she got one anyway.  We were glad that by the time we were ready to sort the heifers and get them in the barn the rain had stopped.  Wind we could deal with.  Sideways rain is just miserable. Getting the heifers in went relatively smoothly.  Depending on the temperament of the animals and the excitement of the people handling them, a process like that can be a cross between a circus and a rodeo.  In today's case, no one gave us much trouble, bribery with corn is always helpful.  They usually settle in pretty quickly once they figure out the food is delivered and the mattresses are comfortable.  We have found that working with them all the time and moving them grazing seems to help.  We think it's because they have learned we don't do them harm and life is always better when we show up since there is new feed.  The last 4 heifers that freshened adjusted quickly, lets hope these do also or it could be a very long month!

This afternoon we actually managed to find a couple hours to do nothing.  It was definitely a nice break for a change.  Tonight the sick calf is worse but holding her own.  She got 1 1/2 bottles of electrolytes tubed into her since there is no "optional", she has to have them.  She has drugs and a coat and the wind quit so that's the best we can do.  There are no bets on this one, we will see what the morning brings.  The other calf that didn't drink did fine tonight so I will just watch her.  She is bigger, way past the point that they generally have problems, so I will just keep an eye on her.  The calves that we moved in are doing fine and seem to have figured out the drinking cup already.  The new heifers were eating and didn't seem to care that they were in a new place so that's a good sign so far.  I found it funny that 8 out of the 10 are mostly black and seemed to darken the barn with them in there. After spending most of the winter in the cold their hair is really long.  Soon they will shed like crazy and look like a mess for awhile.

Stirring Everyone Again

The last March calf arrived last night.  I have an abundance of bull calves it seems at this point.  While we were milking we were also making a plan on where everyone would go.  I did a recheck of the cattle due dates and YIKES...not only do we have 4 to dry up again but I realized that in April we have 13 due!  I knew April was going to be a challenge with 8 heifers due but really hadn't thought about the rest.  February chaos was only 11 calves out of experienced cows.  I don't even want to think about April again until its over! LOL

Cows have some special talents.  One of those talents is being able to step on their own teats.  The cow that freshened with the huge udder did just that a few years ago.  When that happens Bruce ends up milking that teat by hand, if it's not destroyed, until its healed.  This can take days or weeks depending on severity.  If they really mangle them we must abandon that quarter and dry it up.  To avoid this worst case scenario, Bruce put an udder support on her this morning.  This is the cow version of a bra and keeps her from injuring herself.  While an udder support serves a helpful purpose they are just one more thing to deal with, having to take it off and on every milking. Bruce calls them "Victoria's Secret" for cows : )

Victoria's Secret for cows  aka  udder support

While Bruce did a road trip and picked up some things he had ordered, I got all the cattle records up to date and also paid the bills. After dinner I managed to get 6 calves in.  I will start weaning them in about a week, giving them time to figure out their new surroundings and learning where to eat and how to use a drinking cup.  I always take their coats off before I lead them in with a bottle and it's always neat to see how shiny and warm they are when the coats come off.  We keep a photo record of all the heifer calves so I took pictures of both sides of each of the 4 heifers I got in.  These pictures get put in a book with their pedigree information and have come in handy when someone loses a tag.  Pictures of calves look identical when they are cows since their markings never change. Bruce replaced a worn out mattress and when I got done moving calves we moved cows all over the barn.  We now will have the heifers in 2 groups of 5, and 7 dry cows in their group again.  That means there will be 5 different batches of feed to mix for the animals in the main barn. (cows, dry cows, calves, steers, heifers) It's no wonder it seems like Bruce spends so much time mixing feed!  In theory we could have cattle on pasture in a month.  Sounds too far off....or too close depending on what list we look at.

Hutch graduates need to learn their feed is on the other side of the stanchions and stick their heads through

New cow mattress installed

To drink, everyone needs to learn to push the silver paddle down so the water will come in the drinking cup

Today we had a Hispanic family stop in looking for a goat to butcher.  They picked out a bigger one and will come and get it on Monday.  We do not speak Spanish, and for me especially, communication is a challenge.  This time their daughter, maybe 5 years old and very shy, was the translator. Bruce thought she was extremely helpful as shy as she was.

One of the perks of having calves outside in hutches showed up tonight when I got to watch the biggest full moon in 18 years come and go between the clouds while I was feeding.  That almost makes up for the mud!

Animal Shuffle

There was no excuse not to get things moving today.  Bruce had an appointment with an agronomist that got cancelled and our son postponed his visit until next weekend.  With the goats out of the barn I started cleaning stalls while we were milking in that area.  It seems we have been off track most of the winter.  We got a blizzard in December, were gone for the first Christmas ever and then came back to full winter, goat children and more storms.  The steers live in the yard outside the main barn door so until last week when Ed got that yard cleaned, the door was frozen shut.  Now things are finally falling into place and Bruce can handle the goats in the lower building because he can drive up and open the door and take TMR down to them. With the goats gone we can prepare for heifers.  With so many cows that have calved we can get them back in the stalls where they belong.  We then have the spaces open for the heifers and can now get them in through the yard. Today Bruce got the back of the barn bedded and calves all moved so I have a place to bring some in.  He also got the last 2 hutches set and bedded and put the 2 newest heifers in them. As quickly as the chaos builds when so many calves are born, we get to wean them off that quickly also. Bruce did some more work on the goat area again today.  One group was waiting to be fed, and as usual, if there are places to get out, goats will find it. The dog had a fantastic day getting them back in.  It was a good way to practice his listening skills since he hasn't really had to work like that since last fall.  A couple of electric fence wires that were between the boards in the fence were torn off.  Those were replaced and will hopefully fix that problem now that there is electricity in them again.  By tonight the planned system is working fine with everyone fed and where they belong.  That will continue until the goats find a way to get into something.

I ended up making a quick run to town today so I could bleach the heifer stalls. I now have 8 ready to go!  Hopefully with another cow shuffle tomorrow I can get the last 2 done. It was absolutely beautiful out today.  I will be glad when the mud dries up soon.

One Step Closer To Organized

It certainly felt like spring going to the barn this morning.  It was nearly 50 but cloudy and dreary and brown with the mud and most of the snow gone.  I guess you can't have everything at once. The fresh cow still hasn't expelled her placenta as of this morning but is otherwise looking good all things considered.  This cow has a huge udder and is awkward to milk.  I suspect this will be her last lactation because of that, otherwise she is a good milker.  We have decided that #55, the one who had twins and seems to have the "will to die", needs to leave.  She is again not eating as she should and what her situation is remains a mystery.  The list of things to do today was too long already so she will have to go next week. It seems that if you ship an animal on Friday the buyers all figure you have to get rid of her before the weekend so they don't usually pay very much.  Today was the first day in some time that both Bruce and I were home and, while I had a list of things we could get done here together, he preferred that I cook LOL.

Today was again milk check day for the balance of our February milk.  The class III price this month was $17.00. In the last 15 years the highest price for February was $17.03 in 2008 with the lowest being $9.31 in 2009.  The price in 1996 was $12.59.  Our milk components are priced individually, each broken down into pounds.  This month butterfat was 2.2967 per pound, protein was 2.5586 per pound, other solids was .2310 per pound.  We have always taken a paycheck once a month, so today was also payday.  Being a corporation we are technically an employee.  One thing taking a paycheck once a month does is teach us to budget.

Bruce spent the day building a fence to divide the yard and pen inside where the goats usually are.  Compared to cattle, goats are very easy on fences so it didn't have to be terribly strong.  By doing this we can still keep the moms with kids separate from the rest of the group and feed them TMR and the rest can have plain haylage.  Now both sides can be kept separate, each with their own feeder and sharing a water tank.  This plan would have been perfect in January but with it being so cold, getting everyone warm and safe was the highest priority. The best part of this new plan is both feeding and eventually cleaning can be done with a skid steer.  The building they were in before has to be forked out....eventually.  We laughed watching them in their new area.  While everyone else was busy checking everything out, the brown kid from inside was jumping and running for joy!  We missed our entertainment in the barn tonight but with them moving out we can now continue getting ready for the heifers to come up.

Ouch!

Today was busy again with the normal stuff.  Bruce got the feed box filled and also bedded the heifers at Ed's with corn fodder stacks.  He fixed the spreader that had a chain jump off the sprocket when Ed was using it yesterday.  He dug around in the steer yard at the ice that Ed couldn't get loose in hopes of getting it all cleaned out soon.  The frost is going out of the ground so we will be done spreading until the ground firms up again. While Bruce was feeding tonight we had a heifer calf arrive.  Thankfully she is a much better drinker than the last one.  She would have starved to death in the wild.  We tested milk again tonight.  Our highest cow is giving 125# per day or approximately 15 gallons! The bill came today for the pump repair.  $1365....OUCH!  Guess we need to keep milking cows.

Nothing Reportable Today : )

Feeding, milking, feeding and milking again.  Bruce had class again today so other than Ed coming and getting the rest of the yard finished, we accomplished the basics.  The weather is beautiful right now for March.  I love the longer days but hate the mud!  Spring is coming : )

Good Farmer Day

Ed came over while we were milking and started cleaning the steer yard.  It's the last big area to clean and it seemed funny hearing our equipment seemingly running itself.  He managed to get 12 loads hauled before it got too sticky in the field.  This time of year we try to spread on frost.  If we don't, too much of our dirt sticks to the tires and is drug out on the road.  Not only is this messy, its our dirt and it needs to stay in the field. Another reason we have to spread on frost is our soils are very fine textured (heavy clays) and therefore compact easily. Plants need oxygen around their roots to grow properly and if you smash it down its like trying to get them to grow in a black top road.  Historically Bruce has spent a couple nights getting up at 2 a.m. and hauling for a few hours on frost just to get the job done while keeping our fields intact.  From the looks of things so far he will get to sleep in this spring.

Last year Bruce had some medical issues that consumed much of his time with appointments.  Today he had a final appointment to be released from one of the doctors so we turned the day into a medical-farm business-farmer date day.  Recently we have changed some of our corporate structure so we had paperwork to update at the local Farm Service Agency office.  With that paperwork complete we wandered down the hall to the Land Conservation office to discuss having 40 acres of strips remarked before planting.  Our crops are planted in strips approximately 105 feet wide.  We do this width to accommodate our 6 row corn planter but it also makes harvest more efficient.  We plant in strips and alternate crops for both soil erosion control and pest management.  Marking them is a free service but we are glad we went in since Mike already had 500 acres on his "to do" list this spring.  Another farmer stop was to order a step for the tractor that got broken.  Sixty dollars was less than Bruce expected but he still isn't happy about the fact he broke it.  The last stop was for the standard dairy supplies like milking paper towels and such, but we also brought home 5 tennis balls for the dog.  Crazy doesn't come close to how excited he got!   Within all of that was a farmer "date" with dinner out.

Today Bruce had 4 more heifers to breed.  That means there is only 1 left of that group.  Hopefully she will cooperate soon.  After they are all bred we have to watch them closely at about 21 days for return heats (next cycle).  Then at 30 days we can do blood draws for pregnancy checks, so the waiting begins.

Mornings are still a little rough but it's nice to have more daylight later in the day.  It feels more like spring every day....a reminder of the winter list of "to do's" still not done and the spring list sneaking up in importance.  All of that means this year is pretty much normal : )

Numbers, numbers

We didn't have to worry about having our alarms wake us up at a crazy early hour.  The phone did it first, with the announcement of the arrival of a calf, heifer #900.  We actually had 5 milkings in a row without any complications so I guess it's time again.  We have 2 more due before the 19th so, compared to February, it doesn't look that bad.  What is really surprising is she waited to have it this morning instead of Friday night!

Bruce had 9 heifers to breed this morning.  With the hydraulic hose from the spreader already fixed, Bruce managed to get our son Jim out to help early so they were able to get the barn cleaned out just in time. In theory we have 9 pregnancies as of 11 a.m.  Most likely they will deliver over a 3 week period. We use artificial insemination to breed all our cattle but choose not to have our own tank and equipment.  For us, making a phone call and having someone come is simpler.

I finally got our financial statement on paper today.  It is hard to get Bruce to stop, especially when paperwork is involved.  Since we don't sell or buy any feed, finding values for feed is like Chinese to me..example:  There is 30 ft of haylage left in a 20 x 60 silo.  That needs to be calculated into tons of feed.  Then the tons need to be calculated into tons based on dry matter basis.  Those tons get multiplied by the value which, in this case, we were told was $1.per point of relative feed value( RFV) so that piece of the math was easy! RFV is a value calculated  by the feed testing lab based on protein, and fiber levels . The higher the protein the more nutritious it is and the lower the fiber the more digestible it is so high protein and low fiber = high RFV= more value.

Broken...fixed...repeat....

Our dairy supplier called yesterday morning to see if we wanted the pump fixed, and if so he would move us to the top of the list. Given the fact that the weekend was coming, getting it fixed  seemed like a good idea.  They also brought along the mix faucet that needed replacing.  It wasn't exactly $35 but actually $79 and backwards of the one we have but they were able to mount it with a little creativity and a couple bolts.  We still have water heater issues but we have decided the pipeline wasn't washing very well because the faucet system that was broken had been bleeding cold water into the wash. That explains the reason the water wasn't hot enough.  Once the faucet was fixed Bruce tested the temperatures on the pipeline wash.  195 degrees!  Guess the water heater isn't quite as urgent as we had feared.  It was an interesting day to have the milk inspector show up.  We definitely were not as "clean" as we should have been with lots of miscellaneous clutter around but overall the important stuff was fine.  Milk inspections are based on what they find during their visit.  If you have a lot of stuff you aren't doing well you are inspected quarterly.  That includes all the bacteria counts that are taken twice a month.  If everything seems to be on track you are inspected once a year.  For us, the next visit will be sometime again next spring unless something goes wrong with our numbers.

Milking right now seems odd.  We have 6 milkers but have only been using 5 for quite awhile.  Close to dry cows don't milk as long so you have to move the milkers faster.  Fresh cows and uncultured cows  create their own chaos.  With everyone cultured we can milk pretty efficiently and have started using the 6th milker. With the pump fixed it sounds totally different.  We are now wondering how long the problem has been going on.  We made good time getting chores done last night so we got to card party, our big "date" night, at a reasonable hour.  This morning came too early.

There are serious signs of spring going on here.  Yesterday Bruce used the 4-wheeler to haul the grain to the heifers.  He started it in the shed, with no dog in sight, and started counting.  Fifty seconds later he had a dog on the back, ready to ride.  This morning Ed stopped in with a list of parts to add to our order so we can take advantage of the free shipping.  There was much discussion about what needed to be fixed before fieldwork.  Our equipment is older and therefore requires more maintenance.  

Today Bruce needed to clean the lower barn again since we will be breeding the heifers soon.  We catch them in stanchions in the building by bribing them with grain, and then have to work around them in the pen.  Cleaning and bedding that area just makes it more user friendly for everyone involved.  While Bruce was cleaning around the tractor he thinks he hit a high spot in the concrete, he really isn't sure, but he hit the bottom step on the tractor with the bucket and it broke off!!!  He continued to clean and then a hydraulic hose broke on the manure spreader so he had to change clothes and run to the equipment dealer, 27 miles away, to get a new one.  Thankfully it happened early enough that he could get there by the time they closed at 3.  Our son Jim had come home so at least he had good company for the trip.  By the time he got everything put back together it was time to start mixing feed so we could get out of the barn tonight at a reasonable hour.  I reset our clocks before I left the house and started milking somewhere between the old time and the new time.  Morning came too early this morning....tomorrow will be worse with the time change : )

Lots of Good News Today...mostly

We got our culture results from the vet this morning and there were no staph aureus.  We sent in quite a few so that was exciting news.  No more sanitizing between those cows so milking really seemed to go smoothly tonight.    I started sanitizing stalls so we can get heifers up.  I basically use pails of hot water to scrub the mattresses and then I bleach them.  Nothing too scientific about that but it's the best tool we have for disease control.   Bruce and Ed worked on cleaning out the yard at Ed's today since its pretty sloppy around the bunk and making getting the feed box in a challenge. This time there were only 6 loads...comparably a small project.  The faucet that has been leaking and we thought wasn't replaceable is available at our dairy supplier for about $30.  Bruce got his new phone!  We have only had service here a few years but Bruce has really taken advantage of that technology.  His first phone he lost making fence along with 150 contact numbers. His replacement was through insurance and was junk  We transferred his numbers from there to my old phone, which is the one he has been using until it died recently. His contact list is now 160.  A cell phone has been handy to call our breeder, when he sees signs of heat (estrus), while he is still out in the pasture.  He calls in part numbers from the shed or wherever he is working on equipment.  He has also sent pictures to both repair shops and the vet.  He leaves himself messages like what needs to go on a shopping list.  He can text the kids.  I can call and connect with him in the pasture, silo, barn or tractor.  All the news was good today until the routine service route person for our dairy equipment realized that our pump isn't working right.  Initial estimate is $1000 in repairs.  Real life farmville.....

Weather, Paperwork & Cattle

We woke up this morning to a winter wonderland.  In the forecast we were right on the line between rain and snow with this storm so we were thrilled to see snow instead of the inch of rain that was possible.  Rain this time of year with frost in the ground just gets "ugly" as Bruce calls it. By noon the storm was pretty much over and we probably got 4 inches of heavy wet snow.  It is warm enough that the snow won't stick around for long, which is pretty normal for March.

One of the projects I managed to get officially started was our financial statement.  Our lender requested one last October when our loan was renewed and I promised one at year end.  Well, its March and we finally have some numbers written down.  I did the inventories earlier on what I could but so much of the information is in Bruce's head.  Getting him to stop long enough to do paper work of any kind is a challenge.  The other dilemma is setting a value on everything.  This is a project we both hate doing, thus the procrastination.  

Today was a calf day.  I got the rest of the hutch calves started on pails. I had planned on bedding the hutches but Bruce was nice enough to get there first.  Now that it's warmer the bedding gets wet faster.  The calf with the joint infection has been moved in with the other calves I want to wean.  That has been a strange situation since his heifer twin started with the same thing about a week ago.  Both of these calves were out of the cow  that we thought was going to die so we are questioning whether she had a whole system infection she has passed on to the calves.  As it turns out they will all survive but not without a lot of extra work to keep them going.  It's one of those situations that's just frustrating.  This morning we had a cow that was not eating, had diarrhea and cold ears.  Since she has been milking for a while we are assuming her symptoms aren't calving issues and will treat her for pneumonia.  By tonight she was looking a bit brighter and at least eating some feed. We are looking forward to getting everyone outside.  As strange as it seems, even with all the ventilation fans, we treat more sick animals in a warm building than we ever do when they are outside in the cold.  On the flip side of that we also treat more animals outside when it's hot and humid.  Bruce brought home stacks for the lower building today and bedded them.  Tomorrow they get their shots and hopefully will be pregnant this weekend!  The hope is to have confirmed pregnancies before they go out on pasture.  We have the facilities to get them home when we need to but once they are on pasture it's just more work.

Just Tuesday

Being Tuesday, Bruce had his advanced grazing class again.  That means that there is a rush put on the morning chores and then not much else happens for the day.  It is good for farmers to get out and catch up on what is going on elsewhere.  Grazers are enjoyable people to be around : )

We got the results from the milk samples we sent in for somatic cell counts. There were a couple that were a bit high but the two with the highest counts were the cows we suspected were our problems.  One we already pulled out of the tank for calf milk and the other one is due to dry up so she will be dealt with during her dry period.  Bruce took milk cultures on the last cows that freshened and the two that are due to dry up.  In a couple days we will know how they are all doing, hoping for no staph aureus cases.

Tonight the brown goat kid decided to entertain us by playing with the extra pail in their pen.  She would lift it up on her head, nose in the air, and walk all over the pen, changing directions when she ran into something.  She dropped it off and picked it up and played with it over and over.  She is the mischievous one!

We had a bit of a panic attack tonight when we came out of the barn.  The dog is able to leave the barn now with the doors not closed as tightly so he had left before us.  We walked out to the very strong smell of skunk.  Bruce instantly went looking for him and thankfully he wasn't involved.  A few months ago he got sprayed in the face.  It isn't exactly our idea of fun when we have to give a skunk smelling dog a bath after milking.

We farm....who needs a casino

Newborn picture, smallest kid

smallest kid at 8 weeks

her sister, 8 weeks

I thought it was time for a baby picture update.  These guys are really growing! Their horns are a good two inches long already.  The smallest kid is still the smallest but her sister is pretty comparable to how big  the rest of the kids are.

We got to the barn this morning to find our water heater isn't working again.  It is time to replace the current system whether we like it or not.  Bruce reset it again and left a message with our dairy equipment supplier to get us some pricing information.  Otherwise today was more of the same.  Bruce filled the feed box. As part of this process he had to let the silo unloader down a door again.  The silo has 22 feet in it.  Hopefully we can get it down to the point that they can put the new augers in.

An option we have available to have more control of our milk price is forward contracting.  We could do it through a broker if we wanted but we also have the option to contract with the help of our milk processor. We are able to contract in 25,000# increments.  Anything we produce over our contract gets priced at the going rate.  In an effort to protect ourselves from the low prices we experienced the last couple years we have opted to contract some milk for the months of February through September at this point.  Contracting basically locks in our price, and that price replaces whatever the class III price is.  The class III price for February was announced on Friday as $17.  Since the 2009 price for February was $9.31 and the 2010 price was $14.28 we took advantage of being able to contract for $16.  As it turns out we have lost the opportunity to make $1. per hundred pounds on the milk that we have contracted.  On the bright side, anything we don't have contracted is priced at the $17. rate and therefore increases our overall average price.  Even though it's disappointing to lose money on this contract, I am excited for the higher price.  The industry really needs this, so in the big picture it's all good.

Raising Corn & Feeding Corn

Yesterday I was gone, working on a flooring project for my parents.  Bruce spent his day doing some crop planning for spring.  Our seed was ordered last December but now he has the fertilizer (nitrogen) needs figured out also.   We need to buy commercial nitrogen fertilizer to supplement the natural forms we have available on the farm.  The process we use to figure out how much we need goes something like this.  Example:  Yield potential of our soils is approximately 150-200 bushels of corn per acre.  Rule of thumb is 1# or unit of nitrogen (N) required per bushel of corn grain produced, so for 160 bu. corn you need about 160 units of N.  The sources of N that we have available are manure, legumes (alfalfa, clover, soybeans), and commercial fertilizer (urea, anhydrous ammonia, 28% nitrogen).  A good alfalfa crop puts into the soil approximately 150 units of N, so in the first year of corn following alfalfa, we don't need to apply any extra.  In the 2nd year of corn, we have 50 units of N that has again become available from the alfalfa crop.  If we apply manure at 30 tons per acre, it supplies about 90# of N (3# per ton), so in the 2nd year, to get our 160# we need to apply 20# of N per acre.  In the 3rd year of corn we have no credits left over from legumes.  One pound of N per ton left over from last years manure, which gives us 30# of N.  If we again spread 30 tons of manure per acre, it supplies about 90# of N (3# per ton) for a total of 120# of N available.  For this crop we need to add another 40# of N to get our 160# of N per acre.  In any given year we have all 3 of these scenarios taking place so we need to figure out what the circumstances are for each field, and treat them accordingly.  Nitrogen, being upwards of 60 cents per pound, is too expensive to waste.  On the other hand, if you get a $5.50 bushel of corn in return for a 60 cent pound of nitrogen it's a good investment.  This is why it's worth while to figure out exactly what you need.  If it's over applied it is wasted and can be an environmental threat, if it is under applied we loose yield and therefore money.  If we put on more than we need it is wasted money.  Thus, we give it careful thought.

The rest of the day was spent doing the routine stuff.  My project went extra late so he ended up feeding, milking and then feeding calves alone also.  Not exactly a short day but everyone survived.

Since we would like to get more animals out of the barn soon Bruce changed the way he feeds that particular group. Currently they are fed a TMR but today he fed them straight haylage, which is what they will get in a feed box, and then sprinkled the shell corn across the top of it so they get used to eating this way.  During the winter Bruce fills 5 gallon pails with corn that has been processed through the roller mill.  Ed comes and gets 9 pails of corn and 2 pails of soybean meal for those animals in his yard.  He sprinkles this on the haylage in the bunk  Bruce also feeds the heifers here 6 pails of corn and 1 pail of soybean meal.  The goats get 6 pails of the milk cow TMR mix also.  So while the feed is mixing in the morning Bruce has been filling the corn and soybean meal pails.  After milking he fills the pails for the goats with feed he has put in a pile when he fed earlier.  The pails for the goats and animals here get hauled to the buildings in the skid steer bucket.  They need the extra energy and protein that corn and soybean meal provide, especially now that it is cold.  Other events for the day were Joe coming to check out some details on using tractors and their maintenance.  He helped us last summer and is currently taking tractor safety so we are glad to help since his family doesn't own tractors.  Bruce also bedded the pens today.  For a bit of Sunday entertainment he checked out Craig's list and happened to find someone looking for some barn identification boards that I have been wanting to disappear from here for years.  It might be this guys lucky day....I definitely feel like its ours!

Quiet

Most of the day was spent with obligations other than farming but there were some things to note.  I dug out my ice cleats this morning.  The driveway between the milk house and my hutches was ice with water running down it.  Since I am fully aware I don't bounce as well as I used to I decided to make a special trip home to get the cleats before I fed calves.  From the looks of things I will need them for a couple more days.

Our milk plant took me by surprise today by having the samples we took in yesterday completed.  There was no one in that group with a high cell count so that was good news.  We did take a few more samples in today.  Bruce has a pretty good idea who is causing this count to raise so she will be taken out of the tank tomorrow, either to be treated or we will use her milk to feed the bull calves.

Thats it for the day.  Nice and quiet.

Self Inflicted Chaos

We are able to check our milk sample results online about 48 hours after our milk is picked up.  Our somatic cell count has gone up since we tested milk.  In an effort to see who is causing trouble we sent samples in from the cows that have freshened since we tested.  We have a testing unit we can use but it took a bunch of extra time to milk the cows we needed to, all with that specific milking unit.  Since they are spread around the barn it was a challenge at times to keep track of everyone.  In the end we had the samples we needed and sent them with the milk hauler this morning.  It would be nice if we had the information back from them by the weekend but the lab tends to be slower than we like so it will probably be Monday.  At least we have the process started.

We had Vicky, our nutritionist, here also today.  She brought lots of reports that were created through the milk testing process we do every month.  For the most part the news was good.  There are always things that need improving and some things that are just a continuous frustration.  If the cattle would only read the manual.....

I delivered our financial records at 2:00 on Tuesday afternoon.  By 4:00 I had a phone call with a question.  After 2 email questions the next morning, our taxes were done and in the mail.  They (the corporate taxes) arrived today along with a bill for $465.  I cannot imagine what they charge when your records are a challenge.

This afternoon about dusk Bruce took out the daily load of manure. For about the forth or fifth time in about as many days he saw a large deer herd foraging in the fields just west of the buildings. There were about 30 -40 in one group and several smaller groups farther west. We haven't seen this many deer in one group for many years so it seems odd after seeing hardly any all winter that all of a sudden a whole bunch would just show up. Makes you wonder what drove them away from where they were or what is drawing them to where they are.....

Time to Breed Heifers

Today would be one of those days Bruce would say he puttered.  He got a pallet of lime delivered but we aren't set up to just set the whole pallet in the barn so he got that carried in.  Barn lime is finely ground limestone that serves two purposes.  We spread it on the walk alley in the barn so its not slippery under foot.  It eventually gets scraped into the gutter and spread on the fields where it sweetens the soils for our crops.  Bruce let the silo unloader down a door and the feed box got filled again today.  Now that the animals spend the summer harvesting their own feed we are much more aware of how much more time it takes to keep everything fed during the winter. We have a group of heifers ready to breed so we had our breeder come and insert cidr's.  These are a slow release hormone that are inserted vaginally, somewhat like an IUD.  In one week the heifers will get a  prostaglandin shot, the next day the cidr's are removed. The heifers will  then be watched closely for signs of heat (estrus) so we can breed them.  We use this process to synchronize their ovulation.  Watching for individual heats is incredibly time consuming so grouping them allows us to focus on watching them for a few days instead of every day for a couple months. If we watch heats naturally they need to be watched approximately 1/2 hour twice a day.  The optimal time is dawn and dusk, which also happens to be the time of day we are milking the cows.

Yesterday & Today

Had I written last night the day could have been summed up in a few sentences. I was gone.  Bruce removed horns and banded some of the bigger bulls.  In order to do these things he had to make a trip to our veterinary clinic to pick up both tetanus shots and V9 vaccine.  Bruce reads a lot.  In doing this he has learned that waiting until male animals are older and then banding them has some advantages when it comes to feeding out steers. When you band them as calves they never have the natural opportunity to produce testosterone and therefore can't utilize it for growth.  We find that waiting gives us a steer that has grown more and is thicker since testosterone produces more lean muscle mass.  All animals are given V9 shots yearly.  These vaccines protect against many cattle diseases such as pneumonia, BVD (bovine viral diarrhea) and Lepto, which in adult cows, causes abortions.  Lepto becomes even more of a concern now that we graze cattle because it is carried by white tail deer. Today Bruce and I both had appointments in town so we did the routine morning things and both headed in the necessary directions.  For me, the financial records have been delivered and the taxes are already started.  Bruce had an advanced managed grazing class.  He has taken both the beginning and advanced classes before and has been a speaker at the beginning grazing class.  Since there are always new things to learn, he is once again choosing to attend class. Grazing people are unique in the fact that if something works well they are willing to share their information so others might reap the benefits also.  If something goes badly they are more than willing to share that experience also. In class today they worked on some budgets and found, even with the high price of corn, there is still money to be made grazing cattle.  The speaker today was a NRCS national grazing specialist and is always an interesting guy to talk to.  He was the guy who also helped us set up our first heifer pastures.  It is good therapy for farmers to get out of their routine once in awhile and catch up with what other people are doing.