Moving In All Directions

When I got to the barn this morning Bruce happily announced "I have been a very busy boy this morning".  He had the feed for the cows this morning in the mixer last night so he fed and then proceeded to call the Harvestore people to fix our unloader.  They will not be able to come for a few days, and since corn is vital, Bruce then called the feed mill to deliver a ton of corn in bags for now.  He also called to sell 6 fed steers, ordered the steel for the back of the chopper box and ordered fertilizer for corn planting since we use a small amount of starter.  The feed mill delivery came just as we finished milking.  We got the 2 smaller steers in the barn and started letting cows out.  Just as we got done the trucker came for the steers.  Bruce then made a new water tank for the cows (half a barrell with a float) and got the cows taken care of and ate breakfast.  He barely got the last bite in and the fertilizer was here.  Perfect timing!  We really do think the cell phone is one of the newest and most helpful pieces of equipment we have acquired in a long time! One of the last calls for the day was to the local ag dealer to see what it would cost to have them put the augers in Ed's silo.  With the weather being so uncooperative this spring everything is getting backed into a smaller time frame so we have to change some plans.  Hiring someone to fix something that Bruce could do himself is not something Bruce does very easily.  Besides the costs to have someone else do things, Bruce really does enjoy the challenges of building and fixing things so he is also giving up a bit of fun.

 Ed spent the day field cultivating the rest of his corn ground and then continued on some of ours that had been chisel plowed last fall.  Bruce had a few adjustments to make on the corn planter for no till and he started planting.  Sometime in the afternoon the Harvestore people showed up after all and diagnosed the noise as bearings going out.  They got the unloader taken apart as much as needed and are planning on returning with the needed parts to get us going again.  Bruce used the corn out of gunny sacks to feed tonight by pushing the regular corn cart up to the landing where the sacks were.  He then just had to drag them over and dump them and when the cart was full he just rolled it over to the auger and filled the mixer as usual.  A bit more work than normal but it would be much worse.  Tonight Joe came to help so he and I milked.  Bruce planted corn.  Ed cleaned the pen where the steers were.  The new plan is to feed the 2, not quite big enough to sell, steers with the wheelbarrow in the barn and put the 16 that are still having their diet adjusted up to full finishing feed out where Bruce can use the feed cart.  Eventually they will be in a group together.  Tonight Bruce planted until dark when the monitor went off signaling a problem with the planter.   A seed tube had plugged because 3 bolts had come loose and fell out of a bracket.  He was lucky in the fact that the bracket fell and caught on the frame so new bolts and he is back to planting in the morning.

Tonight I suddenly have a very sick calf that seems to have pneumonia.  Given the fact that the trucker this morning pointed out that last Tuesday he had frost on his roof and yesterday it was 92 it's surprising that more animals don't get sick.

Memorial Day

 Bruce went to the pasture to get the cows this morning and found a set of aborted water belly twins.  The cow involved was due to be dried up in a couple weeks so they are about 8 weeks early.  We have had a couple water belly calves before.  Both were delivered by cesarean, both cows died.  These calves are a birth defect and are just as the names says, their bellies are full of water.  If they had made it to term this fluid would have made them like a cork in a bottle and unable to be delivered so its just as well she aborted them.  Today she is eating like nothing has happened so time will tell what she does long term. The weather was beautiful today. Just over 90 degrees with plenty of wind to make it nice. We were concerned about the cows today with such a drastic change in temperature so Bruce put them in the paddock directly across the road so they wouldn't have to walk all the way to the far end.  They didn't seem to mind the weather at all with the wind blowing so hard.  Cows can't sweat so the warmer it gets the more stress it causes them.  Tonight I started milking and Bruce got the fence ready at the far end again.  It seems the cows automatically know when we make changes because tonight they just turned the corner and headed down the lane.  Today was another one of those frustrating days.  Bruce had to move 2 groups of heifers to new paddocks.  When he got to the lower group here he found a heifer that had managed to go over a fence brace and in the process catch her foot and then fell and broke it just above the hoof.  From what Bruce can tell she did it yesterday and had been stuck.  It was one of those situation that again made Bruce sick to his core that she had suffered so long.  At one point we could have sold her for pet food but with all the mad cow scare they have tightened the regulations so our only options were to put her down and bury her.  She was a pregnant heifer worth $1300 if we had sold her.  Such a sad total waste.  We have used that pasture for 7 years and never had this happen.  The brace will be changed before the animals go in there again. 

The current plan is to plant corn on the no till ground tomorrow.  The rest of the fields are still too wet to dig so being able to no till also has the advantage of letting us plant earlier.  We went out to the field to look at the seeding and there are obvious rows of plants growing! 

Bruce got just enough corn out of the harvestore to feed tonight.  The unloader is making a noise it shouldn't so there will be a service call tomorrow.  I told my mom this noon that at least we hadn't broken anything last week..............

Moves Complete

The day started with a plan to move the last group of heifers to pasture before noon.  Before we were done eating breakfast it was raining so that plan was postponed.  Bruce bought a good rain suit the first year we started grazing so the rain wasn't necessarily a problem but the thunder and lightening wasn't exactly welcoming. The rain quit by 1:00 but the fence didn't have as much current in it as it should have so Bruce moved a fencer to this section only.  The fences tend to get shorted out when the grass is tall and wet.  By the time Bruce got the final details done with the fence it was 3:00 before we started.  We ended up hauling 19 steers and heifers, four at a time.  The first two groups unloaded and wandered around quietly.  The third group had one catch the gate wire with their foot when they got off the trailer and dragged it.  They all got excited and started running and went through the gate on the other side of the pasture they were supposed to be in.  There was no real harm done since they were still in the pasture, just the wrong spot.  Bruce and Mike took the 4 wheeler and got them back where they belong and Bruce replaced the gate hooks that got destroyed when they went through the fence.  I don't believe we have ever gotten heifers home to that piece that they didn't go through the fence and destroy atleast 2 gate hooks.  Generally the groups that we put there have never seen a fence so it isn't a surprise.  The last 2 loads unloaded without incident.  Overall they seem like a quiet bunch.  Ed's yard is officially empty now.  We have 60 milking cows on pasture and about 60 heifers and steers on pasture in 3 groups.  For the months to come they can harvest their own feed and haul their own manure.  Nice!

This is our cattle trailer which was built in the early 1970's.  Bruce used the big tractor today so he could see over the top for backing and road traffic.  Looks a bit rediculous since our smallest tractor would have pulled the trailer just fine.

We mark the fence with masking tape so its more visible.  The yellow gate hooks get destroyed when the cattle go through the fence.  Thankfully they are less than $2 each and we keep a stock on hand for just such occasions.

One of the challenges with grazing cattle is the inexact science as to what the cows are harvesting themselves.  As the grass matures the feed value is less, and as is the case with spring grazing, we start out with not quite enough grass and then we very quickly can't quite keep up.  That is the current situation.  Part of the benefits of grazing is the ability to remove protein, and therefore the cost of it, from the cow diet.  A measure of how the cows are handling their feed balance is call MUN (milk, urea, nitrogen).  I found this explanation:

"In addition to being an essential nutrient of all plants and animals, protein is the most expensive nutrient fed to dairy cattle. When protein is consumed it gets broken down into smaller compounds such as peptides, amino acids and ammonia in the rumen. While the peptides and amino acids can be absorbed in the small intestine and used directly by the cow for growth and lactation, rumen microbes can use ammonia for microbial growth and protein synthesis (Van Soest, 1994).

The amount of nitrogen (N) required by the microbes is determined by the amount of available carbohydrate. If dietary protein is fed above the level needed by the microbes, the ammonia will be converted to urea in the liver and excreted in the urine. Feeding more energy will increase the microbes’ need for N and promote the use of excess ammonia (Van Soest, 1994).

A proper balance of protein and energy, or more specifically rumen degradable protein and rapidly fermentable carbohydrate, allows the cow to make the best possible use of protein in the diet. This could mean higher production, lower feed costs, and less environmental impact from N in manure." The ideal number is around 12.  A number higher than that means we are over feeding protein, lower and they are not getting enough.  Currently our numbers are too low.   Another measure of how they are doing is our tank amounts which have also dropped excessively recently.  Bruce has added protein back into their diet but the challenge is in the fact that the milk picked up today will not have the information we need posted online for atleast 2 days.  By the time we get the information we need its already 3-5 days old!  We also need to skip grazing a section of pasture and move the cows back into the original paddock that has just grown back.  The grass that we skip will be cut, chopped and put into Ed's silo as heifer feed, allowing new growth and better quality for the cows.  Skipping a piece and chopping it is a normal spring event since the first growth comes all at once.  Grazing creates the staggering of the growth and as the grass slows its growth the cows keep up better with the hopes of them always harvesting perfect feed.   Ed picked up the augers and parts for the silo unloader so "in Bruce's free time" they will get that rebuilt while it is still on the bottom.  Too much to do, too little cooperation from the weather for planting.  In the meantime there may be opportunity to get that project done.

The peas and triticale are up, 9 days after planting!  Bruce says he can see the rows so I will try to get pictures soon.

Extra Help

I started the day by over sleeping.  Once I was coherent I realized that Joe was here to help this morning so I let Bruce and Joe milk and I did other things.  Having a choice of what to do is kind of unusual since my mornings are normally pretty much scheduled.  There was no problem finding things to do and it was nice to get the chance to get extra stuff done.  Joe always eats breakfast here when he comes and when he was done Bruce took him out to the "40" and showed him the flags that had marked the new strips.  Joe took the 4 wheeler out to drive around the strips and pull the flags.  Somehow in the process he ended up on the new seeding strip that had been recently dug and got stuck in the mud and then wasn't able to get the 4 wheeler started.  He continued pulling flags, traveling around the fields on foot and when he got done he ran (he does track and cross country) the 1/2 mile to our house.  Bruce went out and managed to get the 4 wheeler started and out.  We also had Joe start mowing lawns, although he ran out of time to do all of them.  Since we had a funeral to go to he went home early.  He is soon to be 15 so we like to be around when he is working for us.

The funeral today was for a former farmer/neighbor/relative who was 86 years old.  When I first came here there were 17 dairy farms within a 2 mile radius.  Now there are only 6. We are seeing the passing of another generation in our neighborhood, but one that leaves many memories that make us smile. 

Tonight the cows are as far away from the barn as they get so I decided to do a time study.  From the time Bruce & Mike leave the barn with the 4 wheeler to get cows to when the first milker is put on a cow is 32 minutes.  When he is out there he resets the fence so the cows have a new paddock of grass when they go out.  Milking, first milker on to last milker off takes 1 hr 23 min.  From the last milker off until Bruce and Mike take the cows out and they return is another 23 min.  I can't say we were moving at our most efficient pace tonight but that's the basic time breakdown.  Tonight after chores Bruce took the heifers at Ed's another round bale.  They need to go on pasture tomorrow!

Spraying, Round 1

Bruce has been less than pleased with the company we have hired the last few years to apply our chemicals and that is what motivated him to get recertified to spray our crops himself.  After a few attemps at reading the textbook so he could take the certification test, all of which resulted in a nap, it is now time to spray and he hasn't had the time to get certified.  A friend told us about someone he is hiring and they stopped in yesterday after Bruce called them.  Bruce was happy enough with what he learned to hire them to spray for us this year.  This morning they came to spray burn down herbicides on our hay fields that we want to no till corn into.  They use a mixture of glyphosate (generic roundup), 2-4-d and ammonium sulfate to do this. We plant corn a couple of different ways depending on what the crop was the prior year.  No till is planted on hay acres that need to be redone.  The vegitation gets sprayed and killed and the corn is planted directly into the ground without any tillage at all.  This eliminates the soil erosion issues you get with tillage and we won't have to use any fertilizer for the corn on his land since the decomposition of legumes provides the nitrogen the corn needs.  Another added benefit is the savings of time, fuel and equipment wear and tear since we eliminate tillage.  I am thrilled to have someone else spray because it is one less thing for Bruce to do!  In less time than it would take for Bruce to get our sprayer tuned up, we have 36 acres ready to plant in a few days. 

We were told this little piece of equipment costs about $225,000!  The ends of the booms drop foam  to mark where the edge was and the boom is raised or lowered to get the best application height based on the plant growth.  Note that he is coming back and has only part of the boom spraying to finish the edge.  Chemicals are expensive so we don't want to use any more than we have to or spray anything extra.

Today Bruce managed to get the fence checked and ready to go with the exception of flagging it.  We use masking tape and wrap pieces on the fence every few feet so it is more visible to the cattle. We like to use tape because it is very visible, inexpensive and biodegradable. This group hasn't been on pasture before so they need to learn not only where the fence is but what it is.  We will need to move them early in the day so they have time to get comfortable before dark.  Tomorrow we have a funeral to go to so the moving day might have to be Sunday.  We will see.

This morning I moved a few calves around in the hutches.  I now have all the heifer calves together on one end and the bull calves in a row on the other end.  Having them mixed together was getting a bit frustrating since I feed the bulls milk and the heifers milk replacer.  A couple times, when I was feeding and not paying attention, I fed the wrong ones.  This will make feeding much more straight forward.

We had 2 cows to breed today.  The cows have been on pasture just long enough that we should be seeing heats regularly now.  Our regular cow breeder knows we have cows on pasture so he needs to come late.  The substitute gal obviously wasn't informed of this and came twice before the cows were home.  We didn't get the impression she was pleased, and if we had known there was a sub we could have made different arrangements.  In the end the cows have been bred with the success or failure known in about 30 days.

Lots of Pasture

We had sun and wind today to help dry things out.  It will still be a few days before we can start digging but sun and wind are a helpful start.  Bruce had to move everyone to new grass today.  When he was doing the lower group he found a tree limb that had blown out  in the storms over the weekend so instead of tree trimming being on the list of to do's it got moved up to today.  We still have a group of heifers at Ed's waiting for us to get their fence ready so they can be on grass also.  That was the plan for today until the trees changed the plan.  Bruce commented tonight that the heifer at the other place has finally figured out how to stay with the group since its been days since she was out.   When he got the fence cleaned up he took a round bale of hay to the heifers at Ed's (hopefully their last one for now) and bedded the calf hutches. The rest of our world is pretty quiet.  I am feeding 9 calves, all that are big enough now that they just do their own thing.  The last couple milk cultures came back fine so there is nothing out of the routine with milking so we can get through the actual milking in a little over 1.5 hrs now.  The buck goat is out grazing by himself.  In summer we put a collar on him and tie him with a rope in hopes of not having any winter kids.  He gets plenty to eat since we move him around like a portable mower : )  Today I managed to add my first video, posted on May 23!  I have the technology with the new camera and computer but there is certainly a lot for me to learn!

This is the routine.  The cows walk out on a lane that is about 6-7 feet wide.  The dog runs back and forth to keep them moving.  When they get to new grass he jumps on the back of the 4 wheeler and rides home.

This shows the difference between where they have been and where they are going.  The blue barrel is their water tank which is supplied through black poly pipe from the barn..

Rain & A Nap

Before we started milking this morning it had started to rain.  It rained most of the day.  During milking we had trouble with a pulsator that needed cleaning.  Bruce brought in a pail of soapy water and a screw driver and took it apart and cleaned it.  When we were done milking I grabbed the pail and dumped it, just like any other day.  When he asked if I had taken the screw driver out of the pail I knew we were in trouble.  Not only did I not see the screw driver, I dumped the pail so automatically that I didn't remember where exactly I did it.  Hopefully Bruce will see it in the field when he cleans the barn and before we find it in a tire.  I managed to get another section of pipeline washed but I had hoped to have it all done by tonight when we tested milk.  Since the rain has postponed field work, Bruce took the opportunity to get a therapy appointment today and then laid down for a "short" nap.  The nap lasted much longer than he had planned but it was also one he desperately needed. There are reasons, other than growing things, that its good for farmers when it rains.  By the time the day was over we had 1.75" of rain.
Tonight we tested milk.  It was good to see a bunch of cows giving over 100# while eating grass and getting rained on all day with 50 degree winds.  We took Bill by surprise tonight with no fresh cows, no special needs cows and everyone was standing where they belonged so we could milk straight up through the barn.  This too shall pass : )

Ed's Corn Gets Planted

Last night the blogger site didn't want to cooperate so this is once again a catch up post.  Ed came and got the corn planter while we were finishing the morning milking and got it filled and ready to go.  He had managed to chisel plow his fields just before the last big rain so all they needed was to be field cultivated and he could plant.  In order to speed things up, Bruce did the field cultivating while Ed planted and while Ed stopped to eat Bruce did the planting.  By the end of the day Bruce is guessing Ed has 50 acres of corn in.  With a 6 row planter it doesn't take long to get the planting done.  It is certainly a different process than when I first came here and we had a 2 row, then graduated to a 4 row, and now a 6 row.  Joe volunteered to help with the evening milking so he and I started while Bruce got 2 groups of steers fed and then Bruce and Joe milked so I could feed calves and do some clean up before the rain.  We have gotten very lucky given the fact that there was a lot of rain in the weekend forecast that went north of us.

The cows are 1 paddock away from being in the farthest section of pasture  from the barn.

Time To Plant Corn

Our final company left at 6:20 this morning and we are now back to the routine.  We took a couple of milk cultures into the vet clinic today.  They could have been done a week ago but with so much going on we just waited.  Bruce and Ed put the grain drill away in the shed until next year and brought the corn planter home. Bruce rebuilt the finger units on the corn planter boxes today.  I am glad that the parts we invested in are now in the planter.  The update wasn't vital so if we had run out of time we could have planted anyway.  It is just nice to have it done.  Ed had fixing of his own to do so corn planting will start tomorrow.  We own a 6 row corn planter together so we take turns using it or we pay Ed to plant ours.  Who plants is dependent on who has time.  Ed gets a lot of our planting done while we are milking and feeding.  At this point Ed had fields already dug and ready so he will plant while Bruce digs.  Tonight was another late night for Bruce since he worked on the planter and took advantage of as much daylight as he could.  Doing this moved some of his feeding to after milking.  Eventually we will get life in order but right now it's a bit hectic.

Catching Up- Wednesday to Sunday

Wednesday-We had a day of unexpected rain.  Not enough to set us back very much but enough that it would have made the soils sticky and plugged up the grain drill.  The guy who bought our plow came so there was loading of that along with plenty of conversation.  Bruce got the front tie rod back on the tractor so it was again ready to go when the weather cooperated.  All of the animals got fed or were moved on pasture so their feed needs were taken care of for Thursday.  Jim arrived before bedtime so now we have 3 guests/helpers!

Thursday-the day of no farming.  I guess thats a matter of speaking when you have dairy cows.  Bruce had the morning feed in the mixer the night before so the morning farming took exactly 3 hours from walking out of the house and back in.  Bruce's grandma died last fall at the age of 99 and it was the day for her estate auction.  The evening chores were about 3.5 hours with the mixing of feed.  While we were gone Ed dug all of our seeding (alfalfa) ground with the field cultivator since it had already been chisel plowed in fall. That evening Jen, Jim's girlfriend joined us for the weekend.  Total of 4 guests/helpers!!

Friday was nothing short of crazy!  We had company coming for dinner to visit our company already here  and there was rain in the forecast for days coming up.   Bruce and Jim got the dual wheels on the tractor we use to plant with and they hooked up the grain drill and packer and filled the planter with alfalfa and also the peas and triticale mix.  By 11:30 the drill was ready to go so Jim went digging so Ed could eat dinner.  Bruce went out with the drill and made one round on each of the newly marked strips so Ed would know where the edges were.  When Ed got done eating he started planting. Bruce and Jim came home to eat.  When they got done eating it was time to fill the drill again and then Bruce continued field cultivating. Our first round of company was here so Jim took the time to catch one of the baby goats for the kids to see.  It is always fun to see the reactions of the kids to life on the farm. 

Noah thought he could hear better this way : )

 It was a short visit with our company but we needed to continue planting.  Jim spent that afternoon running seed and filling the planter as it needed it.  The seed all comes in bags so with both him and Ed filling it went faster and the equipment could keep moving.  Supper time was basically a repeat of dinner.  Bruce dug while Jim ate then Bruce planted and Jim dug while Ed ate.   When Jim stopped for supper we had another round of company so once again he caught a goat kid for the kids to see.  Eventually Ed continued planting, Jim continued digging and Bruce fed and milked.  Our skid steer came back so Bruce hooked the bucket on that had haylage in it.  When he got to the mixer he went to dump it and the bucket fell off into the mixer!  They had delivered the skid steer with the bucket latches locked and in the chaos of everything going on Bruce hooked onto the bucket looked at the latches and assumed he had locked the bucket on.  We were lucky in the fact that Jim was home and runs skid steers at work all the time so they could easily work together and get it attached again with no extra damages done.  Whew!  About 10:30 Bruce got a call that they would run out of the peas and triticale mix so we switched to barley to finish planting.  Everyone left the field at midnight, feeling like we hit a home run with 42 acres planted and expecting rain by morning.

Field cultivator and tractor with duals to minimize soil compaction

Saturday-We woke up to a clear day with no rain.  I started mowing lawn.  The bags from the seed got gathered and burned.  Everyone on pasture moved to a new break.  We had a bit of rain in the early afternoon, too much for fieldwork but not enough to create problems. 

Sunday-We woke up again to no rain.  I finished mowing the lawn that I hadn't gotten done the day before.  Bruce hooked the tractor to the chisel plow to give Jason some field work experience.  We had him dig a strip for us to plant corn on so for this growing season we will refer to this strip as "Jason's field" . 

We dug plants for the kids to take with them and planted the plants we had dug at grandma's house.  We had more company to visit our company.  The guys cleaned out the grain drill since we are now done with it for the season.  We have found that the easiest way to do this is by just vacuming the left over seed out with a shop vac.  At milking time we had serious storm warnings with potential hail, high winds and tornado's.  Bruce went and got the cows home and they got their first rain storm bath, although this storm too blew through without much rain here.  North of us they got inches of rain, large hail etc so we feel very blessed.  Once the storm passed Jim and Jen headed home.  We had a crazy and busy week but we also had help in every direction!  We managed to get everyone entertained and fed along with planting and a new computer totally set up and ready to go.  I even have a selection of pictures to use, compliments to everyone trying out my new camera.

Monday & Tuesday

My writings this week may be a bit short.  Besides the normal farming routine we have the pleasure of having the company our daughter and her husband from Utah. Yesterday Bruce took part of the afternoon and dug out our old 4 bottom plow.  We have the opportunity to sell it, and since we haven't used it in at least 10 years selling it makes sense.  Also given the fact it hasn't been used in a long time it was buried amongst  other equipment and a used silo unloader that is being stored for future use so digging it out took more time that he had expected. Another event to note is the cows have now had 2 days of sun in the pasture and have some pink udders and noses.  Some of them are a bit touchier than normal so I have to be extra cautious when I prep them for now.  Last night when Bruce took the cows out he seemed to take much longer than I would have expected.  I called him (love cell phones) and found that he had gone to change something on the end of the fence and the cows got all silly and started running and went through the poly wire.  I am hoping to add pictures soon to explain this more, but in the meantime, when I called he and the dog had just gotten them back where they belong under a nearly full moon which was very helpful.

Today we did the milking routine and then Bruce wanted to move the heifers at the other place to the pasture on the other side of the driveway.  This group happens to be the age that are less than cooperative to move so the dog worked extra hard, taking a couple of cooling breaks by laying in the creek.  Mike eventually managed to get them where they needed to go but he wasn't very pretty when he got done.  It didn't help that  the heifers and steers were full and content and really didn't care what opportunities were being presented.  Bruce and Jason put the dual tires on the tractor today.  The second set is put on to minimize soil compaction by spreading the weight of the tractor over a bigger area.  He than attached the field cultivator and went out do mark the edges of where the contour strips are supposed to be.  Ed then went out to redig the ground that was chisel plowed last fall where the alfalfa will be started along with peas and triticale.  It wasn't long and he called that the tie rod on the tractor broke!  What else!!!  The good news is when the other one broke a few years ago we had gotten the wrong side by accident so Bruce just kept it.  This will be fixed first thing in the morning since it was time to be milking and Bruce hadn't fed yet. We have some stuff on the truck that needed to get to Jim's so Steph and Jason volunteered to drive and meet Jim with it.  Part of the day was used to get everything in the truck for the trip.  This afternoon Steph and I went shopping and with her help I will upgrade my 7 year old computer to something faster.  As long as we were shopping we also upgraded my camera so now I should be ready to all kinds of things, that is, if I can figure any of it out! I will take full opportunity of having someone for technical support on sight for the time they are here. In our travels we saw lots of field work being done and even corn a couple inches tall.  We got started milking rediculously late and got in the house at 11.  It will be a fun and exhausting week!

Pasture Fun

Bruce started his day by getting the cows home first.  Sometime during the night someone must have gotten tangled in the fence protecting the limestone screenings piles and proceeded to go through the fence.  This pile is intended to be used to build more lane and had to be protected.  Cows love to play on piles like that and if they weren't fenced away from it they would have it spread out 6 inches deep when they were done.  As it is it's 3 truck loads dumped side by side and we wanted to keep it that way.  There was no harm done in them getting out of where they were because they just ended up in another paddock but Bruce got them home so they wouldn't get into any more trouble. While he was feeding he got a call that 2 were out at the other place again.  This time he found a jump wire that carried the electricity in the fence from one section to the other had broken off.  Hopefully that is the answer to the the problems with that group.  This time last spring we had someone chasing our heifers down there.  The group of 20+ were out 6 times in 10 days and as far as 2 miles away.  While Mike thought it was fun, the cattle were terrified of something to the point that we gated them in the barn over night for weeks straight.  They lost a lot of weight during this time since they weren't eating well and running too much.  Later in the season Bruce saw that 2 animals had scaring on the back of their legs from something that had bitten them.  Compared to that problem having a couple out isn't really anything more than an aggravation.  Other than that the farming events were pretty routine.  We are seeing heats and breeding cows already daily.  I washed another section of pipeline so now I have half of it done.  We need to remark it after moving so many animals and now that the cows and their tails are outside it will stay clean longer.  Since we use the vacuum line as our message center we need to update everything so Joe has the information he needs when he helps.  We operate by routine so it isn't as vital for our purposes but we will need to keep it current for our summer help and milk testing next week.

the cows climb and root with their feet and put their heads down  and grind them in the pile. They do this with corn fodder stacks also and make a horrible mess

Cleaning

Just a few days ago it was 87 and humid.  Tonight it is 40, windy and misty.  The cows don't mind at all but we have definitely dug out the jackets again.  Pasturing cows has its savings.  The fans are turned off 20 hrs a day and the lights are now on 12 hours less.  The TMR has half of the normal haylage amount removed since the cows are now responsible for harvesting their forage themselves.  Today Jim came home again and helped get the goat fence ready and the goats moved.  The big tractor got all its shields etc put back on that Bruce had removed when he pressure washed it. The day was pretty much used as a clean up day around here.  The entire lawn has officially been mowed now.

Grazing!

  There was nothing specifically exciting yesterday but this blogger site was broken so yesterday had to wait until there was cooperation today.  After milking yesterday morning the cows went out into the yard again.  I washed another section of pipeline so thats 24 stalls done and 46 to go.  Bruce worked on the fence and the heifers from the building here are now officially grazers.  This group is familiar with how to feed themselves since they did it last summer also.  The animals at the other place are doing well, with the exception of one heifer who seems to have found a way out of the pasture.  She was out twice yesterday and Bruce still hasn't figured out what she is doing.   Milking and feeding calves are both going extremely well these days.   It is nice to be past all the freshening chaos.  On the equipment side we are, piece by piece, getting things going.  The starter is back after being fixed and the tractor is again running.  Bruce's mom picked up the radiator for the skid steer and took it to the shop so they can put it back in.  We are told the skid steer should be done very soon.  Bruce is looking forward to having it back.  On our skid steer the boom and bucket are operated with foot controls and the direction and drive are operated with the hand controls.  With Ed's skid steer everything is on the same hand controls.  So far no damages have been done but Bruce has to be super careful when driving up and dumping feed into the mixer with it. Bruce started his morning with elevator trouble. He still gets haylage out of the silo for the steers but the motor on the elevator that delivers it to the mixer wasn't working.  The electrician was here during milking and fixed a capacitor.  Simple enough.  Bruce put the heifer back in the pasture at the other place once today.  He is wondering now if the outlet the fencer is plugged into is loose which would randomly make the fencer turn off.  A new outlet is a simple fix...then we will see.  Today the cows went out on pasture!  They have all been on grass before but the new heifers have not been in this pasture before.  They do fine if we just keep them with the experienced cows for someone to follow.  Getting them home and in the barn was as expected.  Being the first time out it added some time to the evening.  Eventually this will also improve.  We compare everything to the first summer and already it is easier!  They will continue to get TMR in the barn but eventually most of the haylage in it will be removed and replaced with the grass they are supposed to eat.  Many of them came into the barn and looked like they couldn't eat another bite.  Many were more interested in laying down that standing and eating.  They got a bunch of exercise they aren't used to today.  Tonight they are out eating again in a new break.  It is perfect weather for them, cool & slightly rainy.  They will not get overheated out there and already tonight they were so much cleaner it made us smile.  We get to enjoy the first payoff of having the cows out by turning off all the fans for the night.  Let the season begin!

Trouble Brewing

I swear we have gone from March to July in a weeks time.  We slept with the windows open all night so our morning started with the sounds of a couple of cats fighting over by the barn.  Our dogs have always been self appointed referee's in such situations so Bruce let Mike out and he ran over whoever was fighting and chased whoever ran away.  Actually chased isn't accurate because if they stopped he would have too.  He has never been a chaser, more like a "follow them very quickly to see where they are going" kind of dog.  Just as we were going to start milking the neighbor called that a heifer was out.  Bruce and the dog jumped on the 4 wheeler and were back in a short time.  We let of all the cows out into the yard together this morning.While they were out I washed a section of the pipeline.  I had hoped to do 20 stalls but my body thought 12 was enough and I was OK with that. We knew that getting the cows back in would be much more complicated today for a number of reasons.  The first day they are out they tend to be confused and more cooperative. Today is the 3rd day for some of them so now they think they have everything figured out and make their own plans.  Another reason we expected trouble is with everyone going out there were 2 choices of directions coming back in.  Bruce directed traffic but we still had to help many of them figure out where they needed to go.  The other complication is the fact that it is unusually hot and humid again today.  They weren't impressed being outside and were in more of a hurry to get back in.  The alleys get limed so they are less slippery but the concrete sweats and gets slippery anyway.  We managed to get everyone where they belonged in a pretty decent amount of time, all things considered, but there are 2 major rules to remember on days like this.  DO NOT work with your mouth open and don't lick your lips until you have looked in a mirror!  When a cow falls in the gutter....well....lets just say there was a change of clothes involved after we were done : )

Today was the first move day for the heifers at the other place. Bruce was pleased that this group moved so easily since pasture is new to them. By the end of summer a group of heifers will follow him anywhere, knowing he always takes them to a better place to eat.  There were 3 posts that needed replacing along the driveway so Bruce did that.  That particular part of the fence was replaced probably 30 years ago and is the oldest on the farm.  We have had random heavy but very short lived rain storms today.  Bruce required a complete change of clothes after the first one that came through since he was at the other place on a 4 wheeler when it hit.

Mike isn't bored at all while Bruce fixes the fence.

Our big tractor came home today!  We are so excited to have that piece of our life back even though its too wet to do any work with it.  The bill isn't totaled yet so we will just stick with being excited it's home and deal with the reality check when it arrives.

By the middle of this afternoon a couple storm systems had gone through and the humidity dropped and the wind blew for awhile.  Bruce had gotten the mower belt on just as the second rain came thorough but with the weather change I actually got a chance to mow lawns so we look a little more civilized now.

The same animal was out at the other place during milking tonight.  Sometimes there are random trouble makers who don't read the manual.  Time will tell if this is one of them.

Too Hot!

Just a couple days ago it was still cold and today it was 87 and humid!  We let cows out into the yard today but this time we let 2/3 of them out together.  We learned the first year we had cows grazing that it helps if they get to run around outside a bit before they go out on grass. There was not nearly as much running around today, probably because it was just darned warm for what we are used to.  When we get them back in we have found its best to shut their stanchions as soon as they are in.  Bruce lets the cows in the door and is quick at identifying who is who since he feeds and sees them from the front routinely.  I need to see their address tags, or udders (since I prep cows) to know who they are.  The older cows he just let in and they went to their place.  Cows that he knew would be confused we escorted individually which is much less stressful for both the cow and us.  We have found that the less chaos involved when they come into the barn the quicker they find their place.  Adding the next group will be trickier since many are not familiar with their stalls and they will need to turn left when they come in.  So far everyone has turned right.  The dog was good help getting cows in today but the yard was pretty sloppy wet with yesterdays rain.  I can't say he was impressed with a bath before noon but I do know it helped cool him off after working so much.

We continued to fix things today but the list is a bit less stressful and more just maintenance.  The tractor that looked abandoned in the snow pictures earlier in the year had starter problems last summer.  Last fall it got parked by the barn and then buried in multiple snow storms. It is our smallest tractor but useful for moving equipment around and hauling loads. Our intention was for it to spend the winter in my fathers shop where he could work on the starter and wires but the early storm sidetracked that plan. Today Bruce drove it 1 hour to the shop and I brought along the starter from another tractor that had also been giving us trouble.  Having older equipment means a bit more maintenance.  We are lucky to have some pretty talented people around to help.

The forecast is for rain nearly every day for a week.  With the heat the alfalfa will be growing like crazy.  Timing is everything and we can definitely feel the days closing in around us.

Oh How Quickly Plans Change

This morning we were wishing cloning was possible since there is so much that could be done and not enough people to do it.  About noon it started to rain then hail and then pour.  In a short period of time we got 1.2 inches and all hopes of field work were taken off the list for this week.  It is frustrating because it is time to get it done and the later it gets the shorter the window of time available before we have to make hay.  The good news is now Bruce can just do pasture stuff and not feel like he should be doing cropping too.  The last of our seed was delivered today.  Bruce made a point of making room in the shop for it so he can shut the doors and keep possible trouble makers out.  Bruce pointed out that there was about $11,000 of seed in bags that we don't need a raccoon to destroy.

Milking is now streamlined with everyone being milked into the tank.  We have to sanitize between a couple cows yet until cultures are done but after the last few months that seems pretty simple. We again have 7 dry cows I am now feeding 12 calves, having weaned off a couple more.

Just Super Busy

It has been a long time since Jim came home for a whole weekend.  We got a lot done, mainly bits and pieces, so I will just make todays list.  Milking.  We decided to let 1/3 of the cows out in the yard today as a practice run.  To do that we have to fence off the steer feed bunk so they can't eat there. Steers have nothing to do but damage things so we needed to redo the fence which, of course,  required a number of tools and parts and as soon as we got the fixing done we let them out.  Cows run and kick like calves but in a much less graceful way so we are always glad no one gets hurt in all the enthusiasm.  We were pleasantly surprised that the older cows came in and remembered where there stalls were and the new heifers took our suggestion as to where they should go easily.  Bruce, Jim and I worked on finishing marking the contour strips.  Now all those 40 acres are ready to go and more user friendly.  I mowed lawns today, at least until the drive belt on the mower broke.  We had noticed it was cracked but hadn't gotten one on the shelf yet so that will be continued tomorrow.  Ed's silo is officially empty so the heifers got large round bales of dry hay yesterday.  We decided to let the animals at the other place out on pasture so that happened this afternoon after Bruce put the initial dividing fence in.  The pastures get broken down into paddocks (sections) so they eat them efficiently and then when a paddock is eaten the heifers (or cows) are moved to another so the previous one can start growing again.  This is referred to as managed intensive rotational grazing. We attempt to manage forage quality for a particular class of livestock by the length of the rotation.  Dry cows and heifers don't need as high of quality of pasture so they can be rotated slower, allowing their forage to become more mature.  Milking cows and small growing heifers need a higher quality forage and therefore need to be rotated faster, harvesting the feed at its most nutritious. Now we have 1 less group to deliver feed to since it didn't take them long at all to start eating grass.  The pastures are still pretty short for this late in May.  About supper time Bruce came to the house and wanted help. The chain hook had broken on the gate that keeps the heifers here in the yard and out of the pasture.  Since that fence isn't ready to go yet we had to get them all back in for the night.  Between the heifers love for corn and the dogs enthusiasm for herding we got them back in fairly quickly.  The goats have been taken off of pasture and moved back into the yard with the feeder.  The group is big and all eating so they ate the pasture they were on pretty quickly.  More fence to get ready to go this week.  Tonight the dog is tired.  He moved the new steers into the barn and then the bigger steers into their holding pen. He moved cows out of the barn and back in.  Went along marking strips. He helped get the heifers at the other place out onto the pasture. He got the heifers back when they got out and moved the goats back into the yard. It has been a long winter for him but today he got to live the border collie dream : )

Busy Spring Day

Another spring time day here!  We started the day with a call that there was a new calf walking around the barn.  The last heifer had delivered a heifer calf sometime during the night and she was wandering around the barn and luckily managed to stay out of serious trouble.  We are now done with our May calvings and, according to the manual, we should have a minimum of 2 weeks before we have another new calf  Milking is pretty streamlined now with the exception of 2 special needs cows, although during milking this morning, we did have a bolt break on a stanchion and a cow out making her own rules.  Generally we don't have trouble getting them back in but this one wasn't willing to be that cooperative.  As it turned out, Ed came over so he and Bruce and the dog were able to get the stanchion fixed and the cow back where she belonged while I continued milking.  Ed had very helpful timing! After milking this morning I put all the ear tags in the cattle that needed them so they all have their "addresses" as Joe called them.  The tags go in just like pierced earrings, and if possible, I put these tags in a previously created hole.  Surprisingly all but 2 were pretty cooperative and Bruce watched them so they wouldn't pull their heads out of the stanchion while I put their tags in also. Sometimes it's tricky trying to get a tag in a moving ear on a 1300# animal that isn't impressed with you touching them.  As a general rule I can do it but occasionally Bruce has to do them.   It was again cattle moving day and we brought home 11 steers to start on feed.  With the ones already here that group will be a total of 16.  It is great they are getting started but they have to be in the feed alley that can only be fed with a wheelbarrow so for a few weeks it will be pretty labor intensive for Bruce.  Once they on the final finishing diet they will go out into the cow yard where we have a bunk and can be fed with the feed cart. In theory we should be able to sell this group by the end of the year. After we were done hauling them we also brought 8 heifers home that are big enough to breed.  Ed's place is only 1/4 mile from here so the distance isn't too bad.  We use a cattle trailer they built in the 60's that is big enough to hold 3 animals the size we moved today so it still takes a few trips to get it done.  The steers were put in a secure yard but the heifers were put in a yard with an electric fence.  Some of the new ones haven't learned what an electric fence is so it wasn't long before they were out of the yard checking things out.  I barely got my shoes on to go help and Bruce and the dog had them heading back into the yard. The dog is loving these days with so much more for him to do.  The day disappeared faster than we would have liked but Bruce and Jim did manage to go out and remark some of the strips.  We had the county do it earlier but Bruce wasn't exactly happy with the changes so he took 105 ft of rope and they measured the fields again.  We use this width because it works best with the width of the equipment we have when planting and harvesting.  Bruce and Jim were both pretty pleased that, in the short time they had before it was time to feed, they got the 3 biggest strips remarked. Bruce said walking on the previously chisel plowed ground was exhausting so we do know that Bruce, the dog, and our son who isn't used to this much walking, will sleep well tonight : )

Signs of REAL Spring

We had an awesome day today!  Finally we had a day with sun, green grass and 70 degrees.  After milking this morning we moved cows all over the barn again in anticipation of letting them out soon.  It was surprising how many seemed to remember their old places, so hopefully they will remember when we let them outside.  Our cultures all came back good so, if we can figure out where the cows are after the shuffle, they can all be milked without sanitizing the milkers in between.  Today Matt delivered all our seed and then we headed for a farmer road trip.  First we went and picked up the radiator for the skid steer.  Since it has decided to take a vacation we will take advantage of it being down and have the small leak in the radiator fixed.  The leak has been on "the list" for quite awhile but we never quite figured out when we could let it sit.  The decision has been made and its now I guess.  We also stopped in to visit our other patient to see how things are going.  They had 1 last part to order that is now in so they are getting it put back together.  It is still missing a big section of the middle but everything else has been dealt with and we should have it back next week.  Depending on what the weather does this weekend we will be planting next week so having the tractor return will be good timing. As long as we were on the road we did a farm supply run along with a shoe run for Bruce.  His barn shoes totally gave up yesterday so he had no choice but to get another pair now, like it or not.  In our travels we saw lots of planting going on, the first for this year.  Bruce had hoped our travels would go quickly enough that we could move some cattle today but that didn't happen.  When we got home he went over to Ed's yard to scout out who we can move so we are ready to do it tomorrow.  Now that the weather has cleared there are 10 things he could do at once!  Our son Jim came home for the weekend and was nice enough to mix feed for the calves tonight which shortened Bruce's day just a bit.  They already have a list of things to do this weekend.  The trouble is, the weekend will not be long enough!

Nothing Broke Today!!!

After Bruce talked to the mechanic about our skid steer he also talked to our son who happens to be an engineer for another company and, as luck would have it, happens to work specifically with skid steers.  He also suspects the same problem as the mechanic and added the professional opinion of "it's not terminal".  I am hoping for a relatively cheap fix.  We haven't heard anything about our tractor this week so perhaps they are still waiting for parts, or as Bruce suggests, sold it for scrap iron.  I did see one person planting corn in our area yesterday so, regardless of the temperatures, the ground seems to be getting a bit dryer.

We did have some very good news from Matt, our seed dealer.  We ordered our seed late last year and neither of us thought we had ordered the alfalfa at that time.  Matt was getting our order ready to deliver and called to let us know that there was indeed alfalfa seed already ordered and paid for.  That is $2000 that is already taken care of!!!  Corn seed is bred for particular climatic zones, meaning if you are in a northern cold zone the growing season is shorter than in a southern warmer zone.  Therefore you need to pick a corn that has a relative maturity that fits your local.  In our area we normally plant corn in the 90-110 day relative maturity range.  We are able to plant the longer day corn if we get into the field early, but this year its still cool and getting later in our growing season.  For this reason Matt has already worked with Bruce and changed our corn order to include some varieties that are shorter day than what we originally ordered.  Hopefully the weather will cooperate so we can plant soon.  It is time.  According to the news yesterday, last year 46% of the corn crop was already planted by now but we also had a very early and warm spring.  This year the same area has 1% planted.

Today they were able to scrape the area behind Ed's bunk out and catch the heifers back there like they normally do.  This let Ed clean the rest of the yard (after the skid steer was picked up and out of the middle of the yard) and Bruce was able to get some other things done.  Between yesterday and today they hauled 14 loads of manure out of there.  Perhaps we can finally get the steers home and heifers big enough to breed here also.

This morning our fresh cow seems to be following the manual perfectly so far.  Our nutritionist Vicky was here this morning to check everything out.  She likes the particle length with the dry hay in the mix.  We have 1 cow that is thinner than she should be. Everyone else seems to be doing fine.  Bruce confirmed the process he needs to use to get the steers on their full TMR finish ration, verifying some information since he hasn't used corn silage in their ration before.  We had decided to sell steers this week so 4 went on the truck today.  With everything that has broken lately that check is spent before it even arrives but at least it's going to come sooner than later.

No Words For Today's Fun

The class III price for April was posted today.  The price for April 2009 was $10.78, in 2010 it was $12.92 and this year it is $16.87.  Once again our contracted price was an opportunity loss but this time it was only
$ .16, or $120.00.  Knowing it could have easily been much less we are still OK with the fact we contracted.  We never contract everything so the milk we produce above our contract will pay the higher price.  In the last 15 years the highest April price was in 2004 at $19.66 and the lowest was in 2000 at $9.41.

We got our vet bill today and after the surgeries and unnecessary (as it turned out) calving call we managed to still be just under $1000.  The way the month started I had resigned myself to it being much worse so I guess in a strange way its a win.  The nice thing about being a record keeper and using a computer is it is easy to check out history.  Our last $1000 vet bill was in June 2008.  Since then we have had many months with pretty small bills.  I am just glad April is done.

Bruce's mission today was to clean the yard at Ed's.  It desperately needed it and the ground is drying enough that he could get it out on the field.  The area that needed cleaning the worst was behind the bunk but that is also where the heifers are usually penned while they clean.  Today they had to leave them in the yard so with every load Bruce's dad and Ed had to open and close the gates and watch so no one got out.  They managed to get 7 loads hauled and then the skid steer stopped.  It was just after 5 but Bruce had the cell phone number for the skid steer mechanic we use.  After discussion it was decided that the skid steer should not move to minimize more damages and they will pick it up and haul it into the shop tomorrow.  Again we can see $$$ and Bruce and I are frustrated beyond words.  Last year our total repair expenses on everything was $9000 and in 2008 it was only $7700.  We are way past that and its only May. With all the skid steer frustrations there is a bright side in the fact that Ed has a skid steer he will let us use.  It's smaller and a different brand but it will do the work for now.  The skid steer is critical for feeding with our haylage coming out of the bag for everyone here. Tonight Bruce started feeding late and I started milking.  Before I got the milkers switched the first time I could see the cow that was due was pushing.  She was considerate enough to deliver her bull calf just as we got done milking everyone else so we finished up with her and won't have to do an over night watch.

Some "Wins" Today

Bruce is pleased.  He installed the higher thermostats in the water heater today along with redoing 2 of the joints that leaked.  One of the leaks was because he tried to use a previously used fitting but the other joint had dripped since the original plumber had put the water heater in last time.  Technically he fixed the "professionals" error so that made him smile just a bit. The plan was not to have him spend his time doing this but, as it turned out, he saved us about $500 by changing out the thermostats and doing the installation himself.

Bruce found another new kid this morning and took it and its mother into the building.  There were snow flurries in the air today, too cold for May.  In the process of moving goats he forgot to turn the fencer back on.  For some reason the goats don't seem to be content with new grass and have been out 3 times today!  Their favorite place to go when out is up by the harvestore where they clean up any corn that is on the ground. While the dog thinks it is all great fun, the farmers are less impressed.  Hopefully they will behave tomorrow.

Our pregnancy tests came back with 62% pregnant.  For the industry that is high but we have done as well as 84% once the cows are out on pasture.  This translates into having 8 heifers due on December 20!  Not exactly the best timing with the holidays but they will add milk when the cows are drying up.  Tonight we again had the chance to milk everyone into the tank with another passing drug sample.  We know this will be short lived also because the cow that is due is already dripping milk, a sign that delivery isn't very far off.  Today Joe offered to help milk again tonight.  We started with him prepping the cows by predipping and wiping them and I handled the milkers. When Bruce joined us I did the prepping and Bruce coached Joe on moving the milkers between cows and attaching them.  It's nice to have a little extra help in the barn.  It takes the pressure off both Bruce and I.  Last summer Joe did most of our lawn mowing, pressure washing and miscellaneous cleaning along with helping milk.  He is planning on helping around here this summer also.  Just maybe by the end of summer we will be a bit more caught up : )

Hot Water, Please?

After doing all the normal chores Bruce ended up installing the water heater in the milkhouse himself since the plumber couldn't fit it into today.  Of course this one isn't as tall as the last one so he had to undo the copper piping and then solder them back the correct length.  He got nearly done and realized he was one fitting short (of course) so he called the local dairy supply store.  They agreed to wait for him since it was nearly 5 so he made the 10 mile round trip and continued to get the pipes together.  He started the heater and it seemed to be heating.   At this point it was already getting late but we had to run the pipeline washer before we could milk since we had no hot water and couldn't do it this morning.  When we were nearly done with milking I started to work on feeding calves and I couldn't get any hot water.  Bruce checked everything out and decided that the electrical breaker wasn't holding like it should so at 10 p.m. he replaced that.  It wasn't long after that I finally had some warm water but in the meantime I came home and got 2 pails of hot water so I had something to work with.  When we left the barn the heater seemed to be working and the pipeline and milkers were getting washed.  Lets hope its all working in the morning.

First Pasturing

Our celebration of no special needs cows was short lived when we found a new calf had been born over night.  We still have a cow and heifer that are due and then we will have a genuine break  Today it is cool but sunny and windy so that will help dry out the fields.  The goats were out of feed and part of them managed to get out of their fence this morning.  We decided instead of feeding them it would be just as simple to spend the time checking fence.  Bruce and Mike then herded the group out on the cowyard bank just after noon to start eating grass which means a piece of spring has officially started even if it doesn't feel like it. We spent the afternoon at a family event and arrived home to find that the oldest doe had delivered a single kid.  After milking tonight we caught the mom and kid and moved them to the building with the heat lamp.  Its supposed to be 30 over night and the kid was born late enough in the day that it was still a bit damp.  It probably would have survived over night but having a bit of warmth will guarantee it will be up and ready to go tomorrow.