Super Long Day

After milking this morning, Bruce went out and checked the seeding (alfalfa, peas, triticale) to see how it is doing. We have not planted this combination before and intend to harvest it for cow feed so timing is everything. It still has a bit of growing to do but we don't know how long it will take with the heat coming. Checking its progress will be a daily vigil. We actually managed to cut some pasture today but the process turned out to be a bit longer than we had planned. The water lines run along both sides of this pasture just inside the fence. Bruce had to decide whether he would spend the time trimming around the fence so he knew exactly where the water line was, or guess and take the chance of cutting holes in it. He decided to run the trimmer around first so he would have a cleaner, more complete job when we are done chopping. In total the trimming took a couple hours, including the time it took for me to run gas out to him when he ran out on the far end of the fence. Along with gas I brought drinks and donuts so he got a break and continued. Once again his cell phone came in handy. After the trimming was done Bruce moved the cows to a new paddock. The grass they are on is really nice and Bruce doesn't want them to waste it. They spent part of the day back on the piece they had over night and then this afternoon they got new grass. It is funny how spoiled they are. They did not think this was a good idea! After a late dinner Bruce cut the first round and then Ed took over cutting and Bruce started chopping. The mature grass mixed with the regrowth underneath has just enough moisture so we will be able to cut and chop right away. With the tractor problem yesterday the hay got a bit dryer than we would like on the top of the silo.  Bruce chopped 2 loads and put them in the silo at Ed's and then had to level it off and cover it. Even with a distributor, the haylage varies in height by 3-4 ft. so this has to be forked around so the silage is flat.  A silo cover for a 16’ silo is 18’ across.  Bruce spreads the plastic out and then folds back part of it just enough so he can dig a trench about 8” x 8” around the edge.  He throws this haylage on top of the plastic, and when he has enough dug, out he tucks the plastic in this trench and then packs the haylage he had dug out as tightly as he can on top of the plastic to seal it.  The fermintation process starts pretty quickly. Not only does the silo get warm from the feed heating, it can create a deadly silo gas in the process. For this reason, the silo gets leveled off immediately, and since we aren't going to feed from there until winter, the cover keeps the mold possibilities down to a minimum.  After this whole process Bruce still had to feed and milk tonight. It is another late night but at least we are getting to make some progress.   (blogger isn’t working.  Wednesday, 6/29, 11:30 p.m. thank heavens for the copy and paste feature)

D O N E !

Yesterday started out with a service call on our bulk tank.  As it turns out, a thermostat in the bottom of the tank has failed and was replaced.  We purchased this tank new in 1988 so it has served us well so far and will hopefully continue to do that until the cows are gone.  Between Bruce and Ed the rest of the first crop hay got cut.  If the forecast holds out, this may be the first week in months that the weather actually matches what you would expect for the week on the calendar.  It is absolutely beautiful!  Today we did a few milk cultures and also blood draws for pregnancy checks. I am really hoping to have that information back before the weekend. Bruce headed out after breakfast to chop the hay that was down and returned shortly with a hydraulic hose off the tractor that had broken.  All we could do was laugh given the fixing history this year, and the fact that last year we thought we had replaced nearly every hydraulic hose we have.  This hose was kind of big and complicated and we were very surprised to find a dealer with one in stock about an hour away.  Ed went and got it for us and Bruce spent his suddenly "free" time cutting weeds where the bagger will go when we do the pasture cutting and also moved 2 groups of heifers to new pasture.  We have new neighbors next door and Mike got to show off how talented he was, with frequent breaks laying in the creek to cool down.  By 4 Ed was back, we are $148. poorer and Bruce was able to chop again with Ed hauling and unloading the loads.  We can finally say we are DONE with first crop hay!  This announcement is nearly a month later than what would be considered normal but none the less, we are done : )  A couple days of pasture cutting projects and Bruce will have "nothing" to do as he described the time between crops before.  LOL  Tonight he mentioned when we were milking that he thinks his "to do" list between crops has been replaced by almost immediately doing the seeding ground.  Maybe after that???

Great Day

If I could pick the weather for the rest of summer, today had the weather I would pick.  We had sun, mid 70's and 60% humidity which was a nice change.  We decided not to cut any more hay until after tomorrow, partly because it is Sunday and partly because we have rain in the forecast for tomorrow.  The weather people claim we will have warm and dry weather the rest of the week so we are counting on that to finally get our hay and pastures done.  It was a quiet farming day otherwise.  I spent the day out with friends and Bruce spent the day doing what he loves to do, digging in the garden.  He is a farmer to the core but also a gardener when he has time.  Today he was getting an area ready to plant raspberries.  This summer he is also hoping to enjoy a project he started a couple years ago.  There was a very old apple tree  on our property that was starting to die. It had been his grandmothers and he decided to take cuttings from that tree and graft them to a couple trees both here and at our other place.  The first year he pinched all the blossoms off  so the plant energy would go into healing these new branches into the tree but this year he has a few apples growing.  There aren't very many but he is excited about the success of his new hobby.

I made the mistake of thinking too much while I was feeding calves.  It crossed my mind how beautiful the day was.  I also thought how nice it was to have no special needs cows or calves and how smoothly milking and feeding has been going lately.  I also thought how nice it was that we hadn't broken anything lately.  Bruce started carrying the milkers into the washing sink and realized the cooler had turned off.  Given the fact it never turns off that quickly we knew that was the first sign of trouble.  The 2nd sign was the temperature guage said the milk was 32 degrees.  The tank is set to cool the milk down to 38.  Bruce took the thermometer we use to check the hot water and found that the actual milk temperature was 60.  He called our equipment dealer got some information on things to check.  They determined that the sensor isn't working right but Bruce was able to get it to cool the milk enough that it will be OK over night so the good news is the service call can wait until tomorrow.  Bruce had mentioned at supper time that we would be on track to get in early tonight.  I guess we should know better!

Progress Without Rain

I thought maybe I would add a video of cows doing what they do.  It is interesting watching them pick what they will eat first and what they will leave until later. 

Bruce got the mower going today.  He took the carbeurator off and cleaned it and presto!  I don't think the mower has run this well in a long time and we managed to get all the lawn mowing caught up.  When Ed cut that hay that was down he spead it out wider than normal in the hopes that it would dry faster.  When we do this we then have to rake it over so the chopper will be able to pick it all up.  Bruce went out to rake hay with that plan in mind.  He didn't get very far and it was pretty obvious that the hay was starting to smell spoiled so he raked it as planned but then went out and chopped it back on the ground.  Ed spent the afternoon mowing the last 2 sections of pasture, and when he was done he continued chopping the hay back so Bruce could start feeding. All total we had to chop about 10 acres back.  We made progress today, in a strange way, by going backwards so we can now move forward. 

Sun

Something happened today that hasn't happened in awhile.  We had sun!  Actually it was sun alternating with clouds but that is more than we have had in a week.  It is funny how much better everything seems when the sun shines.  We are still in waiting mode on the hay.  So far the hay we had cut is OK for heifer feed.  It was helpful that it was still very green when it got rained on and has stayed damp and relatively cool all this time.  What really spoils hay in a hurry is having it get dry and then rained on and then having it get hot.  It takes only a matter of a couple days for it to start stinking and rotting.  In the past we have had to chop as much as 40 acres back on the ground.  It does not happen very often, but it does happen.  Just like so many other things we do, timing is everything. The forecast says we will get a couple nice days finally so maybe there is hope.  As soon as we get the hay in the silo we will cut the pasture that the cows and heifers aren't keeping up with.  We have a bagger here to store that in.  It will also be heifer feed. 

By late afternoon I could mow lawn.  Bruce replaced the fuel filter, idea #2 for why the mower won't run decently.  That wasn't the magic answer either so he called a mechanic and proceeded to trace the wiring  to disconnect the safety switches so as to rule out a bad switch.  Nothing found there so the next idea is either fuel pump or fuel cut off switch.  The good news is Bruce got a bunch of our lawn mowed while he tinkered with it.

The animal adventures today were pretty basic.  The goats decided that they didn't have to stay in the pasture they were in and were wandering around.  Bruce came out of the barn just in time to see them going into the pasture by the barn with the suggestion of Mike.  We had a heifer on the wrong side of the fence which, of course, is just another cool adventure for the dog.  One group of heifers managed to tip their water tank over and wreck the hose and there was a water leak in one of the water lines so Bruce got to do the farmer version of plumbing.   Bruce feeds grain to the heifers and steers on pasture and yesterday he had a steer that got silly and ran, turned and kicked and managed to connect with Bruce in the leg.  The steer seems to have a better understanding about keeping his distance today.
The cows are now on the first piece of pasture that Ed mowed so the quality of grass should be much better.  This means Bruce can again remove some protein and haylage from their mix and hopefully the cows will thank us by putting more milk in the tank. 

I spent part of the day paying bills.  The milk check doesn't come until Monday but I have it spent already.  On the bright side, unless we break something big again, we are over the most expensive part of our year and are still upright.  Given the last couple months, upright is darned exciting : )

Repeat

Today's post could be identical to yesterday.  Mist on and off all day so it was definitely not a drying day.  Joe came and helped milk this morning with Bruce and then they worked on the chopper box again.  We have 3 boxes but can only use 2 at this point.  The 3rd one will become necessary when we get to the point of chopping seeding later in the summer.  The calf that had bleeding from her naval died today.  We have no idea what her problems were.  She never did eat and would fight when you tried to feed her so everything I got into her was via stomach tube.  Sometimes natures plan doesn't make any sense.  There are rumors of sunshine tomorrow....we are hopeful : )

Non Event Day

Joe came this morning so he and I milked while Bruce took the opportunity to move the cattle on pasture.  Bruce barely left and it started to rain.  Pasturing requires the ownership of a rainsuit if you want to accomplish anything some days, especially this year.  The day continued to alternate between sun and rain showers and a high of 70.  Joe spent his non milking time doing some cleaning for us while we had someone here for a  business meeting.  We had to put another band on the calf's navel this morning since the cord had ballooned with blood and forced the previous band down.  She has certainly got an extra dose of stubborn in her personality since the last thing she wants to do is anything I promote.  The rest of the day we didn't accomplish much and we really didn't care.  Bruce headed out a bit earlier this afternoon to get feeding done.  We tested milk tonight.  There was nothing particularly exciting, good or bad, this time.  It was nice that it cooled down.  The cows are always happier when it's cooler.

A First Again

Foggy, damp, cool and dreary followed by the sun coming out.  When we started milking it was 80 degrees with 84% humidity.  Just a bit sticky.  Joe came and helped milk this morning with Bruce and I got to take care of other things that needed doing.  I did have a very strange event feeding the calf that was born last night.  She was standing in her hutch and I helped her go out front so I could stand up while I fed her.  I straddled her neck, facing the same direction as she was so she would stand still and eat.  She had half of her bottle done when Bruce looked out of the milk house and I heard him say "what the heck!!"  What he saw was the clot in her umbilical cord dropped out and she instantly left a big puddle of blood and was bleeding. Almost instantly she was too weak to stand.  I pinched the cord off and he got an elastrator band, the ones we use for banding bull calves.   The first one he put on he got on a little too far out and the cord filled up ( ballooned) above it  so he put another one on. That one stayed in place and stopped it.  Bruce called the vet and was told he did exactly what they would have done and that calves generally regenerate blood pretty quickly.  Tonight she was laying flat out and sleeping really hard as I would expect.  I gave her electrolytes first and then milk later, both with the stomach tube so she didn't have to do any more work than necessary.  She definitely was not impressed with my quick feed idea but we got what she needed into her.  She seems tired but otherwise OK.  We will see how she does tomorrow.  She is calf 908 and that is the first time I have had that happen.

With the rainy weather, Bruce and I both scheduled appointments in town today so no extra farming happened.  Tonight while we milked we could see plenty of lightning in storms that went east of us.  Supposedly there will be better weather by the weekend.  Joe is coming tomorrow so we need to get a summer list going.  It will be nice to have the extra help.

Quiet

Foggy and dreary today.  Needless to say we will not be making hay any time soon.  Bruce had heifers to move around in the pastures today.  We sold the last of the steers from the bigger group so we won't have any more to sell until the end of the year or later.  Bruce also has one less group to feed.  We have now gotten through the most grueling part of our year and also our most expensive.  The problem with hay being drug out so long is we won't have much time between crops. Tonight while we were milking, our cow that was due 7/4 decided to have her calf.  That was nice of her to save us having to go get it in the pasture!  We actually got a heifer calf this time.

I was thinking this morning what I would have been writing if I had done this last year.  We had a very long cooperative spring.  Seeding went in the earliest ever.  Corn planting took about 4 days and first crop hay took 3 and we were done by Memorial Day.  According to our records, we would have spent exactly 1/4 of what we have this year on repairs.  Bruce always says, next year will be different!  No kidding : )

Rain, Pictures & Jason's Corn

Farmers are forever optimistic.  For that reason we had Jim cut a couple strips of hay yesterday.  They also live in reality, and also for that reason we didn't have him cut the rest of it.  When we went to bed last night there was nothing on the radar to indicate that our optimism was flawed.  Over night we heard lots of thunder and lightening around us and we still thought maybe optimism was on track.  Then it started to rain and we had hopes that most of it would go someplace else.  We woke up this morning to the reality that we had gotten 1.9 inches over night.  No making hay for a couple days anyway, and when we manage to get out there we will probably be chopping small loads to minimize ruts and soil compaction in our fields.  I like to chop.  I also like to make BIG loads.  Hmmmm  This abundance of rain takes its tole on the pasture.  1500# cows with 4 pegged legs can make pretty deep holes wherever they walk.  I am glad they are traveling to the pasture on the lane that is already improved or they would be wading through mud in their travels.  On the positive side of all of this, our garden is in! The nice thing about the rain is it actually gave us a day off so we had a picnic dinner with family.  Before milking tonight I did bed the hutches again.  It is impossible to keep them dry with this much rain. 

Our yard looks pretty darned funny.  I had started mowing on the upper yard when the mower started causing trouble.  When the guys were diagnosing its problems they made a few loops around in another area of that yard.  After they put the part on they hoped would fix it Jim made a few passes on our yard, again leaving patches that he didn't get to while he continued to figure out what the problem is.  We now have patches and stripes of mowed and unmowed lawn all over the place.  Pretty cute.

Jason's Corn 14 days

Broken chopper shaft.  This is the original shaft and we bought the chopper used in Oct 1992. I guess everything has its limits.

Everything removed so shaft can go back in.

broken chopper shaft

Saturday

Another humid day  here at 74%.  The things that saved us from being totally miserable were a nice breeze and it stayed cloudy.  We can see the cows  from the house and they were spread out all over the pasture which means they were relatively comfortable.  If they start feeling the heat they tend to congregate by the gate, ready to come home.  The weather forecast is sketchy as far as whether we will get rain or not so Jim cut some of the hay since he came home for the weekend.  There was hopes it would dry enough to chop this afternoon but the humidity levels didn't exactly make that happen.  Ed mowed a couple more sections of pasture today so ideally it will be grown out for the cows to eat in  20-28 days.  Bruce & I planted our garden today, at least as much as we will bother with this year since it's getting a bit late and we don't really have time to deal with it.  We have had the area covered with plastic for weeks so if we ever got a day free it would be dry enough to work.  We did have something to fix today.  My mower didn't want to run yesterday so we got an ignitor today. Previously that is the only thing we have replaced and the mower is 19 years old.  This is the 3rd time it has ever had a problem so it is really not a big deal.  The problem isn't solved so the next plan is to replace the fuel pump and filter.  This doesn't even make the frustrations list this summer, especially since it is totally irrelevant to taking care of and feeding the cows. It is nice to see out the windows so we will have to fix it eventually : )

Back In Business

The humidity is building again.  By 10 a.m. it was 77 degrees with 67% humidity.  This is perfect weather for growing corn, not so perfect for other things like newly fresh cows or the farmer's wife  : )  The first year we had cows on pasture we freshened a bunch in June and found the transition to be harder on them even though, in theory, pasture is the perfect place for them to be.  This is why we have started having so many calves in the early part of the year, so they don't have to add heat to their list of transitions after calving.  As the day went on it actually got nicer out with less humidity but no rain.  Ed ran for the chopper parts (a shaft and 3 bearings) and Bruce got the chopper back running later this afternoon after investing $933.  Added to that list was a drive belt $125.00!  We think this is the first belt replacement and it wasn't broken but worn so it is actually maintenance.  On the bright side, our broken things are getting less expensive each time with this being slightly less than the bearings in the unloader. Ed had cut about 4 acres of alfalfa before the chopper broke so Bruce went out to chop that himself, mainly to make sure everything was working right. Ed hauled the loads and unloaded them but by the time the chopping was done, and then feeding and milking it got kind of late.  Bruce is still feeding a couple batches after milking.  So it goes....he says he can sleep when it rains : )

Mostly Quiet Routine

Another quiet day on the farm for the most part.  We did have a bit if entertaining excitement milking this morning.  When I prep cows I use paper towels and then drop them into the gutter where they decompose.  This morning one of the towels must have landed on the edge of the gutter and then got caught in the wind currents from the fans.  Suddenly there was a cow kicking as though her very life was at risk.  She managed to hook the milker with her foot and throw it completely under the cow next to her.  What was funny is the cow next to her never quit chewing while she was in panic mode.  The good news is, the milker wasn't broken and the cow survived and no one got hurt : )  Tonight milking is back to routine with everyone passing their drug tests and their milk going into the tank.

Bruce took the chopper apart this afternoon. The good news is the only thing broken is the shaft but he will replace a few bearings as long as he has it apart.  They called to let us know the shaft is in so tomorrow we should have a chopper going again.  Now we just need weather cooperation.

History

Today we woke up to rain so we got a break from breaking things.  It rained lightly most of the day and we ended up with 8/10 inch.  My job in town happens around farming so I had to adjust things to make hay.  I went in later Sunday afternoon and did payroll, skipped Monday and Tuesday, and went in today.  Bruce took a nap!  I was thrilled to hear that when I got home since he runs such long days.  There is really no news on the farm but we have had quite a few conversations about history lately.  The weather has given us challenges over the years.  In 1973 there was no field work done until the first week of June due to late snows and spring rains.  One year a lack of rain caused us to have had 27 acres of corn with a official yield of 0.  We have had wet falls followed by poorly timed freezing and thawing that heaved our alfalfa plants out of the ground.  That year I learned that alfalfa has a tap root like a carrot since the plants were pushed up enough you could grab them and lift them right out of the ground. We have had corn not ripen before a killing frost.  The benefits of having animals is we could put it to use as silage, unlike grain farmers. In 1988 it was so dry that the corn we planted in May never came up until mid July, and then it got so hot with enough moisture that it all matured anyway.  Most recently we have had 2008, the year of the flood in which one of the storms dropped 9 inches of rain overnight.  2009 was the year that milk prices crashed and our fuel, protein, chemical and seed prices hit a new high.  The history for that year is we managed to survive.  2010 was the year that Bruce had some medical problems and somehow we managed to farm between over two dozen medical appointments.  If 2011 continues to play out it will be the year that we broke lots of  big things and the milk prices were pretty darned good.  It will also be the year that our patience and sense of humor was tested to extremes....so far, so good : )

Just Another Day In Paradise

Another beautiful day.  The weather forecasters missed in our favor for a change.  We started out our day with another calf in the pasture, and again, it was a bull.  That means our June calvings are done but probably not for long since our first July calf is due 7/4. 

We were able to chop again this afternoon.  I have done all the chopping for years and I like doing it.  I am glad "my" tractor is back and I was flying around the field at a whopping 4.5 mph.  LOL I was about half done with what we had down for today when I looked back and saw the chopper blowing green stuff straight out the back. Once again we have broken something, a fan drive shaft with an initial parts quote of $680.  Bruce says he welded that a couple years ago so I guess we were chopping on borrowed time. The only bright side is Bruce has had this chopper apart and has rebuilt nearly all of it so he knows it like an old jigsaw puzzle.  No shop rates to pay on this one.  Our life is so out of control this year that we can't even believe we are a participant.  We are beyond incredulous!  We called a neighbor who is done with his hay and his son would come and chop the 3-4 loads we had left to do after he got done with work.  Maybe we are contageous since his truck broke down a half mile from here.  Bruce pulled his truck to our lawn and he took our truck home to get the tractor and chopper.  Ethan chopped and Ed unloaded.  On the first load Ed plugged the auger in the blower.  That happens sometimes when you unload faster than the blower can handle it.  He got that unplugged but when he tried to start the blower back up a couple of shear pins broke!  Ed wasn't having the best of days either!  What turned out to be 7 loads later they were done.  Looks like we could be renting a chopper to finish this round.

I finally did the official cropping map for this year.  We only have 44 acres of first crop to make and it is hard to believe we are already into mid June.  Rediculous.  We have 45 acres of new seeding (alfalfa, peas, triticale) and 87 acres of corn.

Making Hay Finally : )

We woke up this morning to sunshine (that has gotten to be a suprise in itself this spring)  dry air and wind so that was all concerning but good.  Bruce went to pasture to find a cow having a calf.  The problem with that was we have no record of her ever being bred.  All breedings are recorded in the breeding chart and I also record breeding information when I pay that bill.  With no record that means not only did it not get written in, we never got billed because I don't have it in my books either.  That basically translates into a free calf and a cow with no dry period. 

Joe came this morning and he and I milked so Bruce could get things done.  This is a new concept here, for Bruce to be off doing other things, other than feeding, while I milk.  When it's Bruce and I, I predip cows with a peroxide based dip and then clean and dry their teats with a paper towel.  Bruce takes care of moving the milkers and post dipping cows with an iodine dip to seal their teats and protect from dirt and infections after they are milked.  With Joe here, he did my normal job and I did what Bruce usually does.  What an odd process! I was still involved in milking the cows but it felt very foreign because I had to remember to ignore everything I usually do and concentrate on the stuff I generally ignore.  I mentioned to Joe that it made milking feel like trying to write with my left hand.  He just looked at me funny since he is left handed and didn't see any problem with that at all.  While we were milking Bruce got the hay rake home in case the hay got dry and cleaned the cow yard.  The steers live in this yard and the cows travel through it to pasture.  It really needed cleaning so now it is more user friendly for all!

The weather this morning was concerning because our hay that has been cut and rained on would get dry today, too fast since we had a funeral we had to attend.  Rained on hay, if put in the silo when it doesn't have enough moisture, can catch fire.  Sometimes we have ended up drying it completely and baling it but we didn't want to do that so the timing of getting it off was rather important.  We went to the funeral and came home immediately and chopped.  The moisture levels were still very good but with the wind I wouldn't have wanted to wait a couple extra hours.  Thankfully the family also farms and currently has hay cut themselves that they intend to bale dry.  As long as it was so nice today Ed cut more hay, hoping it will get dry enough to chop it tomorrow.  There is rain in the forecast for Wednesday so we aren't very optimistic about getting the rest of the crop done very quickly.  Frustrating.  Last year we had perfect weather for cropping and poorer milk prices.  There is always something to challenge our sanity going on!

Corn Is Up

Sunny and 70 today!  We need dry and sun for a few days but today is a start.  No hay made today either because its still too wet from the rain.  The first alfalfa crop is the thickest when its cut so tomorrow we will rake the windrows over so they dry faster.  Jim was home this weekend and spent some time working on a wiring issue on one of our tractors.  He wasn't able to finish the project but the wiring issue isn't a problem since the tractor will spend its days blowing haylage up into the silo, that is, if we ever get to chop it! The chopper is all hooked up and sharpened and the chopper boxes are all geased and ready to go.  We have moved on to plan B with the harvest.  With the lack of weather cooperation making getting this crop off later and more mature than desired, we will now chop the first crop for heifer feed.  Generally we try to make the first crop as dairy feed since its the most plentiful crop but it is nice to have the option of waiting for 2nd and 3rd crop.  Bruce disconnected the blower from the silo here and moved it over to Ed's.  In order to fill a silo you first have to lift the unloader all the way to the top.  The blower itself is reconfigured so it will center and balance on a cable and a motor pulls it up.  Once the silo is full the unloader is put back into unloading position and starts feeding off the top of the silo.

There is excitement in the cropping world!

No till isn't pretty but we can see rows of corn now

The corn in Jason's Field is UP!!

Done With Fixing-We Hope

Today was another dreary, cool and damp day having gotten .6" of rain over night again.  Someday we will get to make hay but today wasn't the day.  The heifers in the lower pasture managed to change paddocks themselves, signs that there are problems with the fence.  The dilemma this time of year is there are areas that have high grass and when you add moisture you come up with a direct short.  Once that happens it seems like cattle have an ability to sense that they can do what they want.  Bruce spent the afternoon trimming fence with a trimmer with poly cut blades to handle the thick grass.  I was glad it was cool since he has done trimming in much hotter conditions than today.  According to Bruce, if he trimmed every fence on the cow side of the pasture there is about 2.5 miles.  Today he was pleased to complete a whole mile (the outside perimeter) and the fence isn't exactly fixed, but it is definitely improved.

Other than roaming cattle the news on that part of our world is good.  The freshest cow passed her drug test and is now being milked into the tank.  The twins cow was let out to pasture today, but not with the rest of the group since they are traveling to the far end. To limit the amount of walking she has to do on her sore foot, and minimize stress in general, she gets let into the first pasture across the road.   We were able to see her from the yards here and she did all the good cow things like eating, walking and resting so she is on the mend.

It is no secret that we have been breaking things all over the place this spring.  Not just general maintenance things, big frustrating things.  To this point we could live in denial with all the equipment again in working order but no bills arriving.  That has changed within the last couple days.  It was our hope that the tractor and skid steer wouldn't go over $10,000 in repairs.  I guess if you are going to break something you might as well do a good job because the shaft that broke in the tractor was $2,709!!!!!!!!!  When you start with that number it isn't pretty so those two repairs have cost us $12,500.  When you add the $1,100 for the harvestore unloader.....lets just say that enough is enough!  The cows broke a gate hook on the steer bunk tonight...$1.99...that's the kind of numbers I want to work with the rest of the summer : )

Dreary But Good

We got just a bit of rain over night and it was damp and cloudy all day.  It wasn't exactly a pleasant day but it did give us a version of a day off since we couldn't make hay.  Joe came to help this morning so he and Bruce milked and I got to start some projects in the house before going out to the barn.  I was able to move 5 calves into the barn today and bedded the 6 hutches that still have calves in them.  We actually took a couple hours and did nothing today, and when that was over Bruce went out and moved all the heifers on pasture to new paddocks.  Tonight the cow report is good.  The freshest one seems to have had her calf according to the manual and is doing well.  The cow with the sore foot yesterday went charging out to pasture tonight.  She still has a slight limp but is much more comfortable on her feet.  The cow with twins was chewing her cud tonight and seemed much more relaxed and comfortable.  These are all good signs that she is also on the mend.

Big Changes

Wow, what a difference a weather front can make! After 2 days with record setting temps we wake up this morning to 55 degrees, mist and wind.  While this is much more agreeable to the cattle, we were once again digging out the sweatshirts and coats.  One thing Bruce is back to doing in the morning is mixing feed.  For awhile he was able to mix the feed for 24 hours and then feed the mornings feed after we milked the prior evening.  The warmer weather causes the feed to heat and spoil faster so even adding a preservative in and  spreading it out wasn't working well.  Keeping feed fresh in summer is a constant challenge when it is hot.  Bruce went to get the cows this morning and found one had a bull calf over night.  We have a trailer for our 4 wheeler so we just go out and put the calf in the trailer and bring them home.  Someone has to ride with the calf since a ride usually isn't in their plans.  Depending on the calf, the ride can be pretty basic or a wrestling match with bruises to prove it.  We had a vet call again today for the fresh cow.  Her list of ailments include ketosis, heavy lungs, a fever, 90% uterine cleaning/closing, mastitis in 1 quarter and a sore foot.  With the exception of the foot the rest of her ailments are all predictable with the having twins and hot weather combination.  She got an appetite drench again and an IV to treat the ketosis faster. She will be on antibiotics, 25cc injections into the muscle for a few days to treat the lungs, uterus and mastitis more aggressively.  The whole focus is getting her to eat and not get a DA. Bruce had started working on her foot before the vet arrived just in case she had a DA and needed surgery so the vet watched Bruce finish her foot before he could check her.  She had a bruise on the bottom of her foot that was starting to abcess, presumably an injury from stepping on a stone in the pasture wrong.  We had another cow that had started to limp so Bruce worked on her foot also, finding a similar problem.  It is possible too that feed changes lead to abcesses also.  Bruce removed the hoof area around the injury so it could drain and then applied an iodine & sugar poltice to draw out the infection.  Both of them are quite stylish now wearing blue foot wrap. : )

With the misty weather the hay making was put on hold.  The day disappeared much more quickly than we would have liked but Bruce did manage to get the pens on the back of the barn cleaned.  I needed to regroup the calves in there to make more room for some I really want to get in from the hutches.  The east side of our barn has 4 pens and it is my preference to have no more than 6 in the 2 bigger ones and 4 in the starter pens and I think I can make that work out.  One of the twins wasn't feeling quite like he should this morning so I put electrolites in his milk right away.  I can't say I was surprised, hot weather creates its own predictable list of cattle issues.  Tonight he seemed more stubborn than sick so we will see what the morning brings.

Progress (Tuesday)

The sprayer was heading out to spray our fields as Bruce was leaving the house this morning. We have maps that we photo copy of all of our fields and Bruce had color coded the fields according to what they needed sprayed.  The no till ground gets sprayed for weed control.  With the previous alfalfa crop on these fields there is no need to add nitrogen so these fields are sprayed for weed control only.  The ground with previous corn crops needed not only weed control but also some nitrogen fertilizer.  On ground that has multiple years of corn there can be problems with insect damage.  We used to use an insecticide to control this problem but in recent years  we are able to plant corn that has been genetically modified so the insects won't bother it. The ground that is in its last year of corn and will be seeded to alfalfa next year gets sprayed with fertilizer and also weed control but extra care has to be used since any residue left from this year could damage the alfalfa we try to plant next year.   It was warm and still so we had perfect weather cooperation for getting that job out of the way.  Jason's Field has officially been sprayed.  One job removed from Bruce's list!

The cows stayed in the barn today.  Outside there was a nice breeze by late morning but it was hot out in the sun so we felt it was in the cows best interest to stay in regardless of the breeze.  Bruce fed them a TMR comparable to what they get in winter with full haylage and we bedded them with chopped corn stalks as usual.  When it gets hot I prop the calf hutches up so they have the benefits of a breeze but the shade of the hutch.  If I didn't prop them up the heat builds up in them, comparable to a car with just one window open.  It's not unusual to have the calves lay in the back of the hutches enjoying the breeze.  The bigger calves have pails for water in front of their fences but I feed the smallest ones with a bottle and I usually mix in electrolites.  If you would see them you would think I was giving them bottles of red kool aid.  Today the only calf that was struggling with the heat was the one we had just treated for pneumonia last week.

The haybine is now home and ready to cut hay and the blower is already positioned by the silo.  Bruce cleaned the lower barn and piled it in the outer yard today so he can run the chopper box of bedding off and push it in the building so we can use it later. There is a forecast of very strong storms tomorrow afternoon and then a more pleasant change in the weather.  The weather is a critical part of our world, especially in summer.  While the heat and humidity is perfect for growing corn it can be deadly for cattle.  Warm weather pushes the alfalfa crop to maturity quickly.  I am wishing we had the crop already harvested but there haven't been enough hours in the day.  Tonight it is 83 with a humidity of 51% and wind.  It is absolutely beautiful out.  The cows should have a good night on pasture.

Wednesday

It was another hot and humid day.  We kept the cows in the barn with feed and fans.  Tonight we got to the barn to find that one of the cows had managed to step on a teat.  We went through the whole winter with 1 minor injury but today she did a good job, removing close to an inch which is actually a good thing.  By actually removing the end the teat can now drain without Bruce milking it and it will heal quicker without him trying to milk an injury.  In this case, an actual removal is much better than if she had just smashed it.  Gotta love cows with special talents!  I had to work in town today so I filled bottles with electrolites for the calves that  I was concerned about handling the heat.  Bruce put them in the hutches this afternoon and tonight everyone is doing well.  It has gone from mid 90's to 70 in the last 4 hours!

Ed started cutting hay later this afternoon.  We knew storms were coming but we were betting on the rain perhaps missing us.  The storms came through about 6 tonight and we got 1 inch of rain and a bit of hail but no wind.  Not very far south of us they got 3-5" of rain and 70 mph winds.  The crops could use the rain and the hay we have cut will dry out with the cooler weather.  Bruce checked and the no till corn is peaking through the ground with 2 leaves.  It should really grow fast with the rain now.

Hot (Monday)

The night was cut short by storms that moved through.  We could hear the thunder and actually got 1/4" of rain here.  As close as a mile away they got .6" of rain with hail and it didn't take long before we heard stories of friends who had large jagged hail and 2 inches of rain.  The expected damages like roofs, siding and vehicles (this took windows out) are all frustrating.  The damages on their farms made me almost sick. Over the years we have had storms come through that caused thousands of dollars in damages.  Insurance covers the stuff but nothing covers the exhaustion of dealing with the clean up while the routines of life have to go on.  This storm punched hundreds of holes in their silo bags.  These bags have to stay air tight so the feed doesn't spoil so their only option is to remove the feed from the damaged bags and rebag it as quickly as possible.  Many days of work has to be redone as quickly as possible to minimize the damages to what is generally their primary supply of feed for the coming year.  Just the thought of it makes me numb.

In our world, our fresh cow shows signs of improving slowly.  She spent the day in the barn again with all our fans running for just her.  Bruce keeps haylage in the TMR so their digestive systems are used to it, so today haylage in the barn replaced the grass she might have eaten in the pasture.  By tonight we believe she has cleaned so that will be helpful in her recovery also.

The planting continued today but first Bruce hauled manure out of the steer yard (also used by the dairy cows when they come home) onto the last field.  The yard was a mess and once the corn is in we will be piling for the summer.  The last 2 acres was chisel plowed, field cultivated and planted so our corn planting is officially done. While Bruce was getting the ground ready for corn, Ed was mowing off 2 more sections of pasture.  When the ground was ready to plant, Ed did that so Bruce could move on to other cattle needs.  Bruce had talked to the people we are having spray our corn a couple days ago, but called them today to let them know we are done. Already tonight they have their supply tank here, ready to go in the morning. Spraying can only be done when there is very little wind.  This year has been extra windy so people doing that type of thing have had their challenges also. Today was hot and humid, perfect weather for the growing of corn but exhausting for the farmers.  By milking time Bruce and Ed both looked like they were worn out.  Joe volunteered to help milk again tonight so all 3 of us milked together so none of us had to run quite as fast. The cows still generate that same heat we appreciate so much when it keeps our pipes from freezing in winter but for some reason this time of year its just darned hot!  I walked into the house at 10 and our weather gadget said it was 83 degrees, 58% humidity and "wind" of barely 6mph.  The forecast for the next couple days is for temps in the upper 90's so all of the cows will spend the daytimes in the barn with the fans.  We are glad we have the facilities that allows us to bring them in on hot, miserable days.  The barn is still hot but somewhat less miserable and they won't have to work so hard for their feed. 

Yes, it is 2:45 a.m.  I was too tired to write earlier but can't sleep now : )  These days my writings don't quite do justice to life as we know it.  Someday perhaps we will get caught up and I will catch up on the details!

Jason's Field Is Planted : )

Today started with a call to the vet to come and look at the fresh cow.  She had serious diarrhea this morning which can be a sign of a number of things and given the fact that she has not cleaned, is one of our older cows, its been hot and either one of the twins she delivered could have easily been the size of a single birth, it was in her best interest to pay for an emergency call. So far she doesn't have a DA but her stomach was empty and she has a severe case of ketosis so she got a stomach drench and an IV for the ketosis.  (They run IV's on cows in the side of their neck) She will need the oral propylene glycol for a few days also.  We kept her in the barn today since its cooler in there and we can monitor what she is eating better.  That is a down side of having cows out on pasture.  We have no way to judge how they are eating.  Tonight she is looking a bit brighter and was anxious to go out with the rest so we will see what morning brings.

The corn planting continued today.  Bruce started in the morning and Ed took over in the afternoon when he got home.  Bruce then took the duals off the tractor and hauled a couple loads of manure out of the barn and moved all 3 batches of heifers to new paddocks.  Tonight we have 2 acres left to go but Bruce wants to clean a couple places first since once the corn is in we will have to pile manure for the summer.  Speaking of corn, Jason's Field got planted yesterday.  I was gone to a family event so there was no one here to make a video of the special event!  Bruce tells me tonight that the part that is ordered for the corn planter is about $35!  Somehow the fact that they have never ordered that part before doesn't make us feel special.  I am definitely glad its relatively cheap!

We got our May vet bill yesterday.  If it wasn't for the 2 bottles of super expensive antibiotics ($69 ea) the only charges were cultures @ $43.25!  That sure makes up for the craziness that goes on when we are freshening a lot of cows.  I am glad we are past the busy season for that : )

More Corn

The day started out really hot and humid and still.  That combination is not good for cows. Joe was here to help and he and Bruce started milking and then Joe and I milked so Bruce could plant corn.  We could see a line of storms on the radar and with the heat and humidity combination we wanted to atleast get the ground planted that was ready to go.  Bruce barely got started and a finger pick up unit broke on the corn planter.  He called the dealership and they confirmed they had 32 of that piece on hand so Bruce headed off on a 50 mile round trip to get what he needed.  He arrived at the dealership to find that the person he talked to was looking at the wrong thing and what we broke they not only didn't have in stock, they had never sold one before.  Bruce's next thought was of a neighbor that has the exact same planter as ours and perhaps, if he was done planting, we could use the part off his to continue planting.  Bruce made a phone call and they had finished yesterday and could help with our problem. By noon Bruce was home and the weather front came through without rain and the humidity dropped.  Along with the drop in humidity was a bit of a breeze so the day was much more pleasant.  We are now down to 25.1 acres left to plant with all of it ready to go for tomorrow.

Bruce had left a dry cow in the pasture this morning because she was comfortable there and walking home has been a struggle for her.  As he was getting ready to go for the parts he could see a calf walking up by her so I went out and gave it its rotacorona virus vaccine.  The calf didn't want to get up for me but I assumed since Bruce had seen it walking around it was just tired.  This afternoon Bruce went out to move the cow and found that she had a set of twins.  The one he saw had gone and hidden in the hay field and the one I saw was the other one.  Both are bulls but healthy, big (I never even considered that there was twins), 12 days early and very good drinkers tonight.

I think we can get used to having extra help this summer.  Joe washed the last 2 sections of pipeline, pressure washed my car and also the milkhouse walls and mowed the lawn. It will take some practice making a list of things for someone else to do but I think we can handle it! 

Bruce and I were talking in the barn tonight about Ed finishing our corn planting while he gets the hay equipment ready to go.   He made a statement that only a farmer to the core would make and it made me smile...."after we get hay done we will have 3 weeks with nothing to do".

A Temperature Record Today

Today was another hot, humid and windy day.  The corn needs the heat so for that crop it is a perfect growing day.  The cows on the other hand prefer it cooler so there will be a loss in milk production on days like this.  The challenge with our cow situation is determining what is working.  We have added protein and moved them to less mature grass.  We should see a positive impact of this with our bulk tank numbers but the heat will create a negative impact also.  Cows are similar to people in the heat in the fact that their interest in eating tends to drop. Perhaps the most interesting speaker we have had the opportunity to listen to was the grazing specialist for the state of New York.  He explained that cows will pick what they eat based on the protein available both in the barn and pasture.  If we feed more than necessary in the barn they will choose to eat grass since the protein content is less and it will help buffer their stomach.  If we feed less in the barn they will tend to eat the alfalfa and clover and ignore the grass.  The trick is to be aware of what is available in each paddock and adjust the protein we feed accordingly.  What we do is more art than science.

Last night Ed started mowing our pastures.  We rent his mower and tractor and pay him also so it is an expensive process we try to avoid if we can.  The weather and timing of how the pasture has grown has created a challenge in keeping up with the proper growth for the cows nutritional needs.  Mowing the excess overgrowth will allow the pasture to start over with all new growth, which in turn will allow us another chance at more perfect feed for the cows.  Spring pasture growth is always a challenge to manage.  Since the cows tend to cover the whole area as much as to 6-7 times over the process of the grazing season, mowing overgrowth this early in the season will pay off in the months to come.  Generally if we need to mow it is only once early in the season.

Today the class III price was announced for May.  The price for May 2009 was $9.84, 2010 was $13.38 with this years being $16.52.  Our contract for May was $16.59 so on this contract we gained a whole $52.50!!!  Sometimes you even have to celebrate the small wins : )   In the last 15 years the highest May price was  $20.58 in 2004 and the lowest was $9.37 in 2000.  We also had fuel delivered today.  Last years contract for diesel was $2.37 so we were disappointed when the contract for this year was $2.99, that is until today when we were told the current price is $3.59!

Once Ed was done mowing the pasture he continued to chisel plow.  Bruce had heifers to move and grain to feed before he could start planting.  Cropping without cows is a totally different game than doing dairy and crops at the same time.  Progress happens but the list of priorities is different.

More Corn In

We had another day of weather cooperation.  The cows are now across the road on the first piece they grazed this spring. They should like this better.  We had a vet call for a cow today that has been thin for awhile but has gotten much thinner now that she is out walking so much.  We have ruled out everything we can think of, and the vet didn't come up with any magical answers either.  Bruce had him run blood work on her, mainly for peace of mind.  Given her circumstances she isn't milking very much so we will sell her next week.  My calf is on the mend given the fact that she drank everything without any trouble today.  I wasn't sure we had treated her in time but it looks like we win again : )

Ed planted his corn first thing this morning so now he is done and the focus will be on getting ours planted and then moving on to hay.  Ed was gone for the afternoon but came home and did some chisel plowing for us.  Bruce planted more corn, although he had cattle things to do so he got a later start than he wanted to.  The ag dealer came and put the augers in Ed's silo so now it too is ready to be pulled up to the top for filling.  In order to keep things moving here but get ready for hay we asked my parents to do a road trip for us and pick up the 2 pieces of steel for the back of the chopper box I tipped over.  They were nice enough to do that so now we have everything we need to get that going.  One of these days we are going to have a pile of bills land in our mailbox since we haven't even gotten the tractor bill yet. In any case its nice to have everything working again....so far!

I asked Bruce what I should write about here and he said "it was a pretty straight forward, boring day"!!!!  FINALLY!

Corn Planting Continued

It was another perfect weather day today.  The Harvestore guys came and had the Harvestore going shortly after noon.  Bruce continued to plant our no till and finished about supper time.  Ed started chisel plowing for us and planted his own corn after Bruce was done.  Our corn is planted in 30 inch rows  with the goal of 32,000 plants per acre.  No till is planted on what is considered clean soil since it has not recently been corn and therefore does not have the residual insect problems that multiple years of corn in a row have.  On this ground we are able to plant regular old fashioned corn with just a bit of fertilizer to get growth started. 

Vicky was here today.  The cows are looking good but there are a few concerns with the pasture getting way too mature, mineral needs that need to be adjusted and protein that needs to be added.  She was genuinely concerned about the abrupt change from high moisture corn to dry corn but it was our only option and we are glad it was only a couple days involved.  Judging by our tank numbers the cows aren't pleased with what is going on either so we will make changes and watch what happens.  We need to make hay on the center section, graze the upper section again and mow off the lower section they have just gotten through.  That along with finishing planting corn and getting the hay made...gotta love spring!  With this weather we can at least see the possibility of moving forward pretty quickly.

My sick calf last night was able to stand again by tonight.  Everything she got today (milk and electrolites) I delivered by stomach tube.  Doing this is not only faster for me it allows me to get what she needs in without her having to work so hard.  I would compare her struggles to a person with a severe cold that can't get enough air to swallow and breath effectively. By tonight she was able to not only stand but complain too which is a good sign of recovery in progress.