We continued chopping today. Bruce started the tractor when I was getting ready to go so the air conditioning could start. When I got to the tractor I found a border collie sitting on my seat, tail wagging. We swear these dogs can smile when they are happy and he was SO happy to join me for awhile. Sleeping didn't work quite as well today. I was chopping on the new seeding and sadly, these fields are much rougher than we would like. Loose soil and substantial rain don't mix very well together so for the next 3-4 years that these fields are in hay I will get pounded 3-4 times a summer. There are a couple places where there are ditches but the worst places have a bunch of small ditches together that set up a vibration when you go through them. The good news is there seems to be a good crop of alfalfa started and we are chopping more feed than we had expected when it was so dry.
With the silo bag empty and the silo unloader still up Bruce has to feed what we are chopping to the cows in their TMR. When they were eating only fermented feeds the change was a challenge for their digestive systems. The nice thing about them being out on pasture is what we are now feeding is basically the same thing they are eating themselves, just delivered to the barn. To do this we leave some of the chopped feed in the chopper box and then drive to the edge of the area where we can reload feed. We run a pile out and Bruce scoops it up with the skidsteer and puts it in the mixer. Generally it's faster than running to the bag but tonight when he went to feed he realized that he hadn't saved anything and I got to go to the field and chop enough for tonight and tomorrow morning. It is a good thing that we left some of what was cut for the morning since it still had plenty of moisture.
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| Does he look like he is smiling? |
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We can unload the chopper box here to get feed for the cows
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