Posting Catch Up Attempt

The first part of the week is always really busy.  Joe helped me milk on Sunday night, and at this point, it looks like it will be Bruce and I for the rest of the week.  While we milked Bruce hauled 3 loads of manure out of our spreader pit.  When we built that area the intention was to have it deep enough so the spreader can be driven under the cleaner easily, and the cleaner could be installed as flat as possible so the cleaner would work easily.  We have found this area useful as a holding pit and have been using it for a few weeks for the cow manure.  The pit is now full enough that it is to the door so its time to clean. The manuer now gets hauled to the back of our farm and piled where it will be easy to reload and spread next fall.  We let the cows out on pasture during the day yesterday.  The sun was out and it did get warm.  The cows are also getting used to not working for their feed so they spent more time complaining about being out there than we liked.  When they came in the barn they continued to complain because Bruce didn't feed them as much as they had grown accustomed to.  They were outside last night and inside today.  The forecast was for upper 80's and building humidity but the humidity never did happen.  As it turned out they could have been outside today also but we had hay to chop and knew we wouldn't have time to let them in and feed them in the middle of the day.  Another guess of what to do.  From the forecast we suspect they will be spending days inside for the rest of the week.  The last milk pick up was again down but only 100#.  Our milk trucker says his route is down 30% and Bruce knows of 2 neighbors that had animals die in the last round of heat so we shouldn't complain. Due to the increased volume caused by the heat the rendering plants (dead stock pickeruppers) are so far behind that they can't get them picked up in a timely fashion so farmers are left with a carcass that in this heat has a very short shelf life.  Our milk is down 12%.  Tough on the milk check but it could be worse.

Ed cut the last of the 2nd crop yesterday and we chopped it today.  We can officially claim 2nd crop is done.  Once the first crop gets stretched out like it did this year, the rest of the harvests follow so that will be the theme for this season.  Ed raked the hay, I chopped and Bruce unloaded.  Later Bruce chopped, Ed unloaded and I took pictures!  Hopefully I will get some of them attached here soon.  Bruce shoveled the silo off so it is level and will put the cover back on it tomorrow.  We are within 15 feet of the top with another crop to harvest.  That crop will also include the seeding ground so we will have about 80 acres total in that round.

While Ed was cutting hay, Bruce got the heifers home and gave them their shots in anticipation of breeding them.  We have concern as to how successful we will be with the heat and humidity in the forecast but the process was started last week so we will continue and be hopeful.  AI breeding costs about $45 per service plus another $25 per head to synchronise them so it can get expensive if you aren't successful and have  repeated attempts. 

We did something today that we have never done before.  We bought hail insurance for our corn crop.   We had discussed it randomly but for some reason we both woke up this morning with the feeling that we needed to buy it.  Hopefully we won't have to use it but there is peace of mind knowing we have that covered.

Today was our "guess" milk check day and I liked it! This check is for the milk we produced from the 1-15th of the month and is based on what the markets are doing. We have a contract and we know they gave us too much money. The good news is we get to use it until the 17th when they issue the final check for the month and subtract the extra then. It will be fun while it lasts!

These strips alternate tilled and no till.  The striping is caused by the different varieties that we planted.

A view from the day

Another view  : )

This is a view of the neighbors grain strips.  I think this is oats that is close to harvest

Yes, Hot And Humid Still

It has continued to be a very warm and humid weekend.  The cows are spending their days in the barn and evenings out on pasture.  Jim came home this weekend and he and Bruce worked on the chopper box.  Perhaps the project that we are most pleased with is the reorganizing of cattle.  Today was cloudy which helped temper the weather. We got the group at the other place, 1/4 mile away, in the building and sorted the steers from the heifers after treating them for flies.  Between the driveway and corn field we put up a temporary fence as a suggestion of the route we wanted the cattle to take.  We then herded, I should say Mike & Bruce herded the steers down the driveway, across the county highway and across 2 cow paddocks to the far corner of the pasture.  We then sorted the smallest  group here and took those steers through the cow yard and out the lane to the back of the pasture to join the other group.  We now have 24 steers that will follow the cows.  Their job is to eat what the cows don't since there is usually plenty of nice grass left.  They just have to work a bit harder at harvesting it than the dairy cows should.  After that group was in place we herded the heifers from here through the cowyard and out the lane to the end of the pasture.  They then turned left and crossed the county road and traveled up the driveway to join the heifers there.  We still have 4 groups on pasture but now but it's cows, steers and 2 groups of heifers.  The whole time we were moving the last group it rained lightly. When we were done we all needed a change of clothes but it felt wonderful!

Heat Day 7....again

I had an early appointment in town this morning and Bruce wanted to go along.  In order to get there in time everything had to move along quickly.  Joe was here this morning so he and Bruce started milking and I moved calves into the barn.  To do this I just fill a bottle with whatever they are used to drinking.  They haven't had a bottle for awhile so they are excited to follow and drink wherever I want to go.  Generally they get less than half a bottle in their travels, and when I get everyone moved I feed them their normal feed in pails.  When I got calf moving done Bruce went to set up a fence for the cows and I milked with Joe.  Knowing it was going to be warm and we were in a hurry he planned to put them directly across from the barn.  By the time Joe and I got done milking Bruce was back and finished up the milkhouse details while Joe let the cows out and I fed calves.  Farmers are professionals at getting through the shower and out of the house in record speeds and both of us were through the shower and dressed and out the door in 25 minutes!  We had a variety of stops to make in the process of the day and while we were at our last stop Bruce's phone rang.  His mom was calling to let us know that the cows were congretating and complaining.  The sun wasn't supposed to come out until later this afternoon but it was out by noon and the cows were hot.  We came straight home and within 15 minutes were changed and out the door to get them home and in the barn.  Bruce didn't take the time to feed them, and they weren't exactly impressed since they are used to having fresh feed when they come in.  Already by 2 p.m. 3 of them were panting with their tongues out.  As soon as we got all their stanchions closed Bruce brought in the hose and started spraying them down to cool them off.  With them being in Bruce fed them early.  There is heat in the forecast for the next week so it looks like we will be making feeding decisions for the cows on a daily, if not hourly, basis this week.

Joe came and helped milk tonight.  He and I started while Bruce caught some stuff up and then Bruce milked with Joe and I fed calves.  It really is nice to have the extra help.  After milking Bruce decided to move the goats to new pasture.  In the daylight the dog herds the group very easily but tonight the dog pushed too hard and one kid got separated from the group.  Mike likes chasing cows but he LOVES chasing goats so at times his concentration and listening skills don't work very well. One kid by itself is impossible to chase.  In the end the goats ended up in the pasture where they belonged but not before they got chased out of the shed and the shop and then back to where they started so we could get the single kid back with the group.  Then the route included stealing corn around the harvestore before they were in place.  In the process Mike took 3 soaks in his cooling tank.  It's hot and humid and still tonight.  I wish the night would be more cow friendly.

Heat Day 6...ummm, not really

I wasn't feeling well this morning to I was extra glad Joe came and milked with Bruce.  Joe took care of most of the calves but I did feed the newest one.  I was a bit concerned last night because she wouldn't drink.  It's not totally abnormal for that to happen during the transition between milk and milk replacer but with this heat the game becomes different.  She had lots of energy last night so I hoped all she had was a stomach upset.  This morning and again tonight she ate very aggressively with no signs of trouble so I suspect that was the case.  By early afternoon it was pretty obvious that it wasn't going to be as miserable today as it had been so Bruce was kicking himself that he didn't let the cows out.  The combination of a 20% humidity drop and clouds made it a basic summer day.  Bruce spent the afternoon cleaning calf pens in the barn.  That is a job that desperately needed doing but until today there was always cropping or enough heat stress in their lives already that cleaning pens waited. Along with pen cleaning and bedding was reorganizing everyone.  Now I have 2 pens empty and waiting for the outside calves to come in.  I am excited since 3 of them have been weaned for quite awhile.  I have been carrying everything they need out to the hutches and the bigger they get, the more I carry.  All but 1 can come in and I can start the weaning process once they are comfortable with their new surroundings. Soon, with the addition of the ones that are due, I will only have 3 calves to feed!!!

Darran came today and picked up our milk, and as predicted, we are down 500# over 4 milkings.  That isn't exactly the case because there are also 2 fresh cows in the tank that weren't included in the before heat measurement so it could easily be 800# or more.  Darran reports that his route is down 25,000# with this heat. Perhaps the good news is, if this is a problem for a large part of the dairy industry the price might stay high beyond our contracted milk.  The flip side of that is time will tell how many of  the cows will come back up on  production.  Chances are we won't have as much milk to sell by then.

Heat Day 5

We were pleasantly surprised when we walked out of the house this morning and found it almost pleasant with a slightly lower humidity but mainly it was in the mid 70's with a breeze.  I was glad to see the calves had drank water over night.  The new calf is doing well, at least as far as health goes.  She is a calf that would never survive on her own since she can't stand still and loses the nipple all the time.  She is a puttery drinker but with this weather I am making sure I know exactly how she is acting.    Joe came this morning and again we all milked.  Joe prepped, I post dipped and bedded and whoever was free moved milkers.  Cows don't read the maual so at times we are all 3 standing around and sometimes 4 cows get done at the same time. By the end of milking the heat was building again.  Bruce had an appointment in town so Joe and I took care of the final details.  Shortly after we were done I got a phone call  from our fire department offering water misting if needed to keep the cows cool.  What an amazing offer from our small town fire department!  We have our own well and have always had a good supply of water but some farms aren't quite that lucky.  Our well is 375 feet deep and we have never run short of water, thankfully!  I got home and checked the cows in the middle of the afternoon and some were breathing hard but no one was panting.  By about 5 the humidity dropped to 60% for a little while so we took advantage of the breeze and hosed the cows down.  It doesn't take much water on their backs to cool them off and many were back eating within 15 minutes.  By the time we got done milking it was again 85 degrees with 79% humidity with a really nice breeze.  The cows should have a decent night.

Heat Day 4

We had another day in the sauna.  It was cooler in the barn milking this morning because its naturally cooler over night (that is a stretch these days) and the cows have been out.  By evening milking we not only have the build up of the heat of the day, but the cow body heat from having them in the barn all day.  It is still the most comfortable place for them, but miserable all the same.  Joe came again this morning so all 3 of us milked.  Last night Joe mentioned that he usually showers in the morning.  We laughed and suggested he shower before bedtime.  By the time we get done we are all totally soaked with sweat, not to mention cow dirt and manure.  No problem with plugged pores in this weather!  Most of today we spent in the house.  Bruce actually napped for a bit which is good after the last few days of fun.  By the middle of the afternoon he went out and checked the cows and then worked on some fixing projects that didn't take a lot of energy.  We have our milk picked up every other day so today's pick up was the first involving the heat and the cows being in, along with the feed change of more haylage.  This pick up also included the fresh treated cow that can be milked in the tank (4 milkings) and the other fresh cow that was milked 1 milking.  In theory there should have been a significant increase but today it was an increase of 6# over the last pick up.  Actually an increase of any kind in this heat is a surprise.

My calves are doing ok.  The newest one will drink water for me which is nice since some calves will only drink milk.  Even newborn calves have an opinion!  Seasons change.  In winter I do the extra calf stuff in the morning because its the warmest and brightest.  In summer I do the extra stuff in the evening when it is the coolest.  I was disappointed to see that the calves didn't drink as much water today as I would have hoped.  Just like people, in this heat they aren't motivated to do anything including eat.  Tonight I could see a couple of the calves through the windows when we started milking kicking up their heels and playing so I guess they are doing fine.

The test results on recent milk shipments show our fat test is down.  When cows eat they produce energy or heat.  When it's hot they eat less so they produce less heat.  When they eat less they chew their cuds less.  When they chew less they don't produce as much saliva.  Saliva is a stomach buffer, so less of it produces a more acid stomach, which in turn results in a depressed fat test.  Part of our component pricing is our fat test so when the fat test drops, so does our income.  Heat and humidity not only causes less milk and a lower fat test, it breeds bacteria galore which increases our somatic cell count.  Part of our component pricing is our SCC so our income is decreased from that also.  What is not to love about this heat wave!? The weather report tonight said yesterday was a record high low and also record high dewpoint.  Our weather gadget showed a heat index of 124 today. Tomorrow is supposed to be the worst day this week.

Joe was not able to help tonight so it was just Bruce and I.  I took a thermometer along to see just how hot it was out there.  The temperature in the barn was 86 degrees.  Cows body temperatures are about 96 degrees.  Add humidity and who knows how to describe the experience.  I did decide on a miserable scale of 1-5, milking last night was a 5.5 and the over night for the cows was probably a 5.  Tonight I would say milking  was still easily a 4+.  As soon as we got a section of cows milked and post dipped we let them out since there was a breeze outside of the barn.  I am hoping their comfort level in the pasture tonight is at 3.

I got to the barn tonight to find that one of the projects Bruce worked on was replacing my hose reel. I had a plastic one that was mounted outside the milkhouse but it had gotten broken last summer.  Until now I have been dragging a hose around or carrying pails. In my world this is exciting stuff! I guess farm women can be easily entertained : )

Heat Day 3

A sauna.  Thats what we lived in today.  It rained during the morning and then the sun came out about noon.  The cows stayed in again today so there was the extra bedding and additional feed that Bruce mixed.  We were again glad that the cows seemed to handle the heat.  All that means is we had only a few that were breathing hard and none that were panting.  I am glad that, with the exception of the new one, my hutch calves are all drinking out of pails so its easy to get fluids into them.  The new one seems to be doing well at this point.  About the time I got home today Bruce came home from once again picking berries!  It was 92 degrees with 93% humidity today!  He says he is done going to the woods for now, but claims he knows where the next ones are growing : )  When I was feeding the new calf tonight I had sweat dripping down my face and my glasses steamed up LOL. Joe came and helped milk tonight.  We all 3 milked with Joe prepping, Bruce (and Joe & I if needed) handling milkers and I post dipped.  It seemed like milking went faster tonight.  The cows are out again tonight.  There isn't much breeze but there is nice grass and no sun. The milk man comes tomorrow so we will see what the cows think of this weather.

Berry picking day 1 & 2

Berry picking day 3 & 4