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 : )