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!
No comments:
Post a Comment