Summer Perfection

What a beautiful day we had.  The humidity dropped and the sun was shining.  The cows spent another day on pasture.  Thats where they are supposed to be so the hope is that will be the normal routine again.  According to the bulk tank amount this morning they are liking what is going on in their life.  They aren't milking quite as much as we would like, but they seem to be coming back into production after all the heat.  Tonight we tested milk...perfect timing.

Today we had 10 heifers bred.  With a little luck we will have the majority of them pregnant when we do the blood checks in about 30 days.  The only other thing to note is the misbehavior of the goats.  They have figured out they can get out of their fence.  The dog of course thinks this is a great time and even herded them back into their pasture once himself while Bruce was gone.  Bruce, on the other hand, does not share the same sense of humor for the situation : )

Stuff

We woke up to cool weather yesterday.  Unusual after what we have dealt with lately but we very much enjoyed it.  We had rain showers on and off most of the day,three tenths, not alot  but plenty to get wet in.  We had a fairly laid back day.  The cows were out eating on their own.  The bulk tank has come up a bit, not where it should be, but improvement is good.

Today it was cloudy with a few showers, again not alot but a quarter inch.  Bruce did a milk culture that has been on the to do list and I took it to the vet clinic.  On my way I saw something crossing the road that I didn't recognize.  When I got to it I stopped and standing in the middle of my lane was a young badger!  He looked at me for a few seconds and then it was as if he realized his mom wouldn't approve of him being in the road because he turned and headed for the field.  We know there are badgers around but rarely see them.  Bruce thinks its 10 years since he has seen one.  He was cute and seeing him made my whole day : )  The cows were out on pasture again today.  We let them out assuming the sun would come out and we would get them back early.  Bruce had given them a small amount of new pasture because of this but it stayed cloudy all day.  Mid afternoon Bruce asked me to come out and help reset the fence.  Normally he does it himself when the cows are on their way home.  Mike was confused by this process because generally he herds them to the gate and home.  Today he was only allowed to watch.  I haven't been out in the pasture for awhile.  The grass they are eating now is as perfect as pasture can get.  It was funny to see the cows hustle into the new grass and even funnier to see random ones kick up their heels and run and play just for the heck of it.  Bruce sees them do it fairly often in his routine.  Mike makes sure everyone goes into the new grass by just walking up behind them and standing.  He doesn't run or push, just stands and suggests they move.  As they move he walks behind and when they are in the new grass he walks away and continues the process with anyone else that hasn't gotten there yet.  While we were out there Bruce found the end of the water line had popped open.  We suspected that had happened since the water pressure in the house is lower when there is a leak.  After coming home to get parts, he fixed that also.  The steer group has now been moved into the area the cows just left.  They did a good job cleaning up the pasture they were on.

Joe came today and washed the exterior of our pipeline.  I know there are people who feel cows need their tails, and most of ours have them.  In the barn some of them, not all, slop them in the gutter and then proceed to paint themselves and everyone and everything around them.  If you are a believer that cows can swat flies with their tails, then there is no doubt that they can hit farmers if they want and where they want.  Lets just say its not the best part of our day.  They make less mess when they are in the barn full time but in summer the gutters tend to be emptier and have more liquids.  For this reason too, we are glad they are back outside.  It was another warm and sticky night milking again.  We can be done with this humidity any day now.

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

Heat Day 2

We had decided that the cows would be in the barn today already earlier in the week when we heard the weather forecast.  Yesterday was an after thought so feeding and bedding cows got added later.  Knowing we were keeping them in, we bedded them as we milked and Bruce fed them extra right away.  We have 3 fans in the end of the barn that are 4 ft., 2 fans mounted on the ceiling that are 2 ft. and one fan that is 3ft and sits on the floor.  All the air for ventilation is drawn from the north, south and west in our situation, with some flooring removed in the haymow to access air from the west.  We have double 4 ft. flourescent lights in front of the cows that are spaced about 6 ft apart which mimic daylight.  In this weather, not having to use any energy walking around to eat or drink, along with the shade of the barn, is the best senario for cows.  According to the bulk tank total today, they were prefectly ok with staying inside yesterday.  We will see how they handle the rest of the week.  As in any situation, not all of the cows read the manual.  We have one that has decided the way to use the drinking cup is to put her top jaw in the cup and her bottom jaw over the edge on the bottom.  She has run gallons of water into the feed alley doing this.  Other cows lay with their tails in the gutter and then proceed to use them as paint brushes, splattering themselves and everything around them.  For the most part they just eat and drink and rest.

We were thrilled to see the fresh cow cleaned over night and is eating well this morning.  Bruce gave her calcium under the skin last night and gave her another bottle this morning.  She also got ketosis medicine just to be safe.  If she doesn't need it her body will excrete it through the urine so there is no harm at all in keeping ahead of any potential stresser in this weather.  Her calf is doing well.  After a few calf issues I am more than a little concerned about this one with the heat.  We know the last calf didn't get its roto coronavirus vaccine for many hours after it was born since it came during the night in the pasture.  This virus does kill a perfectly healthy calf in less than 24 hours, which is also the case with a pneumonia we have had this year.  We also know she ate when she was in the pasture but we don't know who fed her.  Yesterday's calf got her antivirus right away, before she ate.  She got her colostrum feeding, a newly pressure washed hutch and chopped corn stalk bedding.  According to the manual she should do fine.  Calves don't read the manual either.

With this hot weather I spent the day catching up on bookwork.  At the end of the year I print out a bunch of reports and make a book that is 1/2 inch thick when I get done.  I hadn't done the one for 2009 or 2010 yet so that was my project for yesterday.  It is always interesting to see the final numbers, and 2009 was again revisited in print.  The thing that I found the most interesting, frustrating, challenging was our milk sales from last year.  I had forgotten that we also had milk contracted for last year and this is how it played out.  We had contracts in  9 out of 12 months.  All of the months had the same amount of milk contracted as we have this year. Our lowest contract was at $14.77 and our highest was at $15.89.  Of the 9 months we only had loss of opportunity in 2 months, oddly enough with contracts that were in the upper end amounts.  We ended up with an overall contract gain of just under $7,500!  This month alone we have milk contracted at $16.42 and it looks like we will very likely have an opportunity loss of $3,000!  The volitility in prices in the last decade makes this business a challenge.

It ended up being 94 degrees with 82% humidity today.  Bruce had to feed calves and steers in the barn and add a hose to get water to the group at the other place.  After he got done he decided it was another perfect day to go berry picking.  He was able to pick a bunch last year and it is very unusual to have good crops 2 years in a row. The cows seemed to handle the heat ok today.  There were a few that were breathing  a little hard but none that were panting.  Cows pant like dogs in extreme heat stress.  Tonight they are outside again with a heat index that was still at 97 degrees at 10 p.m.  They won't have the sun pounding on them so that will help.

So It Begins

Breakfast got kind of late this morning.  We didn't start milking particularly early.  We have a special needs cow so she adds time at the end.  Bruce got the milker on her and the phone rang, we have heifers out on our yard.  I finished milking the cow while Bruce and the dog brought the group of steers and heifers to the end of the barn and put them in an empty pen.  Bruce is not impressed with the effectiveness of the fly control we are using so he retreated the cows..  Along with the regular feeding I did some extra cleaning while Bruce was treating the cows.  By the hutches there was very little breeze.  I came home to see what our weather gadget said and found 4 more stray animals wandering around by the end of the barn.  I checked the weather and called Bruce, 78 degrees, 99% humidity, winds only 7 mph and we have 4 animals out yet.  The dog is thinking this is a pretty entertaining morning, which for him makes up for the full bath he got last night and the brushing he got when he would have preferred getting cows out of the barn.  With the sun peeking out randomly and full sun in the forecast we decided to keep the cows in today.  That adds things, like bedding and feeding and anything we could think of to make them comfortable, to the day. In hind site they might have been OK outside but it totally depended on where the breeze was.  Other than a feed change I think not having to work so hard today was good.  This afternoon we got to the barn and found a heifer calf had been born. I did some extra stuff tonight since it was so nice and the cows are back out on pasture and should do fine. 

The heifers/steers that were on the yard got treated with fly repellent and put on a new piece of pasture.  Bruce strung a poly wire fence along one side to keep them from going up the driveway and the dog kept them in line and got them where they needed to go pretty quickly.  Bruce had 2 other groups to move today also, along with really really wanting to pick berries again.  By the time he got everything done it was 4:00.  He was able to go and pick for a couple hours but these berries are pretty much getting to the end.

Since we have no field work to do we have officially entered the period of time Bruce referred to as "having nothing to do".   : )

Friday

First order of business today was to run to town and get a silo cover the right size so Bruce could cover the haylage when we were done milking.  He started milking and was half done when I got back so we both finished.  The first thing Bruce had to do was run the blower for awhile to put fresh air in the silo in case silo gas had started to develop.  There is only 40 ft. in a 60 ft. silo at this point so he let it run an hour while he did other things.  It didn't take long to cover the silage itself once he got to that point. Overall it was a pretty nice day.  It stayed overcast and breezy.  We could use rain but it disappeared before it got to us most of today.  Bruce took the day and picked black caps.  For him it is like going on vacation.  I met with an insurance agent to consider a new company for our property insurance.  At this point it looks like we can save a decent amount of money with potentially better coverage.  I will need to make a phone call on Monday with some questions before we decide.

We  are tired of heat issues.  Yesterday morning my newest heifer calf had signs of diarrhea.  I added the normal electrolyte powder to her milk and she was an aggressive eater, just like she has been so I assumed she just had a stomach upset. Last night I got to the barn and she was weak and dehydrated.  I gave her extra electrolytes, and although she was willing to drink from a bottle, I gave them to her via stomach tube so she didn't have to work so hard. Bruce treated her for pneumonia. This morning she was dead.  High temps and humidity and then cool and then hot again is hard on calves.  I prefer 20 degrees. Bruce and I are both glad we are nearly done calving, although that means 3 to go yet with deadly temps in the forecast for next week.

I paid bills the other day and called today to find out what our milk check will be on Monday.  This check will not be big enough, but on the bright side, this month included the fertilizer bill along with another 500 gallons of diesel fuel.  For some reason our cropping expenses have been spread out nicely and the fertilizer was the last big bill.  I also paid the vet bill.  The pneumonia antibiotic we use costs $229 for a 50cc bottle.  The last cow that freshened with twins and other issues cost us $280 but she is doing fine so at least that feels like a win : )   Just interesting pieces of our farming puzzle.

Randomness

With so many things going on this time of year I have basically been writing about the high points of the day.  Bruce did some routine maintenance on the chopper, including sharpening it, and in the process was lucky enough to see a chain that had a connector broken.  If the chain had not stopped at exactly that point he wouldn't have known about it until it broke, probably on the first load. Ed raked and then he hauled loads and I chopped and Bruce raked. With the chain fixed and the chopper sharp todays high point was chopping 2nd crop hay, even if it was only half of the crop.  The quality should be excellent, the moisture was great and the weather cooperated.  Thank Heavens!  Bruce leveled the silo, planning to cover it, only to find out the cover we had was the wrong size.  That means a trip to town tomorrow and then covering the silo after it has already started heating. 

This morning Bruce took the cows out to pasture and then checked on the black caps.  The cows headed out to where there should be new grass and it wasn't long before they were down by Bruce and complaining.  He wanted them to work a little harder on the paddock they had last night but they were not happy with that idea.  Bruce left them there a few hours and then gave them a new paddock.  The grass they are in now has all been mowed previously and has grown back to what is considered perfect at this point.  No wonder they like it : )

The goats are going through their pastures pretty quickly these days.  The kids are easily 2/3 the size of their mothers and can literally lift the doe off her feet when they bump her while they nurse.  It is beyond human understanding why the does put up with it but it doesn't seem to phase them.  They will continue to nurse until early fall.  Eventually the doe just won't stand still for them.

This week the cow that stepped on and removed an inch of her teat can be milked with a milker.  Her injury happened 6/8 and all this time we have just let it drain and heal.  Once cows are prepped they let their milk down, and in a case like this, that teat runs like a faucet.  Needless to say, she made a big mess in the process so we are glad the milker works again.  The trick with her will be to prep her just before the milker is put on or we will continue to have a mess.

Tonight Joe came again and mowed our lawn and pressure washed the walls and floor in the milkhouse along with helping milk.  We are looking better around here little by little.

I haven't done very well carrying a camera lately so I end up adding pictures after the fact.  That is the case today.

Any guess why Bruce gets excited when we have black caps

We have wild lillies that grow in the woods.

Wednesday Again

The day started out at 59 degrees!  Brrr.  The cows and I loved it but the corn likes heat and humidity so this can only be temporary.  After milking Bruce took a milk sample  to culture of a cow recently fresh that has a high somatic cell count.  I ran the sample to the vet this afternoon in hopes of having results back before the weekend.  After milking I had to go to town to report our acreage at the Farm Service Agency.  This is the agency that runs any federal ag programs, and in order to participate you have to operate by their rules.  The acreage reports are due by 7/15 even though commodity prices are currently high enough that the programs aren't really paying anything.  It is easier to just report yearly to keep records current.  In order to participate in any programs we also have to work with the land conservation department.  They are the ones that supervise our cropping rotations, strips and erosion control.  The other reason to report is we have crop insurance on our alfalfa seeding and they require an official crop report.  Bruce did a really good job of keeping track of the details which is why I did the report this year instead of him.  While I was gone Bruce ran over to the neighbors to look at his blower.  He has one identical to ours and Bruce wanted to make sure he had replaced the belt on ours correctly.  In the process he realized he had the pulley backwards so he had to turn that around.  Oops : )  Bruce raked the hay this afternoon but even with low humidities and a breeze it didn't get dry enough to chop today.  We started the breeding process again today by putting cidr's in a group of heifers.  The fear is it will get really hot again when they are due to be bred.  We have had this problem in the past during the summer and heat stress has a pretty negative impact on fertility.

As a general rule Bruce goes out with the dog and the 4 wheeler to get the cows but tonight he insisted I ride along.  While the dog supervised the cows going home, he had to show me all the wild black caps that are growing in our woods again this year.  I really think, second to border collies, nothing makes him happier!  Picking berries in the heat and the bugs and getting all scratched up is a fun vacation day for him.  Needless to say, I don't entirely share his enthusiasm but I am more than willing to make batches of jelly for him with whatever he picks

Tis The Season

Storms passed through here Sunday night and Monday morning.  All total we got .7 of rain.  It had gotten pretty dry so we were glad for what we got, especially since some areas got nasty storms along with their rain.  It was good timing for the crops, especially the seeding that has just been harvested.

The flies are here.  They become a nusance for the cows and make their life miserable.  In an effort to combat the aggravation the cows tend to huddle and rest in a small area, which with the rain, becomes a mud hole.  They get the mud on their feet and udders which makes prepping them for milking take twice as long. The moisture and mud attracts flies so the viscous cycle continues.  Yesterday Bruce put fly repellent on all but one group of animals that are on pasture.  We use a product that you pour down their backs.  It doesn't take much but already today there are very few flies on them and they are more content.

Joe was here last night and milked with me while Bruce set a new fence for the heifers below here.  They are now back to the first piece of pasture they were on.  Bruce finished milking with Joe so I could get the calves fed. 

Today Bruce checked into getting some help to pick the stones on our seeding fields.  We will see if we can make that work.  The rest of the day was spent replacing the shaft, hub and belt on the blower while Ed started cutting our 2nd crop alfalfa.  It was a cloudy day with less humidity.  The hay isn't drying very fast at this point.  There is less tonage in the 2nd crop so the plan is to rake 2 windrows together.  This makes chopping more efficient and helps hold the moisture.  Joe did some weed trimming tonight and then he and Bruce milked. I was able to do few things in the house before I fed calves and helped let cows out. I enjoyed the break from milking even if it was to clean house : )

Still Here

Life has been so consumed with field work that I thought maybe I should mention we still have cattle and goats.  For the most part they are all doing their thing without much trouble.  The last cow that freshened is moving along exactly as the manual would expect.  We do have a cow that Bruce has had to treat for mastitis.  She is one of our staph aureus cows which is her first problem but the wet and heat contribute to her problems.  I am feeding 6 calves currently.  They are slow to start on feed with the warm weather, which is why I really like 20 degrees better.  Today it was in the mid 80's and humid again.  The corn is loving it and finally looking pretty good.  With our clay soils, the excess moisture earlier stunted some of the plants in wetter areas and until this week they were shorter more yellowish than green.  We do need some rain and hopefully we will get some over night and won't have storm damage in the morning. 

My View, All In A Days Work

No till corn.

Seeding windrow then corn field and then the strips left to chop

A favorite view...

Little alfalfa plants and some random peas.  This is the start our alfalfa crop for the next 3 years

It is easy to see how the seeding is planted in rows.  I love the patterns created in our fields as the seasons go on. One windrow to go.....nice : )

This is one of my favorite views from the back corner of our farm.

Bruce sharpened the chopper this morning and washed the tractor windows so we could finish chopping seeding.  Later in the day yesterday it was impossible to see what I was doing with the dirt on the windows and the suns glare.  I did plenty of chopping guaged by the sounds of the chopper and plain old experience, so today it was wonderful to actually see what I was doing and also enjoy my favorite views.  We did 45 acres in two days which is definitely more like what we are used to.  Today's chopping was a bit more stressful since there were more stones and more ditches.  Seeding ground is always tilled so its looser and more easily moved.  The excess heavy rains we had this spring, along with the fact that these fields were some of the steepest on our farm, set us up for ditches happening even with our best efforts.  On a few areas in these fields I am always in fear of tipping a chopper box over.  Bruce claims it won't happen, and I recite that to myself over and over as I go through the areas that make me nervous. Thankfully, so far, he has been right. I ran plenty of stones through the chopper today.  We do need to get them picked up now that the stubble is short enough to see them easily.  Normally they would have gotten picked up after planting, but of course there was nothing normal about this spring.  Stones rarely do much serious damage but they do break sections in the haybine that have to be replaced and make the knives in the chopper dull and make a lot of noise. In the process of cutting this area Ed had to fix sections 4 times.  I try as best I can to avoid the ones I can see but it is the ones under the windrows that cause the most problems.

Fixing

Thurs. - Joe was here this morning and started milking with Bruce and then he and I finished so Bruce could work on the silo unloader.  Overall it was a day of maintenance and fixing for him.  It was decided not to make a new shaft for the silo unloader blower as they could not get the old one pressed out of the rotor.As Ralph said "we don't wanna be blowin s**t up ". So instead he built it up with a welder and remachined it. The unloader didn't get entirely put together but the big piece is in place.  To fill the silo the unloader gets somewhat dismantled and rebalanced and then pulled to the top of the silo with a cable that is attatched to an electric winch. This way it is out of the way while we fill and can be let down on top of the silage again when we are ready to feed. The forage blower got it's old shaft put back in place and " tinkered" so it wouldn't move  and the chopper box had the bearing replaced on the main drive clutch that tightens the belts.  As long as he had it apart he replaced the belt and chains.  We sent Joe out today to cut thistles in the pasture.  Most of them have been mowed by Ed this year but there are some in the fence row where the mower isn't supposed to go.  Ed continued cutting seeding.  We will have to start chopping as early as we can tomorrow since it didn't get dry enough to start today.  We have everything ready to go, complete with a cooperative weather forecast.

Worn out silo unloader part

This is the silo unloader, slightly disassembled for repair

Bruce had the company of a young pigeon who didn't exactly appreciate his activities

Tinkering

Fri- This morning started with a heifer calf following the cows all the way home from the far end of the pasture.  Bruce caught her and put her in a fence.  She had obviously been born earlier in the evening because she was dry and had already made her plans for the day, and those plans did not include people.  It wasn't long and she had her fence tipped over and had gone into hiding, in the grass on the end of the calf hutches.  Calves can be like small children covering their eyes, just because they don't want you to see them and they hold really still they think you don't.  She had no interest in eating for me this morning but tonight I suggested that her mother said we should be friends and she drank 2 bottles for me.  LOL  We got the pregnancy test results back from the blood draws we sent in on Tues.  The last group we had 3 pregnant out of 5 samples.  This time we had 7 pregnant with 1 to recheck out of 8!  We chopped seeding today.  The weather was perfect.  The moisture levels started out ok enough and improved as we continued.  Ed finished cutting the rest of the seeding and then chopped for a couple hours so I could have a break.  As much as I like doing it, driving tractor and chopping wears on me.  I could chop today in 8th gear which translates into 5.1 mph!  It was fun to see the new alfalfa plants coming as I traveled around the fields.  We have a couple ditches ( washouts) in the fields from the rain earlier, one of which had started last year and is much worse this year.  On that field I chopped on one side of the water way and then chopped the other side as thought it was 2 separate fields, just so I didn't have to drive through the ditch.  When I am chopping I have to manuever 6 axels through and if you can't hit the ditch straight it puts a huge twist on the chopper box. This particular ditch is deep and there is no way to go through it straight. Twisting a chopper box, especially with a big load, lets just say we don't need anything else to fix.  By the end of the day we had chopped 29.9 acres!!!!  Three days of cutting and two days of chopping and we should be done.  This is much closer to normal....finally!!!  With the process of first crop hay getting extended so far out there is about 23 acres of 2nd crop that we could harvest so that will be the next project.  So much for Bruce having that period of time with nothing to do.  : )  

Fixing Continued

Joe came this morning and he and I started milking so Bruce could do some feeding and then Bruce took over so I could get things done.  Today was a town day for me.  Joe made sure the calves had water and did some string trimming.  Bruce focused on getting the blower housing on the unloader replaced.  In the process he had to take the rotor out so then new bearings were in order.  Once it was out he realized the worn bearings had worn the shaft so he went to a machinist that is only a few miles from here and ordered a new shaft. That should be ready to go in the morning. The final adjustment details may wait until the silo is filled.  The main thing was getting that houseing in there while the unloader was on the bottom and easy to get to.  Ed started cutting peas and triticale today.  It looks like there is plenty out there and our timing should be good.  The next few days will be busy.  The other adventure today was having someone come and fix the front tire on our big tractor that had gone flat.  Evidently the aging tire wore a hole in the tube so eventually we will need a replacement tire.  The cows are behaving...the calves are behaving...the goats are behaving...the machinery is not!

That Special Day

Today is that special day of the month, the day they announce the class III base price for our June milk.  The June price for 2009 was $9.97, 2010 was $13.62 and todays price is $19.11 or $1.65 per gallon.  Given the fact that we have milk contracted at $16.38 we have lost opportunity for just over $2000.  Only three times in the last 15 years has the price been higher than what we contracted for.  We are fully aware that the markets are better than our contract for the next few months.  In the big picture it is all good.  In the little picture : (     The historical 15 year high was $20.25 in 2008 and the low was $9.46 in 2000 with the 15 year average being $13.36.

It was another warm day with a bit more breeze than yesterday. I am glad to report my calf gets up and down when he wants to without my help.  He still has a sore leg but is functional and eating so he will do fine.  Bruce needed parts today for ongoing maintenance so we scheduled a couple appointments for him as long as he was going. Generally farmers don't volunteer to go to town any more often than they have to so we made good use of the outing. The haylage silo has an unloader that is 35 years old and still working well with the exception that the bottom of the blower has worn through after 11 years since its last replacement. It is easier to do those kinds of repairs on unloaders when they are at the bottom and we now have the parts here.  Bruce got a call this morning that the shaft for the blower is also ready.  The blower shaft tends to move and wear due to "poor engineering" according to Bruce.  He decided to have the shaft redone and use bearings that he feels they should have used in the original design. After he got home he moved a couple groups of heifers to new pasture.  Joe was here this afternoon and evening to mow lawn and do some cleaning along with helping me milk while Bruce works on repairs.  Vicky checked our seeding and feels it is ready to be cut so that will start tomorrow.  We got just over 3/10 inch of rain tonight about supper time. After having such a wet June, we really could use some rain again.  If we could order rain we would have 1 inch every Saturday night.  I highly doubt the vacationers and campers would agree!

July 4

Last night Bruce gave my calf with the sore leg some anti inflamatories.  This morning he was more cooperative when I helped him up and tonight he was standing in front of the hutch waiting for me when I went to feed.  Bruce called the vet this morning to check on dosages and they recommend a different drug than we have for a calf this size so we will have to pick those meds up tomorrow.  It was a warm day, mid 80's, humidity 49% so pretty comfortable that way but there was no breeze.  We live on a hill so not having a breeze is extremely rare.  It also made it seem much warmer than it normally would.  The cows seemed to congregate in a group more than we like. because of the warmth and the flies are starting to be pesty.

The rest of the day was quiet.  We actually worked on a house project today, something that rarely happens.  Today felt like Sunday, it will be a confusing week : )

Sat-Sun

For some reason my post for yesterday disappeared so I will try again.  I arrived at the barn and checked the calves and the one who wouldn't get up for me had magically gotten back into the hutch.  When I went to feed them he wouldn't get up.  Given the fact that he had been up during the night, I knew he could do it.  Generally when they are weak just a little extra help and they can stand but this guy wouldn't even try.  Bruce came out and lifted him, something I can't do, and he could stand just fine and drank the bottle in the holder as normal.  We did notice that he has a swollen joint in his leg so that explains why he has been slow the last few days.  He is eating very well so with a little therapy every day he will eventually heal.  We wonder if he had been playing and kicking and caught his leg in the pail holder in the hutch and twisted it.

The rest of the day we pretended we had nothing to do and actually went on a farmer date.  As usual, that included grocery and farm shopping but it was a day out so that was OK.  It was a very warm day but the humidity was a little more tolerable. 

Sun-My calf will get up with help and eats well.  The weather is a little more enjoyable which is also helpful if they are already having problems.  Bruce moved all the heifers into new paddocks and then we spent the afternoon at a family campsite.  It was a pretty laid back day. 

My Bad Attitude : ) or Thurs to Sat

Thurs- Bruce set up the bagger after milking so we could actually cut and chop the overgrown pasture.  This isn't really a project as simple as it sounds since the bagger has to be put in place and then the bag has to be mounted on it and tied off.  It is heavy and awkward.  The end gets folded over and double tied so it looks like it has a big belly button "outie".  The backstop is then put in place to support the end and hold pressure on the bag while it is filling.  There are cables that run from the backstop to the bagger that hold tension so the silage will pack the entire 250ft length of the bag if we would fill it all.  Then we are ready to start chopping!

Vicky, our nutritionist, came today.  We had all the normal discussions of how the fresh cows are doing, feed inventories, feed mix results in relation to production, fat test and MUN's.  Feed samples were taken to be sent in and analyzed so we know what we are working with.  We also verified who had been bred, who was on the list, and why we are behind.  The days don't expand to fill all the requirements, nor are we getting faster.  That doesn't include animal cooperation...or lack of it.  LOL

We started chopping pasture by mid afternoon.  These areas are set up for pasture and not cropping so they can be awkward to get around, especially the first round which is chopped counter clockwise.  Added to that is trying to stay off the fence but getting everything that was  cut off the field so it can regrow, and the fact that the pasture is rough compared to our fields.  The grass is mature and there was a lot of feed out there so I could only chop in 4th gear, 2.7 mph!  Lets just say I took a physical and mental pounding.  Feeding started late, milking started later. Yesterday it was hot.  The cows spent the day in the pasture with plenty of breeze and only one seemed to show signs of stress.  By the time we started milking the humidity was building into what I have always referred to as "murder and divorce" weather.  High temps, humidity and body heat from 1500# cows...lets just say that there were no romantic illusions  about the business we are in. By the time we walked into the house it was after 11 again and I had had enough!

Fri-After a short night of sleep in the air conditioning!!!!  we are back at it.  When Bruce left the house this morning it was sunny and our weather station said it was 79 degrees with 99% humidity and wind at 17 mph.  The cows stayed in the barn today.  This kind of heat and humidity can be deadly so keeping the cows in the barn minimized the work they had to do.  The temperature topped out at 97. The cows seemed to handle the day very well, at least as far as we can tell.  We will see what the bulk tank says.  I had 2 calves with heat stress issues.  By evening one was back drinking for me but the other one had been under special care a couple days before the heat and didn't want to stand.  I drug him out in front of the hutch where he was content to drink what I wanted him to but didn't want to stand, even with my help.  I left him in front of the hutch for the night since there was a nice breeze and it really was fairly pleasant.  We FINISHED chopping today!  A full month later than would be considered normal but we are finally done.  Chopping was easier today because the heifer pastures are longer strips and lighter animals cause less damage when its wet.  I could only chop in 3rd gear since there was a mix of clover in this stuff and there was a lot of feed out there.  I was extremely grateful that our equipment worked well.  Most years we don't even think about it but this year has us just a bit guarded.  Because the cows were already in the barn, I could start milking myself while Bruce fed.  It was just plain miserable in the barn but we managed to get done at a reasonable hour.

In hot weather I prop the back of the hutches up so they create shade but allow for ventilation.  Even with the hot weather yesterday there was a nice breeze blowing through. 

This is the inside of the bagger.  The "fingers" pack the haylage upward until it is packed tight.  The tractor is left in neutral and as the silage packs the pressure moves the tractor forward.

The bagger set up and in use.  You can see the end tied off towards the bottom of the backstop.  This is 7 loads done.  The bags we use have a 9 ft. diameter.

Bruce drives the load up and unloads into the elevator.  The fingers pack the silage as the cables hold tension.