Early Thursday morning Bruce saw this roll cloud go through. Surprisingly, the camera was in the milk house so he was able to get this picture. Bruce's dad, 80, reports seeing only 4 of these in his lifetime. They move pretty quickly. Once this cloud moved through it was a very windy day with gusts up to 51 mph along with rain on and off. The basic description of the day was cold and miserable for us people and a great bath day for the cows! Bruce and Ed worked on getting the blower in place and the unloader pulled up in the 14' x 55' silo in Ed's yard. We tested milk. So far the cows listed as culls are producing enough milk to make them worth keeping for awhile. For the first time in months we didn't have any cow freshenings or dry offs to report. We had taken a milk sample for one of the treated cows and she passed her drug test. Her culture had also come back fine so we were able to milk right up through the group with only one special needs cow to consider. Having that one pass was unusual since cows aren't usually known for cooperation and timing.
Friday they began chopping corn and managed to get Ed's silo about half full. In the past we have had fermented corn silage in this one that we could switch to when we fill the silo here. Since it was empty Bruce planted 95 day maturity corn first and then planted the longer maturity, up to 107 days, later. The plan is to fill this silo and use a microbial inoculant to promote the fermentation process. This encourages the acid producing bacterias to grow and those acids basically "pickle" it so there is no spoilage. We put this on the feed by first mixing the bacteria in water. It is then metered and sprayed on the feed as it is unloaded into the blower using a small(25 gallon)tank with an electric pump that runs off the blower tractor battery. It is a live freeze dried bacteria that comes in a foil packet. 200 grams treat 200 tons of silage so if there are 6 tons on a load we need to apply 6 grams per load.We mix 1 gram per quart of water and then calibrate the sprayer so that it puts out a little better than a quart a minute (approx. 5 min. to unload) = 1 gram per ton. In about a week it will be fermented and ready to feed while we fill the silo here. In the past I have also chopped corn but requested not to this year. There are so many things that need to be done before winter arrives and this gives me a chance to actually accomplish some of them. Making hay takes 3 people since it has to be cut first. Corn is chopped directly from the field so 2 people can do it. We rent a friends chopper to do corn which is a completely different brand than our hay chopper. This means it has totally different electric controls and, although I have used it many years, I find it very stressful. Not chopping will be a nice break.
We had a low temperature over night of 33 degrees. Chopping continued today and the silo is nearly full. They are going to take tomorrow off to give it some time to settle and then fill it again. Our last treated cow passed her drug test today so tonight we were able to milk straight through the barn again.
Tomorrow we have a mystery that needs to be solved. We have no yard lights. We suspect there is wiring that is compromised, probably involved with our wind the other day. Last night we could turn them on here but not in the barn. It was a very precarious walk home in the dark for me. You never know what is parked where from day to day. Tonight none of the switches work so I was glad I remembered and took a flash light with me ; )
We are seeing lots of signs of fall. The trees are starting to turn colors. The corn is turning brown and the ears are tipping down. Ed's soybeans have lost all their leaves so we can see all the bean pods exposed. There was a frost warning out for us last night but we managed to get by. We are looking forward to a forecast of a really nice week ahead.
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