2012 Week 2

We started the week with highs in the 40's and low 50's. Bruce enjoyed doing tractor maintenance without gloves in the sunshine in front of the shed.  He changed oil and fuel filters in our big tractor and also repaired the ball joint on the shift cable that had broken when we were doing corn.  At that time, and a few times since, he had used electrical  tape  to hold the broken one in place.  Bruce also had a chance to change the oil in the skid steer.  Keith came and replaced the shutters on one of our big fans.  Two of the fans are just fine but this fan is the primary one that runs all year around.  Over time, one by one, the louvers were breaking off and it had gotten to the point that it was pretty darned cold on that end of the barn.  Keith drove his lift up near the barn so he could do the work, and in the process created some significant lawn damage.  Lawn damage in January????  There is very little frost in the ground with the warm temps so the damage couldn't be helped.  By all accounts, the early part of the week felt more like April than January with barn doors open and areas of the driveway muddy.  By Thursday morning winter arrived with a snow storm that dropped 5 inches of fluffy snow, 25 mph winds and high temps of 18 degrees.  With the  change in temperatures, another thing had to be moved up on the "to do" list.  Bruce usually puts windows in the sides of the skid steer cab, and had purchased new sheets of plastic to replace a broken one.  He cut the plastic to size, edged it with foam weather stripping and then had me come and help hold it in place so he could drill the holes to bolt it in.  After we were done he started plowing snow.  After all the snow last year we are really appreciating the quiet weather.  This was the first time we had to plow, and if Bruce has his way, this snow would stay to protect our alfalfa fields until spring.  I hadn't put calf coats on the older calves earlier because they were born when it was warmer.  With  a forecast that says the cold will be here for awhile, I put coats on the older 3 that are still in hutches.  Bruce is in the process of building a replacement door for the barn in our basement.  He has it nearly finished, and today I asked him if it was skid steer proof.  LOL  He told me if it was he would just get a bigger skid steer!  : )

2012 Week 1

This year has been pretty quiet so far, especially compared to last year.  We have no snow but we do have ice where the sun doesn't hit.  The worst area happens to be between the milk house and my calf hutches so I travel cautiously when I feed calves.  I am down to 7 calves in hutches now since I have moved another 4 inside.  I will have 4 weaned very shortly and will start that process with the 4 I just brought in.  We are still waiting for the last heifer to freshen.  She doesn't seem to be in any big hurry.  Another huge change from last year is we have no goat kids. That is exactly how it is supposed to be : )  Early this week we had a high in the low teens with a low of about 5 degrees.  Two days later we had a record high of 52!  This is not normal January weather.  The cattle seem to be doing well despite the warmer temps.  It does help that the sun is out and it's not damp.  The challenging part of this warm weather is keeping the animals bedded since nothing is freezing.

The routine of feeding and milking continues.  We have no special needs cows but we do have one heifer that insists on kicking her milker off.  She doesn't give us any trouble when we prep her but she does think she can remove the milker at her own discretion.  Milkers are expensive and removing them with a flying foot, especially before she is done milking, can't continue.  At this point she will behave when someone stands and watches her.  That keeps us from moving along with the rest of the cows like we would normally do so she is extremely frustrating!  There is always someone who doesn't read the manual and we are thankful that the rest of the heifers are blending into the herd nicely.  Added to the routine this week was a visit from Vicky.  Concerns covered on this visit were the need to worm and delouse the cows, addressing moisture level changes in the feed (Bruce had already made changes), and our current breeding list.  We also discussed the goats leaving and what our goals were for 2012.  She highly suggests we "simplify".  We like the concept but aren't exactly sure what we can eliminate to do that.  Bills continue and prices fluctuate and things break.  Domenic finished washing the rest of the pipeline and we now have it all labeled with current information. We tested milk this week and found that a couple more cows on the cull list can leave.  This list is getting pretty small!  We also found the heifers are doing ok, and the heifer kicking off her milker does not have job security based on her production.  This week we also had a visit from our dairy plant representative, we believe the official title is "field rep".  I will try to be nice here and just say that we aren't exactly sure what is required to hold this position and receive a paycheck.  The information he delivered this time was involving the somatic cell count.  Our plant will be dropping the allowed standards to coincide with international market demands and also to meet the public "perception" of what these numbers are. It seems ironic to us that they consider these numbers important but it takes as long as 5 days to get sample results back, not to mention they charge us to have them done.  He also brought us information about a program to consider that ensures our milk plant that we are being kind to our animals, again dealing with the "perception" that farmers can abuse the animals that create their income. Bruce has compared this business to living in a pinball machine.  That explanation will require its own post!  : )

We have a couple events from 2011 I missed in my posts.  Our seed corn order has already been created, although not paid for yet.  Depending on what discount deadline we meet we will be spending $8,000-$10,000.  The December 2011 class III price has been announced as $18.77. Once again we have lost opportunity with our contracted amount $17.36.   Historically, the class III for 2009 was $14.98 and in 2010 it was $13.83 with a 15 year high of $20.60 in 2007 and a low of $9.37 in 2000.  A recent news story told that the highest investment gains in 2011were recognized by those investing in milk futures. Unfortunately these investors create the volatility in the price we are paid for our milk, and its their short term gain that is undermining dairy's ability to survive.

Overall it has been a quiet week.  Bruce has made repairs to a hydraulic hose on the tractor and a hydraulic cylinder on the manure spreader.  Total parts $100 and all things Bruce can fix himself. Mike has perhaps enjoyed the most excitement in weeks with opportunities to move cattle for various reasons.  He also had a visit from the neighboring 4 year old.  As long as there are 2 balls involved, Mikes game of "keep away" works.  A 4 year old doesn't mind running after the ball that is dropped and throwing it.  It was particularly funny for us watching because eventually the 4 year old started making a  "keep away" game of his own and Mike was really trying to figure out what was going on.  In the end, as we are told, the 4 year old went to bed early....and so did the dog.

The End Of 2011- In Pictures

our driveway with the breaker rock

finished with a few loads of gravel.

the first 60 stacks huddled together to minimize wind damage

stacks in the field where they were created and waiting to be moved

our barn roof with its shiney new repairs

holstein calves markings varry.  We had 10 beef calves that seemed to look the same

this is a regular drinking cup.  cows push down the paddle and the water runs.

Bruce managed to get a picture of our visitor in the tree next to our shop

this drinking cup was installed because #6 kept putting her jaws above and below in a regular cup and ran gallons of water on the floor.  She can't do that anymore