Monday was a beautiful, sunny, 30 degree day. After milking we did some blood draws to confirm pregnancies. These cows had been pregnant on their previous blood draw but we like to do a recheck just in case. I came home, did the paperwork and got them ready to mail when I went to work, and then realized it was a holiday and the post office was closed. While I was at work Bruce spent the day getting cattle details in order. The first round of cows we have dried up are now relocated and getting their dry cow TMR. The good news is having them off regular TMR will decrease our protein costs, but the reality is these dry cows produce no income until March. Bruce also did a final check of the heifers and made the list of who needs to be bred. These heifers also got a prostaglandin shot which is supposed to bring them into estrus. Domenic came and bedded heifers and calves, along with helping with the cow move. After all the animal details were covered Bruce tried to put the hydraulic cylinder on the manure spreader. He had purchased this cylinder at a local farm supply store but evidently, even with measurements, all cylinders are not created equal. Plan B took effect and he ordered one through my dad. With all the events of the day feeding got started late. With all the cow moves when I was gone, Bruce suggested that I wait for him to start milking. Milking was confusing at first and it was a very late night.
Tuesday we woke up to more snow, and by the end of the day we had about 3 more inches of the white stuff. We could have predicted this weather a week ago since that is when I scheduled our corporate meeting with the lawyer. In the 35 years we have been having these meetings, easily 30 of our trip have involved miserable driving weather, many times with ice. I started milking myself, and I felt like I had arrived in someone elses barn. Moving cows changes the entire rythm of milking, but once I got going everything worked fine. Bruce, on the other hand, started his day by having to let the silo unloader down a door. That never speeds up feeding but he now knows we have 45 feet of corn silage yet. While he was feeding a heifer had a stanchion break so we moved her to an empty stall and I continued milking while Bruce fed. We were 2/3 done when our milk hauler walked in. He had hoped to change his route a bit and stopped in early. We explained everything that hadn't gone right and apologized for not being done. He laughed and left to continue his route and came back later. Since he deals with farmers every day, and had cattle of his own, he knows not all days go smoothly. We had hoped to make some stops before our meeting but we ran out of time. Our corporation started in 1976 as a way to allow Bruce the opportunity to begin gaining ownership. The land was tied up in a well intentioned will until 1991 so the forming of a corporation separated the business part of the farm from the real estate. For many of the early years we met with an accountant and a lawyer and there was always new information presented. These days the meeting is nothing more than confirming that we are still operating the farm with the same stockholders and board of directors. We also verify wages, benefits and explained our health insurance dilemma. As of March our premium is going up to $1790/mo. It is no surprise to us that he has many clients with health insurance premiums that are challenging to cover. After our meeting we made a few stops, including the returning of the wrong hydraulic cylinder. Bruce fed and I started milking. This time milking went more smoothly....next week we will dry up and move more cows.
Wednesday we headed to the barn with a temperature of -2. Exactly a week ago Bruce was doing equipment maintenance in the sun in front of the shed with 50 degree temperatures. Wow, what a change! When we were done milking Bruce had just enough time to get the feed box over to Ed's so he could fill it. When they went to start the elevator, it seemed to be jammed. Bruce had an appointment in town so he left it, hoping the wind didn't blow too much when he got back. As it turned out, it looked like a rodent had done some digging and pushed dirt through the bottom of the elevator boot. They were able to get it running and the wagon filled despite the wind. Thankfully the barn was protecting where they were at and they put a big load on the feed box.
Thursday we woke up to -8 degrees, reached a high temp of 5, and had -8 degrees when we got in after milking. It was a pretty quiet day other than feeding. Domenic is gone so Bruce is back to doing all the feeding. We certainly enjoyed the help, even if it was only a few hours. We got the results of our blood draws back, with mixed results. We had a heifer pregnant that we weren't sure of but we also had a cow that was open that had previously been called pregnant. This late in the game she gets added to our cull list. Disappointing! Bruce spent the afternoon hauling stacks to bed the lower building here. Mike gets SO excited helping and takes it upon himself to keep all the heifers in areas where Bruce isn't working. When we went to start evening milking it was cold enough in the milkhouse that there was ice on the floor. I started milking and Bruce covered the compressor opening a bit tighter. Given the fact its already mid January we shouldn't complain, but being optimists, we wouldn't have minded more warm temps. After milking Bruce made some weather stripping out of feed bags and used screws to keep them in place. What did we do before battery operated tools!
Friday we got snow again! Nearly 4 inches of very fluffy snow. We appreciate 4 inches because the forecast said 4-8, and it also predicted wind which never happened. We got a high temp of 5 degrees but when the sun came out it was absolutely beautiful! It was a work day in town for me. Mike loves this snow but has managed to lose his glow in the dark balls that he plays with outside. He is just as happy chasing snow lumps so we just use those for now.
Saturday was beautiful and sunny with a cold start of -12 degrees. By mid afternoon we had temps in the 20's. I asked Bruce what his plans were for the day when we were milking and he said feed steers, feed calves, feed heifers, feed goats and replace a broken drinking cup. The south is our most exposed direction and with a south wind and low temps it's nearly impossible to keep everything thawed. By the end of the day he had all that done, along with fixing a broken water pipe.
