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.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Sunday, January 15, 2012
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! : )
Sunday, January 8, 2012
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 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 |
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Happy New Years Eve
Thursday-Joe has been helping every milking lately. I have appreciated being able to get out of the barn a bit early and taken the opportunity to get to town a bit earlier to work on year end details. I am also finishing up the details here at home but they are much less time consuming than my other job. Domenic did the normal feeding and then washed pipeline. Bruce and Jim would let out a row, he would clean it and then Bruce and Jim would get the cows back in. These 2 groups of cows have a lot of heifers in them so dealing with them takes a bit longer. While Domenic was cleaning, Bruce and Jim managed to get the door frame replaced that Bruce damaged with the skid steer. To do this they used a post and jack and jacked up the header. They then replaced the side frame with a 3"x10" oak plank 8' tall. They used a hammer drill and anchors to secure the plank in place against the stone wall. The edges against the stone have to be filled in with mason cement and the door has to be built and hung. It was a great day to be working on the south side of the building in the sun and mid 40's for temperatures. Lumber has been purchased and in our basement for quite awhile so it is just a matter of taking the time to get it done. Bruce has his weather guardian angel working over time with such nice (for December) temperatures. I talked to Bruce's sister the other day and she asked if there was still a cement project waiting. Bruce has a reputation for testing the limits between the end of fall and the arrival of winter and many cement projects over the years have been covered with corn fodder so the concrete could cure before it froze. I am glad to say there are no concrete projects on the list any time soon : )
Ed called to let Bruce know he found a dead steer in his yard. Bruce went over to investigate and realized it was the animal that had the infected knees earlier this year we had treated and babied for a couple months. Earlier this fall he had been treated for pneumonia. We can't say we are surprised since he obviously had some issues. It is still frustrating....but we tried.
Friday-We woke up this morning to ice. I took my ice cleats along for feeding calves because the driveway was already packed and slippery yesterday. By the time we got done milking it had started to snow so I really didn't need them. Joe helped milk and Domenic fed again. With the ice we decided to let the pipeline washing wait. There was no point in letting the cows out and taking the chance that they would slip and get hurt. Bruce had an appointment in town and by the time he got back Ed had started cleaning the yard we are renting from him. He called when he was nearly done and Bruce got some stacks to bed the cattle with. The evening finale was me milking with Joe until Bruce was done feeding, and then Bruce and Joe milking while I fed calves. The two heifers that had been treated and milked last passed their drug tests so we could milk them along with everyone else. It has been awhile since we have had no special needs cows.
We received the bill from the Harvestore people today. The process, and rent of the auger, has cost us just under $1,000. We were both a bit surprised it was that expensive but it didn't help that the first auger was too short and they had to install a second auger to get corn out. Since Bruce replaced the motor already himself he is going to give them a call about the $250 in rent for the auger use.
Saturday-Bruce and I milked together today. It has been awhile! Joe will be busy doing school things for the coming weeks so we won't be seeing much of him. It was foggy today! The temperatues were in the 40's and make no sense at all for this time of year. Bruce and Ed decided to clean the lower barn here and bed it with corn fodder stacks. That means all the outside yards have been cleaned and bedded this week. With a forecast of 40+ mph winds the stacks that are still left in the field are causing concern. Ed offered to haul them to where the rest of the stacks are while we milked tonight. We have no special needs cows and the heifers seem to be behaving. Bruce explained to the one causing all the trouble that if she didn't learn to behave her attitude would be addressed at the local stockyards. She has been well behaved the last 2 milkings! Maybe he should have given her a talking to awhile ago!
Bruce has found that the electrical box in our pole shed is corroded and has blown some fuses. The caulking around the power line entrance has failed and water seems to have been following the line down into the box. He called the electrician but in the meantime we will just keep the power turned off when we aren't in there.
We have completed our last farming day for 2011. When I started these writings my intention was to do it for one complete year, covering the seasons as they came along. I haven't decided where to go from here. I do intend to post some pictures yet when I have time and computer cooperation. I hope in the process of reading this you have learned something you didn't know before. Every year, even after all this time, we learn something : ) Happy New Year!
Ed called to let Bruce know he found a dead steer in his yard. Bruce went over to investigate and realized it was the animal that had the infected knees earlier this year we had treated and babied for a couple months. Earlier this fall he had been treated for pneumonia. We can't say we are surprised since he obviously had some issues. It is still frustrating....but we tried.
Friday-We woke up this morning to ice. I took my ice cleats along for feeding calves because the driveway was already packed and slippery yesterday. By the time we got done milking it had started to snow so I really didn't need them. Joe helped milk and Domenic fed again. With the ice we decided to let the pipeline washing wait. There was no point in letting the cows out and taking the chance that they would slip and get hurt. Bruce had an appointment in town and by the time he got back Ed had started cleaning the yard we are renting from him. He called when he was nearly done and Bruce got some stacks to bed the cattle with. The evening finale was me milking with Joe until Bruce was done feeding, and then Bruce and Joe milking while I fed calves. The two heifers that had been treated and milked last passed their drug tests so we could milk them along with everyone else. It has been awhile since we have had no special needs cows.
We received the bill from the Harvestore people today. The process, and rent of the auger, has cost us just under $1,000. We were both a bit surprised it was that expensive but it didn't help that the first auger was too short and they had to install a second auger to get corn out. Since Bruce replaced the motor already himself he is going to give them a call about the $250 in rent for the auger use.
Saturday-Bruce and I milked together today. It has been awhile! Joe will be busy doing school things for the coming weeks so we won't be seeing much of him. It was foggy today! The temperatues were in the 40's and make no sense at all for this time of year. Bruce and Ed decided to clean the lower barn here and bed it with corn fodder stacks. That means all the outside yards have been cleaned and bedded this week. With a forecast of 40+ mph winds the stacks that are still left in the field are causing concern. Ed offered to haul them to where the rest of the stacks are while we milked tonight. We have no special needs cows and the heifers seem to be behaving. Bruce explained to the one causing all the trouble that if she didn't learn to behave her attitude would be addressed at the local stockyards. She has been well behaved the last 2 milkings! Maybe he should have given her a talking to awhile ago!
Bruce has found that the electrical box in our pole shed is corroded and has blown some fuses. The caulking around the power line entrance has failed and water seems to have been following the line down into the box. He called the electrician but in the meantime we will just keep the power turned off when we aren't in there.
We have completed our last farming day for 2011. When I started these writings my intention was to do it for one complete year, covering the seasons as they came along. I haven't decided where to go from here. I do intend to post some pictures yet when I have time and computer cooperation. I hope in the process of reading this you have learned something you didn't know before. Every year, even after all this time, we learn something : ) Happy New Year!
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Lots Of Help!
We have Jim home these days since he has the week off. His primary reason to come back is a house project for me but of course there are many project options here. Joe was back yesterday morning and has been helping milk. He and I start and then Bruce takes over and I feed calves. We are liking this option although school will start again next week. Domenic is back and looking for things to do, and this morning Ed was also here offering to help. The winter options are a bit more limited but as the days go on we think of more to do. Yesterday Jim helped Bruce fix the manure spreader so today Ed cleaned the steer yard and also got some corn fodder stacks to bed them. Being able to clean yards this late in December is unusual. Another project for yesterday was fixing the motor on the auger the Harvestore people put in our silo. The pulley on the motor was nearly worn out when it arrived and fell off. Since Ed no longer uses his Harvestore they fixed the problem by using the motor from the auger off his silo. The good news in fixing it is we can now get corn out of the silo in half the time it was taking. It is not as fast as we are used to but a big improvement over the original auger.
Today we had both Domenic and Joe here to help so we started a massive barn cleaning. Generally in fall we have the barn walls whitewashed. This includes blowing down all the lose cobwebs and dust and then the walls are sprayed with a lime powder mixed with water. We didn't do that this fall so today Bruce let 2 rows (about 20) cows outside and then took the leaf blower from our shop vac and blew down the cobwebs and dirt and also used a broom on the walls. Once the dust settled (they wore respirators and had the 3 big fans blowing) Joe and Domenic scrubbed the pipeline. The pipeline was filthy! By this time of year it gets pretty dusty and we have cows that make a huge mess with their tails. I know there is a group of people that have a problem with tail docking but those people have never been hit with a manure and urine soaked tail or tried to keep working areas clean. For the pasture the cows have their tails. I personally miss having their tails docked. By the time they got those sections done and the cows back in it was time to eat dinner. The project will continue tomorrow.
Our latest culture results came back fine so tonight we could milk straight through without having to bleach any milkers. We could get used to extra help and cooperative cows : )
Today we had both Domenic and Joe here to help so we started a massive barn cleaning. Generally in fall we have the barn walls whitewashed. This includes blowing down all the lose cobwebs and dust and then the walls are sprayed with a lime powder mixed with water. We didn't do that this fall so today Bruce let 2 rows (about 20) cows outside and then took the leaf blower from our shop vac and blew down the cobwebs and dirt and also used a broom on the walls. Once the dust settled (they wore respirators and had the 3 big fans blowing) Joe and Domenic scrubbed the pipeline. The pipeline was filthy! By this time of year it gets pretty dusty and we have cows that make a huge mess with their tails. I know there is a group of people that have a problem with tail docking but those people have never been hit with a manure and urine soaked tail or tried to keep working areas clean. For the pasture the cows have their tails. I personally miss having their tails docked. By the time they got those sections done and the cows back in it was time to eat dinner. The project will continue tomorrow.
Our latest culture results came back fine so tonight we could milk straight through without having to bleach any milkers. We could get used to extra help and cooperative cows : )
Monday, December 26, 2011
Happy Holidays!
We have survived the holiday! For the most part the farm cooperated enough that we could enjoy our company and attend two family events in two days. There were basic complications, the first of which was Bruce announcing late last week that the diagnosis as to what was wrong with our harvestore unloader was it was constipated! When I asked him what that meant he said "there is lots of grunting, groaning and squeeling and nothing coming out". We believe that the upper chain is stuck in what is probably 2009 corn. That year the corn was very wet with a lot of fines in it, and with all the weight of a full silo on it the unloader just can't handle it. The harvestore people came and tried to put an auger in but the one they brought wasn't long enough. In the process of putting it in and pulling it out they did get enough corn lose that Bruce could feed, and they came back the next day with a bigger auger that is now working. This auger is geared slow so that the corn could go directly into the roller mill. For our system that means it used to take 3 minutes to get the normal amount of corn out and now it will take 20 minutes. The process of getting corn will have to stay this way until we get enough fed out that the chain will be able to move again. The only other complication of the holidays was having 2 special needs heifers to milk. Both had mastitis and one is mean to the point that her days may be numbered here if she doesn't improve her attitude. Other than that, we were able to shorten our work days to 4 hours for me and 6-7 hours for Bruce. The weather, cattle and equipment cooperated and it was all good but we are definitely tired!
Other events to note is we have received our property tax bill. As the proud owner of 269 acres we get to pay $7,371, divided between the state, technical college, township, county, school district. (listed lowest to highest percentage). We get to pay this in 2 payments, the first one due by 1/31 and the second one due 7/31. Something to look forward to : (
We received the check for the steers we sold. We received the highest price we have ever gotten, and this is nice on the receiving end. On the other side of the check we worry about people who won't be able to afford to buy food.
The neighboring machinist picked up the shaft for the manure spreader, fixed it and returned it the next day with a bill for $45. Since the rest of the parts are standard bearings, etc the repair will be rather inexpensive, especially compared to some of our other repair adventures this year. Bruce is hoping to get it put back together soon.
Other events to note is we have received our property tax bill. As the proud owner of 269 acres we get to pay $7,371, divided between the state, technical college, township, county, school district. (listed lowest to highest percentage). We get to pay this in 2 payments, the first one due by 1/31 and the second one due 7/31. Something to look forward to : (
We received the check for the steers we sold. We received the highest price we have ever gotten, and this is nice on the receiving end. On the other side of the check we worry about people who won't be able to afford to buy food.
The neighboring machinist picked up the shaft for the manure spreader, fixed it and returned it the next day with a bill for $45. Since the rest of the parts are standard bearings, etc the repair will be rather inexpensive, especially compared to some of our other repair adventures this year. Bruce is hoping to get it put back together soon.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)