This has been a strange and challenging year. We went from trying to keep calves from freezing to trying to keep them from drowning when it warmed up. The ground was still frozen so the runoff couldn't go down into the ground and we had flooding. There were places in the county where roads were washed out, our old barn flooded, and we had water over the road in places I had never seen it over in all the years I've lived here.
The spring was cold...and windy, which is not too unusual, but it was cold well into spring--to the point where I was afraid to plant anything for fear it would just freeze--and windier than normal. We had a hailstorm on May 2. That's also a bit unusual. There were also reports of frost in the county on June 23.
And then it dried up....
And again, we've had less rain than I can ever remember. We are currently in what the weather people are calling a "flash drought" that caught everyone by surprise after the extremely wet year we had last year. Thank goodness we had some submoisture or we'd have no crop at all. Some of the crops planted later didn't even come up. The pastures are brown and water holes are drying up. Thunderstorms create more fear of lightning strikes and fire than anticipation of actual rain...especially after the horrible fires to the south of us. I have spent more than one night scanning the horizon for fire when a thunderstorm rolled through bringing about 20 drops of rain and too much lightning. The USDA finally opened the CRP for emergency haying--a few weeks too late for it to have much quality--and there was a fire caused by a swather almost every day for a couple of weeks. Thankfully, M only started a small one, saw it immediately and put it out right away. He was on pins and needles every day that he sat on a swather.
That's where the gratitude comes in. There have been no major fires too close to us. My heart aches for those who have lost their ranches--their hay, pastures, fences and animals. Fire really scares me, I can't imagine how I would cope in their situation....and I hope I never have to find out.
We are in harvest mode now, and while it has not been going too smoothly so far, the crops are not as disappointing as one would think they would be with the lack of rain. There are nights I lie awake worried about financial obligations if we don't have a crop, but faith kicks in, and I know we'll be ok. I know it could be so much worse. I'm so lucky that M still has a good attitude and sees it as a learning situation for our boys. They are learning that times can be tough and how to deal with adversity. R has had to learn about range management since our pastures and stock water situations are not ideal. J has learned that he's going to have to do a lot more mechanic work than he wants to get through harvest with the equipment we have. Everyone sucks it up and does what they can with what they have.
We had 3 tenths of an inch of rain the other night, and everyone was so happy. Amazing what a few drops of rain and some cooler temps can do for everyone's spirits. Again...gratitude for what we have. I may still pray for fewer challenges, however.
Friday, August 4, 2017
Wednesday, March 15, 2017
Calving Challenges
It's that time of year again....calving....a time we love and hate. M always says he's so excited to have that first (live) calf on the ground, but after the 300th one we're kind of over it! We had been gone to Daytona, and while we were gone R got the replacement heifers moved to the neighbor's and cut the first-calf heifers out of the herd and moved them into the corral so they could be watched closely.
We had some pretty decent weather when we first got back from Florida and on March 5th the temp was close to 50 degrees. Our first calf was born on March 6th when it was snowing, blowing and miserable. So nasty out, in fact, that I didn't attempt to go to work.
Every heifer and her calf go through the barn to make sure they are feeding and bonding properly. Unfortunately, with the weather so awful we didn't feel comfortable kicking them back outside. They put up a couple more pens in the old barn, but it filled up rapidly. I knew that the new barn sitting on top of the hill, unusable, would drive R crazy, and I was right. With the old barn full, M finally agreed that they were going to have to put up some temporary pens in the new barn to move pairs to so they hauled panels up there and moved pairs from the old barn to the new as needed. There are currently 14 pairs up there. There were downsides to using the new barn. First, there are no lights installed yet. Second, there's no water. There is a new well, but the pump isn't hooked up, and M wasn't going to work on it when the temps were in the single digits. So, they had to haul water by the bucketfuls. M figured he hauled 250 gallons a day. That's a lot of buckets.
We had to be extremely vigilant since a calf born in the temperatures we were experiencing was not going to survive any length of time without some intervention. R usually stays up until about 1:00 am and then checks at 3 and 5 and M is over there by 6. Anytime I happen to get up during the night I check the cow cams and alert R if I see anything. I think we're fortunate that we have only lost two to the weather.
It's always disheartening to lose a calf, but I've been pondering if it's worse to lose one when the price is high and a calf is worth almost $1200 at weaning or when it's low and they are worth under $700 because you need more of them to make the same money. Either way, it make M extremely crabby to lose one.
We had a January thaw and a February thaw with a lot of runoff and slop. Most of the snow was gone and things were drying up and last weekend we got at least 6 inches of snow. Today it was almost 50 degrees. While that felt wonderful, we're back to runoff and slop again which brings a different set of problems. We want to haul those pairs out of the new barn to a temporary pasture, but now it's almost too muddy to get the trailer up there. We may have to go early in the morning when the ground is still frozen.
It's always something in the cow business.......but we're never bored......just tired!
We had some pretty decent weather when we first got back from Florida and on March 5th the temp was close to 50 degrees. Our first calf was born on March 6th when it was snowing, blowing and miserable. So nasty out, in fact, that I didn't attempt to go to work.
Every heifer and her calf go through the barn to make sure they are feeding and bonding properly. Unfortunately, with the weather so awful we didn't feel comfortable kicking them back outside. They put up a couple more pens in the old barn, but it filled up rapidly. I knew that the new barn sitting on top of the hill, unusable, would drive R crazy, and I was right. With the old barn full, M finally agreed that they were going to have to put up some temporary pens in the new barn to move pairs to so they hauled panels up there and moved pairs from the old barn to the new as needed. There are currently 14 pairs up there. There were downsides to using the new barn. First, there are no lights installed yet. Second, there's no water. There is a new well, but the pump isn't hooked up, and M wasn't going to work on it when the temps were in the single digits. So, they had to haul water by the bucketfuls. M figured he hauled 250 gallons a day. That's a lot of buckets.
We had to be extremely vigilant since a calf born in the temperatures we were experiencing was not going to survive any length of time without some intervention. R usually stays up until about 1:00 am and then checks at 3 and 5 and M is over there by 6. Anytime I happen to get up during the night I check the cow cams and alert R if I see anything. I think we're fortunate that we have only lost two to the weather.
It's always disheartening to lose a calf, but I've been pondering if it's worse to lose one when the price is high and a calf is worth almost $1200 at weaning or when it's low and they are worth under $700 because you need more of them to make the same money. Either way, it make M extremely crabby to lose one.
We had a January thaw and a February thaw with a lot of runoff and slop. Most of the snow was gone and things were drying up and last weekend we got at least 6 inches of snow. Today it was almost 50 degrees. While that felt wonderful, we're back to runoff and slop again which brings a different set of problems. We want to haul those pairs out of the new barn to a temporary pasture, but now it's almost too muddy to get the trailer up there. We may have to go early in the morning when the ground is still frozen.
It's always something in the cow business.......but we're never bored......just tired!
Saturday, December 31, 2016
Bye, Bye 2016
I've really slacked off on the blogging this year and for those of you that actually care, I apologize. I swear I don't know where the time goes. I told someone the other day that I haven't gotten used to writing 2016 yet and now it's almost 2017. They said that means I'm getting old--ugh!
I used to almost (yes, almost) look forward to winter as it was a time that was a little more laid back, a little less stressful. Those days are apparently gone, but I'm hopeful that as we age even more those days may return. Right now we have over 700 cows to feed every day and lots of our own grain to haul. On top of that the guys have taken on a couple of hauling jobs for other people who wanted to use our grain extractor to empty their grain bags. Those jobs are done and half of the cows will be going back to their home next week so maybe things will slow down a bit.
We had the usual "Thievin 7 days of Christmas" which is always exhausting but fun with an added bonus of a party for M's mom who turned 80 years young. The visit was extended by a day for a few of them because road conditions prevented them from venturing back to South Dakota. They all made it back home safely and without incident, thank goodness.
2016 was a typical year of ups and downs. The worst "down", of course, was the loss of M's dad in March. We are confident that he had something to do with the record rainfall and incredible crops. We all felt him with us as we harvested a record crop and thought of how much he would have enjoyed seeing it....or even just hearing about it. He was certainly missed during the holiday festivities.
But, on the "up" side, his namesake, Jax Phillip, arrived to brighten our lives in October. He's so sweet and mellow....and may even look a little like his great grandpa Phil. There was no shortage of people ready to cuddle him during our family get-togethers. Even Sawyer has gotten used to him and has become protective of her little brother.
I was blessed to have some quality time with my far-flung siblings who were all here for a nephew's wedding. Always fun to get together since it doesn't happen very often. I cherish my time with them.
We had some fun trips this year...to Daytona, of course, and also Miami this fall.
We enjoyed some time in the Black Hills in July when it was to wet for haying.
The new barn went up!
As I mentioned, the harvest was incredible....but on the downside the price of wheat is still in the toilet. Good thing we have the bushels....and the lentils which have good value. Our calf shipping went well, and once again our contract price beat the market at the time of shipping.....however, those prices are nearly half of what we received last year. I hope you folks that have to buy beef see some relief in the price you pay....because based on what the rancher is getting, the prices in the store should be way down.
The other big "down" of the year was when R's girlfriend and her little boy moved back to Missoula in August. Our hearts broke for both of them, but it was a move that needed to happen. Kade seems to have adjusted well in a new school and being close to his cousins and grandparents. He has been back for a visit this week. We have missed him so much and the week went too fast. He had so many people to see! I hope he doesn't find it too difficult to leave us again.
Another "up" was the birth of eight puppies in our house....although the reason they're here is not a happy one. The mother belongs to our elderly neighbor who ended up in the nursing home. Immediately after we brought her home with us she went into heat. Despite our best attempts at keeping her and Junior apart, we were unsuccessful....thus, puppies on December 10. They are really cute, and it's been fun, but it's getting more challenging as they are growing. I feel like a mother of 8, and it's exhausting!
We are truly blessed and I thank God every day that we get to live the life we do with our kids and grandkids close. Wishing everyone a healthy and happy 2017!
I used to almost (yes, almost) look forward to winter as it was a time that was a little more laid back, a little less stressful. Those days are apparently gone, but I'm hopeful that as we age even more those days may return. Right now we have over 700 cows to feed every day and lots of our own grain to haul. On top of that the guys have taken on a couple of hauling jobs for other people who wanted to use our grain extractor to empty their grain bags. Those jobs are done and half of the cows will be going back to their home next week so maybe things will slow down a bit.
We had the usual "Thievin 7 days of Christmas" which is always exhausting but fun with an added bonus of a party for M's mom who turned 80 years young. The visit was extended by a day for a few of them because road conditions prevented them from venturing back to South Dakota. They all made it back home safely and without incident, thank goodness.
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| Happy mama with her kids |
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| Party crowd--just the family part! |
2016 was a typical year of ups and downs. The worst "down", of course, was the loss of M's dad in March. We are confident that he had something to do with the record rainfall and incredible crops. We all felt him with us as we harvested a record crop and thought of how much he would have enjoyed seeing it....or even just hearing about it. He was certainly missed during the holiday festivities.
But, on the "up" side, his namesake, Jax Phillip, arrived to brighten our lives in October. He's so sweet and mellow....and may even look a little like his great grandpa Phil. There was no shortage of people ready to cuddle him during our family get-togethers. Even Sawyer has gotten used to him and has become protective of her little brother.
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| Sawyer and Jax |
I was blessed to have some quality time with my far-flung siblings who were all here for a nephew's wedding. Always fun to get together since it doesn't happen very often. I cherish my time with them.
We had some fun trips this year...to Daytona, of course, and also Miami this fall.
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| A little fun in Key West |
The new barn went up!
As I mentioned, the harvest was incredible....but on the downside the price of wheat is still in the toilet. Good thing we have the bushels....and the lentils which have good value. Our calf shipping went well, and once again our contract price beat the market at the time of shipping.....however, those prices are nearly half of what we received last year. I hope you folks that have to buy beef see some relief in the price you pay....because based on what the rancher is getting, the prices in the store should be way down.
The other big "down" of the year was when R's girlfriend and her little boy moved back to Missoula in August. Our hearts broke for both of them, but it was a move that needed to happen. Kade seems to have adjusted well in a new school and being close to his cousins and grandparents. He has been back for a visit this week. We have missed him so much and the week went too fast. He had so many people to see! I hope he doesn't find it too difficult to leave us again.
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| So much happiness in one photo |
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| This mama is a tired girl. |
Sunday, October 23, 2016
Perfect Timing
So, after our little rain delay we finished up our last 300 acres and then helped a neighbor south of Opheim finish up before the next round of rain and snow. They finished up on a Saturday afternoon, October 1, and headed to Opheim to have a little celebration. J wasn't there long as K called and said her water had broken so off they went to Glasgow and about 12:42 am of October 2, our grandson, Jax Phillip entered the world, healthy and perfect.
K is thankful that J is not so busy so that she has some help. A baby and a 3-year-old can be exhausting! I remember those days.
We were happy that our harvesting was finished since we had rain and snow and freezing temps. I feel bad for those that are still trying to harvest.
We have switched gears and gotten all our cows preg tested and moved home and ready to ship next weekend. The guys have been busy hauling grain and hay. We're hoping for more good weather so we can finish up some fencing and other projects before our vacation to Florida.
Timing is everything!
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| Daddy didn't have time to shave |
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| One week old |
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| Two weeks old with big sister |
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| With Great Grandma Thievin |
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| And Great Grandma Redfield |
K is thankful that J is not so busy so that she has some help. A baby and a 3-year-old can be exhausting! I remember those days.
We were happy that our harvesting was finished since we had rain and snow and freezing temps. I feel bad for those that are still trying to harvest.
We have switched gears and gotten all our cows preg tested and moved home and ready to ship next weekend. The guys have been busy hauling grain and hay. We're hoping for more good weather so we can finish up some fencing and other projects before our vacation to Florida.
Timing is everything!
Wednesday, September 21, 2016
Harvest Update
Wow, have I been slacking in the blog department. It's been a busy summer with a wedding in the family and all my siblings home, haying delayed by rain and a quick trip to the Black Hills and now a long harvest.
We kept thinking it would be an early harvest since we had the crops in early this year, but the wet and cool weather seemed to delay it some. We did start the end of July with the peas. We didn't have too many acres of those. The lentils took a bit longer. They are generally short and not much fun to cut, but they are our cash crop these days with the wheat prices in the toilet. When you are cutting a good crop and mentally calculate the $$ that are flowing into the grain tank they don't seem so bad. The wet weather caused a lot of disease, though. It's always something.
We were plugging along but had a rain delay of about a week. Not long after we got going again the long-range forecast wasn't looking good so the race was on. We had already hired some custom cutters to cut some of the neighbor's crop that we usually do. Then we had some friends bring two combines over to help us finish. They put in long days and finished the stuff at Opheim late last night (well, except for about 300 acres back at home). M got home after midnight, had a bite to eat, and it started to rain. It seemed like there was tension in the air all over the country with everyone trying to get finished up before the storm set in. The forecast is calling for up to 3" of rain for the next five days. That kind of moisture can really affect the quality of the wheat. The price is bad enough anyway and if there are quality issues it will be hard to sell.
All over this area you can see these big white grain bags as farmers are cutting a bumper crop with no place to put it. I think we have at least 10. The bags cost almost $1000 each and are not reusable. We also had to buy the apparatus used to fill them. We had rented one a couple of years ago and no one was a fan, but we really had no other choice with all our bins full. The guys were pretty proud of themselves when they made a nice, straight uniform bag. They aren't a perfect solution, though, as they can be easily damaged. In fact, we have a couple that have been damaged by raccoons already. Like I said, it's always something.
M's sister and her son came to help with the harvest. She was here for a week and our nephew was here for two weeks. Unfortunately, she only got in a couple of days of harvest before rain stopped us. During the break we preg tested our heifers and got some hay hauled. Our nephew got a few more days of harvest in when it finally dried out. He's great help, and we're always happy to have him.
After much thought and discussion we made the decision to build a barn/machine shed this year so it's been fun to watch it going up. With the expansion of our cow herd our old facilities were becoming inadequate. We generally keep our machinery up-to-date, but there haven't been any building upgrades (other than grain bins) in quite a few years (like almost 30). There's a lot of inside work to be done, but it's up!
J has been stressing about the baby coming before we were done with harvest, but now the pressure is off and the little guy can come whenever he feels like it--the due date is only two weeks away! K and Sawyer have moved back to town from the "summer house". I always love having them a little closer. We've had some fun play dates.
I always dread harvest for many reasons, but today I was thinking about the positives. The biggest positive being getting to have lunch with my husband and sons every day and seeing Sawyer more often. I do love their company.
We kept thinking it would be an early harvest since we had the crops in early this year, but the wet and cool weather seemed to delay it some. We did start the end of July with the peas. We didn't have too many acres of those. The lentils took a bit longer. They are generally short and not much fun to cut, but they are our cash crop these days with the wheat prices in the toilet. When you are cutting a good crop and mentally calculate the $$ that are flowing into the grain tank they don't seem so bad. The wet weather caused a lot of disease, though. It's always something.
We were plugging along but had a rain delay of about a week. Not long after we got going again the long-range forecast wasn't looking good so the race was on. We had already hired some custom cutters to cut some of the neighbor's crop that we usually do. Then we had some friends bring two combines over to help us finish. They put in long days and finished the stuff at Opheim late last night (well, except for about 300 acres back at home). M got home after midnight, had a bite to eat, and it started to rain. It seemed like there was tension in the air all over the country with everyone trying to get finished up before the storm set in. The forecast is calling for up to 3" of rain for the next five days. That kind of moisture can really affect the quality of the wheat. The price is bad enough anyway and if there are quality issues it will be hard to sell.
All over this area you can see these big white grain bags as farmers are cutting a bumper crop with no place to put it. I think we have at least 10. The bags cost almost $1000 each and are not reusable. We also had to buy the apparatus used to fill them. We had rented one a couple of years ago and no one was a fan, but we really had no other choice with all our bins full. The guys were pretty proud of themselves when they made a nice, straight uniform bag. They aren't a perfect solution, though, as they can be easily damaged. In fact, we have a couple that have been damaged by raccoons already. Like I said, it's always something.
After much thought and discussion we made the decision to build a barn/machine shed this year so it's been fun to watch it going up. With the expansion of our cow herd our old facilities were becoming inadequate. We generally keep our machinery up-to-date, but there haven't been any building upgrades (other than grain bins) in quite a few years (like almost 30). There's a lot of inside work to be done, but it's up!
I always dread harvest for many reasons, but today I was thinking about the positives. The biggest positive being getting to have lunch with my husband and sons every day and seeing Sawyer more often. I do love their company.
Saturday, June 25, 2016
Quiet Time
It's pretty quiet around the ranch these day as the only bovine still there are three spare bulls and a cow with a grafted calf, and the pair will go to pasture soon. We had the bulls tested about three weeks ago and a couple of them didn't test good so went to market this week after all the others were hauled to pasture and put to work. Two cows went along and two steers went to the butcher. The only livestock around the barn now are the cats and two batches of kittens.
Two weeks ago we AI'd our heifers. It's always interesting to have 100+ hormonal females around the corrals. C's stepsons brought 50 head over to go through the process with ours since they'd never done it before so we had lots of extra help, and it went pretty smoothly. We had rain showers but before and after we were working so it was all good.
M and R (with a little bit of help from me) have done some fencing projects and developed our new well. That is a story in itself after being started in June and finished in February...while we were gone to Daytona....with lots of headaches in between. It cost WAY more than anticipated and after taking over six months to complete the driller wanted to be paid immediately....even though we were in Florida! Anyway, we have water and set up a solar system to pump it since it would cost another small fortune to have power run up there. M was so happy when it was working and pumping water...for two days....then nothing so they had to pull the pump (which was no small feat) and switch it out. Apparently the pump was bad because the new one is working flawlessly. We can water three different pastures from it so they put in a water corral and a cross fence. The cows graze the pastures much better if they have more than one source of water.
We took a little time to celebrate our 33rd anniversary with a little back roads crop tour and a stop at this little dam. It's kind of a hidden gem that we forget about and it's just a hop, skip and a jump cross country from our place.
The crop spraying is about wrapped up and haying has begun. Everything seems a bit early this year. M would like to let the grass grow a little more, but the alfalfa is just about in full bloom so he feels like he needs to get started. We've had timely rains and no hail thus far although we've seen some scary skies. Some neighbors had photos of a funnel cloud yesterday. I'm glad I didn't see it!
We believe M's dad is up there pulling some strings for us in the rain department. He'd be thrilled to see how good the crops and hay look this year especially after the dismal crops we had last year. I'm afraid that once again there will be no break between haying and harvest. We like to take a little summer excursion, but we don't see it happening again this year.
This weekend is the all-school reunion for my high school with the annual Opheim Rodeo--the big event of the summer, can't miss it. There's supposed to be a street dance tonight and as usual when one of those is planned it's cold and windy. Oh well, we're used to that and we're tough. It will be fun to see old friends.....
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| Head 'em, move 'em out...to summer pasture |
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| Junior has too much hair and needs to cool off frequently. |
Two weeks ago we AI'd our heifers. It's always interesting to have 100+ hormonal females around the corrals. C's stepsons brought 50 head over to go through the process with ours since they'd never done it before so we had lots of extra help, and it went pretty smoothly. We had rain showers but before and after we were working so it was all good.
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| The girls with their "I'm ready" (heat detection) patches |
We took a little time to celebrate our 33rd anniversary with a little back roads crop tour and a stop at this little dam. It's kind of a hidden gem that we forget about and it's just a hop, skip and a jump cross country from our place.
The crop spraying is about wrapped up and haying has begun. Everything seems a bit early this year. M would like to let the grass grow a little more, but the alfalfa is just about in full bloom so he feels like he needs to get started. We've had timely rains and no hail thus far although we've seen some scary skies. Some neighbors had photos of a funnel cloud yesterday. I'm glad I didn't see it!
We believe M's dad is up there pulling some strings for us in the rain department. He'd be thrilled to see how good the crops and hay look this year especially after the dismal crops we had last year. I'm afraid that once again there will be no break between haying and harvest. We like to take a little summer excursion, but we don't see it happening again this year.
This weekend is the all-school reunion for my high school with the annual Opheim Rodeo--the big event of the summer, can't miss it. There's supposed to be a street dance tonight and as usual when one of those is planned it's cold and windy. Oh well, we're used to that and we're tough. It will be fun to see old friends.....
Sunday, May 22, 2016
Baby, Oh Baby
I seem to have a harder time remembering things these days so before calving started I had this great plan to write down calving notes daily so I could remember the stories of which cow lost a calf and had another one grafted on or any other freak thing. Well, I couldn't even remember to write stuff down! Calving time seemed to fly by and when we're having 15 calves a day it gets a bit hectic. We did, of course, have some freak things happen. I remember one day R asked if I thought other people had the weird stuff happen that we seem to. Of course, I don't remember which freak thing had happened that day. We had three calves develop navel infections which we've never had before. We lost one, but saved two. We had some gale force winds that seemed to go one for days forcing all the cows down into the windbreaks. On one of those days we had about four cows calve right next to each other and none seemed to know which calf was theirs. It always seems like two cows will try to claim one calf and no one will want the other one. We had to use our best guess and put the pairs in separate pens until they bonded. We had a couple of really big calves that apparently didn't have an easy birth, and we weren't able to save them. That's especially disheartening. We had one born with twisted legs.
When M's dad passed away we had three of our AI'd heifers left to calve. M's sister became obsessed with checking the cow cams, and we watched one calve over supper. The cow wasn't getting up and taking care of the new calf which concerned us a little bit until we realized she was having another. R was at home and ran out to check on it and the second calf had a leg back so he got it into the maternity pen and got it taken care of. Then later that night the other two heifers calved....one with another set of twins. Their timing was perfect as we knew we'd have a break before the next cycle of heifers started calving and R was able to have some freedom to spend time with family without worrying about his heifers.
Now calving is over and most of the pairs are moved to pasture and the open cows sold so it's a bit quiet around the barn. Won't be long, though, before we'll have to test bulls and start the AI process on our heifers.
Seeding is over, also and went pretty well and pretty quickly. The guys had about 6 hours left when it started raining and we got 3-4" of rain. Maybe we'll actually have a hay crop this year--yay! M and I made a quick trip to Billings during the rain. He is setting up a solar pump system on our new stock well so had to pick up all the stuff for that. We have also decided to build a barn/machine shed and had to finalize some plans on that. And, we met my brother who delivered our my mom to us so we could bring her home for the summer. It is always so nice to see my brother. We have so much to talk about!
Sawyer turned 3 and for the first time had her birthday party on time--early, in fact, as we had her party the night before her birthday. We also found out that J and K are having a boy this time, in early October. Grandpa was pretty excited about that. I would have been perfectly happy to have another girl to spoil, but I do have a soft spot for boys. She got more Barbie stuff so I can't wait for our Barbie play date on Monday!
Speaking of which, M's cousin's son, Jared, who has spent many summers working with us graduated from high school yesterday. We feel like he's our baby so we celebrated with him. The graduates have a tradition of giving flowers or candy to people have been important in their lives, and he gave L and I roses. He's even given me flowers on Mother's Day a few times. It makes me feel good to think I have had a positive influence on his life. I always tease him that he was such a scrawny little thing that I never thought he'd grow up to be anything. He's about 6'2" and 200 pounds so I guess he grew up. His goal in life is to farm with J so I don't anticipate that he'll go too far afield although he is planning to go to a tech school this fall.
M and R have been busy fencing and R had a plan to plant a bunch of trees near where the new barn is going to go so we got that done this weekend. M was really undecided on the barn because of the cost, but now that he pulled the trigger is glad that he did. The other day he mentioned that there haven't been any real improvements to the infrastructure of the farm other than fences and windbreaks so it was time to do it. Just hope the cattle and grain markets improve so we can pay for it!
We have a lot to accomplish in a few months so bring on summer!
When M's dad passed away we had three of our AI'd heifers left to calve. M's sister became obsessed with checking the cow cams, and we watched one calve over supper. The cow wasn't getting up and taking care of the new calf which concerned us a little bit until we realized she was having another. R was at home and ran out to check on it and the second calf had a leg back so he got it into the maternity pen and got it taken care of. Then later that night the other two heifers calved....one with another set of twins. Their timing was perfect as we knew we'd have a break before the next cycle of heifers started calving and R was able to have some freedom to spend time with family without worrying about his heifers.
Now calving is over and most of the pairs are moved to pasture and the open cows sold so it's a bit quiet around the barn. Won't be long, though, before we'll have to test bulls and start the AI process on our heifers.
Seeding is over, also and went pretty well and pretty quickly. The guys had about 6 hours left when it started raining and we got 3-4" of rain. Maybe we'll actually have a hay crop this year--yay! M and I made a quick trip to Billings during the rain. He is setting up a solar pump system on our new stock well so had to pick up all the stuff for that. We have also decided to build a barn/machine shed and had to finalize some plans on that. And, we met my brother who delivered our my mom to us so we could bring her home for the summer. It is always so nice to see my brother. We have so much to talk about!
Sawyer turned 3 and for the first time had her birthday party on time--early, in fact, as we had her party the night before her birthday. We also found out that J and K are having a boy this time, in early October. Grandpa was pretty excited about that. I would have been perfectly happy to have another girl to spoil, but I do have a soft spot for boys. She got more Barbie stuff so I can't wait for our Barbie play date on Monday!
Speaking of which, M's cousin's son, Jared, who has spent many summers working with us graduated from high school yesterday. We feel like he's our baby so we celebrated with him. The graduates have a tradition of giving flowers or candy to people have been important in their lives, and he gave L and I roses. He's even given me flowers on Mother's Day a few times. It makes me feel good to think I have had a positive influence on his life. I always tease him that he was such a scrawny little thing that I never thought he'd grow up to be anything. He's about 6'2" and 200 pounds so I guess he grew up. His goal in life is to farm with J so I don't anticipate that he'll go too far afield although he is planning to go to a tech school this fall.
M and R have been busy fencing and R had a plan to plant a bunch of trees near where the new barn is going to go so we got that done this weekend. M was really undecided on the barn because of the cost, but now that he pulled the trigger is glad that he did. The other day he mentioned that there haven't been any real improvements to the infrastructure of the farm other than fences and windbreaks so it was time to do it. Just hope the cattle and grain markets improve so we can pay for it!
We have a lot to accomplish in a few months so bring on summer!
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