Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[farmerjan]

@farmerjan I thought you'd get a kick out of this. (If I copied it right)

Wasn't sure about putting it in humor or coffee

ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT !!!!!

 

[canesisters]

How much rain have we had already this year??? I'm at the top of a hill & have had standing water more than dry ground.

 

[farmerjan]

Just a couple lines. Have to go to bed and get up at 4 to go to the barn by 4:30... we are going to sort and load a load of steers to go to the sale, early... then take the little calves/holsteins etc... back around noon or so .... There will be somewhere in the neighborhood of 15-20 steers in the 4-600 lb range I guess... we just got the 3 out of the lot at the nurse cow pasture where I had them in for the last week.... and I jsut got back in the house.... he got 7 steers from the last pasture where there were 12 cows and calves...there are 5 bigger heifers there.... and 7 of the cows have new calves so a real screw up on his part not getting them out sooner like they were supposed to be... hoping that some of them had already weaned the calves... will get the all of the cows and new calves up... maybe Sunday... don't know exactly... he did bring the bull home; he was there to have the summer off so to speak, with only bred cows there except for 4 I think... and these cows had been at another pasture and were all supposed to be bred but got put there for a "month or so" and then was going to pull the calves... which didn't get done... but this bull would have started breeding them back if they came in heat soon, and that would give us Dec/Jan calves and that is NOT on the plans.. not breeding back now, the ones with the new calves, so they can get a break from being pregnant and when the bulls go in with the cows in June, they at least will be 12 months between calves... and they will get a break next year if it kills me....
He had 3 or 4 steers at another place and there are a few there at the barn that were on the cows that we brought home from pasture a week or 2 ago... might actually get everyone straightened out... vet coming Monday for preg checks and get that at least caught up so we know what is what...
Maybe get things back to a spring and fall calving season of 60-75 days ... and some breaks inbetween....
Anything that is a steer will go tomorrow or next week in the group they "graded" for that graded sale... Then we should be down to heifers and cows with babies... going to take heifers to WV....and he might not like it but I am going to insist on them getting bangs vacc and will have tattoos in their ears.... another incentive to not "lose any" like we lost the 2 steers last year...prices are too high to hold on to these steers...

Tested the 500+ cow herd Thursday and it went well... Deena is a quick study and I was glad to have her help.... She milks part-time for a farmer who's wife is expecting so cannot do mornings, but said to call her for the afternoon ones and the first week of the month works the best so looks like I can get some more regular testing done... DS is going to have to go help me on the mornings... they ran nearly 580 cows through... had a bunch of heifers come in fresh... most I have ever tested there... 568 samples plus some treated cows I don't take milk samples from....

So, time to go to bed...

 

[Ridgetop]

Excited to hear what the bottle calves bring.

 

[farmerjan]

Sunday morning... but with the stupid time change, it is half gone... Sorry, NOT a fan of daylight savings time at all...

It rained all day yesterday, took the first load of calves to town at 5:30. Had truck trouble... got about ao miles and DS looked down and the truck was running all the way on hot... got it off the highway, and it dropped just a little, so decided to limp it home and get another truck... Got about 3-4 miles down the main highway (off interstate) and it was running near the hot... so pulled into a Pilot station to let it idle and cool off a little... then decided to unhook it and take truck down (8 miles or so to barn) and get another truck... without the trailer it would not be pulling so hard... I stayed at the pilot with the trailer... and he went back to the barn. Got back about 1/2 hour later since he went real easy going down... hooked up the trailer again, and we left. Got to the stockyard and it was raining pretty good, just 2 ahead of us, and we got unloaded quickly... Calves were split in 4, 6, 8, and a single... the single was a hol/ang cross we had put on a cow that had a dead calf last year and was noticeably taller and lankier built... He weighed 570, the group of 8 weighed right at 600 , the 4 were 420+ and the 6 were right at the sweet spot of 500+. The 6 brought $3.22.... the 4 brought 3.00 and the bigger 8 still brought 2.73... But that goes to show that the 5 wts brought only about $2.00 less total per calf than the 6 wts... with more feed in the 6 wts than the 5 wts..... Does not pay to put that kind of weight on them... the 6 wts should have been sold 2-3 weeks ago... the single hol x angus brought 1.85 which was good...used to be he might have brought 1.00. Commissions are right at $50/head so nearly 1,000 off the check for that... OUCH.....

Still over all they did pretty darn good. There is a group of 17 to go this next Thursday, to the graded sale... and there are some smaller calves that DS is going to look at and said he might sell them in another month... they are probably low 4 wts right now...
Plus go through and decide what heifers are going to WV and 5 for the other place the guy wants us to bring some back to...

Anyway, got back around 8:30/9 with the truck change over and all adding an hour total time... DS said he was going to do a little feeding, let me feed the calves and he would call me and we would see if we could get up to the barn with the muddy/slick ground. I got fed at the house, went to the barn, and got them fed and separated... and he called so I told him I was up there... to come up and he would have 1 shot to back up and then it might slide around if he had to reposition... he did back up, had to pull forward a little, but it was good... Calves are not used to any of this so we balky at loading, but got the 6 in... then went to my house and I had moved all the vehicles to be able to back down closer to the calf hutch and pen... kept the truck wheels on the gravel but the trailer was back down there closer... had to go in the hutch and put baling string ropes around their necks because they did not want to come out in the rain either... but finally got them loaded... and left. I took 6 "bottle" calves... even took the jersey...
The 2 oldest weaned started calves; holstein and the black jersey/hol/angus that the nurse cow had...sold them by the lb... hol weighed 280, and brought just over $600 (2.15) and the black weighed 235 and brought $505 (2.15).... the others they sold by the head... Jersey brought $70 but he was small, although healthy... and I am not sorry he went... I would have brought him back at $50 and had hoped he would bring $100... but better than the other couple that brought $35... he looked good. The hol heifer, twin to the bull brought $180, she was smaller than the bull from birth... and the 2 hol bulls brought $300 and 310 ... The real "new baby calves" - 3 day old type - were bringing in the 250-350 range... and some black calves were in the 500 range...
Does not pay to put much into them... but the twins were small to start so gained a little with the weight... the last bull calf was only 4 weeks or so... as well as the jersey... and I was not making a special trip to the sale, for 1 calf a couple weeks ago... so it was fine...the last bull calf I had $150 in purchase cost, and about 1/2 bag total in milk replacer for him and the jersey.... plus going and getting him... but did get milk for free to feed some to everyone... So... all in all I was figuring I had $500 purchase costs of calves... maybe about $500 in travel to pick them up, milk replacer, hay, and grain..... So to be conservative, made about $875 on them....

AND still have the twin holstein heifers at the barn... I would have to sit and do some more exacting math but that is a good round figure... Say the twin heifers were worth another $200 each ... that's not bad pay for 3 months time... twice a day for 2 months, once a day for the third month, at an hour a day to feed bottles and grain and hay...
Yes, they are going to cost me to raise up... and I may at some time sell them... but they will be "free" for the next 6-8 months or so, in costs.... using the "profit from the other calves" so to speak.

Did see several holstein steers sell, the 4 wts brought in the 1.75 range and the bigger 6-7 wts were in the 1.50-1.60... but holsteins eat alot so not sure raising them past 400 or so is worth it anyway... that was going to be my target... was weaned and under 400 lbs to sell... but with the price of small ones, definitely not worth it...

Overall, the day was worth it... And it has been pretty much agreed on that the truck overheating is from a stuck thermostat... the top hose on the truck was flexible... no water going through it... which is a sure sign of the thrermostat not opening and allowing the water flow... so hopefully did not hurt the engine and new thermostats are ordered for Monday delivery... because DS puts the 180* ones in the diesel trucks not the 195* ones... wants the trucks to run at cooler temps, especially in the summer time... and no one keeps them in stock since not many use them... and the newer trucks are so complicated... bad enough our older diesels have 2 thermostats in them... new trucks have 4 sensors.....

There were 4 of my calves in the beef calves that were sold... so will get another decent amount...got to figure which ones in which groups... and there are a couple of mine in the group going to the graded sale next Thursday...
Taken 40+ years to get to where there is a decent payback... with the high prices right now... from the scrimping and saving and working other jobs to make payments and all that... always "putting in money" towards the farming..... from outside jobs... it won't last with the cattle as the inputs are higher and higher... but am trying to cash in on it now while the money is good...

We got some hard rain and some serious hail for about 15 minutes at the stockyards around 3-4 p.m.... you could see it bouncing off the roof tin... rained lightly all the way home... it was foggy and then the temp dropped some...

This morning it was very cloudy, and it was chilly... down to 37. The sun is trying to come out and it is up to 50 but is very windy today. Talking serious gusting winds in the 30-50 mph range.... temps fluctuating between 46 and 50... guess it is depending on whether the sun is hitting the thermometer recorder.... There's more clouds than sun for now.

Guess it is time to go out and get some milk and warm for the 2 calves.... got another 5 gallons so will feed them for 5 days...or cut the bottles to 1/2 in a day or 2, and get another couple days out of it... although it may not keep that long; and then I might just wean them... they are pushing 12 weeks and eating real good... they are in with the little orphan beef heifer and she was used to going in and out the creep gate... now that all the bigger ones are gone, I think I will let them go out with her; learn the whole going in and out, and by the time I stop the bottles, they will still be coming in for grain... and maybe will get the other little black ones out there to come in again... they had started to come in for grain until I locked the 3 bigger steers in there 2 weeks ago, so they could get sold and were off their mommas so they could get a break... It will be good for the twins to get out and get some "real world" experience, and get some exercise that running out in the field will give them that they cannot get in the lot.... although that is a whole lot more space than most calf hutches give them for the first 8-12 weeks of life... Still the hutches prevent the constant sucking on each other, that bottle calves all do....
Gotta name the twins so they can get eartags with vaccs soon.

 

[Mini Horses]

A little profit makes us think it's worth the effort . Although we do it anyway, for endurance and love -- the DNA in our veins. This week was a good input for you.

 

[Ridgetop]

. So to be conservative, made about $875 on them....

AND still have the twin holstein heifers at the barn..

Good job! Sell them when small (400 lbs) you have less in them and actually make more for your input. Same with market lambs when I sell. Pull off mamas at 8-10 weeks, toss in trailer, and sell. No castrating, no docking, just CDT shots. Holding them longer and feeding out does not pay me, in fact because we have no graze I start losing money immediately they are weaned.

Taken 40+ years to get to where there is a decent payback... with the high prices right now... from the scrimping and saving and working other jobs to make payments and all that... always "putting in money" towards the farming..... from outside jobs... it won't last with the cattle as the inputs are higher and higher... but am trying to cash in on it now while the money is good...

With the bad fires in east Texas and Oklahoma, lots of cattle have been lost, as well as grazing grounds. Surviving cattle have no grazing and ranchers are begging for grazing to move their cattle A lot of the cattle that were killed were steers but a lot were breeding cows. Not sure how that could help you buy more cattle cheaply since east Texas is so far away, but if DS and you get a line on some cows going cheap in east Texas, you can stop over on our property on the way to and from.

I am not being mean to those distressed ranchers, they will have to do something about any cows they managed to save and will have to move them to grazing or sell PDQ. Selling now will put some cash in their pocket as they decided how to move forward.

 

[farmerjan]

@Ridgetop ... thanks for the offer to stay at your place.... but unfortunately, most market reports that I am seeing, and farmers I have been in contact with, are getting more for their animals there in Texas, Missouri, Oklahoma than we are here... so there basically are not going to be any "cheaper" cattle to buy. I am going to concentrate more on the retaining of these heifers this year... selling only the nut cases or just completely "bottom of the barrel" ones .... and everyone has a few of them.... even the orphan calf at the nurse cow barn is growing, but she is small and may always be small... her momma was a smaller cow... We have got to stop using these easy calving bulls on anything once they become "cows" (after 2nd calf on the ground)... they are stretched out to be able to deliver a calf and need to be bred to bulls at least putting average calves on the ground, not the small ones the easy calving bulls produce. But sometimes DS just puts bulls out and they are not always my bull of choice...
I have 3 at the nurse cow field that need to go to a different pasture to get bred this next year (they are due to calve here soon).... so they get bred to "cow bulls" and not to "heifer bulls". The one is a small but VERY FERTILE cow, and we have one or 2 of her daughters... but they are also smaller framed... she needs to be bred to a bull putting at least average size calves on the ground... not the easy calving bull putting small calves on the ground out of first time heifers. Most of our angus bulls are not easy calving, ("cow bulls), but will put decent sized calves on the ground... these smaller cows get moved to snyder's (nurse cow pasture) so I can keep an eye on them calving, with the first time heifers that calve, then the easy calving bull gets put in there with the heifers to get bred, and they get bred back to him... and the cycle of smaller calves keeps on.

Well, checked the rain gauge, we got just shy of .8 inch overall... The wind is really gusting/blowing, so the ground will dry out some today. Milk is in the hot water, warming to go up and feed the 2 bottle calves and I will put out grain and hay for them. I am going to leave them in the "lot" for a day or 2 with the wind and wet so they don't go out the creep gate and not find their way back in with chilly weather... Supposed to warm up in a day or 2 and I can let them out.

Well, new wrinkle....
DS called about getting the cows in at the pasture where they got the steer calves out of the other day... and the new babies down there... and there is one they have not matched up... and he did not want to bring the wrong cow back to get preg checked... and leave the baby there... since I told him at this point, what he needs to do is just leave the ones with the new calves there for now.... it is so muddy at the barn... and since they brought the steer calves out, to just the get big heifer calves out of there and leave the other 5 cows... that way the new baby will still have the momma there even if not matched... that the other 5 either have the bigger heifer calves on them, or had a couple of the steers he brought back... but regardless the cows needed a break from the bigger calves... and let the rest of the cows calve there... if those 5 don't get preg checked... not a big deal at this point... if someone hasn't calved in a couple month, I can stick my arm up her and see if I can feel a calf.... or she could get moved with the cows that have these fall calves on them and checked when they get checked... BUT that the bigger calves just need to come off... period.... he agreed... but next thing was where to put them... since he had several at the barn get sick...there are "germs" there that some of them seem to just be more susceptible to.... so they are going to come to snyder's... leave in the lot with the 3 little calves there for now... make sure they are "weaned" off the cows for a few days... and learn where the grain is... and then they will be able to come and go in and out the creep gate also... There are only 5 heifer calves there, he brought home the 7 steer calves Friday so we could sell them Sat..... get them here at snyder's , get used to getting grain everyday for a few days, then open the gate to make the creep gate accessible again, and they can find their way out and then learn to come and go.... They will have to be moved out come June when the bull gores in, or else the 5 heifers to be bred in June will have to go with the bull somewhere else... I guess that would work, and then we could move all the weaned heifers that we are keeping, except for the ones going to WV and the 5 to the other place, could come to snyder's for the summer... will have to talk to him about it... that actually makes sense to not have to deal with any neighbor bulls getting over fences to breed heifers we don't want bred... which happened at 2 places in the past... there are no cattle on adjoining fences to snyders... so for now, those 5 heifers are going to snyder's, in the lot with the little calves... and I will grain them in there for a few days and get them used to things... then open it up so they can all go in and out the creep gate. DS said he would brig me a few sq bales to feed them in the barn, and I will just grain them daily... and once the creep gate is opened up, maybe the small black calves there will come in also.... they are mostly all bull calves so need to get tagged and banded and blackleg shots...
Have pretty much decided to not pull the calf off the old charolais cow there and sell them.... she is doing a decent job with the calf and she can just stay for the time being... the calf is not black, but a smokey brownish grey... ad I think it is a heifer... so might be her replacement anyway... she is easy to get in if I change my mind.
Oh crap, if we do not put a bull there, my longhorn will not get bred back... maybe we ought to move her to the one pasture with her new calf, which should be born here within a month, where we had the coyote problems this year... she likes grain so should not be a problem to get back in, just has to be transported by herself due to her horns... can make that decision later when we decide what to do with the heifers up there...

As @Ridgetop knows, with multiple breeding pens and such, you are ALWAYS having to move and juggle animals....

Heading up to feed the calves and get the pen situated for when ever he gets the heifers out of that pasture later.

 

[Ridgetop]

Most of our angus bulls are not easy calving, ("cow bulls), but will put decent sized calves on the ground... these smaller cows get moved to snyder's (nurse cow pasture) so I can keep an eye on them calving, with the first time heifers that calve, then the easy calving bull gets put in there with the heifers to get bred, and they get bred back to him... and the cycle of smaller calves keeps on.

Moving cows/sheep around is a pain when you want certain ones with certain bulls/rams. I agree after the heifer has a calf she is stretched out and has actually often grow a bit bigger herself. Her second calf/lambs are often larger and you can use a large calf production bull on her. If your bulls are all throwing small calves, you should probably sell one and get a larger calf producing bull. Hard to deal with this when dealing with DS. Ater all once a child reaches a certain age mom knows nothing even though he learned everything from you to start with!!

maybe we ought to move her to the one pasture with her new calf, which should be born here within a month, where we had the coyote problems this year...

Coyotes might not be a problem with her in the pasture - those horns would take care of any coyotes. She might keep other cows and calves safe too.

 

[SageHill]

but with the stupid time change, it is half gone... Sorry, NOT a fan of daylight savings time at all...

I'm with you on that one. With the ranch stuff I'm now an hour late to anything else. grrrr
Never liked the change and even less now.