Farmerjan's journal - Weather

farmerjan said:

"Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without"

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That moght have been a saying from the depression. I used to quote that saying (courtesy of my grandmother who raised me) to my children when they complained about not getting new stuff. My kids got one pair of shoes for school (if they had multiple pairs one ended up lost until it was too small for them), one pair of boots for riding, and one pair of muck boots. The riding boots and muck boots were passed down from child to child. At Christmas DS3 was thrilled with new T-shirts that had legible writing or cartoons. By the time he got his older brother's clothes the shirts were illegible and the jeans were mended and patched! LOL Only new stuff they usually got was socks and underwear. They all had jobs and grew up learning to take care of their money.

Looked it up, yes, it was WWII depression saying that Coolidge made popular... research says it was based on an English phrase that was similar.

Taking a bit of a break... back is not happy. It is nice out, more sun than clouds. 60 to start... I did a sink full of dishes, and some of the gallon glass jars I use for milk and tea... ate some potato salad for lunch...

Got the batteries all charged and plan to go out and do some with the walk behind weed eater.

I am going to have to soak the plants... We have not had any rain to measure in over 10 days.... Just the little 10 sprinkles that made us wait to cut hay... but it did nothing for the ground. There was dust coming up from the hay raking yesterday.
Once he gets the hay done today, I hope it rains serious rain, not a little sprinkle type, here for a change. Funny because 20-30 miles north and south of us there have been some downpours.

Need to get on the phone, make some calls, and do some texting to get some farms set up. 3 are skipping this month so far... one scheduled for the end of the month already.

Farm life goes really quickly. The seasons roll through planting harvesting, haymaking, canning, calving, lambing, milking, weaning and selling young stock. No time to slow down and relax for more than a few minutes admiring the blossoms on fruit trees, calves and lambs playing in the fields, sunsets and sunrises, and all the beauty and gifts God has provided.

Exhaustion is a small part of it. LOL

Warmer this morning... 62 and up to 80 so far. Hazy cloudy again...

DS said there were about 850-900 small sq bales total... pretty good yield... I think he has 4 1/2 or 5 wagons... the big wagons will hold 200 stacked.
Rolled the outside 2 windrows... about 3 1/2 rolls he said. There were some weeds and alot of johnson grass that the small sq bale customers do not want. Cows will eat it just fine.. hope to feed that to the calves rather than the mature cows.

EVERYONE all of a sudden wants to test. One I haven't been to in a year just texted on top of the 2 scheduled this week... Thurs and Fri.... and now the 500 cow herd wants to test after telling me last week to skip this month.... as they are having some cell count issues... REALLY......

Monday night... Temp got to 87 and it was muggy. Showed a small percentage of possible showers.. I hung a load of clothes... so OF COURSE, it showered... .10 inch. I went to run a few errands since I hadn't taken the reports to the farm from last week, stopped and picked up a couple things that had been on the list on the way back. Got home and saw there were wet spots on the road... naturally. Wouldn't hurt the clothes and I just left them out.

DS had texted me about going to WVA fair... seems it is just us 2 going tomorrow... drama with her and her sister and crap... it is just one big Peyton place all the time... he has 6 tickets... said that she does not want to go because of the crowds... Tues and Wed there are the fewest crowds... but she can go to a truck pull with all those people and noise... he cannot get the sister to answer him back, said he would take those 2 kids and GF said it wouldn't be fair to her daughter and the half sister (same father) because they have to go to school starting tomorrow... the sister's 2 kids are in the christian school, doesn't start for another week, and the GF daughter and her 1/2 sister are in public schools ..... but the daughter and 1/2 sister went away this weekend without the sisters kids since they went with their father... here we go again.... I am staying out of it and am actually glad it will be just him and I. We will walk around and look at stuff and machinery and animals and not have to cater to her whims...

So, he was taking the 2 jersey's and the bull to the neighbor/friend this afternoon... then texted and wanted to know how many at the pasture where the ones with the big calves were... his count and mine were different... then he called back and asked if I had taken off the cow that had died up there a month ago... I didn't know that he had lost one... she was getting old and he had said it would be her last calf with the upcoming pregnancy... well, she never made it.. So that made the count right.. so I am assuming he was moving them... or had taken the panels up there to get set up to move them in a day or 2... We will talk about it tomorrow, and I am hoping that he is thinking that we will sell the "odd balls" maybe this Saturday... 2 holstein steers; a feeder calf with small horns/scurs developing... couple of heifers he doesn't like... just get the ones gone that we don't want to keep... I don't see prices getting any better and with the fall coming, and calves coming off cows, it could even drop off a little bit. I doubt it will be much, but why keep feeding them...

Just heard that the value of the dollar fell today,,,, that could be a fluke, or it could be trouble... will bear watching very closely.

Oh, got the 500 cow herd scheduled for this Wed... aft test.. then Thurs aft, and Friday aft... told one that I did not want to do Sat on their weekend to milk...that I was testing 4 straight days and really didn't think I could deal with it.... they forgot to call me 2 weeks ago when it was their weekend, and with them having switched some days around, I had thought it was supposed to be last weekend... He said he would just wait 2 more weeks and we would do it on their weekend the 30-31st... first time I have ever backed off like that...
BUT... if we sell anything Sat, I want to go to the sale also.... and it is not as strenuous as testing...

Farm that hasn't tested in a year is going to get next Tuesday... told them they could pick Mon or Tues, that this week was full.... Next Wed is trip to dr appt with DS...

Feast or Famine.... @Mini Horses doing the same with all the resets...

Yes!! I swear they try to kill ya some weeks. I'm having that now -- last week & this one. Body is moving by pure instinct. I milked at 11 last night. Head to work within the hr.

Farm that wanted Tuesday texted and said that they were mistaken, the milk truck comes to pick up milk... he is always late, so they start late in the morning.. so could they have Monday instead... .

Do I hear "RETIREMENT" CALLING MY NAME..........


We went to WVA to the state fair.... 100th year... watched some cattle show... discussed the various ones and how we did not agree with the judge on some... walked around... it was mostly sunny and got hot... 90... lamented that there were so few animals and this fair used to have tons of animals... but they stagger the days the animals are there, and dairy cattle come in the end of the week... I won't be there of course... Watched a "sea lion show" that was pretty good... teaching them to clap and do other things is really pretty neat...

Looked at some equipment... a new discbine, like what DS mows with... is now $42,000.... he paid 30,000 5 years ago... WAY higher than he thought... figured they would be in the 36-39,000 range... with getting about 18,000 on trade in.... they will give him 20,000... but that is less than half of what a new one costs... usually will get away with paying about 1/3 of the price with the trade in...


A new round baler is over 60,000....

Ate a ribeye type steak sandwich from the WVA cattlemen's assoc trailer... A #1.... cooked how you liked it on the spot... $15 but it was worth it... Tender and flavorful.

Got a phone call on the way home... neighbor (has cattle) said that another neighbor's kids, bordering the pasture the heifers are in to calve...said something was dead with "worms" crawling all over it.... So I dropped DS at his truck and came up and drove down the driveway of the neighbor who's kids told the cattle friend's kids... DS got a little perturbed that I said I didn't go in and check them Monday.... there weren't any looking like they were going to calve immediately... and the 3 calves were doing good so far... and I didn't feel all that great on Monday... "what if a cow was trying to calve etc and so on...."grrrr....

So I drove down the driveway and couldn't find anything that looked like a dead animal..... came home, got the ranger and went back on the inside of the pasture and couldn't find anything... and didn't smell anything "dead" that was recent... I had made a head count on Sunday and accounted for every cow and calf and all... so 2 days; if it was recently dead, it should have stunk to high heaven.
So then I parked down near the water trough, and walked all along the "flat" area below a line of trees where there is/was an old fence way back when.... and finally found a deer that had gotten it's leg hung in the top 2 wires, jumping over it... and must've died a week or so ago. If I can account for all the animals up around the barn, or in the pasture... I don't walk down there... lots of fallen trees and brushy stuff... IF I am looking for someone, who might have been hiding to have a calf , that is where I look. I could only find 1 of the 3 new calves, so was getting worried, but finally found them on the other side of the pasture under some trees, just chilled out....

Seems the kids were walking down the long driveway, and the fence borders their driveway and you can't see everything from their side, or everything from our side.... but you know kids... they were just walking along and had to find this..... I did NOT take it out of the fence... it can dry up more and then one day we can get it out... but it did not smell much so it had to be dead at least a week-10 days.... and because they were walking out to the bus, along the driveway, they saw/smelled ? it...

Longhorns steer calf was in the barn, so I did put out a scoop of feed for him... and he did go to the bunk to eat it... so the smaller calves will learn to follow him in there in a few weeks/month...

DS agreed that we ought to take the heifers that were just getting bred the last 2 months, and move them to the pasture where we cut part of it for hay... lots of grass on the hillier part we didn't cut... and they can rotate around... Grass at nurse cow pasture is getting short... too many in there... and too many to look through for the ones that are due to calve.
Seems he and GF , did bring home the cows with the bigger calves from there last night... the calves will get sorted off the cows maybe tomorrow or Thursday, and the cows will go up with the rest due to calve... He also put the cow with the "slow" calf and the other 2 that finally calved, out there... they will be fall calving cows since they are so far behind the "spring " cows... and if they do not breed right back when the bulls go back with the cows in NOV/DEC.... they will get sold. The old one with the slow calf is getting sold anyway... before she goes down... it's her time... she gets the summer to raise this calf and she is doing a good job...
Got another one that lost her calf... it was very tiny... out to pasture with a spring group... she had a crap calf last year and I told him he should sell her... but noooooo... so now that she is not producing a saleable calf, she is going... He won't make a special trip out to pasture to get her... I would... but she will get sold after the season and she comes back to the barn with the rest. Should've never kept her this long... just like the one cow that just calved that was supposed to be spring calving... she was late last year when she was checked... and was behind that group... does not have the greatest calf but definitely better than this other cow...

I'm going to get a shower, wash off the dust, and go to bed. Got to get the bottles and stuff in the car for tomorrow and not leave it for the last minute... Have to leave by 3, and it will be 11 or 12 when we finally get home... they have A LOT of fresh heifers so I imagine are milking 525-550 at least...

Sticky, hot, humid, "close"... partly/mostly cloudy... I finally remembered to get the tags renewed on the explorer that was out of date... never noticed it and don't remember the renewal thing in the mail.
Rained/showers, 15 miles south.. nothing at the house. Looks like we might stay between most/all of it...

Boxes and everything in the explorer to take. Sandwiches made for later and I ate a late lunch. Going to take a couple tylenol now so that I don't get to hurting too much... better to mellow it out now than to try to calm a really aching back later...

Went up and checked the cows... saw all 3 calves up with their momma's... nothing new.
Heading out the door.

I think I hear retirement calling your name too! I'm retired and reading all that you and everyone else does on their farms, exhausts me...lol. My chores are a drop in the bucket.
I salute everyone of you!