Farmerjan's journal - Weather

canesisters said:

Yeah, I saw a post or two about that after I disposed off it.
I've got to admit that I thought it was 'funny' that after talking to several wildlife rehab folks that night plus a few animal control people that night and the one who showed up to get it.... no one mentioned anything about that.

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SHHHHHH........... be vewy vewy quiet..........

Friday morning... CHILLY 36 overnight... Sun's coming over the trees, that soon will not have any leaves left. Leaves have been changing, colors are not great due to the drought conditions. Many are turning brown and coming off the trees dried/dead rather than colored. Oh well...

Been a busy few days, have tested several farms... got a couple more already scheduled.. Sunday afternoon and the 500 cow herd next Wed... another dr appt for DS on Monday again.

Tested late Tuesday night... then another farm Wed eve. I spent a couple hours Wed, before going to test, helping DS scrape out the bottom of one of the silage feeder wagons... he was using a impact type thing with stiff metal brush thing to get off the corroded/rusted stuff so that he could get it painted... ACTUALLY getting this done AHEAD of needing these feeders... . I was using a flat shovel to scoop stuff out, then the shop vac to get all the little stuff out... This was a bought feeder cart... and he had already done the other one... figure if he gets them painted and all they will last longer and not rust so bad...

He got the 10 heifers home from the neighbor's pasture... 1 in there has a weird dip in her back right about where her hips are... her tail head is high too... not a flat nice back.... when she is walking and when she stands a certain way... I told him "no way" to moving her to breed her with the other 9... she will get sold... Probably weighs in the 8-850 wt range...

So yesterday I packed the samples from the previous night's testing... got bottles and all to go test the farm yesterday afternoon... did the turkeys and chickens... and then I went to look at these heifers at the barn, so he can move them... Went from there after we looked them over, talked about what we were going to do... with the upheaval with Trump's comments about how "he saved the farmers".... and how the cattle market feeder future's prices hit the down limit again...
Got feed at the barn, then went to get the "13" in at pasture... and they came in like they have been since I have been feeding them there... and he came with the 9 to go out on that pasture... and bring the "13" back to the barn for us to look over... Originally there were 14, one is in the other field with the 18 bred ones that will get preg checked... of the original 14 there were 6 older and 8 younger... it is one of the older ones over in with the 18.... So, he loaded the 13 with no problem... the one that is a little high headed that I said needed to go was a little jumpy/nervous, but loaded pretty good... I left there to go to drop off the samples and then go on to work... he took them back to the barn and we will look through them but most will be getting sold... The plans are to go on and sell this Sat..... get them out of there, and the thinking is, the heifer prices have not seemed to suffer as much as the steer prices have from the upheaval in this past weeks' announcements and all this... Might try to go by the sale today to see how things look...

I worked on the computer work last night here because the milker had screwed up some of the ID numbers and I had to go back and CHANGE numbers back for over 30 calves... and you have to delete one in order to go back and then reassign the number to a different one... they got them wrong and so I had to like go "backwards".... it was a ROYAL PITA.... but I think I got it done... told them I would probably have to have them do it at the computer center today... but I worked on it backwards last night and got it done.. At least, I hope so... Was up until after 1 a.m..... couple more things are not recorded but I could do a scan so I can get the samples packed and sent out... then will get the information and fix it before I upload the test day information to the computer center... Samples will go out today... but won't get to the lab until Monday... so I have the weekend to get the last stuff fixed... I have to test Sunday aft... fairly close to there... so will run up there and get the couple things I need to fix it... and drop off the reports I have printed... and all their notebooks and stuff with their information.... and then close out the test day info and upload it to the processing center like normal..
Need to get the samples packed to go out...

So, I am going to go to the barn in a bit... DS is going to let me know when he is back there... we will look these heifers over, make a decision who is going, who is staying... and then I have to get the tractor and rake moved to the fields he cut... sorghum in one, hay in the other... and maybe start raking some of it later on when it warms up a bit... because tomorrow I won't be able to rake with going to the stockyard... unless I don't go and let him take them himself......I don't have to go but usually do.
Sunday I have to work so have to be gone by 2:30... that only leaves a couple hours to rake once the sun comes up and dries off any dew or frost...

Gotta get going...

Hope your back is better.

Have they gotten any test results from your blood work? Maybe not long enough Seems they lack speed.

farmerjan said:

ACTUALLY getting this done AHEAD of needing these feeders...

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Between this and the chicken coops being set up ahead of time -
Who are you and what have you done with our good friend Farmerjan?!
LOL

1st pic of silage... Dump truck dumping load, DS walking from tractor to talk to driver...2nd pic is of the Hereford/Holstein cross heifers from the dairy we picked up in August.....3rd pic of Jess, the longhorn...with her 4/025 steer calf in front and her 2023 steer that is going in the freezer in January...4th pic is the black snake in front of pasture gate I was going to open to feed some grain...I let him go on by then went in gate. About 3- 3 1/2 ft long.

Just got home from the stockyard a few minutes ago... and wanted to send these pics, while I was looking through the phone for another picture....
Sale was pretty good... but if anyone pays any attention to the news, Trump's dept of Ag minister, is now going to have a meeting with Mexico's dept of Ag minister... about possibly reopening the border to Mexican cattle... after the announcement a couple days ago of possibly importing some Argentine beef... which will not be alot since they do not have a huge number of cattle... that is a possible "sweetening the deal" type of thing because he is trying to work a deal to be able to import more of the "rare earth elements" that are mined and available in Argentina, because China has put a ban on exporting them to the US due to our tariffs on some of their stuff... TIT for TAT crap....
BUT.... the futures markets fell another LIMIT on Friday... prices have come off over $21 in the last 10 days... AND the worst is that the New World Screw Worm that is gaining ground in Mexico... which is what closed the border to Mexican cattle back in May... was 700 miles from the US/Mexico border... then was 200 miles... NOW has been found 75 MILES from the border... It is something that took us nearly 15/20 years to eradicate back in the 70's.... and is DEVASTATING to the cattle herds... really really bad... and now they are going to compromise because Trump has decided that he needs to have a "magic" solution to the cattle prices... which will AFFECT the farmers and ranchers... BUT... the BIG 4 conglomerates that comprise 85% of the beef suppliers (THINK.... CONTROL through putting the little kill companies out of business... remember beef shortages for covid... BECAUSE we could not find plants to kill the animals... NOT because there weren't any animals....but because of the corporate control and manipulation... and price fixing by these 4 meat packers)... will drop beef prices a TINY smidgeon... and continue to make record profits... while the farmer will get less for their animals, and then take the heat for the high prices only coming down a little bit... when it is the conglomerates that are still making record profits on the farmers back.......
Yeah, don't get me started... we actually can make a profit after years of NOT making a profit, let alone pay the bills....... ranchers do not get the subsidies that grain and crop farmers get.. BUT when we buy a new tractor... that costs in the 100,000 PLUS range... or a big round baler that is now over $60,000.... we are looked at like we are making all sorts of "profit".... which we are only basically turning over dollars... comes in and goes out faster.... and we cannot "set our prices" according to cost plus profit figured in like any good business can do... You figure what it costs to make a product... then add a % for profit... and price it accordingly... like a new truck or car... say it costs $30,000 to make a car... the car company adds a % to the cost... and that is the sale price... say $40,000.... That is the dealer's price... which pays his overhead and sales people etc and so on... he can negotiate on that... but the factory wants $30,000.....
We cannot do that as farmers... we take what we get whether it is the stockyard, or the beef packing plant....
and some of that is determined by the "players" on the stock market that buy and sell "futures" and all that... it is a manipulation of stock market people that know next to nothing... to totally nothing, about actual farming...or any type of down and dirty day to day farming...
or in the case of milk... what the GOV'T says we can make according to their milk marketing rules...

I agree beef prices are high... but if you figure what the increase in prices of things like cars, your fancy smart phone, and such has been.... beef is not nearly as expensive... and without FOOD in general... what good is anything else ?????? I am tired of working my a$$ off for people who will b$@#h and complain about $5 or $6 / lb for ground beef... but will spend $1,000 for a phone or the latest Ipad or Ipod or Tablet or other fancy electronic toy.... and want $25-50 an hour for an entry level job because they have a "degree" .... but then b@#%h and complain about the plumber or electrician that does the "dirty work" to make sure they have a toilet that flushes or instant water in their faucet or the electric in their house so they don't have to get hot or cold...or God forbid, break a sweat or need to put on a sweatshirt..... but have a "perfect climate controlled environment".... Our work equipment does not come CHEAP either....and we have just as much or more stress than most other jobs....

So, you can probably figure that there will be a small drop in beef prices... and you will continue to see more and more small farmers go out of business as they age out... and land gets sold off for more "developments"... and then AI (as in artificial intelligence not artificial insemination) starts to take over jobs... and then what are the people going to do for work as there are more and more put out of work through all these "smart" things... so then where will they make the money to buy their toys... not even thinking about their food...
There will be more and more monopolizing as more and more companies consolidate and take over and there is less competition and prices become more and more fixed... and the little guy will not be able to make his acreage "pay" enough to be a full time farmer anymore... and then there will be consolidation of breeds like the "rock/cornish" type broiler cross that will grow fast and has no longevity.... and everything will become "cookie cutter" sameness.... and people get more and more "removed" ... more remote.... from farming. And with that they will not care that this farmer or that has gone out of business... and their choices will dwindle and they will just become accustomed to it and accept it... become one of the "lemings" that followed the pied piper off the cliff...

Anyway.... I got up and went to get the tractor and rake to take to the field since it did not get done yesterday (Friday)... BATTERY is urh, urh.... barely turned over... so texted DS said I blew up the tire on the rake with my HANDY DANDY AIR MOTO little inflator pump, I talked about getting... Have several and keep one in each of several vehicles now... plug into the same cord as the cell phone ..... They are on the internet... and I LOVE IT.... not as fast as an air tank... but you gotta fill them with air, bigger and bulkier.... this is like a small walkie talkie size.... WONDERFUL INVENTION.....but then when I went to start it the battery was real real weak... I was going home to get a pair of jumper cables...and would come get a can of diesel fuel for it..... he texted back ane was on his way with fuel and the cables... jumped the tractor... started right up.... have no idea how old that battery is so it could just be getting "old"... and poured in a can of fuel... and he was going to the barn to feed and then load the calves... and I said that I think it would be better for me to not go with him and stay and get the sorghum and the hay fields raked... while the sun was out... and he said I was probably right but he felt bad that I wasn't going to go... and I said I might come up after I get done but I really think I need to do the raking now... while it is partly/mostly sunny... get it done...

So, I went on to the field... we had taken my car there already on Friday.... and he went to the barn to load the calves. We had looked them over on Friday afternoon... and I told him that I thought he should sell a couple he was thinking of keeping... and yes... the "stupid" one that we got in the pen at the pasture was definitely going; along with 2 others that were also acting "dumb" and a little idiotically like they were scaredy cats.... so he also got in the big bull we had taken and "no saled" a couple weeks ago... along with the one steer that they said was "bloated" but he just has a big gut as he just is a glutton for hay which makes him have a big gut.... so him and 2 heifers that are also hay gluttons, got put on the other side of the barn with water and just a section of hay each... and got grained... and they dropped the gut when they could not just stand there and eat and eat... so looked alot better...

I spent about 4 hours, raked both the field of sorghum-sudan grass and the upper hay field... and then I came by the house, and then went on to the stockyard to see how things were selling...
Sold my heifer that I had thought of possibly keeping...liked her less and less as she got older... and they sold pretty good. I don't have the sheet in front of me... but averaged like $17-1800 a piece if I remember right... heifers were closer to what they had been.....so it was a good sale even if the steer prices were off $.30-50 cents..... luckily we only had the one steer... and he did alot better than what we had no saled him for a couple weeks ago... The bull wound up bringing about the same... and we sold him....
That's another 12-14 off the feed bill, plus the big bull gone... Between the old bull he took a couple weeks ago to the guy to go direct to slaughter, plus this one, it ought to give us enough to buy one good young bull for a replacement... and maybe have some left over...
We also worked the 9 bull calves that he got last Monday, through the chute on Friday afternoon... really, really nice quiet dispositioned calves... easy to work and they are all banded and vaccinated... really like them more and more...
DS wants me to call the vet and see when we can get the "18" bred heifers, preg checked....then after we see what the status is, we will make a decision to keep and rebreed, or sell any opens... and we are going to put a bull with the 9 he took over there in the next week or so...So will make a call Monday and see what the vet's schedule is looking like.

The cow that prolapsed is doing good... calf is nursing and she is producing enough milk and not having any problems. Vet said stitches do not need to be taken out... there is plenty of room for her to pee normally, and she will be getting sold after she raises this calf. We have a couple more that will not be going back with a bull after they raise their current calf... so there will be a couple in the lot together for the winter.

I am going to bed, it is later than I thought...

Look at you posting pictures!! Way to go, you are getting the hang of it. The holstein and hereford cross heifers look good. My heart sank when I heard about importing cattle again. Finally American ranchers are making money and then this. In some places ranchers have formed co-ops to slaughter and market their own meat. It puts more money in their pocket, but I'm sure it is a lot of work.

I have 3 ram lambs that I'm going to slaughter myself. The local slaughter house wants $150 each and I'll wind up with not a whole lot of meat because lambs don't weigh a thousand pounds, like a steer. It's not worth it to me. Cattle and hogs go by the pound, it makes sense, oh well. If I can butcher deer and feral hogs, I can process my lambs.

farmerjan said:

1st pic of silage... Dump truck dumping load, DS walking from tractor to talk to driver...2nd pic is of the Hereford/Holstein cross heifers from the dairy we picked up in August.....3rd pic of Jess, the longhorn...with her 4/025 steer calf in front and her 2023 steer that is going in the freezer in January...4th pic is the black snake in front of pasture gate I was going to open to feed some grain...I let him go on by then went in gate. About 3- 3 1/2 ft long.

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You posted pictures, yes!