Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[Bruce]

What all does and doesn't work on your stove Jan?

 

[farmerjan]

@Bruce ; There is one burner that only has the full flame directly under the pan and it used to have a simmer setting where it had 5 longer flames that came out, so as to heat less... don't know how to explain it very well. Understand, this stove was made in the 50's-60's..... It is a Berkshire which I have been told is not the most popular ever made... I found a picture of a "Garland" when searching antique propane kitchen anges.... which looks very similar..... The "plate" in the bottom of the oven which was the speckle enamel, is worn about through. It has been sitting and even after taking it all apart, cleaning out all the mouse nests and all, I would like it to be gone over completely. This amish man in Pa does this for a living... dealing with the old order amish.... It has an oven on the right and a broiler pan that pulls out when you open the door, and you can broil separately. I loved the way this stove cooked and no electronic crap..... I would like see if it can be restored to working right. There are 2 knobs missing.... and right now the metal pieces that hold the pans above the flames, are missing.... Who knows where they are. I do have an extra set of drip pans for underneath the individual burners that I found so I am only missing the racks that sit above the burners.

So anyway.... to me it would be worth spending $200 to get it back to near perfect, instead of buying a $600-1,000 stove to be somewhat similar to this.

That's for another day to worry about it.
Today, Tuesday, was a pretty good one overall. DS's GF's sister came by and I marked a pair of fireproof coveralls to hem for her.... both legs and the arms are too long. She is going to drive a race car this year.... I think she is nuts, she has 2 children and the father died a year ago. But, not my place to say. Just like I think the GF is crazy to want to get a motorcycle with a 13 yr old depending on her..... she wants a racing bike......REALLY..... but I said my piece on it and got a lecture from DS and so that was the end of my comments. Do stupid stuff to see if you can get hurt or killed and put the burden on a small minor child.....Not like either one grew up with the whole family into racing and has been doing it for years or anything.... I mean they are not the Petty's or the Joe Gibbs racing family..... OH WELL. DS offered my services to do the hemming for her, so I will do it for him. Won't be that big a deal.... I will not cut it if I can get away with turning up and "folding in " a hem on the sleeves, and the bottoms just hemmed up.

Last night we were supposed to "maybe" get a little wintry mix..... it never got below freezing though.... but DS had to work. So he was off today. So he texted me to see if we could get the animals out of the nurse cow pasture that I was saying needed to be sold. This is where the boards on the catch pen got fixed... and the one that needed a new board, got an old one that immediately broke again when the calves were pushing to get in the pen...and I tied a pallet up and jury rigged it to use the pen.

They are calling for RAIN... not showers but 1-3 inches on Thursday-Friday.... so he wanted to get them to the barn now so there would be no problems with the truck getting stuck or anything in the wet ground....

Anyway, I said that I would go up and see what I could do, today, because I was going to have to test tomorrow afternoon.... and Thursday they are calling for rain so that is why he was hoping to get them in and moved. I was figuring that he was going to wait for the following week.

I went up and got in most all the calves, locked them in the pen and fixed it so that I could open the door and several went in the barn.... Got everyone in but 1 heifer..... was surprised that I was able to do that much. Also got the bull in the other side of the catch pen in the littler side..... Then I managed to get all the cows (mommas) I needed, plus a few, and called DS. He said that he would come up with the truck and trailer. I managed to sort out the couple extra cows that went in, got them out.... We got 7 of the calves loaded and 2 of the cows..... and then he came back and I had gotten out the 4 smaller calves that we didn't need, and we loaded 3 more cows and 2 calves and then put the bull in the back section.... He then took the bull down and dropped him off at the bull lot and we watched them play the pushing... I'm bigger/badder than you are.... whole pecking order stuff.... then he took the rest to the barn. There is 1 calf in there that was on my longhorn, she did not go to the barn; all the others are with their mothers...the one nurse cow had 3 on her and they are all there with her. She has dropped alot of weight so it is good that all 3 on her will be sold. There is no point in keeping them since prices are pretty good and I am not in love with either of the 2 heifers on her; the other one is steer so he is going anyway......
Didn't take the longhorn as she can get a little pushy with her horns in tight spaces, and she is sooooo pregnant looking, that the calf just needs to be off her. That calf is a total IDIOT nutcase.... and she will come up and eat grain out of the bucket from me so don't know where he got it.... I mean he is NUTS......he was nuts as a little calf..... hopefully he will just stick with the rest of the animals he is familiar with, at the barn there. She has been a real good mother for a first calf heifer...calf is nice although a total insane nut case. Going to be a real trip to get him in the barn on Thursday afternoon with the rest that are going to be sold. There are 2 other nut cases out there that DS had bought.... I will be off Thursday afternoon so will be able to help a little.... he will probably feed silage today or tomorrow so by Friday they don't look like they gorged themselves.... and will come in for him for a few buckets of grain. They mostly all do come in now.... and the 5 cows we took with their calves today all will come for grain too.
So there are a couple out in the back lot that he is going to get in.... and maybe one or 2 of their mothers that are back there because they were old... and not bred back... so no reason to keep the cows if we ship the calves....

Turns out we are probably going to need both trucks and trailers again. I had 9 and we might keep 1 or 2 of the heifers....there are 2 that are nice.... and I don't like to keep just one that is a stranger to the other 4, that he is probably going to keep, from the earlier group; ....But with the other heifers we decided to sell the other day, and the steers he has there I imaging there are going to be 25 or more to go now. They might all fit on the one bigger trailer..... but he doesn't think so... we will have a much better idea on Thursday when we get them into the small lot and in the barn for the night Thursday night.

So that is where we are. I am really glad that they are going this week. Going to be an extra paycheck for me since 5 of the 9 are mine.... yep, crazy nutcase is mine.... and if we keep the 2 heifers , one is mine one is his.... so I will still be sending at least 4 from that group.... one we kept back that is now getting sold is mine too.... so at least 5 will be mine to go. Then there are the ones that are supposed to go to the other guy... the one high strung big Charolais heifer is mine too..... There is also one nice charolais x heifer in that group that is real friendly that I may just tell him I would rather keep her to replace my nut.... well, we will see. That is going to take another bunch out of the barn lot. He said the couple that were looking/sounding a little sick are looking much better.... so it was good we got them worked when we did.

The 5 cows that went to the barn with the calves need to be preg checked... and they can go out in the front field with the other pregnant/starting to calve cows. No need for them to go back to the nurse cow pasture. Don't want any of the littler calves to want to nurse them. I have seen several calves on different cows at a time.... very much the "communal feed the calves" group of young cows.

2 more of the new heifers we went and got Saturday have calved...there were 6 with calves already..... both have done good, mothered the calves and the calves have nursed.... 8 down 4 more to go.... that's really good. They look good since they are out on the pasture.

I have gotten most of the stuff moved around for the freezer that they are supposed to deliver Thursday.... Hoping that it can come in the front door and can go straight back..... The door into the DR from the hall is a little narrower so they will have to measure it..... but it would be a very straight shot back and through another doorway and set it there.... Otherwise it will have to go around to the deck, up 3 steps into the kitchen, and in the back door and through 3 doorways.... If it is raining then the front door will be much preferred....just 2 more boxes to move over, and the island thing that came out of the kitchen, can go right out the hallway and on the front porch. They will be moved later. Then I can get the cooler chests and empty the one freezer and get the stuff up here....sort and organize it all ......clean out the other one....get it moved and then get the other 2 emptied and hopefully all put in 2 from the 3.....

Got to get the sample bottles in the trays for tomorrow afternoon. Have that ready tonight... then get the meters in the car tomorrow, to take to set up. Got several things to take to the cleaners, ready to put in the car.

Going in to wash some dishes in the sink.....get ready for tomorrow and go down and get to sleep earlier tonight. HATE DST...... my body works on standard time.... I like the light earlier, and coming in a little earlier at night.


,

 

[farmerjan]

We got a few showers last night... wound up with almost 2 tenths of an inch rain total.... was cloudy and then clearing and we had a little sun this afternoon. Maybe sun tomorrow, not too warm.... we were in the 40's maybe low 50's but felt chilly. Still, not too much rain, but we are supposed to get some serious rain for Thursday & Friday....

The ground/grass can use a nice rain.... 1/2 inch would be nice... don't need inches of rain. Grass will start to really green up if we get a decent rain and then sun again.

 

[farmerjan]

DS is talking about taking some rams to the sale where they sell alot of sheep.... and the possibility of taking a few of these heifers he bought that are pregnant, to the once a month beef cow sale... I said that I will take that one young cow of mine that sucks everything.... I know which calf is hers so they can go as a pair..... Tired of seeing her suck the cows that the younger calves are on....Her calf is nice, a heifer, but I am done with the cow's BS.
A friend of his does alot of buying and selling, I think he is getting DS to see that you have to sell when prices are good and then you can keep more when prices are not so high. There are a couple of other cows that he is talking about selling since he bought these 12 nice heifers that are calving now... been trying to get him to ship out some of the so-so cows..... if you are not REAL HAPPY with the calves, get rid of them.....

 

[Baymule]

We watched a cattle auction today. The cow/calf pairs were either range scrub cows with horns, bony, wild, but had decent calves on them or they were hulking HUGE cows, butts wide as a dump truck, tall, beefy cared for cows with very nice calves. The bony pairs went for $600 to $800, the dump truck butts went for $1,000 to $1,400. A man sitting next to me bought quite a few of the dump truck butt cow pairs.

We went to watch the sheep/goats, but there were only 2 sheep and maybe a dozen goats.

 

[farmerjan]

We can make some money on the thin poor bony kind if you know what to watch for. Especially if they have nice calves on them.... you know they are putting everything into the calf so they will do even better if they even carry a little more flesh. The big ones are a 50/50 deal.... sometimes you can do good sometimes not. Then the age has alot to do with it. Like that one I bought for 650.... she's a big cow 1350 lbs..... but looks like she will raise a nice calf. Another thing to consider.... if a cow has some age on her, it means she has raised a decent enough calf regularly for her to have gotten to an older age. That is why I am totally good with buying some of these older cows. Granted the broken mouths and smooth/short mouths are often one and dones for the sake of not burying a cow if you keep her too many years.... but if they get fed decent and raise a good calf, and you buy her right, you will make a profit.
Plus the thin ones will gain weight if fed and wormed..... then you gain a bit on the added weight when they get sold as cull cows.
Of course, you can lose a few too. We have lost 2 young cows this winter.... one just kept getting thinner and thinner... and another had her 2nd calf on her and she just was dead one day.... who knows why. She was out of a good producing family.... it happens. Lost an old one over the early part of the winter... it was supposed to be her last calf... sometimes you gamble..

The beefy cows do not make you anything in salvage value since they already have all the weight they will carry. But they also have plenty of body fat/condition for the body to pull from to make the milk if the weather gets dry, pastures get poor etc. There are advantages to both. Too fat though will cause problems breeding back sometimes.
The 12 heifers that DS bought are borderline fat.... I was a little concerned, because their "condition" was so good.... but the 2 had no problems calving so that is good. Fat is not good for calving sometimes either... too fat can hamper the whole birth process...
And you have to make a distinction between cows you buy with the eye to make some money on them and the ones you buy as long term keepers to improve your herd. We'll see how that $650 cow does, she might be one to keep a heifer calf out of if she has a nice one.... she might be one strictly to just sell a few calves off of and then ship.

There is a charolais heifer that DS bought with the idea of sending with the common ones.... but she is a pretty nice heifer and very calm and friendly. We are most likely going to keep her and breed her..... disposition is a big plus and she is not a bad looking heifer either. We have kept a few mediocre heifers for cows because of their dispositions.... and they raised average calves.... but having a few like that, that will come to call when you want them in the catch pen, and so the rest follow... is priceless at some of the pastures.

Got to head to work... got the meters loaded and all... time to go.

 

[farmerjan]

Got to the farm, set up, we were milking by 2:15 and got done around 5. Then I had to do the milk weight input into the computer and it went well.... 3 mistakes that were easy to figure out and one missing cow that I asked farmer about... she died.... so it was pretty smooth. Waited for the meters to run and was out of there about 6:30.
Stopped at the farmer to get a 2 gallon bucket of milk, talked to him a few minutes.
Got here and saw something next door at the pasture.... DS had gotten in the one cow with the big calf at that pasture and was going to take them to the barn so the calf can get sold Friday. She got put there because she had been checked open with her group.... and we just left the calf with her. So she needs to get checked.... but could be only 3-4 months bred.... which make her a fall calving cow this time. Boy, he is REALLY SERIOUS about cleaning out while the prices are good.... cannot believe that after all these years of my harping to get stuff sold when the selling is good, that he is finally doing it.... I think he was liking that bigger than expected check.... and his auctioneer friend that keeps telling him they need to be sold now.
So I sat at the gate to the road to close behind him as he came out of the pasture.... he said that tomorrow after work he wants to get the ones in, out of the back lot there at the barn, where there are a couple of bigger calves, into the barn lot.... and they will all stay in the barn and the small lot right in front so Friday morning all we have to do is sort out the cows to stay, and load the calves....couple of those cows are one and dones I think.... they might go too.....

The guy that was supposed to take the "common cattle" contacted him and said that he could maybe take them Friday.... of course... everything at once... but we'll see, he has put us off before.
Well, he is in agreement to keep that charolais heifer in that group that is friendly....

I will preg check those 5 cows from the nurse cow pasture.... and they will go out in the front field with the others as I think they will be fairly well along.... except maybe the one nurse cow that had the 3 calves on her.... she is thin..... if she is not bred, or short bred, then she will get a break and should put on some weight. She is a good nurse cow....and I did not feed her like I normally do because of the ankle/boot/rehab whole thing.... I think that she has raised 11 or 12 calves in the 3 lactations.... I have no problem with her being held over....

Got to pack the samples tomorrow... managed to get some decent boxes this eve in the cardboard recycle dumpster.... it is going to rain tomorrow and they are saying a good chance of 2-3 inches with some thunderstorms....
Time to head down the hill... will get the boxes unloaded into the house tonight so they are dry.... maybe pack some stuff before I come up. The meters and hoses are still in the car... under all the boxes.... I can back into the carport to get them off tomorrow.

 

[Baymule]

With selling all these calves and the not so great cows, there ought to be plenty of grass to fatten up the cows you keep.

 

[farmerjan]

Thursday, nearly noon. It is cloudy, light rain and supposed to get more, and heavier as the day goes on. Now maybe some lt snow tomorrow?????

Delivery of freezer is not going to be until tomorrow. Don't know how that will work if we get alot of rain..... guess I will see once they call and then get here. Got the hallway emptied out, plenty of space for them to bring it in I hope. I had to change the wall I wanted it on because there is no plug where I wanted it.... it is set up for the clothes dryer and I don't use one... wanted it there... but no plug. After I moved the hanging clothes rack and all.... So for now it will go on a different wall, plug right there... and figure out if a plug can be put in there where the dryer would go. Can an electrician take the dryer electric plug and split it or something for a normal type plug???? Problem for another day.

We are going to get the rest of the cows in the barn this evening... I think there are 3 or 4 out in the back lot with the bigger calves. DS does the feeding up there....

I am going to get the samples packed to get shipped out later. Then go in and eat something. Maybe do some other stuff here until he gets off work. Got plenty to do.

Put a note in the Coronavirus thread..... new stimulus money was deposited in my account. I related the situation in that thread. It was a surprise, I will hold on to it for a bit since I am pretty caught up with stuff. Might go get a recliner chair for the house with some of it.

Neighbor that used to till my garden, sold his tiller. Going to have to find someone else now. I wanted to buy the tiller... if I'd known he sold it I would have bought it.

Nothing exciting here so I am going to do the samples and eat.

 

[farmerjan]

@Baymule the calves would not have been kept so the only thing affecting the amount of grass is the number of adult cows.... and he bought those 12 new first calf heifers so they have pretty much offset the cattle sold. But that is okay, that was sorta the plans. Plus there are at least 6 or more heifers to be bred so are each nearly the equivalent of a cow....ones we kept on top of the other bred ones that he bought, that he may or may not sell. One of the cows sold a couple weeks ago was mine, but I replaced her with that bred cow. I will sell the sucking idiot and her calf . The numbers need to stay around 150 head of cows in order to pay the rents/feed/hay making/ normal bills..... so he is close to that again. We lost a couple places but had cut the cow numbers from nearly 200, so are about where we need to be.
We had too much grass last year due to the exceptional amount of rain. It gave us more grazing longer which was good, but created this problem with getting the cows out of the one place so late. We could have used a few more cows to efficiently use the grass..... but it has all worked out. If it gets dry this year we will have to manage the grass differently than last year. And we are seriously looking at a few cows that are not really favorites.... and might cut the numbers by 6-12 if the cow prices stay up. Of course losing those 2 was not expected. But with the numbers we have it is not unexpected to lose a couple on occasion. Usually it is an older cow we just kept too long....

There is something to be said for natural selection.... sad as it is.... that you don't keep perpetuating less than healthy, good productive animals.

Makes me respect @B&B Happy goats more, for spaying all the pups and Lilly due to a possible genetic problem. She took a very responsible position to keep out of the reproductive pool, a genetic defect.

That is what culling is for. You cannot keep all the "runts, orphans, less than healthy" babies that you save.... they are not a good way to build a herd.... Yes, some are fine, but often there is a reason an animal will reject a less than thrifty baby. Some could be the momma's disposition...and in the case of the sheep, a triplet will often be rejected or the ewe won't be able to feed that many either..... but often they have an instinct that the baby is less than healthy. We can keep them alive and even growing with alot of intervention. But that is not practical or smart to perpetuate a problem.
Like with the cattle.... they are supposed to produce a calf every year... that is a beef cow's job. Occasionally we will make allowances for one.... often it is when they get older and have more than earned their keep.... or a real young one that has done a good job with their calf, but has not been able to breed back and sustain a new pregnancy while still growing on their own. But unless you have a pet, which is fine if that is what you want, an animal has a purpose and they must fulfill that purpose. Pets like that are extremely expensive to feed, and then have old age health issues. Some have some very good dispositions.... but you cannot keep them all.
So we are "trading" some cattle to get and keep better cows. That was the reason to buy these bred heifers... and keeping the best that we raise for replacements. But we also have to have a certain number to make this cash flow. I like having the extra grass and one reason we cut back besides losing the one place, was to give us more grass at other places and give us some more flexibility.
Hoping that this year is at least "normal" and we have a decent grazing season... but that is what makes farmers the greatest optimists... and the greatest gamblers..... in the world. Every year we start out hopeful, and know that there are somethings we have NO CONTROL over....