Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[Mini Horses]

I have 7 pr. Half from Cabela's on discount. Colors beyond denim blue even. Gives me plenty in good condition for work....couple old prs I use on dirty farm days. Still have 3 "farmer onesies" for farm but one pair is pretty sad. Not liking cold -- and it's 17 here this morn, with winds feels like 11

 

[farmerjan]

Recording thermometer shows down to 12 last night.. Part of being winter... rather glad we are getting some of these cold temps...

There are some viruses running rampant here, schools with significant numbers of kids out, and stuff like that. Add to the snow days and things are quite disrupted. Hoping some of this cold will clear the air so to speak.

Heading up to the cows in just a bit... while the ground is hard. This is supposed to be the start of the warming trend.. I will go out and hang the clothes after I get done up there, when it is a little warmer. Temps are actually up to 26 but the sun just hit the recorder... still, there is no breeze and it feels halfway decent out there because the air is still. Don't mind these temps if the wind is not making it miserable.

@Baymule , there is/was a Vanity Fair outlet store right off the highway I went to a couple of times on trips north to Conn and NH years ago. Near a huge Bass Pro store too... haven't been in several years..... found lots of good bargains there... would like to go back there; I need to make a trip up north to see the friends in CT...
Time to start doing somethings I want to do....

 

[Baymule]

Vanity Fair Outhet stores split off, Kontoor Brands now own Lee and Wrangler. After reminiscing this morning, I looked them up to see what happened to them. I found Kontoor Brands, found outlet stores but my, things have changed! I used to buy jeans for $7.

https://www.wrangler.com/wrangler-store-locator.html

 

[Baymule]

Grapevine store is 195 miles from me.
Fort Worth store is 207 miles from me.
Katy Mills Mall store is 144 miles from me.
San Marcos is 227 miles from me.

Ya’ know, I think I’ll go back to the Atwoods farm store and buy some more of their brand jeans, Real Ranch. Made in Bangladesh, sizes are a little not exact, so I try on every pair. Men’s jeans, all cotton, for $12. A little loose in the leg, just right for a farmer/rancher. I bought 4 pair a few months ago. I need to go get some more!

 

[farmerjan]

Beautiful looking morning... Was 28 overnight but already up to 40. The sun is out. There is a little snow still in the front yard and today's warmer temps ought to take care of most all of it around.
Forecast calls for warm today through Wed and possible moisture coming in Thursday... rain not snow.
I'll take the nicer day.

Had a decent day OVERALL, yesterday... after a little excitement first thing in the morning... DS called and said he was feeding some hay at grant's "behind me" and Roscoe the bull came up near the gate at the "front catch lot".. The plan has been to get him out of there and put a different bull in there as a "clean up" in case anyone was not bred... so he opened the gate and got him in the catch lot... Was there any chance I could get the bull in at snyder's so he could move him into grant's and move Roscoe to the bull lot at the farm. Not going to put a different bull in snyder's. I have not seen any repeat heats and I am confident that he has covered any/all the heifers up there. Plus #9 Quaker Hill is an easy calving bull we use on heifers for their first calf, known for smaller calves at birth, we have 2 that are easy calving bulls... we specifically buy bulls for that reason... the epd's and all the testing etc, that the farms and bull studs do, for greater accuracy in predicting what the bulls will produce in their off spring... you pay a more for registered bulls than just a "bull out of the stockyard"... you pay for the years that breeders put into their genetics and all the testing etc that goes along with it... and for some guarantees that purebred registered breeders offer when you buy their bulls. There are hundreds of breeders that sell bulls every year... and most figure that it costs about 2,500 to get a bull to 15 months to be eligible for sale as a breeder.. Anyway... one reason why we do spend good money for a bull when we buy one.. And when we get bulls that we like, another reason why we keep them and use them for many years.. so many people will switch out bulls after 2-3 years... all the "newest genetics" are enticements... but we are a little old fashioned... if a bull does a good job, gets the cows bred, NOT AGGRESSIVE or MEAN, not rough on the cows, and the calves are decent, vigorous and have good type and form, we keep them... The lucky thing for us is that we also have had several places to put cows, so can make sure that they are not getting bred back too "close" so that there is limited inbreeding... that is the problem a smaller producer faces... keeping heifers then not wanting to breed them back to their sire and so that is a reason many "change bulls"... All of you that have any breeding animals knows what I am talking about... you can do some line breeding, which can expose faults in the bloodlines, and can actually be beneficial to concentrating the good in certain breedings... but you have to do it carefully...and very selectively.

Anyway... I got off track. Roscoe is a bull raised by my nurse cow, and then the "gf" spoiled him and made him a pet... I got real p.o.ed about it... he is out of some bought heifers DS got and he liked the calf and the cow prolapsed, died, and he got raised on my nurse cow... DS wanted to keep him, even though he is a "mutt"... I was not in favor but what did I know. So, he got spoiled when gf decided she would take care of him after he came off the cow. Well, he has no fear of humans, and no respect...... The same idea of not keeping a bottle RAM for a herd sire.... 99.9% of the time.... unless you really know what you are doing and DO NOT make them a pet and they learn their "place" at a young age.....
I have been wanting to get rid of him for a couple years since I did not trust him... he is not mean, but has NO boundaries.... no respect, nothing... he has been a problem getting out sometimes, pushes on fences, does not come to a bucket unless he wants to, can't "drive" him anywhere. He fights with the other bulls in the lot... I really don't like this bull... his type, build is decent, but.....
So I got the bottle for the calf, go out and start down the road.... there is the SOB out in the road... he put his head under and pushed through/out of the gate in the corner of the catch lot and is standing in the road... bellowing at #9 across the road in snyder's pasture... So, I stop, get the gate stood back up, and opened , get a bucket of feed out of the back of the car and go and try to entice him into coming for the grain... and he totally ignores me... stuck his head in the bucket and turned away and did his little low rumble threat to the other bull... then goes across the little ditch and up the short bank to the fence and is doing the "threatening" rumbles... and staredowns... I call DS and tell him that the a**hole bull is in the road he needs to get up there... so a few minutes later he comes, with the truck and trailer...parks my car crossways so he can't get around down the road... and has to take the sorting stick and wallop him to get his attention...he bellowed and looked like he was gonna turn and fight DS.....we had the trailer door open, the gate to the field open, and got him back in the field and he was walking the fenceline bellowing... pissed off... so DS chased #9 up through the field away from the fence, so they would stop trying to get to each other... and so then I said I will go see if I can get him up to the catch pen and get him in... he said he would deal with Roscoe... so I go up and use the car to chase 9 up the field aways... the cows all were wanting in on the excitement... then I head for the barn and call and they all start up to the barn and he finally decides to follow... I get him in the barn lot with several other cows, call DS and he got Roscoe in the trailer and was heading back to the farm to put him in the bull lot... he said he would be up to get #9 in a few minutes... I said fine, sorted cows out of the lot except for 1 to keep him company, and then he gets there... I was feeding the calf his bottle, jersey cow there but 1305 (black cow) is not interested in coming in the barn or anything... too much uproar... he gets backed up, we get the trailer lined up and he loads him... just as easy as pie... and I let the extra cow out, that is a pretty nice dispositioned heifer being bred... and then finish up the chores. He takes him across the road and puts him in at grant's pasture . I hope everything is already bred in there... but he has 3 weeks or so... 1 full heat cycle to catch anyone that might still not be bred. We will pull him out mid March... but he is pretty easy to catch when he is not feeling "challenged"...
So, that was the start to my day... DS said he wanted to go through the heifers later and look them over... Seems we have lost the WV pasture for this year... sadly doc has turned over his "interest" in it to the nephew who is a real jerk... and he has decided he does not want any cattle on it this year... he took down the whole fence around the house... and so all of a sudden we don't need 30 heifers we were keeping back to do this... This is a real kick in the teeth... doc should never have done this and his wife is not happy either... he is getting up in age and wanted to keep this in the family, and now has given up his controlling interest and it is ruining his late years' happiness... he thought the nephew had some sense but he is an educated idiot... he's a writer or something... it's a complicated family mess... and so we are out... says he is going to do something different out there, like get hay made to keep his ag exemption... "for this year"...then decide what he is going to do...

So, we are going to sell more than we thought... Was going to maybe sell 10-15 next month... and DS wanted to go through them to make some cuts... We had sorted off 12 and sold in Dec... and kept 14... went through and picked out another 5-6 from that group, that could go, then went through and looked at the other ones he had in the barn, a few bought ones, mostly all ours, and came up with another 12-15 that we are "not in love with"... plus there are some small ones that we were already planning on selling... we will have about 25-35 to sell... they will be getting sold mid-March when things start to get looking good for "grass cattle".... prices should do an uptick as people start to think of green grass... have to keep enough for the places around here, we have been figuring numbers....
It might be the best move, sell while the prices are higher and then see what comes next... But he is close to doc and this hurts him to see what is happening...

Life goes on...

Need to get outside and get somethings done... It is nice out there... no real breeze either so comfortable..
Glad to see the warmer temps... even though it is still Feb and winter is not done yet...

 

[fuzzi]

Beautiful looking morning... Was 28 overnight but already up to 40. The sun is out. There is a little snow still in the front yard and today's warmer temps ought to take care of most all of it around.
Forecast calls for warm today through Wed and possible moisture coming in Thursday... rain not snow.
I'll take the nicer day.

Had a decent day OVERALL, yesterday... after a little excitement first thing in the morning... DS called and said he was feeding some hay at grant's "behind me" and Roscoe the bull came up near the gate at the "front catch lot".. The plan has been to get him out of there and put a different bull in there as a "clean up" in case anyone was not bred... so he opened the gate and got him in the catch lot... Was there any chance I could get the bull in at snyder's so he could move him into grant's and move Roscoe to the bull lot at the farm. Not going to put a different bull in snyder's. I have not seen any repeat heats and I am confident that he has covered any/all the heifers up there. Plus #9 Quaker Hill is an easy calving bull we use on heifers for their first calf, known for smaller calves at birth, we have 2 that are easy calving bulls... we specifically buy bulls for that reason... the epd's and all the testing etc, that the farms and bull studs do, for greater accuracy in predicting what the bulls will produce in their off spring... you pay a more for registered bulls than just a "bull out of the stockyard"... you pay for the years that breeders put into their genetics and all the testing etc that goes along with it... and for some guarantees that purebred registered breeders offer when you buy their bulls. There are hundreds of breeders that sell bulls every year... and most figure that it costs about 2,500 to get a bull to 15 months to be eligible for sale as a breeder.. Anyway... one reason why we do spend good money for a bull when we buy one.. And when we get bulls that we like, another reason why we keep them and use them for many years.. so many people will switch out bulls after 2-3 years... all the "newest genetics" are enticements... but we are a little old fashioned... if a bull does a good job, gets the cows bred, NOT AGGRESSIVE or MEAN, not rough on the cows, and the calves are decent, vigorous and have good type and form, we keep them... The lucky thing for us is that we also have had several places to put cows, so can make sure that they are not getting bred back too "close" so that there is limited inbreeding... that is the problem a smaller producer faces... keeping heifers then not wanting to breed them back to their sire and so that is a reason many "change bulls"... All of you that have any breeding animals knows what I am talking about... you can do some line breeding, which can expose faults in the bloodlines, and can actually be beneficial to concentrating the good in certain breedings... but you have to do it carefully...and very selectively.

Anyway... I got off track. Roscoe is a bull raised by my nurse cow, and then the "gf" spoiled him and made him a pet... I got real p.o.ed about it... he is out of some bought heifers DS got and he liked the calf and the cow prolapsed, died, and he got raised on my nurse cow... DS wanted to keep him, even though he is a "mutt"... I was not in favor but what did I know. So, he got spoiled when gf decided she would take care of him after he came off the cow. Well, he has no fear of humans, and no respect...... The same idea of not keeping a bottle RAM for a herd sire.... 99.9% of the time.... unless you really know what you are doing and DO NOT make them a pet and they learn their "place" at a young age.....
I have been wanting to get rid of him for a couple years since I did not trust him... he is not mean, but has NO boundaries.... no respect, nothing... he has been a problem getting out sometimes, pushes on fences, does not come to a bucket unless he wants to, can't "drive" him anywhere. He fights with the other bulls in the lot... I really don't like this bull... his type, build is decent, but.....
So I got the bottle for the calf, go out and start down the road.... there is the SOB out in the road... he put his head under and pushed through/out of the gate in the corner of the catch lot and is standing in the road... bellowing at #9 across the road in snyder's pasture... So, I stop, get the gate stood back up, and opened , get a bucket of feed out of the back of the car and go and try to entice him into coming for the grain... and he totally ignores me... stuck his head in the bucket and turned away and did his little low rumble threat to the other bull... then goes across the little ditch and up the short bank to the fence and is doing the "threatening" rumbles... and staredowns... I call DS and tell him that the a**hole bull is in the road he needs to get up there... so a few minutes later he comes, with the truck and trailer...parks my car crossways so he can't get around down the road... and has to take the sorting stick and wallop him to get his attention...we had the trailer door open, the gate to the field open, and got him back in the field and he was walking the fenceline bellowing... pissed off... so DS chased #9 up through the field away, to get him away from the fence so they would stop trying to get to each other... and so then I said I will go see if I can get him up to the catch pen and get him in... he said he would deal with Roscoe... so I go up and use the car to chase 9 up the field aways... the cows all were wanting in on the excitement... then I head for the barn and call and they all start up to the barn and he finally decides to follow... I get him in the barn lot with several other cows, call DS and he got Roscoe in the trailer and was heading back to the farm to put him in the bull lot... he said he would be up to get him in a few minutes... I said fine, sort out cows out of the lot except for 1 to keep him company, and then he gets there... I was feeding the calf his bottle, jersey cow there but 1305 (black cow) is not interested in coming in the barn or anything... too much uproar... he gets, we get the trailer lined up and he loads him... just as easy as pie... and I let the extra cow out, that is a pretty nice dispositioned heifer being bred... and then finish up the chores. He takes him across the road and puts him in at grant's pasture . I hope everything is already bred in there... but he has 3 weeks or so... 1 full heat cycle to catch anyone that might still not be bred. We will pull him out mid March... but he is pretty easy to catch when he is not feeling "challenged"...
So, that was the start to my day... DS said he wanted to go through the heifers later and look them over... Seems we have lost the WV pasture for this year... sadly doc has turned over his "interest" in it to the nephew who is a real jerk... and he has decided he does not want any cattle on it this year... he took down the whole fence around the house... and so all of a suddent we don't need 30 heifers we were keeping back to do this... This is a real kick in the teeth... doc should never have done this and his wife is not happy either... he is getting up in age and wanted to keep this in the family, and now has given up his controlling interest and it is ruining his late years' happiness... he thought the nephew had some sense but he is an educated idiot... he's a writer or something... it's a complicated family mess... and so we are out... says he is going to do something different out there, like get hay made to keep his ag exemption... "for this year"...then decide what he is going to do...

So, we are going to sell more than we thought... Was going to maybe sell 10-15 next month... and DS wanted to go through them to make some cuts... We had sorted off 12 and sold in Dec... and kept 14... went through and picked out another 5-6 from that group, that could go, then went through and looked at the other ones he had in the barn, a few bought ones, mostly all ours, and came up with another 12-15 that we are "not in love with"... plus there are some small ones that we were already planning on selling... we will have about 25-35 to sell... they will be getting sold mid-March when things start to get looking good for "grass cattle".... prices should do an uptick as people start to think of green grass... have to keep enough for the places around here, we have been figuring numbers....
It might be the best move, sell while the prices are higher and then see what comes next... But he is close to doc and this hurts him to see what is happening...

Life goes on...

Need to get outside and get somethings done... It is nice out there... no real breeze either so comfortable..
Glad to see the warmer temps... even though it is still Feb and winter is not done yet...

Re: WV...unfortunately everything needs to be in writing, there are too many idiots.

I have learned to NOT make a pet out of a cockerel. My current two move when I walk towards them, and I haven't had issues so far. Zacchaeus is 11 months, Silas a little younger.

No mean rooster soup planned!

I would NOT make a pet of an animal that could easily main or kill me. Common sense.

 

[farmerjan]

The WV was in writing, year to year, since being friends with doc, he said it would not change so never gave it another thought. The deal with the nephew, was an agreement "between family members"... we all know how that can be totally "screwed".... Oh well...

It has been a nice day but things are a mess... bad wreck on the interstate, and part of it closed. So the road in front of the house has been like a main state highway... was barely able to get enough of a break in traffic to be able to back into the driveway... I was going to just pull in and leave it... but realized I would be worse off trying to back out into the road with all the traffic. We are not made to handle tractor trailers, but they use that "wonderful GPS" and find these alternative routes and WAH-LAH..... so, I had pulled in to get out of the traffic that was on my bumper... then when it slowed down a bit, scooted back out and backed in.
Did I ever say how much I hate living on this road with all the traffic... used to be only the locals knew it was an alternative to the interstate and the main route 11 that runs north south.... but now with GPS... it's a nightmare.

Miles of traffic backed up and interstate is closed....

1305 black cow would not come in so she is done. I rode around the pasture checking on the rest of the heifers, with the 6 he moved there... 5 due and the one with the new baby. She still stays "off" from the rest of them with the baby mostly, but that is fine. Going to get some protein tubs for up there, make it easier to give them a little extra nutrition without pouring more feed into them... cheaper to actually feed actual feed to them, but they get hard to deal with now that there are 20+ heifers and a few other extras, like Jess the longhorn and Betsy the jersey etc.....this way at least I will feel better about the nutrition level and the micro nutrients. And the littler calves will be able to get into them when the cows are elsewhere eating too, even though they are getting grain in the barn daily.

Going out to get the clothes off the line, they are dry but it was getting late when I got done at the barn sorting heifers with DS and then going back to the nurse cow pasture... so didn't get them last night. There was a bit of a breeze after all today, so they ought to be good and dry and smelling clean and fresh...

Got a bunch of stuff ready to load in the car to go to the dumpster and recycling... then will go drop off the meters, the other farm that cancelled on me with the 2 different snows, wants to test on Wed... so I will drop off the meters tomorrow, ahead of time, as they set them up, go do some errands, and then come home to do stuff here.
Forgot that I have the chiropractor appt on Thursday morning... so will take everything for work and be able to go straight there after chiropractor... shame they are so far apart... but oh well, it happens. Not going to cancel it again... shoulder aches, and hand still numb and tingling on outside of it, and the dull headaches... it is in the neck... can't seem to get it straight and keep it that way... GRRRR.

Gotta have help with the top panels for the chicken run, will see if I can get DS to stop tomorrow and give me a half hour or so... then have to get the lumber for the "skids", underneath it and a couple of reinforcing 2x4's on the top of the sides under the roof pieces... Might go look at some stuff when I am out tomorrow to get an idea of exactly what I want, etc..... And if it will be practical to move it around like I want to, or if it will have to be "semi-permanent" and only moved if absolutely necessary. Plus want to get more of them unpacked and see what all there is there... maybe some smaller pens for breeding birds...Really do not remember what all I wound up with way back then....
Gotta think about getting the garden burned off while the ground around it is wet... cleaned off... take down the cattle panels from the tomatoes, and move all the electric netting fencing, so I can get it tilled, probably late April...
But the chicken coops/runs need to get done...

 

[Ridgetop]

the epd's and all the testing etc, that the farms and bull studs do, for greater accuracy in predicting what the bulls will produce in their off spring... you pay a more for registered bulls than just a "bull out of the stockyard"... you pay for the years that breeders put into their genetics and all the testing etc that goes along with it... and for some guarantees that purebred registered breeders offer when you buy their bulls.

So many peope don't realize that by buying a "good" breeding animal from a breeder with a reputation for producing good stock you are actually getting the years of knowledge, expense, testing, and work that made that breeder known. That bull, ram, LGD, may cost more but you are getting the benefit of all that work and expense the breeder put into it. There is no point in getting inferior stock because it is cheap and "breeding up" when you can take advantage of another's work and be that much ahead in time. Wes Patton of Glenn Land Dorpers looked at my book of registration papers and said, "I see you have been 'cherry picking my bloodlines'". LOL I figured I might as well take advantage of his 50 years raising excellent sheep.

And when we get bulls that we like, another reason why we keep them and use them for many years.. so many people will switch out bulls after 2-3 years... all the "newest genetics" are enticements... but we are a little old fashioned... if a bull does a good job, gets the cows bred, NOT AGGRESSIVE or MEAN, not rough on the cows, and the calves are decent, vigorous and have good type and form, we keep them...

I agree with that. I have bought and sold rams, and breeding stock when they didn't give me what I wanted, or Ihad enough young stock out of them, but the reliable rams that produced what I wanted each time, those died here.

Did I ever say how much I hate living on this road with all the traffic...

Sigh . . . I started in our first house on a busy boulevard in town. Then we moved to Maude which was a private road surrounded by nothing. Heaven, well, except for the steep terrain. LOL Now we are back on a highway. Not as busy as that first boulevard in town, but the traffic is FAST!

Roscoe is a bull raised by my nurse cow, and then the "gf" spoiled him and made him a pet... I got real p.o.ed about it... he is out of some bought heifers DS got and he liked the calf and the cow prolapsed, died, and he got raised on my nurse cow... DS wanted to keep him, even though he is a "mutt"... I was not in favor but what did I know. So, he got spoiled when gf decided she would take care of him after he came off the cow. Well, he has no fear of humans, and no respect......

Maybe DS kept hm because GF wanted him to.

I have been wanting to get rid of him for a couple years since I did not trust him... he is not mean, but has NO boundaries.... no respect, nothing... he has been a problem getting out sometimes, pushes on fences, does not come to a bucket unless he wants to, can't "drive" him anywhere. He fights with the other bulls in the lot... I really don't like this bull... his type, build is decent, but.....

Seems ike a candidate for the auction . . . .

and has to take the sorting stick and wallop him to get his attention...he bellowed and looked like he was gonna turn and fight DS.....

Maybe only a matter oftimebefore he does something like that. If you are taking a lot of the good 30 replacement heifers you wanted to keep to auction how about taking Roscoe with them?
A nice looking bull should bring a good price. Do you still need him if you are sellig off a lot of heifers? Maybe after this DS will decide that he is best out of there.

 

[farmerjan]

Tuesday aft. Took a few minutes to make a Reuben sandwich.....since I managed to get a loaf of pumpernickel/rye swirl bread at Sharp Shopper... I just decided that I really didn't want to "grab something" while I was out... even though it was well past lunch time...
Any way, made a bottle, loaded a couple bags to go to the dumpster... dropped them and came back by the farm and fed the calf. Did not put the Jersey in or feed the calves grain. Will go do that here in a little bit since I am finally back home.
Then went and dropped a 2 gal bucket, to get milk from my farmer friend tomorrow eve on the way home from testing...... talked to him and his nephew a little... cattle prices and all sorts of things... then went and dropped meters off at the farm for tomorrow.
Went to town to Sharp Shopper... got some bread and good thing I wasn't any later as nearly all of it was gone, and with it being these "going out of date" PepperRidge Farm stuff, that they only get in on Tues and Sat mornings... The place was full of people today. Maybe because of the bad weather the last 2 weeks slowed down some of the shopping and today was a great day to get out... not cold or anything.?

Got more than I planned as usual.... but none of the things I was specifically looking for... New England Coffee Co "Mocha" coffee drink.... none of the coffee sherbet popsicles... but did get another case of the no sugar apple butter...pint jars... 2.99 which is 2.00 cheaper than most grocery stores and 4.00 cheaper than the stuff at the apple butter festival and such... made in Va and it is good... Don't like all the sweetened stuff... don't need more sugar..they had 1/2 gallon jars of sauerkraut for 1.99... can't make it for that and 1/2 gal jars are more manageable than the gallon jar I got last time for 2.99... since I got the sauerkraut, it made me think of the reuben sandwiches Deb had made... and I had the gallon jar open in the fridge... so naturally I had to stop at the "Cheese Shop" on the way home and get some corned beef to go with the pump swirl bread... No one else around has corned beef....

Filled the car up with gas and that was it. Couple of things on the list I did not get that were not critical... stuff I can get "next trip" on the way through town at Walmart... or something. Just on the list of getting "low"...

So, going outside for a bit and will go up to the calf in an hour or so... I never did get the laundry in yesterday... not on the critical list... so that is first thing out the door, now.

Been nice, sunny after clouds early, about 11 or 12 and hit about 60 or so I think. Tomorrow warmer???

 

[Baymule]

It was sunny and beautiful today, but it’s so wet and muddy that I can’t do much, so I went to Walmart and did some grocery shopping. Needed vacuum seal bags, on the roll. Got 3 boxes, $51, those have sure gone up.