Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[farmerjan]

Thursday eve. I'm going to head down the hill and get some sleep because I have to be at the barn by 4:15 a.m. to help sort and load. DS got in the cows out from the back and in the barn. We wound up deciding to sell 4 calves out of there, so they and their mothers are in the barn with the rest. Sorted through all the rest of the calves and have everything in the barn and small barn lot where they can get to the water. Won't have to get them in out of the field/pasture that is all mud again. It rained today, some light rain and a couple of downpours... I think there is almost an inch in the gauge and possibility of more tonight. It looks some will go south of us... but about 6:30 pm it got so foggy I couldn't see the mailbox across the road. Don't know if it is getting colder out so the fog will leave, it was thick.
I think that I have 6 in the group to get sold. And the big charolais heifer that will go with the common cattle... but he hasn't heard from the guy ....again..... DS said he may not keep doing this since he keeps putting it off when we have a trailer load to go...... usually 6-10 at a time. He is not making money when he has to feed them for so long before they actually go. When he started this the guy was taking them pretty regular...... Oh well, it's his deal and he is the one that has the money tied up.....

I am not getting the freezer delivered tomorrow because the lawn is soggy and the truck would tear it up or get stuck for sure. It has been rescheduled for Monday.....I called them and said that it just wasn't going to work,,,, that is why I had wanted it today. But the manager I talked to this evening had nothing to do with the original set up. He was nice and I said there was no sense in them getting here and not being able to get it close to the porch with the truck to get it off. He said he understood and appreciated my calling.
Aggravating to say the least.

So, I am heading down the hill. See y'all tomorrow.

 

[Baymule]

@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....

You know what I was thinking as I read this?

COW MATH!!!

 

[farmerjan]

@Baymule ......Cow Math.... yeah, that's a good way to put it I guess. We just did a MINUS COW MATH this morning. Shipped 33 more head this morning. We didn't have any problems this morning getting them sorted from the momma cows, but the one group did not want to load in the trailer. Can't say that I blame them.... it was RAINING......like it has been really raining hard off and on last night. And the gusting wind. Saw alot of branches and stuff down this morning.

The fog had cleared pretty much last night because it was raining. I heard it coming down on the roof about 2:30-3 a.m. and had trouble going back to sleep....I didn't have to get up until 3:30. I was at the barn at 4:10. We left for town about 4:50 or so because we were in town by 5:20 or so.... unloaded and I was back at the barn and backed back in at the chute by 6:15. DS stayed there as they sorted them and wrote most of them down so we know what the different cows' calves weighed. It is hard sometimes... but as long as we know which ones are mine so I can get paid. I have 7 total there to be sold....2 steers and 5 heifers. So, that is good. Prices were down a little bit last week from the previous week when we sold... $.05 to .20 on some. Hoping that they don't fall off much today.
One possible good thing about the wet and rain, there will probably be fewer animals there since some people will not be able to get cattle out if they are loading at pastures. Buyers that are there competing for the lesser numbers.... There will be more there there next couple weeks when the weather is a little better. It was really good that we got them all moved to the barn Tuesday and Wednesday.... because we never would have gotten in and out of the nurse cow field yesterday....

So, I will do some stuff here for a bit. It is supposed to stop raining then just cloudy, and then even clearing off by late afternoon/eve. I will check the rain gauge, I made sure it was out Wednesday. Windy most of the day. Then several days of sun. That will help dry it out . Sunny on Monday so they ought to be able to deliver the freezer. . I have a PT appt early...8 a.m.....so hope I will be home by the time they get here. All I know is that they will be here on Monday....They are supposed to call before at least a half hour before they get here. I have a feeling it will be later in the day...

This rain is going to make the grass really grow. Time to get more serious about the garden getting tilled since the guy I used to get can't now that he sold his tiller. Tempted to go buy one to use on the small tractor and not be dependent on anyone else anymore.... looking around and exploring my options.... might see if the one neighbor close will do it; he has a small one on his little garden type tractor... he's close.... then maybe find one after the "season"....

I will leave probably about noon, maybe even go look at some recliners, then be at the stockyards for when they start selling. Not expecting to bring home any of the steers, but want to make sure to watch the heifers... DS is planning to come in as soon as he gets off work.... there were a couple heifers that were bigger than he thought and if they don't do pretty good, they will come back. One he almost didn't take, and probably should have just kept her. If she brings alot though, better she goes. Gotta pay for those 12 bred and now calving heifers he got last weekend.

 

[Baymule]

Hope the sale does well for y’all. I’m trying to catch the lingo, it gets confusing. The auctioneer switches from pound to per animal. We are going to the auction tomorrow morning to watch the sheep and goats. My lambs are going to be small, weaned next month. I don’t know if they will bring a good price due to Ramadan of not. I may need to keep them longer for them to grow some more. I’m going to wean, give the ewes a few weeks on pasture, some more of those Giant Pink Banana squash (I still have some I kept through the winter) and turn Ringo out with them for earlier lambs for next year. @Mike CHS and @Beekissed both did well on marketing their lambs early, so I’m going to try for the same thing. I may miss it by a month or so, but will be able to breed earlier the following year.

Most of what we see is grown sheep and goats. Some ready to breed or eat lambs go through and bring good prices, but few recently weaned lambs, so may need to hold them. It’s a crap shoot.

 

[farmerjan]

Thanks @Baymule ... hope they do good too.

There is an ethnic holiday in May too isn't there???? You may need to see who is buying the lambs, if there is like one or 2 people that buy many/most and go talk to them after they are done and ask what are the preferred sizes and what times of the year..... There are about 2 or 3 that normally buy the brunt of the lambs and goat kids at the one Saturday sale near here.... and they will tell you the different holidays that they want/need them for. Or go in the office at the sale/stockyard and ask if they have a list of the preferred dates for lamb and kid sales.... Many times they will be glad to try to help you out because they are thinking that you will come there and sell and they will get commissions....

They need to be sold at least a week before the holiday that you are targeting in order for them to get to where they need to be.... we always figured 2 weeks before the holiday.....

 

[Baymule]

We did ask at the office if there were certain times of the year or holidays that were better for lambs. We were told that every week was busy and they couldn’t predict when was a better time. Not much help.

April 13 is the beginning of Ramadan, May 12 is Eid al-Fitr or the ending of Ramadan. Lambs supposedly sell well during this time. I like your idea of stalking the buyers. LOL LOL

 

[Bruce]

I like your idea of stalking the buyers.

That isn't stalking, it is marketing research!

 

[farmerjan]

Yay @Bruce ..... I like that terminology....!!!!

Sale was good. We really hit a home run 2 weeks ago.... Prices were about $.10 /lb less than 2 weeks ago. The steers did in the 1.60's compared to the 1.70's and the heifers did in the 1.30-1.39 as opposed to the 1.30's & 1.45's.
We did bid back in that one heifer as her eye was looking runny in the ring. She will get a shot tomorrow and kept to go with the bull in June/July. She weighed 705 which is more than I thought.... I was thinking maybe 6-625.... so she will definitely be breedable to our easy calving bull for a spring calf next year.
Bought a half crazy steer for $.77/lb because no one wanted to deal with him.... he will go with the "common cattle" and make $.25/lb.... The guy wants them next Wed, he said the truck is coming there on Thursday to load them out. Also bought a cheap $.70 /lb heifer to ship too. I will check and see if she is pregnant first.
One of the ones he bought and I called 5 months or so, aborted the calf this afternoon, so she will go on the truck instead of keeping her.
So, I haven't sat down yet to figure out which pens my calves were in, so I can get paid but will have a figure for him tomorrow. Have to preg check the 5 that came from the nurse cow field so they can get moved out of the barn.

I didn't leave very early so went to do 2 quick errands and then to the sale. They only had about 800 head this time, so the weather did affect some. A neighbor took in a couple big loads of calves.... he has some nice ones and they did pretty good for him. There are some advantages to having tractor trailer (pot) loads. They get on the phone there at the sale and the buyer on the phone bids live ...

We had .8 inch of rain in the gauge. The sun came out about 10 or so and the breeze was stiff most all afternoon. It is alot colder this evening... we might get a bit below freezing. But sun for the next 3 days and a light breeze so the ground will dry out some. I think days are supposed to warm a little too.... 50's and maybe low 60's.

I am tired so I am going to go down the hill and see if I can't get a good nights sleep. I don't have to be worrying about the possibility of "oversleeping" tomorrow and there is no pounding rain to wake me.
The car is making a little tapping noise, DS said it sounds like something is loose and getting hit by the fan or fanbelt or something. So I will transfer the meters to the truck for tomorrow's test and drive that. He said he would look and see if he could figure out what it is.... I have been FAITHFULLY checking the oil when I fill it because this particular engine is supposed to be a bit of a problem about losing oil.... leaking or burning it.... So the first thing I do before I start it, after I have filled it, is to check the oil....Had to put almost a qt in it the last time.... I check the oil in the truck too regularly....
If he can't figure it out it will go in and see if the problem can be found and fixed before it costs an engine or something. The 2wd is running good so will just drive it for now.

 

[Baymule]

Hey Jan, I followed your advice on "marketing research" and I didn't even have to stalk him, he was sitting behind us yesterday when we went to the auction. BTW, prices have come down from what they were just a couple of weeks ago. This guy, called Pierce by the auctioneer and everyone else, buys a LOT. He buys sheep and goats, kill pen horses and some cattle. I don't know who he sells to, but he must stay busy hauling his purchases to where ever they are going. So I turned around while they were loading up for cattle and asked him about timing and selling lambs. He echoed what @Mike CHS and @Beekissed have discovered. His sage advice was, "The best I can tell you is have them ready to go January 1. Nobody has any ready to sell then and prices are high." Indeed, we have already witnessed that, by falling prices now.

We are a little behind the eight ball if we put Ringo with the ewes right now, for next year. I haven't weaned lambs yet and I like to give the ewes a rest. Most of the lambs will be ready to wean in a few weeks. I have lush spring grass, fescue, rye grass and clovers that will help with flushing them. And I still have some of my Giant Pink Banana squash that I can chop up for them. Haha I need to get the 6 ewes that I am culling, sold. I think they might go in the next few weeks. Low prices or not, they need to go. Then I'll separate out the ewe lambs I'm keeping, put Ringo with his harem and hope for the best for next year. The ewe lambs I'm keeping will be ready to breed in November or December of this year. And I'll be on the lookout for a few good registered ewes in the meantime. Now to decide if I bite the bullet and sell weanling lambs now or hold them until they grow and gain weight and sell later. Eh it's a crap shoot.

 

[Baymule]

The best part of all this is that BJ is finally getting excited about the sheep, going to auction and wanting to learn more. He now sees why I want better ewes, registered ewes and is on board with that.