Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[canesisters]

I'm glad that the water is finally working again. That's one extra chore you didn't need! Sorry about the testing confusion though. Hopefully it will work out as you're hoping.

 

[murphysranch]

I wanted to follow up with my photos of my young friend's milk cow. I think she looks a bit better. Her calf is about 3 months old now. Interesting how different breeds are. Oh, and her udder is pendulous and doesn't have the right (strong) ligaments anymore. But she's a good mama. That's my son petting Crema.

Her Dexter had a baby about three weeks ago. Holy Moly - what a cutie she is!

 

[farmerjan]

@murphysranch ... the cow's udder has lost some of her center ligament support, as well as overall support, and yes, it is more pendulous... BUT... the teats still "hang" straight down, not stick out like when the center ligament is "gone".... I have seen worse. As long as she is good dispositioned, and they can get a 16 qt blue enamel canning kettle under her to milk, no reason to "cull her"... If they breed AI, the number one consideration in a bull is the udder... what his dam had and what his daughters are showing... Use an older bull that has a high reliability which means alot of daughters on the ground... and select for UDDER as the first trait they look at...
She looks like a typical older family milk cow... kinda "thin"... ribby we sometimes call it... prominent hips and a little "gutty" for the capacity to eat alot to produce milk.

It is Friday evening... been another couple of cloudy, not too hot days.. 62 nights, 80-84 days... Mostly clouds with some sun peeking through. A little humid with the clouds but not too bad with it not being so hot.

Water at the farm seems to be good... DS got another water trough hooked up that has been sitting there for 5 years since before we bought the farm... the SIL was supposed to get it hooked up and never did. Well, with this water situation, and the one trough only has 2 "holes" , the cattle were pretty pushy trying to get water after the water got to flowing again... so having another trough will really help to spread them out better.

Got the first calf from the fall calving cows already.... DS said that Patty had her calf, her last years' heifer had been weaned off when we preg checked this group nearly 2 months ago... she was a big heifer... She is in with the possible "keeps" but does not have the best disposition so don't know what DS will decided. She's his cow, so his decision.
Had the 3rd calf on the first calf heifers... mine this time... I think it is a heifer... the heifer that calved is out of a half jersey/half angus... so she is 1/4 jersey but her sire was the red poll bull... so she is reddish and the calf is out of an angus, but brown like a jersey calf actually... That's fine with me. Being a heifer, she will probably stay anyway... Hoping she milks good and does a good job raising the calf. There is one more that was called 5 mo preg when they were checked... then the rest should be a couple weeks behind these.

Got to get the rest home from the pasture this weekend DS said...

With that, he went and cut about 20 acres of orchard grass 2nd cutting yesterday... OF COURSE.... blew a hydraulic hose on the mower. so could not pick it up to make the corners and then mow straight rows, had to just go "around and around" ... but got it mowed. Will have to get a new hydraulic hose for it... That's $150-200 now...
I went and raked some of it today, about 2 hours..... it is not real thick in the "older stand"; there was about 12 acres in the older section and last year he seeded another 8 acres right next to it, so that is the newer stand... It is thicker... so I mostly raked a good bit of the older stand. He will bale some of it tomorrow and then I will rake the rest... there were a few green spots but for the most part it was quite dry. We have not had the rain that so many others have had... so the grass is pretty dry on the stem... The thicker stuff is somewhat green underneath. I will rake it once he gets done baling tomorrow... so he does not run overtop of raked rows... and then I can go along and rake it "in" away from the trees along the one side, and get the thicker stuff turned up and then he can maybe bale it Sunday aft??. It is supposed to be sunnier for the next couple days so ought to dry more tomorrow.

Supposedly he is taking the 2 jerseys to the neighbor tomorrow... He was supposed to take them today, but the guy wants to "borrow" a bull to breed his 2 cows, so DS said he would do it all at once.
Once we get the rest of the cows/big calves home, and the calves off the cows, we will decide who is getting sold and I hope they go next weekend... I want them gone and money in the bank. The prices are still very very good... Originally I thought prices would hold through this spring (2025).. and then fall off a bit. Then with the closing of the Mexican border, and the lowest cow numbers since the 1950's, it has been looking like it would hold into next year... I said spring of 2026.... and I still think it will be good... but there are some rumblings that the Tyson plant (indiana maybe?) was cutting the price they were paying for "fats", and that they would not be shutting down, but it might be a little slower and they are trying to get ahead of the inventory, and that will push feed lots to have to sell off the ones that are ready to go. or the plant might cut back on slaughter numbers some... plus there are not quite as many heifers in the "feed chain" as some are starting to hold back some heifers for breeding and not take advantage of the prices as much...which ordinarily would push prices up a bit... needing feeders to go on the feedlots.... PLUS, there has been more importing of beef from Brazil, and now we have opened up the avenues of trade with Australia... so more of our "real prime" beef going there and more of the cattle coming here for things like select cuts, and for ground beef and such...
It is manipulation by the packing companies... JBS being a prime one because of their origins in Brazil... and all the "shady" deals that have been made and continue to be made... but it could hurt the feeder prices very quickly...

So, I want these gone, NOW, that are coming off the cows...if we are not planning to keep them, then they need to be gone.... not feeding like we normally do... If the prices moderate, or drop, there is no point in having more feed in them and get the same price for them because they are bringing less per pound if it does drop off... I'm not panicking, but I am getting a little more leery than I was 2 months ago... I never figured it would get so high, and it might hold for another year... but I am not quite as comfortable with it. If it does, then that is WONDERFUL.... and it might drop off a little, and then hold... but WHY keep them if we are not planning on feeding them through the winter...

So, I am going in to take a shower... got to figure out how to get on the "portal" for the results of the last x-rays of the back... got a notice that there were new results available for me to view on the health portal. Sure would be nice to have some sort of answer about this lower back ache...

 

[Baymule]

I don't listen to MSM news, most of the crap they spew is for gullible idiots, like my sister. She starts telling me about the price of beef (that she doesn't eat anyway) and how cows are going to be obsolete because they cause global warming, nobody can afford to buy meat, and the price of cattle is falling. I am not only amazed that she can be so stupid, but realize there are millions of other people listening to this same news and believing their BS. Why RAISE cattle? Just go to the store and BUY meat......... Let that sink in. Not only is she freaking STUPID, but she holds onto that crap like a dog playing tug with an old sock, just refuses to give it up. And she thinks I'm the weirdo.

 

[farmerjan]

I don't listen to MSM news, most of the crap they spew is for gullible idiots, like my sister. She starts telling me about the price of beef (that she doesn't eat anyway) and how cows are going to be obsolete because they cause global warming, nobody can afford to buy meat, and the price of cattle is falling. I am not only amazed that she can be so stupid, but realize there are millions of other people listening to this same news and believing their BS. Why RAISE cattle? Just go to the store and BUY meat......... Let that sink in. Not only is she freaking STUPID, but she holds onto that crap like a dog playing tug with an old sock, just refuses to give it up. And she thinks I'm the weirdo.

Sadly, there are alot of people, like you said, that really do not have a clue about their food...... just go to the grocery store, and complain about what it costs... and they have NO CLUE what it actually costs to get it to the grocery store... but people should get higher wages for their work????? Farmers don't "ACTUALLY WORK" don'tchaknow......

 

[murphysranch]

Several discussions have been had, quietly by me, with Fair Visitors about why we can, stock our shelves, and have the wherewithal to ride it out. Thanks to you, FJ, I'm more educated than most. And I like passing on that knowledge with like minded folks.

 

[farmerjan]

Thanks @murphysranch , but all I do is just try to show people what is what... and because I am more involved with some aspects, just share what I know and have seen. If it helps one person see it from a different side than that is good. There are lots of subjects I am a complete dunce about... like all this electronic stuff... but the cattle world, and farming in general, has always been a passion of mine... and my grandmother, who lived through the depression, and her saving, canning, putting "back" made a big impression on me. The sad thing is that today's younger people... have no real clue what it is to "do with less"... it was a way of life as @Mini Horses can attest to with her upbringing with her grandparents influence..
In fact the saying "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without" was actually coined back in the day ... ummm... Calvin Coolidge maybe... during WWI ??? WWII??? I am not real sure of the time frame... guess I need to look it up.... Maybe... just that I grew up with that "idea", and my grandmother said it was a "Yankee trait"... The old "root stock" of Yankees that I grew up with, was to use what you had, make it work... not to always want or buy new... and I am sure that many of us also had that sort of mindset no matter what area of the country you grew up in. Being a frugal yankee was just part of the my mindset. Then we got more and more, and the younger generation today does not live by what they can afford to buy outright... but by "what are the payments"...
There is a time and a place to make someone else's money work for you... with the knowledge to also not get yourself in past the place of safety. One thing I have learned later in life... sometimes it is worth taking on a little debt to make things happen faster and to make life easier... because I cannot do all the back breaking struggling I once did... so hiring out some things, and getting things done quicker, so that I can enjoy some of the things I want to do and not do more damage to my body in the meantime... I don't want everything "in place" at 80, and then not be able to enjoy it longer because I am in so much pain or I die at 81... I want to enjoy some of what I have, and no, I don't want someone else to do all the work.,.... just some of the "heavy work" that my body says "uh un".

 

[fuzzi]

Thanks @murphysranch , but all I do is just try to show people what is what... and because I am more involved with some aspects, just share what I know and have seen. If it helps one person see it from a different side than that is good. There are lots of subjects I am a complete dunce about... like all this electronic stuff... but the cattle world, and farming in general, has always been a passion of mine... and my grandmother, who lived through the depression, and her saving, canning, putting "back" made a big impression on me. The sad thing is that today's younger people... have no real clue what it is to "do with less"... it was a way of life as @Mini Horses can attest to with her upbringing with her grandparents influence..
In fact the saying "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without" was actually coined back in the day ... ummm... Calvin Coolidge maybe... during WWI ??? WWII??? I am not real sure of the time frame... guess I need to look it up.... Maybe... just that I grew up with that "idea", and my grandmother said it was a "Yankee trait"... The old "root stock" of Yankees that I grew up with, was to use what you had, make it work... not to always want or buy new... and I am sure that many of us also had that sort of mindset no matter what area of the country you grew up in. Being a frugal yankee was just part of the my mindset. Then we got more and more, and the younger generation today does not live by what they can afford to buy outright... but by "what are the payments"...
There is a time and a place to make someone else's money work for you... with the knowledge to also not get yourself in past the place of safety. One thing I have learned later in life... sometimes it is worth taking on a little debt to make things happen faster and to make life easier... because I cannot do all the back breaking struggling I once did... so hiring out some things, and getting things done quicker, so that I can enjoy some of the things I want to do and not do more damage to my body in the meantime... I don't want everything "in place" at 80, and then not be able to enjoy it longer because I am in so much pain or I die at 81... I want to enjoy some of what I have, and no, I don't want someone else to do all the work.,.... just some of the "heavy work" that my body says "uh un".

I was raised by Depression babies, learned to not waste money on junk, but get good quality when I do spend money. Now that my dh is gone I am planning on retiring soon...later this year, to enjoy my gardens, and livestock, and grandchildren, while I am still able.

 

[farmerjan]

Sat aft. Just talked to DS and he has just gotten started at the hayfield. I was thinking I was going up to rake about 2 and that he would be mostly done with what I had raked so far. So, guess I will go up about 3 and see how he is getting along. I cannot ride the wagon and stack hay bales with these replaced knees... just not enough stability... so cannot help him. He could let me run the tractor/baler but he won't so I won't even ask.

It was 59 last night and has been partly clouds off and on all day so far. There is a haze from smoke from some wildfires. There is still a little bit of the "weather" that hit @fuzzi 's and @Mini Horses along the coast, that is throwing some clouds back to the west, and us, but not enough for any real precip. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunnier... Some showers are a slight chance Monday but much more likely for Tues/Wed/Thurs then clearing again. We'll see.

Just ate some lunch and need to get something constructive done here... Deb called and is in for the weekend, so will get with her for supper most likely this evening since we didn't do anything last weekend. I can't seem to get very motivated today.

 

[Mini Horses]

Weather was lovely here -- and I went to work that feast or famine thing! It's been cooler over all for past wk or so. Enjoyable. Supposed to heat back up in coming week. Won't be excessive. There's a couple "somethings" forming and may stay off shore, otherwise we'll see some storms. Not wanting any big ta-dos!! It's always a PIA to clean up all the blow ins & blow offs. Plus it damages crops so stay away.