Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[farmerjan]

Some change from plans... got a call that the heifers that we put in the hay field cut pasture, have walked the cattle guard to get in their yard... they have an IMMACULATE yard... mowed, planted, all that.... the fence is not made right at the cattle guard into the yard and they can basically step around on the edge and into the grass at the yard... it needs the extra panel to make it impossible to squeeze around it... so I wound up going up there and putting another corral panel so it leans from the top out to the bottom and makes it next to impossible for them to be able to walk around the edge... we will see if this stops them. Let's face it, these 14 are like teenagers... they will try anything that they take a fancy to...
I had taken stuff to the dumpster and gone to the farm to get a couple buckets of feed; when DS got the text. He was finishing up hooking up the discbine to the tractor to go mow... I was there, and so said I would go "fix it" at the farm... GF was there also, and we were discussing the cow numbers and such... she was going to take the 4 wheeler up and take mineral and salt to them....

So I did them, the owner's husband had gotten them back together in the field... and then went to snyder's. Put out mineral and a salt block, and went and checked and counted all the heifers. No new calves there yet. Finally came on home, and DS called a bit after and said he was mowing, was I around, could I come get him and take him back to the truck as soon as he finished the section/field he was doing.

I went down, and picked him up to take him to the barn... and he said that one of the cows kept looking up the hill and they wound up walking her towards a gate in the corner, and she went through and she went and found her "new calf" up in the field they had brought them out of... this is why we try to NOT move them when they get this close... someone can have a calf hidden, and then it gets left behind... the fields were right next to each other, and it could have gotten through the wire in a few spots to get with the cow, but it is better that the cow is up with it. So the 2 new ones she found today, and this one, are in the field where they were, and DS got the 2 new ones tagged, but this one is about 2-3 days old DS said.... didn't get near it... it is on one of my cows, a bull calf... the other 2 are his...
I am making a copy of my list for GF... she was pretty sure her count was 43, and there were 3 in the field they had put over there from the barn that were out of synch... and left 2 with the calves up in the field... so that made 48 and I have 49 total on the list... she said she was trying to count them as they went through the gate, so could have missed one... and there could be one up somewhere hiding with a calf too... easy to miscount when they are shoving through the gate too... but this wiill help to figure out who might be missing... seems she is doing most of the checking at the barn, so she may as well have a copy of the list...

I will maybe go up there one day and check off numbers and see....

DS did cut the sorghum and some hay this evening... will cut more tomorrow... So I will be on the tractor
and rake the end of the week .
No precip in the forecast except 15 % stray shower on Friday...

I'm tired and going to bed. Tomorrow I will try to get some mowing done...

 

[farmerjan]

Late Friday eve... We have had fabulous weather... even chilly at night... 49 and 50... nights, and days have been in the upper 70's and low 80's... today hit 84 but there is NO HUMIDITY and a light breeze today with the sun... I tested Thursday morning, and took the tractor and rake down to the fields that DS had cut... and raked for about an hour then came home and went back for the eve milking... We had taken my truck down on Wed eve and left it so I would have a vehicle down there. DS worked with the one guy that helps him some, during the day Thurs cutting cedars at one place, and fixing some fence at another I think... anyway, this way I was not stranded there after taking the tractor and rake down there.

DS also finished mowing on Wed and brought the tractor and mower back up the hill.... I drove his truck up and left mine there... wanted to clean if off from all the weed seeds and stuff and then mow across from my house since that field he just had planted with orchard grass this spring after we took the wheat mix off early... there is not alot of height but he said this eve that it is fairly thick...
Anyway, he mowed part of it, and will mow the rest, but he said it is sooo dry that he wants to sq bale some of it and does not want it to be crunchy dry to sq bale. I think he is going to mow the rest over the weekend, so will bring a couple wagons and sq bale it as soon as I get it raked.

So today I went down the hill, and raked everything except the sorghum-sudan field... it is still too green... I raked one row up and one row back down. It is thick and quite green underneath. I got everything else raked and it is very thin and sparse... It has not been that long since we cut 1st cutting... but he said he does not want to have to go back down there in 2-3 weeks to mow the hay since he is there to do the sorghum now.... so they got cut, will get baled, and done with that for the season. If we don't get any more rain, there won't be any more growth anyway. Funny thing is, stopped to talk to the wife, who was a neighbor when I lived in the stone house... and have known them for years and years... and she said they got 1 inch of rain on Sunday... when we got .1 inch... about 4 miles down the hill as the crow flies... CRAZY how spotty it has been.
Even with that rain 4 days ago.... there was dust everywhere while I was raking... I bet I blew enough out of my nose to put 1 inch back over all the fields.... YUK....

DS came down late this afternoon and started baling; he had to go do some banking business after he mowed some of the field, across from my house, and took the samples to the UPS store that I had packed this morning too... saved me a trip; so I talked to him a few minutes after I parked the tractor and he finished the first field... said he was probably going to wait for a little dew to bale more tomorrow since it was so dry, and it is short and the baler is not picking it up very good. A little damper would make it "softer" and not so brittle. It wouldn't be wet but a little damp on top.... we have done it before with very super dry hay to get it to bale better when it is short like this.

I may go down tomorrow late afternoon, or Sunday to try raking the sorghum and then the tractor and rake will come back up to the field across from my house to do that.

The forecast has a slight chance of possible scattered showers on Sunday afternoon... like 20% maybe... and I just don't see it happening... but even DS said it would be welcome even on the hay.... supposed to be cooler like this most all week coming...

I might even get to the mowing this week... I haven't gotten to it yet... not like it is growing very fast...

I am going to soak the planters all at the house in the morning... they are looking sad with the dry conditions.

Past time to go to bed...

 

[Baymule]

It’s dry here too, but chance of rain next 3 days.

 

[Mini Horses]

Right now it's a "no rain coming" in my part of VA. Maybe Thursday or Friday something light. We've had a consistent amount all along tho, so grass is good. But so much in spring I couldn't get my garden in But temps & humidity is really

 

[Ridgetop]

No rain here either and we badly need it. High hopes on Thursday night when the wind picked up and sky got really dark. Thunder but no rain. Must have blown south because they got some in Mineola and Grand Saline lost power from the storm. Super dry here.

 

[farmerjan]

Sat eve. Was 53 overnight, up to 84. Sunny and dry... Weather is beautiful, if only we didn't need the rain.

DS baled one field this morning and called to see if I wanted to go up to the Middlebrook "field day"... some horse drawn equipment, little tiny fair in a very small town... near where I test.. so like 10 miles away... I said sure... so I picked him up about 11 and we went for about an hour or 2... Saw a couple people we know... talked... not alot but nice little fair type thing... couple of draft horses, guys talking about them... a few craft booths... came back, dropped him at the field and he was going to bale the other small field
DS and GF were going out to the Highland Co. Fair, as Sat night is the big truck and tractor pull... said I was welcome to go... I would have liked to go out to the fair, but Sat is the last day, and by the time they get there for the pull, most everything is picked up and gone... I didn't want to stay out til midnight or after since it is a big truck pull event. I declined.

We did talk about the sorghum, that it might be ready to rake this eve or tomorrow... needs to be turned up to dry underneath... and that the half of the field across from me that he cut would be ready to rake probably tomorrow... and he is going to cut the rest tomorrow also. Said I could do whatever I felt like...

I decided to go down about 4:30 to rake the sorghum... only took an hour, and since it was not too late, and being Sat night there was not alot of traffic as people are doing "Labor Day" stuff and there were 2 county fairs going on within about an hours' drive... I decided to bring the tractor and rake up the back way on the dirt road, since the field is right across from me and it is the dirt road that runs along the back side of the house property .... not as much traffic on weekends since no one is going to work...
So, I came up and only met one car the whole way which was great... Parked the tractor and rake across the road... I will have to get a ride back down to get the ranger, and my green outback is at doug's farm since I went there the other day to take the tractor and rake down... had the ranger, traded for the car to work, then got the ranger again to check and feed at the nurse cow pasture...
I still have the explorer here if I had to go anywhere... which I didn't...

It was almost dark when I got it parked across the road... so didn't do anything else. I will go check the heifers in the morning, no one looked like they were imminent to calving... the 3 must have come in heat the day after the bull went in, and the rest must have been in heat a day BEFORE he went in so will be at least 3 weeks behind to start to calve...
Had a new calf at the farm... another bull calf... Like you all talk about "freezer meat or Hay money"... that is what the bull calves are... farm payments, operating expenses, or possible "profit/employee paycheck" money.... ....

That's 6 bulls and 2 heifers on the cows so far... but there are 40+ more to calve there at the farm... and still about 10 heifers to calve, with 2 bulls and 1 heifer calf so far... NOT complaining about the bull calves... I think I have 3 in the cow group to calve... one has a bull calf... have 4 in the heifer group... one has the heifer calf... I would love for my charolais/angus cross to have another heifer... have one from her last year that is a really nice calf... YES, I kept her.... she is out out of a stockyard purchase.. older cow... had a couple of awesome calves... kept the heifers... got another one out of another stockyard cow... I liked buying those single "older" cows... especially since these smokey grey calves seem to get the best of the charolais growth and the angus chunkiness... most are smokey grey so the steers have taken a little hit but not with the prices the way they are....

I am headed to bed... GOT to water these plants in the morning... I forgot with going to the little fair thing and then coming home and going down to do the raking later...

 

[SageHill]

Like you all talk about "freezer meat or Hay money"... that is what the bull calves are... farm payments, operating expenses, or possible "profit/employee paycheck" money.

YEP!!!
LOL and I've come around to hoping for ram lambs! So funny how that works.

 

[fuzzi]

YEP!!!
LOL and I've come around to hoping for ram lambs! So funny how that works.

Not with my bantams, I want GIRLS.

Boys are too small for anything, except maybe soup.

 

[farmerjan]

The more "males" we get... the better so we are not tempted to want to keep them !!!!!!

 

[farmerjan]

Happy Labor Day !!!!! Like @Mini Horses mentioned... the "official start to fall" for most of us "older" members... because that was the last vacation weekend, and then school started. Nowadays, that is all thrown out with all the mid-August starting days... and year round schools and such... Oh well, new generations, new ways....

Sunny out. Was done to 51, temps are supposed to be in the 70's, low 80's maybe.... Nice today, a few more clouds next day or 2... then HOPEFULLY some rain Wed eve and Thursday.
I did water the sad looking plants yesterday... will probably try to water again this evening since I am sure they sucked it all up. Then hope for some good rain later on this week.

Also did a little mowing but it is so dry, I didn't really want to cut much so it does not burn up. Cut right in front of the house, and a path around back to the clothesline and under the lines/poles... Deb called and came out, will stay for the week at her place.. Wanted to borrow the mower again as her mowing deck is not working right... I texted DS and said he needed to look at it for her and figure out what it needed so she can get it fixed... I don't mind her borrowing the mower some, but really don't want it to be a constant thing...
She is sort of in limbo with her job. It is contract work, for the military... have no idea what but desk/computer stuff... and they have not funded it again at this time, so might not be renewed... she is training for a couple other jobs her company has, but I have a feeling that she may be out of work by the end of the year. She has been talking about "retiring" out... selling the house she is in, and moving out here to the farm... but with her health issues, and them not having a clue as to what is causing the problems with the slurred speech, the numbness in her arm and such, finding a job is going to be much more difficult. She talks about maybe doing something remote, but I am not sure what all she can continue to do; granted computer work can be done from most anywhere most of the time... but talking is getting more and more difficult. I asked if they had considered possibly testing for MLS.... a friend has had it since his 30's and he had alot of the same symptoms but not so much problem with speech.. but they think it is due to the fall/injury to her shoulder/arm over a year ago... and it is putting pressure on some nerves in her spine/arm... causing both the speech problem and the arm numbness... but how do you even start to treat something they are not even sure what it is from????

Heading out to get on the tractor across the road and rake the hay he had cut... I am guessing he is going to cut the rest sometime today. He needs to get it on the ground so it can get raked and baled by Wed aft... or else he needs to not cut it until after the predicted... and HOPED FOR.... showers/rain mid week. Plus, DS has an evaluation tomorrow afternoon, so will be tied up for a good part of the day. I do not have to drive him as GF is taking him because it is near a friend of theirs and going to go there also.

So, time to get going.... Looks to be pretty nice today again. LOVE the "no humidity" weather we have been having...