Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[farmerjan]

@fuzzi .... yes... but realize that it takes 12 " of snow to equal 1 " of rain... and we are many INCHES of rain short... I do not really want FEET of snow..... still getting it like this is not bad... Just don't like all these "teens" for temps.

Farm just texted me and WANTS to test this afternoon still... I was ready to text them and say let's put it off...
Let's see how things go when I go out to see about getting car started and all that, in awhile... Get it cleaned off and see.... Have another scheduled tentatively for Friday... but with them calling for more possible stuff, I just texted him to tell him no; he had said it was a tentative thing anyway... now it is no longer tentative..

We are supposed to go to the bull sale on Saturday... haven't gotten our trailer back YET.... DS is not happy...

Up to 27 out there... Cats asked to go out earlier... just now, wanted to come back in... Birds are going after all the stuff I dumped out for them, and on the feeder... Glad to help them out some... Next is out to the chickens, water, and some scratch feed to get some corn in their crops to help with heating them up in the grinding/digesting. Got another egg from the langshan yesterday eve...

BRRR it's cold out....

 

[Ridgetop]

We are supposed to go to the bull sale on Saturday... haven't gotten our trailer back YET.... DS is not happy...

With the snow will there be many bulls at the sale? Or wll the weather keep people away? On the other hand, if the snow keeps buyers away maybe you will be able to get a good bull for a good price.

 

[farmerjan]

@Ridgetop ... I have no idea of how many bulls may or may not be there... There are something like 80+ consigned...6 different breeds and F-1 bulls... Angus, Charolais, Gelbvieh Balancer, Simmental, SimAngus, Hereford; that went through the Culpepper preformance test requirements... they will be hauled to the stockyard handling facility that is not too far away, for the sale... That will depend somewhat on whether we get a storm again on Friday...
The weather won't keep many buyers away... you are talking farmers with 4x4 trucks... and they offer free delivery of the bulls within 200 miles or something like that... so anyone who doesn't feel comfortable about hauling their trailer if it is snowy, will opt for delivery... which won't be for a day or 2 at least...

PLUS, they do both online and phone bids, real time.... so not going won't affect it much at all.... I do believe that DV Auctions will have this sale in real time also... so no more of the reasons why someone not being there would help the prices to be lower...

I went and tested this afternoon...dropped off the samples on the way, that did not get taken yesterday since I didn't go any where with the snow... farmer said might as well if I felt able to come test... The roads were clear, they had to have used a TON of salt on the roads... and they plowed them completely off.... did not run into any bad places anywhere. Testing went well, and the farmer stayed and she helped me take down and load the meters in the car when the wash system was done... I will pack the samples in the morning....and have to go get the 4 samples at the farm where I get my milk... and get more milk too... already had asked him when I let him know when I was testing, that I wanted milk when I came to get the samples... I want to make some pudding... just have a yen for some....and I am out of milk here anyway.

Came home after and in for the night...

Recording thermometer got up to all of 28 today... cloudy all day... Not supposed to get as cold tonight as last night, warmer tomorrow... but all this snow is not going to go away very fast; it is supposed to be colder on Thursday and Friday... and possible snow on Friday night???? Keeping that very "laid back" and not talking about it much...

I am going to take a shower and go to bed.......

 

[Mini Horses]

Well, you want the moisture, I know. The thing with snow & needed cold, is the ice on roads. Plus maneuvering feed. It requires some adventurous antics! Cold but melted here. Had another low 20s night.

 

[Baymule]

I wouldn't know how to drive in that stuff. When it snows here, I just stay home. It is usually gone in a few days. But in 2021, we had snowmegeddon and it just kept snowing, plus ice storms. We had just gone to Atwoods and bought birdseed, for whatever reason, we bought extra. We were so glad we did, it came a blizzard and we fed almost 80 pounds of birdseed, plus peanut butter and lard. Afterwards I found several dead birds, it just got too cold for them.

 

[fuzzi]

Driving in Snow Rules

1. Don't
2. Stay home
3. Remember inertia

Driving slow is too fast. Any change in speed or direction probably will result in your vehicle going in a direction you didn't anticipate. Sometimes backwards.

My best vehicle for driving on wintry roads is a front wheel drive low profile car, as there's weight on the drive wheels. I've driven through a foot of snow on an unplowed road with a big Ford LTD station wagon as it was HEAVY.

SUVs and pickup trucks aren't better, they collect in the deep ditches by the side of the roads here after a storm, like bowling pins after a strike. Most of the time this happens because a driver has the illusion that they are invincible.

I've slid into many an intersection despite being cautious. It's not worth it.

 

[Ridgetop]

so no more of the reasons why someone not being there would help the prices to be lower...

That's a shame, but hopefully you will find a good bull if there are any to be had. Having him delivered would be worth it with all the snow. Can you get insurance on the bull once you buy him in case of road accidents?

 

[farmerjan]

Sure, we would like a "deal" on a bull.... BUT, I want these farmers to get the most they can for their bulls because we know what it takes to raise up the animals...
These bulls have all passed the testing that the "test station" puts them through... there is extensive testing done for the 90 or 120 day lb of gain/lbs consumed... so that people know how feed efficient these bulls are and hopefully what they will pass on to their progeny. Out of the original 155 that were put in this test station for this trial, about 80 have "graduated".... made the cut.
For us it will be looking at them and trying to evaluate which ones might work with our animals. We bought that Gelbvieh bull from a friend a couple years ago... actually bought both.... when he downsized... sold one to another friend, kept one. Ours wound up with the scrotal hernia that our vet had only ever seen once before in his lifetime.. they refused to even test him for his BSE (breeding soundness exam) and we sold him... YET he had settled nearly half of the cows he had been in with... when we switched out bulls... Unfortunately, his heifers all have an attitude... and he was the quieter of the 2 bulls when we bought them.... He did not "click" with our cows... it happens....
The farm that had the sale 2 weeks ago, that we did not buy a bull from... we have 2 of their bulls now... both are easy calving bulls... and we feel like the calves in general are getting too small...yep, pop out like a popcorn fart... but we want some bigger stouter calves from our cows... so want at least one more bull that is NOT an easy calving bull... to start putting some more size on the calves out of mature cows to have more growth.
There were several at the last sale, and that farm also has several in this bull test sale too... they are not going to be cheap. I expect this sale may be higher than the farm's own sale...

Got to go get the samples and my milk and get home and get them packed and dropped off at UPS...

Started out at 22 overnight, warmed all through the night and was 33 at 8... Now up to 40 at 11:30... snow will be getting "wet and heavy" as it starts to melt down some... Supposed to be clouds all day, few flurries to the west, and the winds to pick up. It will slowly "sink" as it melts into the ground...