Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[drstratton]

Spectacular sunset the other eve. Taken at top of hill to go into pasture at Snyder's. You can see where we drive... Right behind me is 2 strand electric fence to go through.
Picture of Jess was during summer. She is not a big cow, but she's my pasture ornament that is protective and pretty. Those are 2 bred heifers to the left that since calved in Sept/Oct.

Beautiful! Love the pictures you're sharing. Jess is magnificent!

 

[farmerjan]

Sunday eve.... Temp got up to about 50-51 with a spike to 55 with the sun on the recorder...

DS and GF got the cattle moved from BV (middle road) pasture this morning... so that is really good. Not last minute stuff for a change.
I wound up emptying the contents of my stomach... mostly all the sinus drip and stuff and felt better... so went down to the barn this afternoon... he had just gotten the cattle moved and was putting silage in the bunk in the barn to get them started on it... plus let the ones that have been there a few days get their fair share too... he will keep them separate for a few days... be easier to sort the calves off the 2 different groups as we do the preg checks... rather than have them all together.. plus we have to re tag 2 heifers that lost their tags... know which are which so want to keep them separate until that is done... just make it easier. Plus, we will not be separating any cows/calves to move around until after the vet is done and we know who is how far bred and all that.

Silage looks good, smells good, cattle are loving it. I went and got gas in the forester, and then DS was going to take a wagon of silage to snyder's so I went up and opened the gates for him... I put some grain in the barn in the bunk feeder for the couple of calves there... when he put the silage cart in there, they all came to eat... it's good for the hol/her crosses to get it... plus they have the protein tubs so will have a good balance... plus all the hay they want. Have not seen the 2 smaller calves on the 2 old cows up there, go in through the creep gate yet... wish they would learn to come in for grain as the 2 old cows are not making alot of milk... hoping the silage is going to help them a little and keep better body condition...

I then just came on home... The one cow has not calved at snyder's yet ... but one of the 2 still at doug's had discharge so should have a calf by tomorrow we hope. She is a bought cow... so we will see.....

Tomorrow we will be leaving sometime after 9... depends on what he wants to do/needs to do, on the way down... Will go by the small stockyard sale on the way home... one reason he makes as many appts for Mondays as he can... they don't start until 3 so as long as we get out of any dr appts by 2-2:30 we can be there by 3. Not going all the way to Blacksburg, just Roanoke so an hour +/- from here... Some of it will depend on how his back feels after the injections...
Temps are already down to 29, supposed to get a bit colder, then warmer temps coming tomorrow and 60 on Wed??? That will make it nice to do preg checks.

I'm going in to wash my hair and go to bed....

 

[farmerjan]

Cloudy this morning... 25 overnight... supposed to get up around 50 today, warmer the next several days... feels real chilly out there still...

DS texted and wants to leave around 11:30 so I guess he doesn't have much to do on the way down.

Samples boxed and ready to go. Guess I will go out and make sure the chickens have water in the rubber pans this morning... Work here in the house for a bit... Got 2 texts from farmers I have to get out calendar and see what is what...

Wish sun was out. This grey cloudy stuff makes for very depressing weather...

Think some oatmeal sounds good. Might stick to the junk in my stomach and help carry it all out... Haha

 

[Finnie]

Spectacular sunset the other eve. Taken at top of hill to go into pasture at Snyder's. You can see where we drive... Right behind me is 2 strand electric fence to go through.
Picture of Jess was during summer. She is not a big cow, but she's my pasture ornament that is protective and pretty. Those are 2 bred heifers to the left that since calved in Sept/Oct.

Beautiful pictures! I love when the sky is that color.

 

[farmerjan]

Tuesday... starting out at 38 overnight but already up to 43.... little bit foggy out there... Some clouds and supposed to be partly sunny. Temps up in the 50's plus.

Yesterday was a decent day. I did the chickens water, stuck the samples in the explorer and he came to the house. We left to go and wound up being a little early but the dr could take him so that was good. It was cloudy all day.
DS got a call to help this clueless neighbor help get a 900 lb steer loaded in their trailer... they called yesterday to ask for advice on how to get this steer into a trailer, DS told them about getting the trailer in the field, feeding the steer in a pan in the trailer... they come to feed... and do it a couple days.... and it would go in and eat... well, they said, oh, I never thought about that, that is such a smart idea.... when DS asked when they were going to have to get it loaded, they said TOMORROW...... and you are only calling about how to load them the day before???? GOD some people should not have livestock....!!!!!
Well they used the wrong hitch ball, trailer came off going through the gate... called DS could he make any suggestions..... he went up and finally helped get the slide in out of the channel on the truck, get it flipped to the right part... then back the truck up but the angle was such that the trailer could not be jacked up high enough to get it backed under.... so he had to bounce on the back of the truck as she backed up to get it to get it under as he could not lift the trailer tongue up enough... no way to get a tractor in there to lift it... one of those "REALLY" type of things. So they got it rehitched, she got it in there to train this steer... Like 12 HOURS is going to TRAIN this steer...

So, she could not get it loaded "this morning" .... DUH...... got it in the "alley where they store their hay"... and so he went up because a neighbor was up there... Ray is 75? and is 5'5" and might weigh 100 lbs soaking wet... and a good guy.... but not able to do this type of stuff anymore... yet she had asked him to help.... so when she said that Ray was trying to help, DS went because he said he was not going to let Ray get hurt.... he's not big enough or strong enough to stop a steer if he wanted to go through him... and of course by now this steer is NOT HAPPY..... not mean but a bit upset.... so DS had the truck with the panels from the BV pasture when they loaded the cattle Sunday... to take to the Aug Co pasture to set up in the next day or 2...he went up... she could not get the trailer moved around or the steer would get out of the hay alley (no gate on it... just a wire I guess) so DS had her and Ray just stand there and DS backed the trailer around to get it against the side of the barn and all... angled... tied the doors open (it's like a 2 horse trailer) and got 3 panels set up and then he and ray walked the steer right around a curve and the steer went right into the trailer... then DS had to reload the panels on the truck... she never even offered to help carry them back around the barn area or anything... Gushed about how wonderful he is, how good a neighbor, all this crap.... and all the time he is telling me, he is just shaking his head... like REALLY MOM, HOW DUMB, how CLUELESS, she is....
The older we get, the more we just lose patience with people who think that these 1000 lb animals are just going to do something because they want them to do it with no training, no thoughts to how to make things happen... and then get upset when that animal says... NO WAY, this is not what I am used to doing... this is different... GRRRRRR....
But we had to laugh as he is telling me this because this is typical of these WANNABE farmers that think everything is sooooo "DISNEY" .... LA LA...... with no real understanding of animal behavior.....

DS got the shots and they hurt some, and then they make him a little sleepy. Usually takes a day or so to feel some good from them... hoping they really help more this time around... they said it might take a couple times to get some good response from them, because they are trying to find the exact spot that he gets the most benefit... HOPING.....the last time they did help some, so they decided that they were getting in the right area and could target it better now...

So got done there quickly... so he called an auto salvage place and went by to see if they had a window to fit the bale truck that he dinged up the side/broke the window, when it slid into the trees a couple weeks ago... they are going to try to fix the door and stuff.... then we came up the road and went to the auction... There were over 400 head... and a buyer there from up our way, and he was running the cattle prices way up... Good for the sellers, bad for us to pick up a few odd steers like we do... Not that we were "stealing them" as prices are high... but this buyer was running prices as high as stuff up at the bigger sales...even the small singles and lots of 2-3 calves... so we didn't stay there real long... about 1 1/2 hours... and he said, let's just go, we aren't going to be able to buy anything... plus I think his back was aching... he slept most of the way back from there...
This is telling me that these buyers are not finding enough cattle at the bigger sales around here... and prices are just going to get higher...
Stopped and dropped the samples at UPS and then he got his truck at my house and went to the barn to finish the feeding he didn't get done because of messing with the neighbors steer....

One of the 2 cows still at doug's finally calved... he said it is a nice big blk white faced heifer... it was on the bought charolais/grey cow... so he has 1 left there and I have the one left at snyder's... wish they would do it the next 2-3 days....with the warmer nicer temps...

Had another farm get back to me so I am testing today... then Thurs/Fri for the 2x herd... and now also Sat afternoon...
Vet preg check Wed.... and sorting out the cows/calves there over the next few days so we can then see about getting the cows home from Aug Co and get them checked...

2 farms next week and getting the cows all moved and vet check next Friday....

Time to get out the door and get the chickens fed/watered... bottles are in the trays ready to go in the car... I may stop and drop off the meters for Thursday so I don't have to make a separate trip... they set them up....

There has been another incidence of a NWSW (new world screw worm) case in a calf in Mexico, less than 200 miles from US border.....so not going to see the border open for cattle anytime soon. The facility that breeds for the sterile male flies that they release to stop the breeding of these flies... is producing 100,000 sterile flies a week... and they say they need 600,000 a week to get this under control... there is a new plant/facility in Mexico that should come "on line" in the summer, and the new facility being built in the US should start producing them in late fall... so looks like there is another 6 months at least of closed border to Mexican cattle...

Milk prices have dropped into the $17.50 / hundred weight... Most dairy farmers said that break even is $20.50 at least... and supposed to drop again to near $16.00... there will be more small farmers going out if they are near retirement age or just tired of the fight... This is totally ridiculous.... we were getting $20 20-30 years ago... milk prices have bounced around up and down, from $15-23 / 100 pounds for the last 30 years... yet the costs have not bounced like that, they keep going up.... how efficient can a farmer get before they just cannot tighten the belt anymore???? It's called starvation/strangulation of the farmer.... the next time someone complains about the cost of food and whips out a $1000 fancy cell phone, I might deck them.

Time for me to get out the door... Hope everyone getting these warmer temps can get out and enjoy them...

 

[Mini Horses]

next time someone complains about the cost of food and whips out a $1000 fancy cell phone, I might deck them.

but -- then you need to explain just WHO is getting that increase $$. So many don't know!! Or try to.

There are crop farmers cutting back acreage because input costs have gotten so high they can hardly break even -- sales prices aren't there. Just like cattle over the years past. Most small farmers are opting out of farming. It's very sad....not to mention how devastating it will be when people wake up to no food production issues.

 

[murphysranch]

I don't have an answer or a potential solution. I worry for my Grandchildren.

 

[RR Homestead]

That neighbor is exactly why we stopped private sales here. Every single customer turned into this type of situation. It's so frustrating. Irks me to no end.
I hadn't heard about the newest screw worm case yet. Thanks for that information.
Milk prices are low. If not for a second income from one of the kids our dairy friends would long be out of business at this point. I still don't know how they make the math work. It's so sad to watch.

 

[farmerjan]

Become as self sufficient as possible and try to support the local farmers....
Learn how to do the basics like canning.... make the grandchildren realize that it has to be GROWN in order to get to the processing plant to then get shipped to the store... it doesn't just "appear" in the grocery store.


I went by the farm to get a bent nail to use in a slider that the knob came off the piece and can't slide the little thing through to lock the chicken run... need to replace it I guess. but the bent nail ought to work for a bit... Knew I could find one at the farm... DS was working on some fence... putting in brace posts, so I wound up helping him a l bit and then went on to work.. Didn't drop off the meters like planned... so will have to see about doing it Wed eve or Thursday morning after all...
Got the cows tested... will do the computer work here... ate some green beans and applesauce for supper... it was convenient...
Have to get on the phone with computer support as there is something not working when I calve in heifers from their own herd... supposed to transfer over from the heifer inventory to the "cow" inventory status... and they aren't ... GRRRR

DS said about 11 or so tomorrow to sort out cows and calves... they are in 2 groups so that will make checking easier... we need to re-ear tag those couple of calves also... so I will work on the computer for a bit, then go down there... I am very thankful that it is going to be "warm" .

I'm tired, had a cup of cocoa with some amaretto so going to go to bed. Need a decent nights sleep. Trying to get back into the testing routine...
Had another farm want to test so next week I will be testing Mon-200 cows/ Tues-100 cows / Wed - DS and I will do the 500 + cow herd/ inbetween I will help him get the cows caught and he will have to get them moved with his friend... either Tues or Thursday... I can help all day Thursday... Vet again Friday 16th for 40+ preg checks and sorting off all those calves.
Those cows all have to get moved the same day because there are too many to try to get pairs matched and moved... so they will all get caught and moved...

Praying for a good preg check tomorrow...

 

[Mini Horses]

Looks like you're having a couple "feast or famine" weeks. Same here. NO work for 2 months and start back is a dump of jobs. Going from zero to 60 is only fun in race cars!

Hope the preg checks are great!!