Teresa & Mike CHS - Our journal

farmerjan

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This is one of the things that I have "preached" over the years with my son. You have to work the markets and what is wanted when. I don't like having all these feeders at the barn.... we will not make back more than the feed that they are eating.... total dollars received is not worth the less amount per pound for a bigger animal.... and having the right size for a certain time of year is just smart. I am not so set on having all these cows calving this early in the year as the calves are worth more as feeders in the early spring and they want them in the 375 to 500 wts.
If you can sell yours direct then you can breed differently. But, with the backups now at the butchers, it isn't like you can just call up and say you have 3 to kill in 2 months. So you have to be able to sell at the sale barns/auctions and that means having them at the best size.
I am glad that you got real good prices for the ones you took. I am hoping that it will be good for us to take steers the end of this week if we can get in and out of the pasture where they have been. I am pushing to calve later in the spring/early summer so that the calves are more in the 450-550 wt range in January or Feb. They will get the advantage of the grass for grazing, with not trying to get calves born in Feb in this really CRAZY weather we get, and losing calves or sick calves. Then they will wean off easier as they will be eating hay real good. I don't know, I am trying to figure out ways to make our operation pay better too without all the work. I did a chart up years ago and cannot find it so will be making another.... with a weight on one side, and a price per lb on the other side and see where they cross for the same money .... and then you have to figure out the added feed.
Also to figure in is how much less the ewes eat with the lambs off sooner, and the less compaction on the soil and things that you just don't see.

Just made some more appts for beef.... July Aug and Sept 2022.... :th :th :ep:ep:ep
 

Baymule

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Mike, you were right....prices make it WELL worth it to be selling at this time of year. Got $924 after the auction took their cut, on 3 wethers and a ram lamb. To my eye, none of them looked sleek and fat, just well muscled...except one bony looking wether that has never done well~he brought $2 on the hoof than the others because he weighed less!

Definitely be breeding for a fall/winter lambing if we can.
Wow! That is great Bee! How old were these lambs? Congratulations on good prices!
 

Beekissed

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Wow! That is great Bee! How old were these lambs? Congratulations on good prices!
They were around 9 mo. old. We had planned on butchering them here at home but the year got away from us and the weather turned warm, not optimal for butchering at home, so we decided to go ahead and sell....and it was a GREAT decision. I'm thanking God for it all today! :weee
 

Mike CHS

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Today was a non-event except I had to break out my thermals again. Temp got up to the low 40's but the wind made it feel like 30. We did get a call to go in and sign our taxes so they could be filed and of course they called about ten minutes after we got back from Kroger and they are about three blocks past that so we went into town again. :)
 

Mike CHS

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It is so pretty outside that I worked on my seemingly never ending tree line for a couple of hours but it is almost completely cleared out where I want to install fence on the property and outside the access lane. While I had the chainsaw out, I spent another hour or so making 1" slices in a peach tree we took down several weeks ago plus it took as long to pick up all of the pieces as it did to cut them. I like to add a couple of chunks to charcoal when I'm grilling poultry or pork. If you haven't tried it the peach wood adds an excellent taste.
 

Mike CHS

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We got a couple of the beds tilled and got a bunch of onions transplanted plus the row cover has been over the lettuce until a few days ago. We have been able to get a half dozen heads every ten days or so with little effort just by transplanting and thinning. We have a bunch of cool weather plants starting in flats that will get transplanted soon.
 

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Mike CHS

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We had a fairly early supper using meatloaf that we made a few weeks ago and froze one of them. We usually make two meals whenever we use the oven and freeze one of them. I have my favorite meatloaf recipes but came across one that I wanted to check out. New to me was one of the steps that called for putting the loaf under the broiler for several minutes, take it out and add a light layer of the glaze and back under the broiler again for several minutes then bake at 350 for the rest of the time.

I had always just baked in the past but this extra step made the loaf hold together perfectly and even had a texture a little more like steak than ground beef.
 

farmerjan

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When I cook for just one, which I hate doing.... I usually make enough for several meals and then freeze some for later. Makes it nice when I am testing and don't have time or the inclination to cook when I get home... so can take something out of the freezer before I go to work and stick in the fridge and then cook that night... or even for the next night. Besides, may as well make use of the oven/stove when it is on....
 
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