Planting

The crops are in and growing. We plant forages, like grasses, oats and alfalfa, as well as corn. Almost all of which we use to feed our cows.

I never realized the work it takes to plant a crop until I married a dairyman. Honestly, I didn't know much about agriculture at all until I married into it and the learning curve has been steep. For instance, cows have to have a baby to produce milk, just like humans. To some this may seem like commonsense, but to someone like me, who had no ties to agriculture before getting married, it is not common. I also learned there are steps to planting. We till or break-up our soil before we plant, then apply fertilizer (plant food) if the soil is low on minerals the plant needs, then plant the seeds and then the hardest part-we wait and hope the weather is favorable for a good start and good growth.

Our whole year of milk depends on the quality of crop we produce because cows are sensitive to changes in their diet and need good nutrition to keep them healthy. Because of this, we work closely with a dairy nutritionist to make sure that they have everything they need to stay healthy and produce a quality product. If the nutrients the cows need aren't in the things we grow, we have to spend more money to add them as supplements. (Kind of like taking vitamins.) We work hard to keep our costs down, as overhead can kill you in a small business.

Here are a couple pictures of planting a couple weeks ago. The tractor on the left is breaking up the field with a disc to get it ready to plant. The tractor on the right is planting corn.