New Life

This is a picture of our newest calf. She was born on Friday, March 11, 2011. You get to help name her! Vote in the poll on the right to choose a name. Her mother's name is Dior. I'll announce her name next week.

Raging Winter

I figured there isn't a better time to publish a post about what life is like in the winter than when a blizzard is raging outside. I love winter, but then I don't have to work outside in it as my husband often reminds me.

To him winter means more work trying to keeping animals warm enough and comfortable with a warm barn, dry bedding and dry udders. Our barn is pretty open to take advantage of the breezes in warmer weather, so we put boards on it in the colder months to keep the cows warmer. We always strive to provide dry bedding, but it is especially important in the winter or you start getting sick cows. In the warmer months you don't have to worry about drying off the udders as much, but in the winter if you don't get every teat dry enough they could freeze and become unmilkable. Newborn calves also need extra care to keep them alive.

Machinery being what it is requires more work to keep it working in the winter. Forgetting to plug in a tractor can mean more work either changing tractors around or doing the work by hand. And it is just plain harder walking to all the places outside where work needs to be done with 30 pounds more clothes, ice all the way except for when it is broken up by snow drifts.

It sure is a good thing winter can be absolutely beautiful. The snow makes everything quiet and white and it just gives one a cozy feeling doesn't it?

The things of Fall

You know its Fall here when the combines are rolling and the cows are putting on their winter coats. This year we are trying storing our corn in bags so we don't have to pay the storage fees and because we plant a conventional corn (not genetically altered) and when you store your crop, you don't necessarily get your crop back.

Here are some pictures from putting the corn in a bag.

The setup.

Watching it flow from the gravity wagon into the auger.

Helping it flow correctly into the bagger.

This last week they mowed the corn stalks in the field they just finished combining, raked them, hired them baled and today they are bringing them home. (The farm we plant the corn we combine on is about an hour away by tractor.) Next week they will work on discing the field so hopefully next year's crop yields more. Discing breaks up the soil so the plants have an easier time growing up out of it and spreading their roots through it.