R. John Johnson":u86ibqob said:
Hey RR, how's the feed situation up there?
John
Well i would like to say what feed but...Crop insurance is to come out next week and weigh and test the bales. We are trying to bale some alfalfa straw and timothy straw for the bee yards and bedding but it just won't stop raining. Did I mention that the timothy is a bugger to bale. 5 hours and 16 bales. Plugged up, sheared pins, plugged again...husband was mad.
We are shipping out 25 cows and 1 bull on tuesday for the regular sale. They are the old ones, 1999 and older. Then on November 10th we are preg testing they younger stock...open goes, some of the younger have had some problem with funky genetics they go (calves with bottle neck scrotum that you can not band), if the calf is poor, they go, and if the cows came of pasture on the thin side they go. With all the grass all cows should be fat like pigs. It's gonna be a hard cull. Some awful nice cows are going to grow wheels. But the cost to buy and truck feed just does not pay.
I have one last pet. Yes i have a pet. She is the most gentle cow you ever saw. I always have an escape plan but i can sit down and lean up against her when she is laying down. She comes when she is called, she love to be had fed bread, has wonderful calves, and even let a 8 year old boy sit just outside her pen (he was safe) 4 feet from her and watch her calf, clean the calf and the first suck. And she thought nothing of it that this was odd. When i had to bag and tag the calf she was there licking my jacket cleaning the gunk off me. She has to go cause she falls in the age bracket. If we are going to down size we want to keep the young stock cause it will take time to rebuild on a smaller herd.
I'm depressed now...how is your feed situation? How about them fields and the water standing for so long...what will next year's crop be like with alfalfa under water or water logged for so long. How about if it snows before it freezes and the full culverts freeze solid. I think next spring might be just as bad if not worse due to more overland flooding. I think i digressed again.
Were you at the MCPA meeting at the beginning of the month?