# brown grass as far as I can see.....



## greybeard (Dec 4, 2018)

It's time for hay. Been a lot of years since I was able to wait this late to start hay.


----------



## frustratedearthmother (Dec 4, 2018)

I didn't get all the hay I had planned for this year.  I'm thankful that I'm just now starting to need to feed it!


----------



## farmerjan (Dec 4, 2018)

We are feeding a little hay to a couple of pastures.  One of them,  the cows should have been moved a month ago, but we got tied up making hay the week before Thanksgiving.... and can't move 'em near as easily when it is rainy, wet and muddy.  Did get the 14 cow/calf pairs and the bull moved out of another place this past Sunday and that is 3 trips with the trailer, so time consuming.  Then the one diesel truck needed glowplugs, then the other needed them... and got to do that on warmer days as there is no heated shop to pull equipment into....
Have moved cattle to grass in the last rotation at one place, and will feed a few rolls to a couple of places as they are calling for a winter "event" starting this Sat and into Sun or Monday; depending on when it actually starts.  Hoping for some sun the next 3 days after some flurries this evening that aren't supposed to amount to more than a possible dusting.  
I am not ready for snow or winter.... it was grey, overcast/cloudy cold and raw today.  Supposed to be cold the rest of the week, but hopefully sunny, until the weather coming in on Sat.  

Got to test a farm tomorrow afternoon, then hope to get one in on Thursday and Friday before the storm comes in. My workload has basically been cut in half with farms trying to stretch testing out to every 6 weeks or 2 months due to the horrible milk prices.  Don't have my subaru back yet so will not take the 2wd drive ranger out on slick crappy roads, and the 4wd ranger is strictly a farm truck.  Great for getting around here... but not for traveling any  distances to farms for testing.  Besides, it needs a new muffler and will just attract unwanted attention and I don't want to spend the money on the muffler til after the first of the year.  
Probably are going to wait until the 2nd or 3rd week in January to ship some calves.  Order buyers are saying their buyers don't want to fool with anymore now due to the horrible wet conditions this fall and so many getting sick with respiratory stuff.  If it gets cold and stays cold, then things will "dry/freeze" up some and they won't be dealing with so much sickness. Plus due to the extreme wet this fall, I think some just want a break before the holidays and then will be able to settle down to "start again" in the new year.


----------



## farmerjan (Dec 4, 2018)

It is quite late for us too, to start feeding hay.  Will be moving fall calves and cows to one place that hasn't had anything on it since June,  We always winter cattle here, but may be losing it after this year as they want to make it a "hunting preserve".... plus keep their own 4-6 head on it.  It's getting to be a pain with dealing with these rented places when the owners start to decide that they want to "do something" with it but yet another place that they will be expecting us to do all the little "upkeep" things on as we will be keeping the hayfields.  That is "too much work" for them to do...
Have had more grass this year than I can ever remember on places that are being grazed as summer pastures.... been nice, but the calves have not gained like normal.  The grass has actually been  " too washy " and has gone through them faster than normal due to the high water content all year.  Not near as much actual dry matter in it.  But it has kept them out longer so not all bad. 

Now, if only prices would come back up a bit... They have been awful here the last 2 weeks.


----------



## greybeard (Dec 6, 2018)




----------



## greybeard (Jan 19, 2019)




----------



## greybeard (Feb 20, 2019)




----------



## farmerjan (Feb 20, 2019)

Pretty little calf.  Is it yours?  What is the cross?  They get discounted so bad here but I love the "Speckle Park"  looking ones like that.   
Wish this rain would wait until a hot, dry, dusty July or August day.


----------



## greybeard (Feb 20, 2019)

Beefmaster bull on char/simm cows.
Bull is almost totally black but is throwing all different colors which is standard for the breed.


----------



## farmerjan (Feb 20, 2019)

You don't get discounted so bad for the different colored calves do you?  Sure wish we didn't.   I like the different colors, and it would give me a chance to experiment a little more with different bulls AI.  Oh well, am going to maybe kill a few USDA in the future and sell some meat to some friends that have asked.  I can easily put the "lesser cuts"  into things like beef snack sticks and hot dogs and such for us.


----------



## greybeard (Feb 20, 2019)

With your herd that has some dairy influence, I bet they taste and eat as good as any.
Yeah, I leave some on the table when I sell, by not having uniformity, but I haven't had that since way back when we raised polled Herefords and I'm not much of a joiner or fad/color chaser anyway.
It's all about inputs here, and as little as possible, both in $$ and time. (time is the real killer...it will eat you up and spit you out.
I want a bull that will cover everything and not miss.
I want live calves, not have to drag out the calf jack and the momma breed right back.
Heavy weaners, on momma's milk and my grass and a little hay and a few cubes.
What I lack in uniformity, I have to be able to make up on the scales without spending a fortune putting on those extra lbs.

I really liked the smokies I got out of my old char/sim bull on my BM cows, but that bull kicked the bucket last winter, so I went the other way this time, with a cheap beefmaster  bull because I'll be selling everything out this year sometime to move back West. Makes for some different patterns, but I just don't care. Took this today with my old flip phone:


----------



## greybeard (May 9, 2019)

The grass ain't brown no more.


 


 



 

Waiting for me to get the gate open and go into the yard...,


----------



## Mike CHS (May 11, 2019)

It's amazing what a difference a few weeks make.


----------



## Ridgetop (May 11, 2019)

Are you definitely moving west?  Why?  Less water in west Texas.  As a southern Californian first consideration is water.  Although looking at the weather news this morning it looks  like you are getting almost too much water.  I guess there is such a thing depending on where you live, the contours of your property and the soil.


----------

