C&D Farming..oh what a life!

[Duckfarmerpa1]

Cleaning up and painting and all that is good to help prolong the life..... But anyone that knows anything about farm equipment will not buy a shiny new paint job without proof that the piece of equipment works. Unless we buy new, a paint job is the first thing to be wary of because a well oiled greased, , maintained piece of equipment is much better to take a chance on......Not to burst your bubble, but outside looks are worth nothing if the inside of the machine does not run properly.

We reali that...he just wanted to keep it from rusting..we’re not selling. First off..he repaints everything...when we buy something..if it’s not perfect, and has a scratch, he sees that it will rust. And in this weather, he’s right. Plus, it’s his passion. But today we bought tha stuff...he wants to bale hay.

 

[Duckfarmerpa1]

The bunny with scratched eye...well he was doing pretty good. Had a few. Bunnies in a new chicken tractor. We made sure it was totally level with the ground. Later we saw that he had gotten out!! Well, he found a tiny part of the wire that had come loose.he stayed under the shed for two days. We tried like heck to catch him. Ugh!!! But we caught him. Our neighbor wanted one sooo bad. But I was sold out!! 42 bunnies, all gone..and in the next litter, that are one week..1/2 are reserved!! Well, I gave this bunny with the scratch to our neighbors. They are so thrilled!! They built him a cage in the house. The son is going to use him in 4h...so they are taking him to the vet...hope she can fix him up!! I had to close down the farm to visits today. If you’re buying eggs, they can get them, self serve from the garage fridge. We have COVID-19 in our town of 1,500 people.now I am very scared. This is all happening right when I got a new restaurant ordering goat cheese and a store too. Eggs going to a bakery, restaurant and a store. Plus up I have a hoarder that wants all my eggs, from here onout....I don’t feel good about that. What can I do? Ok..very tied..good night.....

 

[Duckfarmerpa1]

Oh geez...Chris just told me he actually does want to plant corn, like we’ve been talking about and buy the picker and the...um, thing that it goes into? Like our new hay wagon, but a funnel? Everything costs so much, first of all, but, I really think we are biting off a bit more than we can chew...ugh. His highlight is garden stuff and planting, mine are the the animals. I just hope we are not equally busy and unable to help each other, the way we able last year. Plus, we have to build another barn. And add on to the goat shed. And my mini pig Petuna is due...maybe tonight? The V’s told me, last night, to see if I could get milk from her nipples...if so I had up to 24 hrs. None yet. But she’s not very active anymore and belly ont the ground, and her bag is huge...apparently that’s a mini pig thing...udder like a goat. I’m kind of glad it’s raining today so I can clean the house!!

 

[Bruce]

Now he also wants a combine??? The $$ you are spending on animals doesn't even blip on the scale he is spending on equipment.

 

[Duckfarmerpa1]

Now he also wants a combine??? The $$ you are spending on animals doesn't even blip on the scale he is spending on equipment.

I know @Bruce ....but those are seen as toys...and long term investments....it’s his money...so I don’t care how he spends it. But, I just think we are going too fast now. I have a friend who said baling is very hard in our area..so, I think we should go slower...one or the other at this point. And we don’t have a barn big enough for all of this!! And the sheep farm people called and dropped their price, probably due to COVID-19. They are a good deal now. I’m soo conflicted. He’s just getting very excited because this all has to due with the growing season. We got a crop sprayer yesterday. Plus the other stuff. The guy was trying to sell more to Chris.

 

[Duckfarmerpa1]

@farmerjan ...I keep rereading and rereading your post about a cover crop. I think I’m quite dense. Can you break it down, but in..stupid..person..layman..terms for me once again? The guys we bought all the equipment from kept talking about it like we understood. But, we really don’t. We don’t want to screw this up!!

 

[Bruce]

Seems like it might be a decent plan to get good at one thing and when you are, add one more thing, repeat. Throwing everything onto the land and hoping it will work out doesn't seem so good.

I have never made hay but I've read a little and it isn't just as simple as going out, mowing, raking and baling. You want to have a barn fire or a lot of moldy hay? Bale it when it is too wet. Leave it out on the field while you do other stuff and collect it in a few days. When Al (70 years old, lives on the farm down the road where he grew up, been making hay most if his life) has a good season he can mow and ted one day, rake and bale the next. Not so good years, rain or high humidity, frequently the hay doesn't get cut until it is taller than desirable and often no second cutting let alone third. Second cutting is less stemmy than first, first has the thicker seed stalks. He had only first cut last year, I'm seeing the alpacas using most of it for bedding. Good thing they don't actually eat all that much.

 

[chickens really]

Hello everyone...
Very good journal. I will continue to follow..

 

[Senile_Texas_Aggie]

Miss @Duckfarmerpa1,

You might want to watch a few YouTube videos before you dive in headlong. For haying, I recommend "PA Farms", where the guy started out exclusively baling hay and then got into row crops. He had someone else harvest his corn for him. "Dodge Brothers Farm and Ranch" also cuts hay, plants and harvests corn, soybeans, etc., for other farmers in Iowa, while running their own cattle operation. "North Texas Hay" exclusively does hay, primarily for horses. While they haven't posted a video in over seven months (her husband died a year or so ago, and she and her sons tried to keep going, but I suspect they are going to sell their farm), all of their previous videos will give you a really good idea what growing, harveting, and selling hay is like. If you want to learn about raising crops, I highly recommend two YouTube channels -- "MN Millennial Farmer" and "How Farms Work". You will get a really good idea what is involved in big farm operations. Finally, to give you and idea of the expense of raising crops, you may want to watch this YouTube video:

I'm am DEFINITELY not trying to tell you what to do. I just want you both to go into whatever you do, especially when substantial money is involved, with your eyes wide open.

Senile Texas Aggie

 

[Bruce]

Finally, to give you and idea of the expense of raising crops, you may want to watch this YouTube video:

That young man has a great grasp on how the financials work on the farm.