Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[Baymule]

No calf sale for you. Maybe you need to tell dimwit that you really enjoyed going with him to sales and you would like to be included a little more.

I'm going to pot up some small passion flower vines I have growing not far from the parent vine. I told Chris and he told me to not do that, he would. So I can get the pots ready and he'll dig them up. He doesnt want me to stand of new knee to dig with the shovel. So I shall content myself with getting the pots ready.

 

[Bruce]

Nice to see you @secuono, you've been pretty quiet lately

 

[farmerjan]

Just going to be short. Been reading and commenting on other posts and realized it is getting late.

CHILLY 32 this morning; got up to 53 but it was quite "breezy"... so stayed cold all day.
Went to the farm to test... Set up and all, testing went good. Then there were 2 cows not accounted for and I had to call owner at house and he came by to get the phone from the hot spot because I forgot to take my computer to do the jump drive exchange... but anyway, seems he dried one off and forgot to write it down and the other he thinks died but not sure so she got an "estimate" code and he is going to check and see if she is there and somehow did not come through the parlor....
Got meters and hoses out and got home around 7:30... Went out and of course no one was in the crate tonight... sitting on the straw bales so had to carry them and put them in... no sign of the buff hen of course.
PT in the morning... then I will do a few things here and then have to go test again. Have to pack the 194 samples from this evening too.

DS called and asked if I was home and could I pick him up and take him back to his truck as he had to go get the other tractor to bring up to plant the field across from me with wheat since the corn is done. Seems the big JD has metal filings showing up, in the transmission (?); he had this tractor worked on a year or 18 months ago... so something else... and he does not want to run it for obvious reasons...
Said it was a good thing I didn't go yesterday because prices were sky high even on the "singles" that sold. Which is what we normally buy. But he said cow calf prices were low and that they sold several pairs for 1100... new baby calves, with them.. which is pretty cheap. And there were some old bred cows that didn't bring 750... probably good I didn't go after all since I would have been very inclined to want to buy a few of them...
Anyway, I got alot done here so it all worked out by getting "uninvited"....I think he felt a little bad too, just by his actions.

But,..... of course he mowed hay today and wants me to rake on Thursday... and then he told Fred that we would get his calves in on Thursday aft.... so they will go to the barn at dougs's, and get sold on Friday.... and I told him that I was scheduled every day this week. I will see if I can rearrange my Thursday farm... they test every 3-4 months and maybe I can reschedule them for the following week.... he said if I couldn't then he understood... he meant to tell me yesterday about getting Fred's cows in, but forgot.....It isn't a huge deal to change this farm, if I can... I am not going to rearrange the friday farm as it is hard to get him pinned down sometimes....

This hay will be the rest of what was left down at dennis' place... where I was, before we got that rain last week... He said that there is more in the big field than he thought... it might make 500 sq bales... which is alot... So it will be the top field that he had only mowed 1 round around when we were in the silage making... then the small field across the creek, and the big orchard grass field that he is going to mostly sq bale... he has 3 wagons empty and that will be at least 3-350 bales, then will probably roll what's left. That field is down on the flat, the top field only gets rolled since it is a real rough climb up and down and no place to take wagons....bad enough to bring hay down with the truck... I will not do it.... He did say that the upper "top" field is pretty green and it does not get alot of sun so might need to be tedded out...

Always something to keep life from getting boring.....

 

[Mini Horses]

Maybe a few days of your being busy on your own jobs and life will help him realize he needs to ask you sooner. Make him remember you are a person and not his second right arm. Three jobs to juggle....VDOT, farm, GF.

You'd think the farmer would remember a dead cow.. I can see the dry off one. Don't they dry all off at sometimes to calf? That's got to be a LOT of record keeping with a couple hundred head. Geesh. Beef cattle, you wait, they calve, you have groups. Dairy milking daily....how's that worked? Not like a dairy cow or two at a private farm.

You have mentioned a small dairy share op at your home -- as I have with my goats. As we know, buyers never consider, you have to have regular customers or you have to dump the perishable product. This isn't Walmart! packaging is a whole nuther consideration, expensive, too. Yep, I had a few people this summer....a schedule nightmare as to volume and buy coordination, containers, etc. You can't just turn a faucet to start and stop. Not like those dairies where they fill a tank that's trucked out.

 

[Baymule]

@Mini Horses can you put the milk in zip lock bags, flat, and freeze it? Could the milk be sold like that for when the does are dry? Maybe test it by giving customers a frozen bag to try. Smart customers would probably go for that idea.

Milk jars, 1/2 gallon Ball jars with a hefty deposit? Or quart jars? They bring back their jar each time. If they show up with no jar, they pay deposit on another one. They bring back 2 jars and only want one filled, they get deposit back on one jar.

 

[farmerjan]

Wed morning... yep, he should've asked sooner. But things have changed already today...
BAD.... DS hit a mule (4 legged equine type) on the road on way to work this morning... BAD... seems these people have had animals out all summer, roaming the roads, numerous complaints... all that crap... Tea TOTALED the truck this time... up over the hood, smooshed, windshield shattered and glass everywhere even with it spidering, back glass broken, cab on pass side really bad crinkled.... DS wound up in emergency room... but CT scan shows no fractures/broken bones or spine damage..... badly bruised up and glass in eyes to they had to get it out. Killed the mule and there is fat/guts all over the front of the truck.... it is a mess... looks like the ones that you see that hit a bear or something like that....
He just got the NEW radiator in it maybe 2 weeks ago so he could drive it back and forth from her house to work or the farm, to save gas. It was one of the small GMC little pickups... like the small rangers or older small toyota pickups.

So, I took tomorrow off because now he is going to be hard pressed to do this... he is going to ask another guy to help that has helped in the past.... and I may be doing the hauling with the trailer... the farm was fine with it and I appreciate them for it. I will be able to go rake the hay earlier in mid-day... or tedd it or whatever....then go help with the cattle penning, moving later.... They said next week would suit just as well... so Tuesday is the plan. I am not going to cancel Friday... I will be able to haul cattle to town in the morning if need be...then go test. Don't know how this is going to work with him planning to make all these square bales... guess he will just have to see how he feels in a couple of days.... he is going to be sore. Don't think he ran off the road or anything.... just walloped the stupid animal. The people are going to have to do something now... the liability they face is going to be a real mess. Luckily this truck is covered under the farm and it actually has a license on it, not just farm use....

So, He asked if I could go do the chickens for him, before I go to work. Which I will leave to go do them here shortly.

There were 4 dead skunks on the road in less than a 5 mile stretch this morning too. And 2 dead deer and an opossum..... Talk about road kill alley....

Farmers do remember things like dead cows, but they don't always remember numbers.... Plus, there are over 500 with both his and his father's farm... the dry cows are run together... and then someone is always bringing cows back and forth to the dry cows... and the sale barn once a week..... they raise the heifers together... one farm has one color tags, the other farm has a different color, but there are 3 adult sons working there, and at least 3 other full time guys... there are 2 poultry houses... and it seems that people get switched around alot for jobs... according to what needs doing....
When we have a cow that turns up dead, it takes forever for DS to tell me who and GF doesn't think to look at the number in the ear half the time... or won't try to pull the head up to see if there is a number in the ear, on the side against the ground....so I get it... but dairy farmers are supposed to be able to keep up better with the records right there, and seeing the cows every day. But they also switch out milking and so who knows who is milking what shift/day....
Some are better about it than others... and some help is better than others.

So, I am going to change out of the good jeans, get work clothes on and go feed chickens and head to get the extra samples from the one farm I get my milk from; and head to the dairy to go test. Have to change the meter brackets for today's farm... would have been kept the same for tomorrow.. change back for Friday's farm...
Sun is peaking out a little. Wind is still cold.

Let's hope the rest of the day is uneventful.....

 

[frustratedearthmother]

So glad your son is ok!

 

[SageHill]

OMG !!!! I'm glad your son is ok. Geeze a mule out on the road - really people fix the problem don't let them run loose. Good luck with all you've got to do.

 

[Ridgetop]

I'm glad he wasn't killed by the mule sliding over the hood - hope your son's eyes will be ok! Praying for you both.

Good that the truck is covered by insurance but aren't the mule owners liable a well? He has a claim for his injuries, pain, suffering, and time off work. It is not "open range" so they should be liable. Will their homeowners or farm insurance cover it? He has had more than his share of bad accidents.

Can GF do anything to help you with the hay? Seems like she should be able to do something to help.

 

[Baymule]

That was a close one. The truck is totaled, it can be replaced. Your son is very fortunate that he wasn't hurt. And these people have livestock out all the time? Sue the heck out of them.