Ridgetop
Herd Master
BRRRR! Maybe I need to start planning now for a retreat to warmer climates in winter when I move to Texas!
Farmerjan's journal - Weather
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BRRRR! Maybe I need to start planning now for a retreat to warmer climates in winter when I move to Texas!
Mini Horses
Herd Master
What? Can't you suffer through 7 days of winter ??? 
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farmerjan
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Sunday morning. Woke up to wet.... rain mostly but some ice on car and on bushes. Not very nice out and going to get a little worse later as "they" say it will change over to some snow late this afternoon. BUT.... ready for this.... we are supposed to be low 30's all day... and back up to 50's tomorrow with sun and mid 60's by Wed-Thurs..... totally nutty weather.
Lost the baby calf. Not really surprised since it wasn't very aggressive for eating... had to literally put the nipple in it's mouth then it would mostly suck. Only took a 1/2 bottle Sat morning, was weak and I didn't have alot of hope; and I stopped at the barn on the way home with a warm bottle and it had passed during the day.
Friday was okay, did the farm an hour+ south of here.... they are slow and alot of wasted time getting cows in and such.... Farm finally texted me that I had sent a text to Jan 24th... Thursday morning... wanted to know if I wanted to do Sat....gee whiz.... give me a little notice.... Since they are hard to pin down, I said okay... not like we were doing anything with the cows....
Long day Sat... 5 hours in the milking parlor... 240 cows... only a double 6 so cows were constantly coming and going. Not boring, just a long day in there. This farm is looking at options to either build new or somehow extend the parlor to add more milking machines so that they can milk more at a time and hopefully cut time down. Plus the parlor is getting some age and it is needing some work... Robots are 250,000 EACH and they handle 60 cows so they would need a minimum of 4.... That does NOT include any of the barn building etc... that is just the robot for milking... They are having trouble finding help also, one guy gave his notice and they have a new one starting.... don't know how that is going to work out.
Remember a couple posts back; or maybe it was in another thread; but anyway, milk prices are reported to going to drop???? Well, the Friday farmer told me they got a notice from the milk co. they sell to that the blend price would be in the neighborhood of $17.00 a cwt ... $17 per 100 lbs of milk ( 12 gal more or less)... It is $23-24 right now... so a $6-7.00 DROP in prices ???? TOTALLY insane..... I loved milking cows... but why in he//'s half acre would anyone want to keep doing it for pauper's wages..... you might see milk go down in the store, but you won't see much decline in butter prices or things like cream cheese, sour cream, cream in the dairy case etc.... totally a rip off of the farmer because they get paid on butterfat, but then the processing plants will skim off the excess butterfat from the milk standard of 3.25% for whole milk... and it will get funneled into the higher priced items like butter, cream, ice cream etc.... and they don't pay the farmer anymore after that... just on the fluid milk prices. That $17 was what they were getting BEFORE the whole BS pandemic and all that.....
This will put more small farmers out... because the cull cow prices are still in the $.80 - 1.00 lb.... farmers will be stupid to not sell out if they were considering it in the near future... get your money and get out....
DS had to work last night and has to go back in at 8.... he was going to get some sleep. I am going to do a sink full of dishes, wash my hair and some household stuff I have been putting off with the nicer weather out.
Lost the baby calf. Not really surprised since it wasn't very aggressive for eating... had to literally put the nipple in it's mouth then it would mostly suck. Only took a 1/2 bottle Sat morning, was weak and I didn't have alot of hope; and I stopped at the barn on the way home with a warm bottle and it had passed during the day.
Friday was okay, did the farm an hour+ south of here.... they are slow and alot of wasted time getting cows in and such.... Farm finally texted me that I had sent a text to Jan 24th... Thursday morning... wanted to know if I wanted to do Sat....gee whiz.... give me a little notice.... Since they are hard to pin down, I said okay... not like we were doing anything with the cows....
Long day Sat... 5 hours in the milking parlor... 240 cows... only a double 6 so cows were constantly coming and going. Not boring, just a long day in there. This farm is looking at options to either build new or somehow extend the parlor to add more milking machines so that they can milk more at a time and hopefully cut time down. Plus the parlor is getting some age and it is needing some work... Robots are 250,000 EACH and they handle 60 cows so they would need a minimum of 4.... That does NOT include any of the barn building etc... that is just the robot for milking... They are having trouble finding help also, one guy gave his notice and they have a new one starting.... don't know how that is going to work out.
Remember a couple posts back; or maybe it was in another thread; but anyway, milk prices are reported to going to drop???? Well, the Friday farmer told me they got a notice from the milk co. they sell to that the blend price would be in the neighborhood of $17.00 a cwt ... $17 per 100 lbs of milk ( 12 gal more or less)... It is $23-24 right now... so a $6-7.00 DROP in prices ???? TOTALLY insane..... I loved milking cows... but why in he//'s half acre would anyone want to keep doing it for pauper's wages..... you might see milk go down in the store, but you won't see much decline in butter prices or things like cream cheese, sour cream, cream in the dairy case etc.... totally a rip off of the farmer because they get paid on butterfat, but then the processing plants will skim off the excess butterfat from the milk standard of 3.25% for whole milk... and it will get funneled into the higher priced items like butter, cream, ice cream etc.... and they don't pay the farmer anymore after that... just on the fluid milk prices. That $17 was what they were getting BEFORE the whole BS pandemic and all that.....
This will put more small farmers out... because the cull cow prices are still in the $.80 - 1.00 lb.... farmers will be stupid to not sell out if they were considering it in the near future... get your money and get out....
DS had to work last night and has to go back in at 8.... he was going to get some sleep. I am going to do a sink full of dishes, wash my hair and some household stuff I have been putting off with the nicer weather out.
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Mini Horses
Herd Master
It IS insane to think a dairy can support itself on that amount that they are forced to sell for. 
. I saw a Utube on a dairy in Canada where the farmer shows milk dumping because buying co didn't want the "extra production" the cows were making. He couldn't sell to another, due to contracts, and contractors wouldn't buy it. 
. Packaged by Fairlife milk by the way.
He suggests they buy & donate to food banks, etc., Rather than waste it. Also, since it limits his income...issues with continual dairy farming. Sad and true! Good watch.
Raw sales are limited. Processing is expensive but, then distribution and sales are not happening with big name competition. Big farms need to find custom processors for sales....ice cream, cheese, etc. Just not happening with equipment, regs, etc. I realize there "can be" health issues with raw but, people still alive who've used it for most of their life.
No real good answer beyond pay them more! Yes, pay more at the store to buy. No worse than $1.50# for squash, or per bell pepper. Shaking my head in annoyance and disgust.
. I saw a Utube on a dairy in Canada where the farmer shows milk dumping because buying co didn't want the "extra production" the cows were making. He couldn't sell to another, due to contracts, and contractors wouldn't buy it. . Packaged by Fairlife milk by the way.He suggests they buy & donate to food banks, etc., Rather than waste it. Also, since it limits his income...issues with continual dairy farming. Sad and true! Good watch.
Raw sales are limited. Processing is expensive but, then distribution and sales are not happening with big name competition. Big farms need to find custom processors for sales....ice cream, cheese, etc. Just not happening with equipment, regs, etc. I realize there "can be" health issues with raw but, people still alive who've used it for most of their life.
No real good answer beyond pay them more! Yes, pay more at the store to buy. No worse than $1.50# for squash, or per bell pepper. Shaking my head in annoyance and disgust.
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farmerjan
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It's 32, raining/sleeting and trees and all are coated with ice. It has gotten real icy in the last 2 hours. Need some lunch....
Mini Horses
Herd Master
I'm 4 hrs away but, light rain, windy with feel like 41. Back to 60-70 rest of week. CRAZY weather. 
Ridgetop
Herd Master
I'm a southern California gal, born and bred - what do you think?!What? Can't you suffer through 7 days of winter ???
Down to 50 degrees with a chilly breeze - went outside to check tag numbers on sheep in barn and came right back inside and turned up heat. 
Of course, with our gas bill going from $140 at the highest in abut 5 years, to $490 last month, we have been keeping the thermostat at 65-68 degrees inside.
Ridgetop
Herd Master
Small farmers and ranchers are being put out of business all over the country. Some new types of business making a go of it but mostly it is either giant farms/ranches or the little ones that have alternate income and are mainly doing it for love. It is a disgrace that all these illegals are being housed and fed on our $$ while our own working people are being stretched to the limit until they break.
Sorry about the loss of another calf. Sucks.
Mini Horses
Herd Master
Agree, Ridgetop....and, yes, shameful. 
The population needing to be fed is massive. The average small farmer could not keep up in today's lifestyles. We have left the times of "local feeding" and small farms. Most difficult for those of us who lived it. Younger don't know or care. Olders (than those of us in our prime
) can't even remember it.
The population needing to be fed is massive. The average small farmer could not keep up in today's lifestyles. We have left the times of "local feeding" and small farms. Most difficult for those of us who lived it. Younger don't know or care. Olders (than those of us in our prime
) can't even remember it.- Thread starter
- #5,670
farmerjan
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ICE and more ICE. It is now 38 but was in the 30-34 range all day yesterday and the rain just froze on the trees. There is a coating 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. My grey birches are bent over onto the deck from 20-30 feet away. Most are not broken but just doubled over. Really bad. We were lucky and the power only flickered 4-5 times but never went out.
It will be a muddy crappy mess for the vet today... but we have got to get these cows out of the barn and front lot...
The weather is supposed to clear off and sun later... maybe near 50... but that will make it an even muddier mess... I did not have the rain gauge out so don't know how much but we got alot of rain; that froze here along the higher elevation of the county.
Talked to the vet to find out his timing and all, with the weather, and he was just getting to his first farm down by us that we try to coordinate trips with.... he also has some work to do at the dairy that sold out last year just south of me that I used to test.... and he said he just had some dehorning to do there, maybe an hour's worth, so I told him to do them then come to us as DS was afraid we were going to be pushed to get the cows fed and in....so he is going to be a little later, putting us off a little bit which works for us getting them in and feeding done before it melts too much. Was supposed to be here around 11:30, so will be here around 12:30 or 1 instead.
DS just got back from the dr appt in blacksburg; an hour+ away. He took the explorer as he couldn't get down deb's driveway last night due to the trees laid over; his other truck is there in the covered arena since she doesn't have any horses there or anything. He said he even was going to go through the one field to go around the driveway but couldn't get out the gate at the end of the field to get to her barn area. I told him to just take the explorer; he could have taken the outback but the explorer is more comfortable for him to drive.
I texted her as she was planning to come out tonight, and told her I didn't know what was just bent over from the ice or broken, it was dark when DS tried to go down there and the driveway was not passable; but she might want to make the trip out in the daylight. She had to be up there for work today, and then was coming out to work remote for the rest of the week.... but coming out in the dark is not a good idea until I can tell her what is bent and what is broken at her place....
DS had to work both Sat and Sun night...they had a bunch of trees down last night, and several across the roads that they had to use the loader to move.... busy night. He is tired and we are supposed to have the meeting this evening. If it continues to warm up some and the ice melts then there shouldn't be a problem... hope he doesn't have to go back in tonight... he won't get any sleep today with feeding and the vet... he didn't feed much yesterday as he fed up on Sat, knowing the rain was coming... but will need to feed today.
Samples packed from the farms I tested fri and sat.... will drop them off when I go to the farm. DS said he would call me when he needs me to come since he is going to feed and get them in the barn.... then we will sort and all that.
It will be a muddy crappy mess for the vet today... but we have got to get these cows out of the barn and front lot...
The weather is supposed to clear off and sun later... maybe near 50... but that will make it an even muddier mess... I did not have the rain gauge out so don't know how much but we got alot of rain; that froze here along the higher elevation of the county.
Talked to the vet to find out his timing and all, with the weather, and he was just getting to his first farm down by us that we try to coordinate trips with.... he also has some work to do at the dairy that sold out last year just south of me that I used to test.... and he said he just had some dehorning to do there, maybe an hour's worth, so I told him to do them then come to us as DS was afraid we were going to be pushed to get the cows fed and in....so he is going to be a little later, putting us off a little bit which works for us getting them in and feeding done before it melts too much. Was supposed to be here around 11:30, so will be here around 12:30 or 1 instead.
DS just got back from the dr appt in blacksburg; an hour+ away. He took the explorer as he couldn't get down deb's driveway last night due to the trees laid over; his other truck is there in the covered arena since she doesn't have any horses there or anything. He said he even was going to go through the one field to go around the driveway but couldn't get out the gate at the end of the field to get to her barn area. I told him to just take the explorer; he could have taken the outback but the explorer is more comfortable for him to drive.
I texted her as she was planning to come out tonight, and told her I didn't know what was just bent over from the ice or broken, it was dark when DS tried to go down there and the driveway was not passable; but she might want to make the trip out in the daylight. She had to be up there for work today, and then was coming out to work remote for the rest of the week.... but coming out in the dark is not a good idea until I can tell her what is bent and what is broken at her place....
DS had to work both Sat and Sun night...they had a bunch of trees down last night, and several across the roads that they had to use the loader to move.... busy night. He is tired and we are supposed to have the meeting this evening. If it continues to warm up some and the ice melts then there shouldn't be a problem... hope he doesn't have to go back in tonight... he won't get any sleep today with feeding and the vet... he didn't feed much yesterday as he fed up on Sat, knowing the rain was coming... but will need to feed today.
Samples packed from the farms I tested fri and sat.... will drop them off when I go to the farm. DS said he would call me when he needs me to come since he is going to feed and get them in the barn.... then we will sort and all that.
