Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[farmerjan]

It wasn't soo terribly many years ago that getting $.50 a lb for holsteins was the going rate... you could count on it and if you got $.75...... that was high cotton.... and it paid to raise holstein bull calves on bottles and sell as steers at 400 lbs as feeders.... Milk replacer was $25 a bag and the very best top shelf was $30 a 50 lb bag.... Feed was $8-10 a 100 lb bag... and I was young and strong enough to sling them around on Saturdays when I worked part time at the feed store to help pay for my grain for my animals...

Tuesday morning.. going to be hazy with alot of high clouds today... was 68 overnight so didn't cool off as much but still decent. Supposed to hit around 90 again today... have a heat warning for Friday with it upper 90's maybe even a few 100's ....
Yeah yeah, I know it is nothing like the poor suffering Texans...like @Baymule and I really do feel for them.... because I COULD NOT DO THAT DAY AFTER DAY....
Think of what it was like 100 years ago with no air conditioning...

Going to take the tractor and rake down to the farm in a bit and do the little bit of flipping a few rows, of the still green sorghum, over so it can dry in the heat...Sun is trying to come out over the hill ....

I want to go look at that mattress that @Ridgetop was telling me about ; they have it in stock at the Lowes 20 miles north east of here... my back, and especially my shoulder is not liking me in the mornings... need to try something different and this won't break the bank....at least not this month... although all the vehicle work will come back to bite me with next month's cc bills....but I should be able to pretty much pay them off as they come in I hope... bought me some time by using the cc and got all the work done... that I wasn't expecting..
I will say that the outback rides nicer with the new brakes/calipers etc on the front... and all the new stuff on the back a couple months ago...And I should be good to go into the winter now with most everything... the little ranger is going to need 2 new rougher tread tires on the back... I knew they would need replacing for the winter... but I think I have a pair I had taken off last year... have to look... Outback and forester both have good tires... explorer's tires are like new...

I am going to leave early enough for the chiropractor appt to stop at the place the guy at my mechanic shop told me to go and talk about the possibility of selling the Explorer.... then I could get my father's other pickup on the road with the few little things it needs and still have a little money left from buying it from DS. It has been sitting here since I drove it home from NH with all that stuff over a year ago... needs the hood latch.. and new batteries. Nice truck with the extra back seat... not a full crew cab... but still extra seating... more "usable " for me... than the explorer... and older so less insurance...
Which reminds me, that is due by the end of Sept.... I pay yearly... so a big chunk all at once... ouch....

Well, time to get things going... I was SOOO tired last night from the heat and work on the tractor... crashed when I got my shower and hit the bed... but shoulder is aching again this morning...

 

[Baymule]

Jan, could y’all make meat boxes of maybe 20-30 pounds? Charge a little more per pound, but that would lower the overall price. If not a USDA inspected facility, just spread it by word of mouth. Your 1/2 beef customers might buy, in lesser amounts.

 

[Baymule]

You could make boxes with the best cuts, with hamburger and a couple of roasts thrown in, charge more for those. Don’t let people pick and choose. Make a box, price it.

 

[SageHill]

You could make boxes with the best cuts, with hamburger and a couple of roasts thrown in, charge more for those. Don’t let people pick and choose. Make a box, price it.

That's exactly what a winery nearby does. Well - it's a huge property actually - 36 square miles (yes miles). They do beef as well - organic - and sell boxes premade no picking and choosing. That's where we get our beef. Local.

 

[SageHill]

Think of what it was like 100 years ago with no air conditioning...

Ah heck less than 100 years ago. When I was kid. Like 60 or so years - OMG that's not that far from 100

 

[Baymule]

Ah heck less than 100 years ago. When I was kid. Like 60 or so years - OMG that's not that far from 100

I didn’t have air conditioning in school until my senior year. We had a window unit in my parents room. I was in junior high when we got a big unit in the living room.

Schools used to have windows because there was no AC.

 

[SageHill]

I didn’t have air conditioning in school until my senior year. We had a window unit in my parents room. I was in junior high when we got a big unit in the living room.

Schools used to have windows because there was no AC.

Yup - my old grade school didn't have ac - it was a very old building even back then. Of course the church had to tear it down a few years ago . Two stories of classrooms with a cloakroom between every two classrooms.

 

[farmerjan]

Wed morning. Been another long day yesterday.
Went with the tractor down the road to doug's farm to clean up a couple places in the one field, and flip over some of the rest of the other rows.
NOT..... got all the way out back to the field across the creek... and made one pass to combine 2 smaller rows and roll out into the field more for the sun... and had a flat tire on the rake. A front flat tire of course. There are 2 front tires that support the frame... one on each side where the rake will open up into a wider V and that has the wheels that go along and rake the hay. There are 2 wheels on each side in the back of the rake. You can and we have had one go flat and been able to finish up and then replace/patch or whatever... one tire on the side in the back.
Not my luck. I am at least a 1/2 mile from the barn... and at least 1/4 mile from where the car is sitting where I originally left it when I got the tractor and rake a couple days ago. It is 90+ and more humid and I knew that walking even to the car was going to be not fun.
Tried to call Jim several times, as he is usually around the barn or doing something but no answer... wanted him to bring the air tank and see if it would just blow back up. Sometimes if you hit the valve stem or something you can lose air,,,, maybe it had a slow leak and we just didn't see it. No answer and couldn't leave a message. No response to texts.
So after giving it about 45 minutes, I just pulled the rake down on a flat spot in the field, jacked it up and unhooked it from the tractor and drove that back to the car and parked it where it had been sitting with the rake the other day. By this time it was close to noontime... and I had to come back and get a shower as I was all sweaty from the heat and the aggravation... and left to go to the chiropractor.

Thought my appt was at 2 but it was at 3:15...checked my calendar.... so I got cleaned up, took the explorer and left and stopped by the car dealer that the guys at my mechanic shop told me about... talked to the guy, he took it for a ride... said there was a hum in the rear end that could be a bearing... but that the car was in very good shape inside etc... he would want his mechanic there to go over it and some other stuff... he could put in on the lot on consignment, or could buy it outright... gave me some very "round figures" until he had it gone over... and it was encouraging enough. He moves alot of vehicles... and I honestly will not get much more than what I paid the estate for it.... but I think I am going to get with him to have his mechanic go over it and see some definite figures. I just am not in love with it and no sense in keeping it although it has been nice to have a "nice car" to drive on occasion... the other truck sitting here would be just as nice and it is much more comfortable to drive.
One good thing... when he checked the title against DMV, it does show the mileage on the title having been corrected so all that aggravation did pay off for that.
We'll see... because now there is another slight problem... but not for me so to speak. The AC is not working again... yep, new compressor and all that... It was a hot ride down but at least the windows open...
Went to the chiropractor, that went good, shoulder felt a little better...
Came home and stopped by the mechanics shop and he said to leave it for the beginning of next week and he will see what the problem is... and he said that it would be on them... but .... the inconvenience.... I did mention the "hum" and what they said at the other place, and he said he could take a look and at least tell me what I might be looking at.

So I got home and had to run down to the co-op as DS had called them to leave out another bale of twine as he was running short... he was baling the field across from my house and said that it was making alot more than he thought... I kept telling him it was really thick when I raked it...
Seems like it is about 11 + acres, not the 10 I thought... but it made a total of 62 rolls of the sorghum-sudan hay... that's 5 1/2 rolls to the acre... which is about 55000 lbs to the acre or 2 1/2 tons per acre or more.... HOLY COW.... and that is with the early growth deer damage...
Added to what he made at doug's in the 3 sections... and the tonnage was good there also... the one small 4 acre field made about 20-25, he couldn't remember... but the 6 acre field made nearly 42 and the 14 acre piece made over 80... and it is the lightest yield on the upper part of the field as there is ledge and rock and the ground is not as fertile...
And there will be a 2nd cutting as it will start to regrow once we get a little rain on it. The 2nd cutting will be about half usually... but just WOW.. for the first cutting...
So, it is all rolled/baled... done. Got to get them all moved off the field... will start as soon as I can get the truck as Jim has been driving it... there is another truck that they are fixing so that the red/white bale truck can be used back on the farm again for the stuff there and not be driven all over the place... If I want to move bales I have to make sure he is not driving it somewhere... it is getting old... he hit a deer with his car and has to get some replacement parts to fix it so has been driving the bale truck and it is getting old.

So, on to the next thing... Got the meters and hoses all in the car last evening and the brackets changed for the farm I am going to this afternoon. Got to get the bottles in the trays. I want to leave early enough to go by the Lowe's that has those mattresses that @Ridgetop talked about... if nothing else, I can pay for it and then go back with the ranger... don't know how big a box it is in.

So, time to get things in gear around here...

It was a NICE 59 last night.. already up to 75. Today is supposed to be a little nicer but then temps really climbing for the end of the week...

 

[Baymule]

That’s a lot of hay! Maybe y’all can put some back “in stock” for lean times like you did have. Enough to feed your cattle and some to sell. Awesome!

 

[farmerjan]

Wed night. Going to be short, get a shower and head to bed as DS wanted me to go with him tomorrow to the dr appt... he is supposed to get the shots and he gets headaches from them...and of course, he is not at his house... she came home, monday, and he has stayed down there the last couple nights to "help her"... so instead of him coming by my house on the way, I am going to drive 20 min south to Lexington Va to meet him..... almost said I wasn't going to go... Just shut my mouth.....I wanted to go to Rural King to do some looking...

Got the bottles in the trays, and decided I didn't have enough time to go to the Lowes on the way to testing. So, went to town and went by Walmart, to see about my glasses...been going to go there for 2 weeks... They are very scratched... and have like a blurry cloud/film and you cannot get them clear. I got the ins when I got them and they are still covered, so they ordered a replacement pair. I think that the day the diesel fuel was spitting out of the fuel pump from the gasket, and spraying all over things in that fine mist... actually affected the anti-glare coating on them. I noticed the hazy blur right after that when I cleaned them.. And I know that they are scratched... BUT... I do try to clean them with the special cloth most of the time so they don't get scratched... Still, out on the tractor and such, they do get cleaned with the shirt tail... but I try to always use the "underside" so it is not as exposed to the dirt on the surface on the outside... doesn't matter the what or the why.... they are covered and I am getting a new pair of lenses.. the frames are good and I like them. I may see about getting another pair once I get all these tires/brakes/ac compressors.... etc and so on, paid off in a couple months... my budget has been severely strained with all this BS vehicle stuff... and insurance due next month....
Another reason to sell the explorer...

Ate a small rib eye steak I took out of the freezer during clean out/defrost.... and boiled some fingerling potatoes and mashed with some butter, skins and all.

DS said there are 200+ a few rolls of the sorghum-sudan grass/hay...

Got to get bottles in a tray for tomorrow... 75 cows or so... so they are ready. Got to put the long hoses in the car, there are more than enough meters in there.... and get the herd downloaded into my computer as they are only 1 of 3 herds that I have to take my computer to anymore... I will do the update in a few minutes and get the bottles done then go to bed.

Only hit 85 today... supposed to hit close to 100 on Friday... some stray showers coming through but real hit and miss out of some stuff coming down from PA and WV... think it will stay west and south... hope it comes through here though.