Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[Baymule]

How are your Hereford/Holstein heifers doing? I remember you got quite a good deal on those. Do you plan on keeping them to build up “your” herd for replacing the ones that you have sold?

Your son is having to deal with so much right now. Good thing he has you!

 

[farmerjan]

Friday, early evening.. Been a long day.

DS texted... he was going to see PCP because of the heart pounding, and all that... he actually went in yesterday... they were a little concerned when the other dr said he needed to be seen by his PCP due to the chest pains, etc... The PCP was actually worried he may have had a slight heart attack....They did an EKG yesterday eve... wanted him back this morning if he didn't feel worse... They didn't like the EKG this morning... said it wasn't disastrous... but wanted him to go to the emergency room because they were concerned...said that was the best place to have that sort of thing checked out.... the one girl at the PCP asked if he felt good enough to drive or did he want them to call the ambulance... he said he drove there, was no different than last night, and he would drive.... he called me and I said I would come drive him, but he said that he felt okay enough... and that he needed me to go to the barn to do stuff with getting the calves in etc... he would call me to tell me when he got there...
He got there, called me, and the PCP had called ahead so they were expecting him and they called his PCP back to let them know he was there, no problems...

EKG was not bad they said, took a bunch of blood... made him stay there for several hours... blood pressure was better after a bit... so far they can see no heart attack, but it is most likely anxiety and the different meds the psych dr had switched him to.... reactions??? and they were not as strong as some of what he had been on... but who knows...
I went to the barn..... DS called me and said someone said there was a cow out... well it was one of the 12... got out along barn and a brush pile... got her back in .... Then got the 12 hereford x heifers out of the lot... let them eat out along the front of the lot and driveway there for about an hour... I closed gates and parked the truck to block them... let them eat some of it since it was pretty scraggly and grown up.
He had said GF was coming to help at the barn when he called me early, and in the meantime he had called her after he was going to emergency room... so she came about 11:30...... we got the 12 in the lane and into the barn lot.. DS had planned to move them today since there is no grass in their lot with it being sooo dry here...
We got them in and up the alley to load on the trailer, then got the whole group of weaned calves in, from the 2 barn lots there below the barn... that came home from the pastures, and have been at the barn.... Of course, everyone came in except the couple of total idiot ones... So, she went and got the 4 wheeler... we moved everyone in the barn to one side, opened the gates up again... one holstein steer had followed them, but he came back up and we got him in, then she went down in the field and I walked out partway to help "guide them"/ angle them away from the middle of the field and along the fence... but they insisted in running around and up and down... finally got one to follow along the fence and then she had to go down after the other one... and that stupid heifer kept turning and trying to charge the 4 wheeler... then it came up and acted like it might challenge me... but I had the cattle stick and held it like a baseball bat in case she did try to charge me.... she would have gotten it right across her face/head... She was getting tired though, and GF did not let up but kept making her trot. so she finally turned and come up along the fence and we got her in... STUPID ..... she was on the sell list anyway... for her "lack of cooperation" ever since she has been there.... High headed, wanting to run right back out and away from everyone... always takes other ones with her.... follow the leader stuff... DO NOT need that sort of leader that is for sure.

DS texted he was on his way back, and he went back to the PCP to let them know what had been done... and they set up another appt for him... then he came to the barn...

GF and I had been sorting the calves... he had talked about taking some of the steers to the sale today... but there were only 7, and only 2 or 3 matched, and so that was not going to happen because it was too late to go anyway. Plus they are not near as good as the ones we sold 2 months ago.. and this local sale really knocks the prices on the "less than perfect ones"....
So those 7 beef steers, plus the 2 holstein steers will be going tomorrow.

Then we sorted through the heifers... There were some that had been weaned earlier, when we moved pregnant cows back out to pasture in June... and then the ones on the last 2 bunches of cows that he brought home in the last 2 weeks....... About 25 total.... m/l.... we wound up deciding to keep 14, and they got loaded on the trailer to go to the pasture where we cut the hay off part of it... and where he moved the 18 recently bred ones from the nurse cow pasture... the 14 went in one field, the 18 are in a different field... there are 3 fields there... and there are 11 that are going to the sale tomorrow. One of the older weaned ones; she is a little high headed, out of a cow family he has some attachment to.... but she sealed her fate when she decided to go over the gate in the barn while he was sorting them... ... then 10 of the younger/smaller ones, including the 2 "stupid ones"..... GF is with me that the older one should go... and we were very glad to sort the other stupid ones into the sell group.

So, they are in the barn lot with water, and a partial roll of hay..... so we do not have to chase anyone in to load in the morning... He just texted and we will probably leave about 10:30 or so... it's an hour or so, north... sheep and goats start at 1 pm... cattle after 2:30. This will give us time to unload, not rush, and eat some lunch there... then stay for the sale. Don't know how big a sale they will have since there has been more rain up that way, so no one is selling early due to dry pastures.... the fall "run" will start mid Sept to the end of Oct....for most farmers. We will not bring our cattle home from pasture until close to or even after hunting season...
2 holstein steers and 1 heifer are mine... we had 2 more heifers in the group, but DS didnn't think they would all fit, so we took off one of his and my only other one... I only had 2 in this bunch. There are 10 older heifers at a neighbors pasture and I think I have 2 in that group of 10... Neither of these 2 heifers of mine were outstanding... the one is out of a favorite cow, so she got a reprieve... not saying she won't get culled down the road...

The sky has gotten very dark several times today, but nothing... keep hoping that it will just dump a downpour on us...

Heard that the rain we ran into on Wed coming home from the dr appts... in the Roanoke area that we come through (about 50-60 miles south of here); that they got 4 INCHES in less than 2 hours after we came up through there on the way home...flooding and a mess there..... and not a drop up here...Sure would have liked some of that...

I hung a load of barn clothes/ jeans etc out yesterday and was praying it would entice it to rain on them... but I just brought them in so I have some clean jeans to wear tomorrow...

Back is feeling it... can't seem to find a good position. Physical Therapy called to see about setting up a consultation and sessions... I will call them back Monday and see about something.
Doing some limited exercise with that chair yoga thing... but it gets to aching so.....got to move and do stuff...

I am going to quit soon, for the night. It is quite dark out there... clouds and all... but radar is showing nothing... I would love for them to be WRONG this time around. 50% chance of showers/rain on Sunday.

 

[Ridgetop]

Hope you don't have t have back surgery. What do the x-rays show?

 

[Finnie]

Jim that used to be here to work and lived at DS's.... had gotten it in to do some work on his spare time... never got finished, Jim left...

So Jim is gone, huh? I noticed you don’t mention him anymore.

 

[farmerjan]

Sunday morning... A little damp, had a shower earlier... haven't checked the rain gauge but it was not alot. It is cooler, cloudy... chances of possible showers, storms late this afternoon.. PRAYING we please get a good rain... we really need it here.

Yesterday went good. We left at about 11 by the time DS got back to the barn from taking a partial roll to the sheep... what the calves had not eaten the night before in the barn and lot... since there is not going to be anything in there for awhile, he took it out and to the sheep, then will scrape the barn out and let it set dry for a while...
There was a fairly long line there, we waited for about an hour in line.... but got unloaded and I moved the truck and trailer while he followed them through the scale etc. Weights were about what I expected... even a little better than DS was thinking...
One of the 2 crazy ones, we had to chase with the 4 wheeler... was the lightest... 350 lbs.... because she had had pinkeye several times and treated.. had a fairly big white spot... she got sold separate. 3.65/lb... over $1200 for a heifer I wouldn't have given you $300 for ..... sold 8 heifers together as a "one owner" group...the other crazy one that kept challenging the 4 wheeler went in this group.... they tend to sell decent because someone buying them can be assured they are not co-mingled with others so not as much chance to get sick/germs etc... If a farmer is looking for a smaller group, then these are what sometimes helps sell rather than buying 1 here, 2 there... etc. Anyway... They brought $4.00/lb..... weighed 440 or so average... over $1700/head...
INSANE money for heifers that were our bottom end.... One nice steer brought $419 and weighed 575 lbs... $2400 for a single feeder steer... had a group of 5 steers... the last of the ones that had been on the cows; weighed 465 or so...brought over $4.50/lb over $2100 a head.
Even the holstein steers weighed over 500 and brought $3.00 lb.... and we watched several jersey steers in the 4-600 lb bring 2.50/lb... UNHEARD OF....

Prices were crazy... but they were like that on everything... never seen this high of prices for any cattle in all my 50+ years doing this...

There was a big cow dispersal sale also...over 50 head..... Most brought in the 3,000-4,000 for bred cows ...most in the 6 month bred range... There were some cow calf pairs, they were in the 3600-4800 range....
One cow that was OLD, they announced it... and she had a nice calf with her, but walked a little slow... she brought 2100... that is the kind we used to buy for 7-800 2 years ago...

With the higher prices the commissions were higher too... cost over $60/hd to sell them averaged over the whole bunch... That's alot of money off the top... but the check was so much more than we have ever gotten on a per head... or a per pound price.....

I would take those 14 we put out and sell them too... There is nothing in that group that I am in love with, or that stand out especially in my mind...

The one gate jumping witch. that I was glad to see go, weighed over 750 lbs and brought over 3.00 lb. SOOO glad she is gone... but when you think about it... she didn't pay for the feed that got her to that weight in comparison to the smaller 400+ lb ones... a year older pretty much... $2300 compared to 1700 for the smaller ones, a year younger... We figure that it costs in the 8-900/PER YEAR to feed and keep an animal....so she made 600 more than the smaller ones and cost about 8-900 to feed her that extra year.

Watching the bred cows sell, I looked at DS and said do you realize that there is over 40,000 worth of heifers in the pasture calving now...???? And the 18 we just moved out that were with the bull to be bred for next spring... What they are worth.... between the 2 groups I would say conservatively there's between 85,000 and 100,000 worth of cattle right there... SCARY.....

I honestly would really sell the 14 smaller ones we moved out... we have 25 heifers born this spring to pick from... they would be better candidates to keep as potential replacements...we had bulls to heifers 2 to 1.... which will be GREAT to sell more steers ....
And maybe, by the late fall, after these have grazed the rest of the season, he will bring them back to the barn and see that they are not as nice as some of the ones born this spring.... There is no end in sight at this point for prices to drop for another year at least...

We also decided to sell 2 bulls.... the old one he talked to the guy about... he offered a little bit low ball price, but the bull would get a ride directly to a kill facility with no hauling in and out of the stockyard etc...and he is looking his age.... and another bull that is BIG... but he throws extremely small calves and he is the sire of many of these smaller calves we sold and the 14 we kept... he is a nice dispositioned bull, no problems, easy going, but his calves are 50-60 lb little ones,,, and they just take a long time to grow...
There is a 3rd bull that is getting some age and may sell him too...he is actually the 2nd oldest bull we have, but throws pretty nice calves...
DS said we need to buy at least 1 and maybe 2 new bulls this year and they will be ones that throw "plus weight" calves... not to use on heifers but for use on cows... we have 2 that we bought a couple years ago that throw nice calves on the heifers and have been using them... LIKE their calves ... not monsters that they have trouble with, but not real small calves... they are considered "calving ease bulls", but the calves are moderate sized... we actually need to have these mature cows having 80+ lb calves, not 65-70 lb calves. The heifers are dropping nice 70 lb calves out of the 2 bulls... have 2 crops out of the one bull, and the first ones being born from the other bull this year... plus he is the one we just bred the 18 beef heifers to... plus the 2 holstein heifers.... plus Betsy is due to this bull....

If we sell 3 bulls, we might have to put a couple thousand towards buying 2 new breeding bulls... figuring the old bull ought to bring in the neighborhood of 2000, the other 2 ought to bring 2500-3,000 ... So if we got back about 6-8000 it would not be unreasonable to spend 5,000 each on 2 new bulls... We normally spend about 3500-4000 on a bull... we buy decent ones but not the top of the line... and we do not chase "named bloodlines" or trends... but bull prices are up a bit, but not as high comparatively as the cows have gone...

So, he is doing some homework on upcoming bull sales this fall... we could get by if we sell 2 bulls, but leaves no "spares" in case someone gets hurt or something like that... so we need to at the very least, get one more bull.

Looked it up, the "old bull"... Black Powder, is pushing 14... we have had him 10 years (bought 2015) and he was a mature bull of at least 3 when we got him with a small herd dispersal of about 6 cows that we bought out of about 15-20 he had been with...... the other older bull we got in 2016 and he was 18 months... at a bull sale... so is 11+.... pushing his age limit although his breeding soundness exam was good this past spring... Most people don't keep bulls past 6-8 years at most... he also does not bother anyone or cause any problems... The only "problem child" we have is the one GF made the pet out of "Roscoe"... he has no respect for people... and is pushy in the bull lot and does not totally respect fences... The group of cows we used him on this past year are starting to calve now... we will see what he throws for calves...

So, that was our day... we didn't get home until after 10:30.... did not expect there would be that much stuff there...

Not doing alot today.... DS said that he may cut some sorghum-sudan grass; if we get the showers later, it will be tomorrow...after we get back from the dr appts.... getting back to some haying... but unless we get some serious rain here soon, there will be less fall hay to make...the sorghum-sudan grass is 6 ft tall, it grows like a house on fire with the heat and it got a decent rain when it needed it... only cutting of it as the farm owner of that piece wants to kill it to put in alfalfa to feed the "deer"..... and here we are shooting as many as we can with the damage permits... but you cannot shoot antlered deer with damage permits....

Too damp grass to mow today.... need to take the feed up to the barn that is in the explorer.... need to drive it tomorrow... Got to go check for calves and see about getting the 12 her x heifers to learn to come to the barn for feed....in through the creep gate... hope that the longhorn's calf will teach them since he still comes in. Some of them will be on the list to get sold also... couple have chronic runny eyes... one does not have that great a shape.... they will bring good money whenever I do sell some... wasn't planning on keeping all of them anyway...especially since I thought there were only 6 or maybe 8 to start with...

 

[Ridgetop]

At those prices I agree with you about selling the heifers you held back that you were not sure about to begin with. Get your money and replace your bulls. (I would replace Roscoe too since male breeding animals that are "pets" can be dangerous and you dont like his pushy attitude.) Send anything you don't like to the sale and bank the cash for replacement bulls. Since you like the new set of calves born in the spring, keep back the best ones out of the best cows and bulls for heifers. Your plans are good and if DS is looking for more bulls, maybe he will decide to let Roscoe go. If Roscoe throws great calves you could give him another year but if his calves are just so-so, it might convince DS to replace him with a better bull with a better attitude. Sounds like the market will hold long enough for you to sell another couple loads of calves at good prices.

 

[farmerjan]

Have a few of Roscoe's calves on the ground... and they are decent so far... he had been in a pasture with some cows and think he must've caught them as a clean up bull, since they are out of synch.... He will not go anywhere until he gives DS a hard time, or causes grief with the GF or with one of the kids I am afraid... Luckily, no one goes in the bull lots much... kids are NOT ALLOWED in the bull lots and not allowed around any of the adult cattle except with an adult with them.... not even on the 4 wheelers. NOT MY CALL.... He is at a friend's place now breeding his 3 cows and will stay there for a few months out of the way.... Fine with me!!!!!

We won't be sending the 14 we turned out, anytime soon... the fall "runs" of cattle will start soon as people pull smaller calves off cows to take advantage of the prices... and there will be a bit of a drop as the markets get flooded.. DS will just leave them there at that pasture, unless something comes up that I don't foresee. Only 1 calf is mine, so not really my call to sell... sorta wish she had gone on the trailer yesterday, but it's only 1 heifer... Might be glad she is still here later this fall... The rest are DS's... so his call to make... it's not that I am not sure about them, they just don't stand out in any way for me... But again, only 1 is mine... and the biggest reason she was on the list to maybe go, was she tends to be a little high headed and not as quiet as I would like. She also may have been hanging with the "stupid ones" that are gone... so might get a better attitude now...
If it doesn't rain, and things get too crispy, and grass gets short..... or if the prices even go higher... then they might go...
The spring born calves will not be coming off grass until Nov.... unless something changes.. There are some nicer calves out there, and a few mediocre ones... calves tend to change alot in the 4-6 months after they get out on grass with the cows... You always have a few that catch your eye when babies, then they all just look "like calves" , then they start to really grow and develop better at the 5-6 month time frame, and then when they come home at 6-8 months, you can make an initial "cut" of the ones that you just don't like... or have attitudes....
One other thing is how the corn turns out and if it makes much ear... we need rain really bad as it is starting to tassle and make ears... there might not be much ear and that will lessen the quality and make a difference in culling decisions also... These small calves might be better fed and sold after hunting season...
This market is so different that all we can do is watch it and make decisions as the time comes.

We will take money from this last group sold and put it towards purchase of a bull or 2 after we sell the 2 bulls, and maybe the third one... Prices on them is very level... there just are not alot of them around... and people will be looking for bulls for fall breeding... so prices will stay well up there.. The bull market tends to be more stable, they are used in processed food like bologna and such... so a somewhat steadier demand for them than some of the other calsses of cattle...

Got 5 cull cows to go this fall for sure..... 4 with their last calves, and 1 that her calf died and she is definitely going... 2nd year in a row for no income... the other one was the bloated one, last year, and it didn't make it after the vet working on it even... there might be more after we preg check.... but that is months away...

@Ridgetop, there is no back surgery in my radar anywhere... the backache and such will be worked on... but unless I do something stupid and break my back or something... this ache is no where near any thoughts of any type of surgery any time in my foreseeable future... It aches, and some days is tough... but I would not consider surgery, for any reason, any time soon....

@Finnie ... Jim has been gone for over a year... left last summer... went to his sister's and then left there... don't know where he is or what he is doing... DS talked to his son, and he has not heard from him in months either... I hope for his sake he is okay, but he has a habit of getting back into using some drugs... so don't really know what is what... I do not wish him ill... DS is trying to get some things caught up that Jim used to do... and it is actually better that he is not paying him now since DS is no longer is working his job... he can't afford it, with the reduced amount he is getting now.

We got 2 showers today... a total of .1 inch in the gauge... It poured down near DS's GF house... he called and said he could barely see to drive down there and it was running in sheets across the road. That .1 inch is not going to do the ground any good here... it had the grass wet but that was is... Nothing in the forecast now for at least a week... NOT GOOD.... Can't do much about it, but it will definitely hurt the corn. DS will be mowing the next few days, after the dr appts and such.... I have to test on Thursday.

We are leaving by 8 for dr appts. I fed the chickens and turkeys and did waterers... need to scrub the waterers out next time around... Time for a shower and some zzzzz's

 

[Baymule]

That is some unheard of prices for the cattle. Just wow. Ranchers have such thin margins, it's nice to see prices in the profit range. Of course, everything else is sky high too, but I've actually seen times when picking up aluminum cans off the side of the road prices were almost as high as price per pound of cattle. I knew a little boy when in my early 20's that wanted to play baseball. His single mom couldn't afford to buy him a glove. What sticks out in my mind was that aluminum cans were 17 cents per pound, So I took the boy with his mother's permission, and we scoured the road sides for aluminum cans until we had the money to buy him a glove. I'm thinking the price of cattle at that time, so many years ago, were barely above the price of picking up cans. I remember thinking that ranchers could have gone out picking up cans easier than raising cattle.

 

[Ridgetop]

calves tend to change alot in the 4-6 months after they get out on grass with the cows... You always have a few that catch your eye when babies, then they all just look "like calves" , then they start to really grow and develop better at the 5-6 month time frame, and then when they come home at 6-8 months, you can make an initial "cut" of the ones that you just don't like... or have attitudes....

So true - at about a month old some lambs are fabulous and I swear they will be keepers, at 5/6 months they are so ugly I am sorry I didn't take them to the auction, then as they mature they keep changing until you finally see the mature ewes at 2-3 years old and decide that you need to learn more about judging lambs.

So I took the boy with his mother's permission, and we scoured the road sides for aluminum cans

Whe we were going to Fairs and showing livestock, the boys would take garbage bags and go around the trash cans in the livestock areas an fair ground and pick up the soda cans. They would come home with several hundred $$ in cans to cash in. Same thing at the campgrounds.
My boys like making money.

 

[farmerjan]

Tuesday afternoon... Home from 2 days of dr appts... and we had to chase down some 3/8" hydraulic hoses for him to put on the discbine that he blew 2 weeks ago... because no one has anything longer than 8 ft ones... they have longer in 1/2" hydraulic lines but they are not as flexible .....and to get a 22 ft one custom made which we could do, is twice what 3, 8ft long ones cost pre made... plus they already have the ends and the custom made ones need the ends on them additionally... so another $15 for each end...
Luckily there were 2 other TSC stores between dr offices and home... so we made the rounds and got them... One thing, if one splits, then at least he will only have to replace an 8 ft section.... but the connectors to use between the end fittings cost a few dollars. It is a constant trade off of which is better/less costly/more workable.

Pysch dr today wanted to fine tune the medicine, and agreed about not taking more of the other one he stopped after the pounding heart episode... also wants him to try a different one that is used in alot of migraine headache situations... workman's comp has not yet approved it from last month... he asked if there was anyway that DS could just get the initial prescription and pay for it and then they would push for workman's comp to pay like they are supposed to do.... Since the initial change from his case worker to the person that was wanting him to go back to work.... the whole thing is floundering with no one to "push" for things to get done for him like she was doing... One of the doctors yesterday said that he needs to get a new case worker again, since they are dragging their feet.... and said that he needs to get his lawyer to get on workman's comp about this. Maybe that will help...
And they could not do the shoots in his spine at the spine and pain clinic, because the ER dr gave him 4 "baby aspirin" last Friday when they sent him there... and they do not want you to take any pain medication or any kind of blood thinners, which aspirin does, for at least a week..... Next available appt is not until OCT... but the scheduler lady said she was going to send it to the doctor's office direct, and hope they can find something sooner...

The weather has done a 180... it is cooler, clear, no humidity.... 54 last night.....BRRRRR. Mostly sunny skies and mid 70's so far.

I got the feed unloaded in the barn Sunday afternoon before it rained... sadly, it just didn't rain enough to matter... I am going to go to the dumpster that I did not get to, and drop some stuff and then go get some pellets from the feed bin and take up and see about getting the heifers to come near the barn, in the creep gate. So far, they would rather stay out on the grass... they have never had this much space to roam around in so are enjoying their freedom... Need to check for calves. GF called and told DS there were 2 new calves there this morning... so the cows are all getting moved down the lane and into the "calving field"... so they can be found easily... Hopefully DS might be able to get these 2 ear tagged.
She called him back and did get most of the cows to follow her down the lane on the 4 wheeler... all she was going to do was open the gates, but they followed her so she got a good many down into the calving field...he will put hay in there because they will devour the grass that has grown up there, because there are so many. If he puts a couple rolls of hay, they will not strip the grass down to the roots near as fast.

Fall calving has really begun in earnest... Hope these heifers get going and get their's on the ground soon.

I am going to put the batteries in the riding mower and the walk behind weed eater and see about getting some stuff cleaned up out there since it is not so hot to work... do that in a little while as I want to get this junk/garbage hauled off.