Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[farmerjan]

@Ridgetop ... Bred cow special sale is tomorrow, Tues. Not really looking for any cows unless they are cheap... and I don't see cheap cows anytime soon. But it won't hurt to go look.
DS bought 16 from a friend that said he wanted to give up this one place he had been renting...he has had some health concerns also and said he just wanted to cut back.... and that is August (not sure if the beginning or end of Aug) when his yearly lease ends..... 14 now have new calves on the ground...we knew they were supposed to be bred, but not guaranteed preg..... I think he priced them at $1800/head... we did not want the bull but he is still in there, so a chance some might be bred back, again, also. The bull will get sold....

DS told me yesterday that the friend called DS and said that if DS didn't want them, he would keep them... but DS had already given him a "down payment on them".... so not sure what that is all about... except maybe he is seeing the bigger prices that the ones have been bringing... These are not anything fancy by any means either... but DS said yes, he still wanted them... and could give him the the rest of the money if he wants it.... He said, no, he was fine, just if DS was worried about grass and hay, that he didn't have to take them. BUT, this guy is also a "trader", and maybe he found a little better deal and thought that he might keep them .... and yes, offered DS his downpayment back.....and then turn them over for a little more somewhere else... I told DS to go on and pay for them now... they will be getting picked up shortly anyway... he is a friend, but also a wheeler/dealer, he would not screw DS over after knowing him all these years, never has in the past... but he is looking out for his own bottom line too...

Time to get outside... It rained a good shower a bit ago, and it is dripping off the eaves right now. Going to go out and see about getting some more seeds in where I can walk on the mulch hay... and see if the varmints, have stayed out of the garden... I think they will pretty much... HOPE they will stay out... Might try to get more of the mulch hay down if I can walk on the rows already mulched. Might be too soft though.

 

[farmerjan]

Was talking to @Baymule on phone.... and she was saying she needed to go out and do a couple things because rain was coming in soon again... I said it looked like we were going to have a break in the rain for a couple hours... was going to go out and check rain gauges and maybe see if I could get in to do more mulch by walking on the mulch already there to finish up those rows.
Getting shoes on and heard noise... here it is raining again... Guess that changes that idea. It is raining steady right now. Just pulled radar up and we are on the fringes of some heavier downpours just south/west of here... looks to stay a bit west, and then coming across north of here.... but we will have rain for awhile... Changes the plans to go out to the garden to see if I could get a little more of the mulch hay down...
At least the weeds will pull out easy when I do get in there.... .

Oh well, time for some lunch.. Then some "house work"....

 

[Mini Horses]

You DESERVE and NEED this rain

Stay inside & happily busy yourself . I know you are, like I did yesterday. Overcast here, poss showers. Got about 1/4" at dawn. It all adds up.

 

[farmerjan]

Rain quit and the sun was trying to come out a bit. Then clouds and sun. I went out and did some stuff in the garden. Not bad when the clouds were covering the sun. I laid down some hay as I weeded along the way too. Then the sun came out stronger and shoulder is aching. So, in to take some stuff and give it another half hour or so, then go back and try to do more. The radar is showing some substantial rain late night/early tomorrow morning... so it would be nice to get more of it down to get settled down with the rain and wet.

We had 1.1 inches from Sat aft through this mornings showers... YAY

It is welcome.
Muggy enough to be sweating a bunch.... I will have several loads to do the way I have been changing clothes!!

 

[farmerjan]

Got a drink, took a couple tylenol.... Was getting ready to go back out... and it started to rain again.. enough to get really wet... So I warmed up some supper.... ate , and it stopped again. So I went out, got the white cukes planted...on half the panel that the gourd seeds never came up but they were old.
Then replanted the green beans that I do not see anything coming up.... These seeds were 2023, so only a year old. Have never had bean seeds that totally failed to come up... so we will see. I am going to plant a couple more rows of another variety.. some had come up that the stupid deer ate off early... and if the ones I planted tonight do not come up by the time as these other ones come up ( I know they are good since they came up once already) then I will toss the rest of them out. Never had bean seeds not be good for several years....
Put down some more mulch hay... not done yet, but getting close. I forgot to take the buckets out with me... so worked on the mulch....will try to remember the buckets tomorrow. Then it started to lightly rain and so I finally quit. Shirt is wet...

Bank called, the check to pay off the explorer cleared the bank, and I can go get the title from the local DMV tomorrow... HURRAH..... I thanked the loan officer that called me, the one that gave me the money to get it...

Now if the farmers would get back to me to get all the farms caught up......

Showers for the next several days... that's fine.... I want to finish the mulch hay.... get a few other things planted. The dill is getting their heads... it smells soooo good... not sweet... just fragrant.

Got wet out there doing the last of the stuff, so going in to get a shower....

 

[Ridgetop]

said that if DS didn't want them, he would keep them... but DS had already given him a "down payment on them".... so not sure what that is all about... except maybe he is seeing the bigger prices that the ones have been bringing...

If he is a trader, he will be thinking with 14 calves on the ground already, if he keeps them for another 4-5 months on grass, he can get the same price for the cows open and has the calves to sell separately. Good idea to send in the rest of the payment to guarantee the sale.

You have the bull to sell separately, along with the 2 cows that haven't calved yet - if they are open, and the cows possibly bred back already. Good idea to go through with the deal.

Glad you are getting some rain.

 

[Baymule]

Yay for rain! When I came in yesterday evening, I was wet, one inch in the rain gauge and still drizzling. We’ll see what today brings.

 

[farmerjan]

On the cows, @Ridgetop , we did not buy the bull, he still belongs to the other guy, just in there for now. He also would not be able to keep them there for another 4-5 months, as he already told owners of pasture, he would not be renewing the lease on the place... so would have to move them in a month anyway. So, it is not as big a deal as it could have been. I think he may have had someone looking for some cows, and on top of that a month ago, the pasture/grass/hay situation was looking really dire... he and DS talk alot anyway, so maybe he really didn't want DS to take them if we were not in a good place... when he offered them to DS nearly 3 months ago, he was going through some rough times with heart problems... and them getting out of the pasture there from the fences being pretty bad and just decided that it was not worth the trouble to have so many... I still think he is cutting back because of his health.

They are definitely not "top of the line" cows, so the price is fair but not what better ones are bringing so he might have gotten $2,000 a head at the market with them being bred at the time... and would have paid at least $50 a head for commissions and had to haul them and have them preg checked at the time... They were priced fair, but not a big bargain... and DS said that since we had sold a bunch that were open, getting cows that were supposed to be bred to replace them was a fair deal...

Yes, if the last 2 are not bred, they will go and we will get back some of their purchase cost. The calves on the ground will need to be worked through the chute, bulls banded, ear tagged, and all need blackleg shots; I will arm the 2 without calves and see if there is a calf in them... they should be close to calving....I guess they will go out with the cows of ours that are close to calving or have some small calves on them... and will get preg checked in the late fall to see if any were bred back by the bull that is still in there now... several have calves that are pushing 3 months now, so could very well be bred back...DS said bull is decent, calves on the ground are decent. We will not put a bull in with the cows starting to calve now, until Nov... so they will either be bred to this bull, or will have a gap in time and bred to our bull after we put him in later... Not particularly liking cows calving in summer since the cows should be out on pasture... and not convenient to check them every day for new calves. Lost those couple of calves at that pasture last year that the coyotes got, because they calved out there and the calves were smaller... like to have them calved out and calves up and doing good with a little size at certain places.

Cattle prices have backed off some, about $.30-.50 a pound less at the last sale we sold those last 10 steers at... people were getting really worried about the drought conditions. Cull cows are still doing good... but, they go into alot of hamburger, and grilling season is on the downhill side with getting into the fall.... that is where the greatest amount of hamburger sells... and the greatest demand.... not wanting to see if drop off, and with the reduced cow numbers from so many being sold, and many ranchers going out, it ought to stay up there better, but the cattle cycle is going to come down off the highs like it always does... so there won't be as much money on these cattle in 6 months in my opinion.
It is still pretty dry north of here, this rain, and showers, are spotty, some places getting quite a good amount like we have here in the last week, some other places getting half of it or less... It will definitely help... any amount anyone gets.... but it might not be enough to get another cutting of hay in places... and it might not be enough to get pastures back to growing good again. We have been very blessed here this past week. We have gotten nearly 2.4 inches in the past 10 days... things have greened up nicely and our corn is growing like weeds with the moisture. The rest of this week is looking like continuing showers and rains... in the best way because it is supposed to be spotty and spread out. Not the pouring down day after day type... BUT... it could turn hot and dry again... we are going into August which is the hottest driest month ....NORMALLY..... this year nothing is normal.

The hayfields are recovering, but they have been hurt by the extreme dry, so don't know what kind of 2nd cutting we might be able to get. The weeds are taking over spots,,,,why do they continue to grow when the good grass is hurt by the dry conditions ???? Luckily, the sorghum-sudan he planted is growing by leaps and bounds and it will put down a good root system with this moisture, and it loves hot weather... we will get one cutting but it will be very very tall so lots of bulk. It could get chopped or baled all according to the weather and timing.

 

[farmerjan]

It is Tuesday morning. 67 to start. Sun came up over the trees but there are some clouds out there again. Forecast is saying more rain/showers/storms later this afternoon.

I am going down to the Y to see about the yoga/exercise classes they have since the yoga class is this morning... then go on down to the DMV and get the explorer title. I will be right there close so it works out

I ought to be in the garden now, but was a bit lazy this morning. The garden will be here when I get back. and might be able to get in it during the day, if the clouds stick around and it keeps it cooler. I want to get those couple of rows of the other green beans in so I can compare the germination rates... and if the ones don't come up at all... Need to start a row of broccoli seeds for a fall crop.... and maybe some late cabbage. Plus make a spot for fall lettuce.... And put some more mulch hay for the butternut squash and striped crenshaw to spread out on since they are going hog wild out there. Don't want to try to mow around them spread all over the lawn.
Also want to mow off the old daylilly bed , it is pretty scraggly. But it might be too "soft" with all the rain. I have begun "mapping out" where I want the fences to go, so that the garden can be used for chickens or even maybe some pigs for wintertime use.... then be garden the next year again.
Guess I better get my butt in gear and get ready to head down the road.

 

[Ridgetop]

Let us know about the Yoga classes. We enrolled with a friend in "Beginners Yoga - eassy clsss for seniors". Nearly killed the 3 of us - another Ridgetop story for another time.