Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along

[Ridgetop]

If you have ewes lambing and you’ve just had knee surgery, you will NOT be sprawled out in the barn, where all kinds of germs could infect your knee. You already know this, what are you thinking?

Wrap it up in plastic? I have a roll of moving plastic - the kind you use to wrap upholstered furniture. Like giant size Saran wrap! LOL A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do!

Easter was lovely, the kids jumped in and did everything. I was crafty and stayed in my room moaning about my leg. LOL Wonderful day with Eater egg hunts on the patio and cries of warm - warmer - cold - boiling hot! echoing as the kids hunted for the hidden eggs. Robert enjoyed finding the eggs then throwing them like a ball. Luckily they were plastic eggs! He is walking really well now.

Pulled the ram out of the breeding pen due to him imping on a rear leg. Checked him out and his hooves are too long and breaking off. I really need to do some hoof trimming but the hooves are so hard that I can't cut them. I think I will save up for one of those electric hoof trimmer/grinders.

Opened 2 bottles of dry wine for dinner and one was corked. Waste not, want not though, so I strained it into the Insta Pot and used it to slow cook a chuck roast. Amazingly tender!

Finally finished my annual report for the NNNs . Went to print it out and it fractured into several pieces somehow and refused to fit on the pages! Got DS1 to fix it and he reminded me that I couldn't use that particular template since it would not print in Word. 6 hours of work wasted!!! However, since I had done all the additional schedules to attach, redoing it in the proper Word format only took 3 hours! Told DH I was going to leave him and become nun so I wouldn't have to do this anymore. He was sympathetic about the wasted work, but not about my entering a convent. He reminded me that we like to cuddle and it is not allowed in convents. LOL Made a resolution to do it earlier next year but know I won't since I get most of the figures from our tax return information.

DS1 says now that I have finished that chore we can work on his magnetic sheep board. We need to vaccinate and dock this week. He wants to wait until Frankenram is 2 months old to castrate him. He will be going into our freezer since we only have one ram lamb. Too much gas money to take one lamb to auction, so band him and let him grow to butcher weight Won't take long as a single.

I did not get as much as I hoped for the ram lambs I took to the auction. The auction lady said prices were shockingly low for the 2 weeks before Easter. I did get a good price for the ewe though. The nest group will be ready to go about the first of August. I will check prices in July to see if they are better then. If we get mostly ewe lambs and the auction prices are low more ram lambs can go into our freezer. The ewes breeding now will have September/October lambs and the next batch will be November lambs. Those will sell in November/December and January/February and so on.

Had heavy rain last night - really pounded down. Hopefully it will give us some green stuff for the sheep.

 

[Baymule]

I have two ram lambs weaned now. One I want to keep for awhile, the other one is showing promise of scurs,, has hard little nubbins . What to do with them? I need to visit auction barns in the neighboring area just to see if goats and sheep sell well, or at all.

 

[Ridgetop]

Scurs appear sometimes. Had abut 4 lambs with scurs last winter out of rams and ewes that had never produced any scurs before. i have a ram with large scurs and none of his lambs have any scurs. Actually I had a ram with large scurs - he knocked one at a time off over a period of a year fighting with the other rams.

Are the rams identical in conformation? Both are out of Ringo, but who are the dams? Choose the best conformation or bloodline one to keep regardless of scurs. Since this is going to be your emergency cover ram you might want to determine the number of related ewes to each ram and everything else being equal chose the one that is related to the fewest ewes. If your registered ewe throws a nice ram, you can then register that ram lamb and replace the unregistered ram with the registered one out of the registered ewe. He will be the least related to the flock since he will only be reated though the sire's side.

Don't forget to check size of testicles. Sounds dumb and sexist but top bull breeders always advertise testicle size on their bulls when selling. According to registration standard Dorper rams must have minimum testicle circumference of 30cm at 10 months of age in sitting position. ("Sitting position" is flipped on butt with spine of sheep tilted backward against your knees with forelegs restrained in air.) Small testicles are a cull fault in all male breeding animals.

As to auctions in your area, call the different auctions and check what sheep and lambs brought that week. They will usually tell you approximate prices. If they are too low, and diesel too high, put him in your freezer. No point taking just one to the auction if prices are low. Call different slaughterers in your area to find out when they will have butcher dates. Our guy here said with the prices of meat and diesel/gas a lot of producers have stopped selling private butcher steers and are taking full loads to the auction. Probably also due to feed costs. He had 19 customers cancel butcher dates in the past month. They usually bring in several animals at a time.

DH called around and alfalfa has jumped to $20-25 per 110lb. bale!!! I tried to warn him to get several loads last month, but he insisted that prices would go down. I even made him read Farmerjan's hay price writing but he waited and now they went up. He is calculating now how many bales (800+) he will need to order and buy this spring and summer to get us through the year to summer 2023. First he said he will fill the connex, the barn, and the stock trailer. I pointed out that he cannot leave hay stored in the stock trailer because we have to use it to take the lambs to auction. That threw him for a moment. I told him that we needed to clear out the area between the connexes and store the hay bales on pallets with fine gauge wire around the bottoms to keep the rabbits and ground squirrels from eating the bottom bales. Then tarp it down on the to and open sides of the connexes with heavy weights on too to keep the tarps in place during windy weather. He is "going to think about it". He is a man, he has to think about it until it becomes his idea. LOL

I think that I will rent to my cattle tenant next year on a month to month basis so we can begin the move back to Texas around the first of the year . Hopefully that will get us back there with plenty of pasture. DDIL2 is quitting her job the end of this school year and plans to stay home with Robert. With her staying home DS1 can come back to Texas in the fall (needs to be after my knee PT is over) to see the ranch and help us fence and repair stuff before bringing the sheep and dogs back.

I also want to get Wes Patton to come down and grade my flock. The Dorper grading system runs from 1 to 5, with 5 as best. Anything lower than a grade of 3 will be sold off before going to Texas. No point in transporting any sheep that are cull quality (ewes lower than 3, rams lower than 4) with me. The Dorper Breeder Association brings over graders from Australia and south Africa twice a year and flock owners sign up and pay a fee based on half day or full day (adjusted by number of animals) to have them come out and grade the flock. (We did that with our dairy goat herd too and it was really helpful.) With Covid no one could come from those 2 countries and with travel restrictions the program was paused. Australia and South Africa still have stiff travel regulations and have not been able to get anyone from those countries to come over for the program. Wes Patton is a Dorper judge and longtime breeder and will be able to grade my flock for me. I want to make sure that I am on the right track with my breeding program and selection of replacement ewes. I have about 6 yearling home bred ewes that I am really excited about and a couple more coming along. My purple tag girls are super sweet natured too and pretty friendly so I will be keeping all of them. I really want to get a professional opinion on them though. All the lambs due in May will be purple tags. Each of the rams is assigned a color tag and his daughters are all tagged with those color tags. That helps me to see how each ram's get look compared to the get of the other rams. Some grow faster than others, and some retain more wool which I don't like, but they all have good points about them so I really need professional help here. With the cost of alfalfa I don't want to waste $$$ feeding lower quality animals. Once they are on pasture, the cost of feeding them goes down and I can carry more individuals as strictly meat producers.

Finally got my desk cleared off and my filing done. Next job is weeding. I went out and tried to weed today and was shocked at how hard it was to get down on my knees and how much harder it was to get back up!!! Luckily I don't have a lot of weeding to do since we had almost no rain. DS3 has a lot of rolls of fake grass left and will give us some so we can install them on the remaining dirt areas (old veggie garden disaster), and the front slope where the fake grass will act as dirt retention. I also want to plant some plumbago shrubs along the front slope. They grow huge, spread slowly with shoots, are almost indestructible, and have pretty flower clusters ranging from pale to dark blue almost year round. I just hope the ground squirrels won't eat them when they are small. I would like to plant some orange and yellow lantana on the front slope but again not sure abut the ground squirrels. Both plumbago and lantana once established are pretty drought tolerant. I have several large areas of plumbago that are never watered and do very well. Rosemary is another pretty shrub that is drought tolerant and has really pretty bluish purple flowers. It also smells good and I use it when cooking lamb. However, there is nothing I hate so much as spending a lot of money on plants (super expensive now) and watching the ground squirrels devour them to the ground. I have noticed the ground squirrels out and about on my field and even on the road to the house in mating pairs. They are digging burrows around the place again and we even found 2 burrow holes under the edges of the fake lawn. DH and DS1 filled the burrow holes with cement. Those miserable *****s are asking for the trap to be set up again. I'll talk to DS1 about it tomorrow.

 

[farmerjan]

@Ridgetop , I am sorry for you that the situation with the hay is where it is at this point. And no disrespect, but your DH is being just plain thick headed... there is NO WHERE in this country that the cost of hay is going down. Look at the drought areas... there are even parts of FLORIDA in drought conditions. Look at the wild fires that recently have destroyed hundreds of thousands of acres... some of it dry rangeland but alot of it is grazing land and crop producing land such as hay ground, as well as the numerous towns that have been burnt nearly to the ground. In Texas there are 68 fires raging at present with 333,000 acres involved... OK 38 with 78,000 acres... and the list goes down from there... Neb has one large fire over 30,000 acres, KS 11 with 24,000, AZ, NM, CO all with 10,000 acres EACH involved... even MISS has 10 fires with over 8,000 acres... yep, sweltering humid MISS... and the current report I saw has CALIFORNIA with 157 small but fierce fires with over 4400 acres involved...
We went to a bull sale yesterday, local farmer that sells 10-20 a year. I heard no less than 5 of the buyers talking about cutting their herd sizes with the high prices of cull cows, and the lower average prices on bulls this year. This farmer is cutting way back on his fall calving cow numbers due to the high cost of feeding through the winter... You can read about the sale in my journal.... but we are preg checking some more cows, especially the ones that came up open to the bull and we put back with the 2 bulls 2 months ago... anything that is not at least 35 days bred is going... regardless of how much we like them... got a few other cows that are "eh" okay cows, that are going... We bought 6 replacements that we had no intention to buy... because prices were down some. Nice YOUNG cows with calves and already bred back....
We have cut our cow numbers about 25-30 overall in the last 2 years....

Our local extension agent made up a chart for the cost of making hay 2017 compared to 2022... If I were competent with a computer I would scan the one page in... but I am not... suffice to say that his comparison was an eye opener....
2017....the cost of ownership of the equipment; interest, depreciation, taxes, ins; $30 per 4x5 bale...... add in the operating cost of making the hay; repairs, fuel, lube, twine, labor....$20.... add in the fertilizer @ $80/acre made it cost a total of $62 PER round bale... figuring fuel cost was 2.75/gal and interest @3% for financing......
2022 ESTIMATE costs went up to $32 per bale for the ownership end....$25 for the operating cost so now $57/bale... add in the fertilizer.... The SAME fertilizer program will cost $160/acre.... making the cost of the same round bale (5 years later than 2017) at $80/bale... and that is figuring $4.25 gal for fuel and interest at 4%... and repair costs 40% higher than 2017.
And we all know that even with the reduced cost of off road diesel, it is more than 4.25 gallon right now....
It will cost a little less per bale with an increased number of bales up to a point to where a farmer has to upgrade his equipment to handle the increased number of bales.
This is all based on a 40 yr old, 100 hp 2 wh dr tractor; for cutting and baling... a 25 yr old 60 hp 2 wh dr tractor for tedding & raking, a 10 yr old mower conditioner and a 10 yr old round baler.... making 250 bales a year. mowing a total of 60 acres hay gound in this area.
We mow around 250 total acres a year, make in the neighborhood of 1200+ round bales of 5 X 5 rolls, and about 500 4x5 rolls.. we have 2 balers.....both over 20 years old.....but the mower is less than 5 years old because we trade in every 5 years... the replacement costs of parts by 5 years is so high and the trade in values are so high that we wind up with a "new " mower every 5 years for about $5-6,000.....after the initial one we bought in the beginning. The mowing tractor he mostly uses is the Agco... about 120 hp... it is early 1990's... the one I mostly rake with is a ford 4600... made in 1975-80... 60 hp.. 2 wd... that's pushing 50 years old... the rake is about 30 yrs old...the balers are over 20 years old.
DO THE MATH... it is costing a kings ransom to make hay... that is why many of us have cut our numbers some and gone to more rotational grazing where we can... but on rented ground and places with no fences or water... we have to make hay... and we have to feed hay in the winter....
For places that irrigate in the western states, and make hay as a crop to sell, water is being cut back or cut off to farmers... that reduces yield... that makes the cost per bale go up and the need to sell for more per bale. Most all western alfalfa is irrigated ground... the weather is perfect for making the hay since it seldom rains on it during the season... alfalfa is a very demanding crop to make... mowing every 27-30 days... and the alfalfa leaf hopper can destroy it in 3 days.... the timing on alfalfa is TIGHT.....the weather has to be right or it gets too old and tough and the leaves shatter and fall off the stem....
We don't grow it.... because we cannot be available to make it when it needs to be made with working other jobs... and the weather here does not always cooperate. Most all farmers that grow it here chop the first cutting because it is so hard to get it made right... then hope that the weather is drier to make 2nd or 3rd cutting....
Better get all you can get right now... it is going to get worse until we hit a real DEPRESSION... not recession.....

@Baymule can you reprint the links here that you had on SS about all the fires and destruction of the food processing plants... put it in your journal or in a separate thread... I would like to see a separate thread along the lines of the Shortages thread on SS... to reference back to for things like the cost of haymaking, the food/bare shelves in stores and such.... People had better start to wake up to what this gov't is doing and get prepared... if it never comes then WONDERFUL... all you have is a bunch of food and supplies extra to get you through...

 

[farmerjan]

Another thing I would like to say and this is in no way being disrespectful to you... be careful about the month to month leasing to the cattle farmer... since he has already been there he might go for it...
Honestly, we would not. You cannot just be told that you have 30 days to get your animals off a place... you plan your stocking rates, the way you put animals out to breed in groups, all that... Here, you cannot pull a lease from a farmer before the term is up... and we will not sign leases for less than 1 year for the first year and then for less than 5 years... unless the place is say, for sale... and it is agreed to. But if a place is for sale here, the new owners cannot pull an existing lease from a farmer... the land gets sold with the understanding that the lessee has rights to keep the lease for at least that year.... If the person that has the lease does things like fertilize and such to improve the grazing land... as we do fertilize grazing land... they are entitled to the value of the fertilizer in the grass... there are always exceptions... and if the person leasing agrees that is good... but make sure it is in WRITING....
We have a place that is going to be sold... and he told up that up front before DS signed the lease.... we do this on a year to year but there are provisions for us to have right of refusal yearly in the overall 5 year lease agreement... the man's wife passed away a year ago... it is a very "picky" demanding situation... but the ground is good and the land is cross fenced and waterers and we rotational graze and the fences are 2x4 no climb horse fencing... kept up to the "nth degree"... he kept a section on his side of the driveway that is actually a separate piece of property that he kept 6-8 steers so that he got his ag deduction there, but with back problems this year we are going to have that piece too since he is going to have surgery and cannot take them on this year... complicated and spelled out to the last little detail.... but regardless if he sells it tomorrow... the lease goes with the property and we have it for this year....
Just realize that if the "cattle guy" has animals there, if you decide to terminate his "lease" he might be hard put to move his cattle... might not have grass or pasture elsewhere to put them... might be saving the "home place" for his winter pasture ... whatever... I realize it is your land... but "tenant farmers" have rights too... and you sure don't want to make your new neighbors mad...

 

[Baymule]

The never ending battle of ground squirrels! We have tree squirrels here, gray ones and red ones. They can be destructive too, shoot ‘em with a 22, they are delicious fried. LOL

Instead of putting your cattle tenant on a month to month, go ahead and negotiate a reduced acreage agreement. Uncertainty of a month to month May run him off all together and you don’t want that.

On my 2 ram lambs, the one with scur /horn buds is a grandson of Miranda. The other one is a grandson of Ewenique. Ewenique’s grandson is actually the bigger and better looking of the 2 right now. My flock is heavy on Miranda’s genetics, so far, the Ewenique ram is the one I favor.

DS and I were discussing fence and shelter placement and kicking ideas around. Then he mentioned just moving what I have right now and setting it back up. I thought about it and decided on that. I don’t want to build something and regret it later when I’m living there. Since it’s the smaller piece of property, maybe temporary shelter is the way to go. Put up the main barn on the other side of the driveway. I can fence a section, move Quonset hut shelters, put up another cow panel hut or two, cow panel pens again and MOVE. Put in the big furniture first. Beds, appliances, living room furniture and see what fits. Then fit in the smaller stuff and get rid of what doesn’t fit.

Oh joy. Move shipping containers and block up those 40’ monsters again. Gotta EMPTY them first. More joy.

 

[Baymule]

@farmerjan you and I are on the same page on the cattle tenant, you are able to give greater detail and reasons why.

I’ll start a shortages thread in the next few days. DS is leaving Tuesday or Wednesday for a 2-3 week job in Louisiana. So I may wait until he’s gone. That is a good idea, shortages in agriculture will be serious to members here.

 

[Ridgetop]

Farmerjan: You are right about the month to month with the cattle guy. However, I don't need the entire 45 acres, especially if I cull my flock to smaller numbers. So maybe instead of leasing him the entire 45 acres of pasture I will just lease the 30 acre side without the barn, giving him access to the pond for watering his cattle. I talked about that last February and he said he didn't need the barn so he would probably go for that. 30 acres of good Bermuda grazing would still be a good thing. He doesn't fertilize the pasture, but he only grazes cow calf pairs - doesn't cut hay.

I think we need to cull heavily anyway with the cost and possible scarcity of getting hay. DH's regular hay guy told DH that as soon as a load comes in it sells out immediately. DH is looking at buying a complete field of alfalfa like we used to do with the dairy herd. The other hay company said they would arrange that and store it. I really don't think the cost will go down though. I keep trying to explain to DH that different parts of the country have flooded out or droughted out by bad weather but his testosterone keeps getting in the way of the little woman knowing anything. It was so much easier when I did the feed buying. Of course with the dairy herd, we fed a lot of grain to the milkers so I drove to the mill once a month and bought it by the truckload. DH took over the hay buying years ago when he learned abut 1st and 2nd cut protein levels and we used to buy 2nd cut alfalfa by the field.

I don't want to, but if things get too expensive, we will move to Texas and live on the ranch for 2 years to convert it to our principal residence for tax purposes. If the economy is bad for lamb production, or taxes change, sell out the sheep flock, young guardian dogs, and ranch equipment in an online auction sale. Then sell the ranch itself and move back to California to our old house or a rental. Or even buy a large 5th wheel and live in that on the California property or in a nice trailer park. Or travel around in the 5th wheel as long as we can.

DH is 79 and I will be 72 (this information is highly classified- now that you know your lives may be in danger LOL). Even with DS1 doing most of the heavy work, the $$$ investment in equipment and fencing is intense. By the time we actually get moved DH will be turning 80, and I will be 73. How many years do we really have left to do physical farm and ranch work anyway?

Age has really snuck up on us, probably because we adopted DD2 and started raising young school age child again when we were in our 60's. While that may have "kept us young" in mind, our bodies did not stop aging. BJ's passing was a shock last year and made me realize how old we really are. Having two 1 year old grand babies makes it feel like we are younger than we are because most people start having grandkids in their 40's and 50's. We are way past that. Carrying DGD3 is getting harder for me. Of course, that could be because of my knee and back. She is a healthy eater, and DS1's nickname for her is "Thunder Thighs the Stink Maker"! Hopeful lifting her will get easier after my surgery but it makes me feel old that I have trouble picking her up off the floor. She still prefers crawling since she can go faster so when she starts walking she may slim down a bit.

I just realized I sound very depressed - maybe I need my Prozac adjusted! I need to starting looking on the bright side - DH and I play a solid cutthroat partnership bridge game, we have our health, our children and grand children are healthy, we all enjoy being together, money is tight but manageable, we enjoy traveling together, and are planning more trips after the knee surgery.

On another happy note DD2 and DSIL2 were prepping for a court custody battle gain for DGD2 and GOOD NEWS! Turns out the baby mama was hiding her income and inflating her expenses to include all living expenses for both her and her new husband who makes good money!!! To avoid going back to court (and an angry judge) she has agreed to joint custody and no child support! DD2 and DSIL2 are thrilled. I told DD2 that if they had gone to court the judge might have made her repay most of the child support for the past year since she told the judge she had not been working when she was working all year and earning a nice paycheck. And they had the child for half the week anyway, were paying the preschool tuition, doctor and dentist bills. However, they are just glad to have the joint custody worked out so they get alternate weekends, and no more child support. They already had the child half the week anyway. Maysie starts kindergarten in August as well so that lightens the load with no preschool tuition until Annabel turns 2.

DDIL2 has quit her job as of the end of this school year and will be home for the summer and next year freeing us up to travel with DS1 to Texas so he can see the ranch. He is planning to take a Trade Tech welding class in preparation for the ranch. Also says he may take some AG extension classes in Texas on hay production, etc. Sounds like he may be looking forward to the ranch and taking over the sheep flock. Of course, on the ranch in Texas he will have more authority and responsibilities and that always makes a difference.

I guess I have cheered myself up a little. I just won't think about the cost of hay for a while. Oh yes, and make sure to take my Prozac!

 

[Baymule]

Ok so you are old. So what? You aren’t dead yet and if you die, you won’t be worried about anything anyway. Live your life the way you want to. Do what you want to while you can, as long as you can. Y’all worked hard all your lives, you have earned the right to do whatever the heck you want to.

 

[Ridgetop]

UPDATE!
Last night DS1 arranged a family get together at a restaurant. (Korean BBQ - never been, won't bother going back although half the family seemed to like it. Mostly meat which you cook on a grill in the middle of the table yourself. My motto - It is not "Going Out To Dinner" if mom has to cook anything. LOL

Anyway after dinner DDIL2 tool Robert outside first. We all followed slowly and met up outside to say good bye. When we all outside saying our goodbyes I noticed that Robert's shirt now read "I'm Going to be a Big Brother!" DS2 and DDIL2 like to announce things that way. It took everyone about 5 minutes to realize that they were announcing a second pregnancy! So Grandbaby 9 will arrive sometime early December. DD2 and DSIL1 both congratulated themselves on noticing from how she was eating that she was pregnant. Both of them are 38 so knew they had to getting baby production done fast. Come Christmas our house will be even more crowded! Time to move to Texas and rent the house to DS2 and his growing family.

We can always leave our current 5thwheel here and buy a newer one to keep TX as our home base to travel the east coast, deep south, and northeast. Or buy a new large one to kee here in California to stay in when we visit.

I did suggest to DH that we move the property line between our home and the empty lot and build on an "in-law" annex. He didn't like the thought of spending the money.
When we move to Texas for however long it will be, we will have to store our good stuff - china, paintings, furniture and antiques, - to give DS2 and DDIL2 room for their growing family while they are renting the property. We might leave a dog and some sheep here as well. The fencing is in, and keeping some sheep here will prevent fire growth. All to be considered. At least the office is the smallest room next to the MBR and is painted a pretty turquoise with nursery jungle border so won't need much to return it to a bedroom. It was the nursery for the oldest grandkids when we were babysitting 5 days a week full time. It also has large cabinets built in behind the door as well as a closet, so lots of room for clothes, toys, bedding, etc. Just need closet doors back on it for a bedroom - easy peasy. Or they could use it to place the crib in or other furniture to increase the bedroom size. It is the smallest BR, 11'6" x 10'9". That way Robert's dragon bedroom room can grow with him using the youth bed that DD1 dropped off here while we were in Texas. I wrapped it up and DS1 put in the loft.
It even has a mattress. And the style of the youth bed matches the crib and changing table.

Sometimes it seems that our children are plotting on us! May I should start packing NOW! At least this feeble elderly couple have someplace to go. LOL We won't have to park the 5th wheel under any bridges!