Baymule
Herd Master
Ha ha ha!
Senile Texas Aggie - comic relief for the rest of you
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Bruce
Herd Master
Yep, same stuff
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Senile_Texas_Aggie
Herd Master
Not much has been happening here recently. We have been clearing out some more undergrowth along the woods next to the driveway coming from the gate, but the change wasn't dramatic and thus didn't warrant taking pictures.
Yesterday I finally hooked up the tank sprayer to the Gator side-by-side. We decided to spray behind the shop, where the weeds had gotten way out of hand. The ground out there is very uneven, so I cannot mow it with the tractor or the Cub Cadet ZTR mower. And it only recently dried out enough that we need not fear getting stuck. But the Gator can handle that terrain, so we filled up the tank about half full and then drove out into the middle of overgrowth. I drove while my Beautiful Gal sprayed. After that we sprayed other areas where we had cleared out last year or earlier this year and the undergrowth had grown back.
Well, it's been awhile since I last mentioned the books that we have read recently, so I will do that now.
The Weather Machine - A Journey Inside the Forecast by Andrew Blum. We decided to read this book after enjoying reading about the National Weather Service in the book The Fifth Risk. The book explores the history of weather forecasting, along with the current developments. Currently the best weather forecasting system was developed by a European group of countries, whose goal is to remain the best forecasting system into the future.
Good and Mad - The Revolutionary Power of Women's Anger by Rebecca Traisten. My Beautiful Gal loved this book, while I was conflicted. The author's thesis is that women's anger in the past helped to improve the modern world -- black male suffrage, women's suffrage, child labor laws, etc. -- and can help improve the world some more. What caused my conflicting thoughts was that as a general rule I view anger as counterproductive, that we could accomplish more by trying to engage our opponents as equals. When I see just how much anger is already in our political discourse, I think we would be so much better off if we could treat each other with respect, instead of viewing our opponents as either ignorant, crazy, or evil. Yet there are times when anger is quite appropriate, such as for injustices by the strong against the weak. So even though I am conflicted about this book and its theme, I am glad I read it, as I have seen the viewpoint of someone I had not considered before. If a person only reads, listens, or watches books and shows that he or she already agrees with, he or she is not really learning anything. So considering other points of view is important.
Prisoners of Geography - Ten Maps That Explain Everything About the World by Tim Marshall. This book considers 10 different maps (actually, regions of the world) and the geography illustrated by those maps that help to explain so much of human history. Among the regions the author examines are Russia, China, the United States, Europe, Africa, South America, India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, the Middle East, and the Arctic Ocean (I can't remember the others). The different features of these regions, such as having navigable rivers (the US and Europe) or not (Africa), having mountains or not, narrow valleys making movement of armies difficult (Russia, eastern Europe), warm water ports or not (Russia), etc., have had tremendous effects on the different civilizations that sprung up there and on how susceptible the regions were to invasion by armies from other locations, or their invading other locations. Very interesting book.
Being Wrong - Adventures in the Margin of Error by Kathryn Shulz. This is a book about knowledge, beliefs, and our willingness to recognize or not when we have made mistakes, either in our actions or in our beliefs. She takes the position that we should not be embarrassed or ashamed when we make mistakes, but instead to seek to learn from them. She goes through the different ways that we can make mistakes, including optical illusions, sensory deceptions, mistakes in inductive reasoning, etc. She makes the point that we should not be so invested in our beliefs that we consider those beliefs as part of our identity, as that makes it much more difficult to recognize when we hold mistaken beliefs, as we have so much emotional investment in those beliefs. A very interesting and educational book.
Senile Texas Aggie
Yesterday I finally hooked up the tank sprayer to the Gator side-by-side. We decided to spray behind the shop, where the weeds had gotten way out of hand. The ground out there is very uneven, so I cannot mow it with the tractor or the Cub Cadet ZTR mower. And it only recently dried out enough that we need not fear getting stuck. But the Gator can handle that terrain, so we filled up the tank about half full and then drove out into the middle of overgrowth. I drove while my Beautiful Gal sprayed. After that we sprayed other areas where we had cleared out last year or earlier this year and the undergrowth had grown back.
Well, it's been awhile since I last mentioned the books that we have read recently, so I will do that now.
The Weather Machine - A Journey Inside the Forecast by Andrew Blum. We decided to read this book after enjoying reading about the National Weather Service in the book The Fifth Risk. The book explores the history of weather forecasting, along with the current developments. Currently the best weather forecasting system was developed by a European group of countries, whose goal is to remain the best forecasting system into the future.
Good and Mad - The Revolutionary Power of Women's Anger by Rebecca Traisten. My Beautiful Gal loved this book, while I was conflicted. The author's thesis is that women's anger in the past helped to improve the modern world -- black male suffrage, women's suffrage, child labor laws, etc. -- and can help improve the world some more. What caused my conflicting thoughts was that as a general rule I view anger as counterproductive, that we could accomplish more by trying to engage our opponents as equals. When I see just how much anger is already in our political discourse, I think we would be so much better off if we could treat each other with respect, instead of viewing our opponents as either ignorant, crazy, or evil. Yet there are times when anger is quite appropriate, such as for injustices by the strong against the weak. So even though I am conflicted about this book and its theme, I am glad I read it, as I have seen the viewpoint of someone I had not considered before. If a person only reads, listens, or watches books and shows that he or she already agrees with, he or she is not really learning anything. So considering other points of view is important.
Prisoners of Geography - Ten Maps That Explain Everything About the World by Tim Marshall. This book considers 10 different maps (actually, regions of the world) and the geography illustrated by those maps that help to explain so much of human history. Among the regions the author examines are Russia, China, the United States, Europe, Africa, South America, India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, the Middle East, and the Arctic Ocean (I can't remember the others). The different features of these regions, such as having navigable rivers (the US and Europe) or not (Africa), having mountains or not, narrow valleys making movement of armies difficult (Russia, eastern Europe), warm water ports or not (Russia), etc., have had tremendous effects on the different civilizations that sprung up there and on how susceptible the regions were to invasion by armies from other locations, or their invading other locations. Very interesting book.
Being Wrong - Adventures in the Margin of Error by Kathryn Shulz. This is a book about knowledge, beliefs, and our willingness to recognize or not when we have made mistakes, either in our actions or in our beliefs. She takes the position that we should not be embarrassed or ashamed when we make mistakes, but instead to seek to learn from them. She goes through the different ways that we can make mistakes, including optical illusions, sensory deceptions, mistakes in inductive reasoning, etc. She makes the point that we should not be so invested in our beliefs that we consider those beliefs as part of our identity, as that makes it much more difficult to recognize when we hold mistaken beliefs, as we have so much emotional investment in those beliefs. A very interesting and educational book.
Senile Texas Aggie
Bruce
Herd Master
Is the ground uneven due to rock/ledge or could you smooth it out with a landscape rake? Sure would be nice if you could mow it.
farmerjan
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@Senile_Texas_Aggie ; you mentioned that I should do a video, but since I am "back in the stone ages" as far as a flip phone and not having a digital camera.... that's not going to happen anytime soon. But you did mention about a video of "our Wyoming Life" and I have watched many of them on the computer. A couple that I found to be very realistic and a good example are The History of the Ranch, Our Arrival part 1; and for some of the real true to life nitty gritty of finances... Selling Calves at Auction, from Ranch to market.
That is the essence of the beef cattle world. We have more than 1 paycheck a year because we calve spring and fall, which gives us a little more flexibility on selling. Also, we have markets, 4 all within 50-75 miles that we can haul a 20-24 ft trailer of calves...12 to 20 at a time... No tractor trailers like they were hauling out of their ranch. Many markets for ranches out there are 3-6 hours away, or further.....so you make one trip when you get the calves up.
Those calves pulled off the cows are called "trailer weaned", or wet calves, or some other names to indicate they are pulled directly off the cows; as opposed to calves that are pulled off the cows, and fed separate for 30-90 days and sold as weaned calves. You need a place with very good fences to wean calves, and they will lose a little weight as they learn to eat at a "bunk" and not just getting milk and grass. There are different ways to do it and many farms in the east here do not have places to wean calves and hold them. Plus it is extra feed and there is no guarantee they will bring more money; although they often do bring .05 to .30 a pound more. But, again, it is not always enough to cover the trouble, feed and time that you have to hold them.
Note that they were talking about having to decrease the cow herd due to lower amounts of hay made and that there was not enough money to buy hay for yet another year. Which they had done for a couple of previous years. To drop their cow herd from 140 to 80 is going to really hurt the following year because that means there will be that many FEWER calves to be born, and that many less to sell the following fall.
That is the essence of the beef cattle world. We have more than 1 paycheck a year because we calve spring and fall, which gives us a little more flexibility on selling. Also, we have markets, 4 all within 50-75 miles that we can haul a 20-24 ft trailer of calves...12 to 20 at a time... No tractor trailers like they were hauling out of their ranch. Many markets for ranches out there are 3-6 hours away, or further.....so you make one trip when you get the calves up.
Those calves pulled off the cows are called "trailer weaned", or wet calves, or some other names to indicate they are pulled directly off the cows; as opposed to calves that are pulled off the cows, and fed separate for 30-90 days and sold as weaned calves. You need a place with very good fences to wean calves, and they will lose a little weight as they learn to eat at a "bunk" and not just getting milk and grass. There are different ways to do it and many farms in the east here do not have places to wean calves and hold them. Plus it is extra feed and there is no guarantee they will bring more money; although they often do bring .05 to .30 a pound more. But, again, it is not always enough to cover the trouble, feed and time that you have to hold them.
Note that they were talking about having to decrease the cow herd due to lower amounts of hay made and that there was not enough money to buy hay for yet another year. Which they had done for a couple of previous years. To drop their cow herd from 140 to 80 is going to really hurt the following year because that means there will be that many FEWER calves to be born, and that many less to sell the following fall.
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Senile_Texas_Aggie
Herd Master
There are few rocks out there. I have considered using my box blade to level it out, as I currently don't have a landscape rake. The problem is that the area can be muddy and boggy a good bit of the time. It wasn't until the start of August that it dried out completely, and by then the weeds had grown really high. But if I can kill off the weeds so that I can see the ground, I may get inand level it out some and then mow it.
I have watched almost all of their videos. (I usually skip the weekly roundup as they are a bit too long for my taste.) Having watched the ones you mentioned, I got a better idea of what you and your son go through in producing hay and raising cattle. I also watch the YouTube channel "North Texas Hay", where their only income is selling hay, mostly to stores that cater to horse owners. (There are a lot of horse ranches north of Dallas, where they are located.) So I watch these channels to see what you and others who raise hay and cattle go through. Still, I wish you would start a YouTube channel. All of your friends here on BYH would subscribe!
Senile Texas Aggie
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Senile_Texas_Aggie
Herd Master
All,
I need some advice regarding what to do with the western edge of my north pasture (the red area in the picture below):
The trees are not as dense as the picture makes them appear. It seems at one time that section endured a fire -- there are several standing tree trunks that are burned, and there are a lot of burned limbs on the ground. Several saplings are growing up. I have picked up a lot of burned limbs from the ground, some of which are buried in the ground. I would like to clear out that area enough to grow hay, or at least have it look a lot better than it does now. I figure that I can do one of two things: (1) slowly nibble away at it with my tractor and grapple (and chainsaw and pole saw as needed), or (2) hire a dozier to clear it out in a day or two. I am in no hurry to clear out the area, but maybe getting it all done at once would be worth it. I have never priced dozier work before so it may prove to be too expensive for my bank account. Have any of you hired doziers before? How much did they cost? Or maybe you might have suggestions regarding what to do with that area besides growing hay.
Comments?
Senile Texas Aggie
I need some advice regarding what to do with the western edge of my north pasture (the red area in the picture below):
The trees are not as dense as the picture makes them appear. It seems at one time that section endured a fire -- there are several standing tree trunks that are burned, and there are a lot of burned limbs on the ground. Several saplings are growing up. I have picked up a lot of burned limbs from the ground, some of which are buried in the ground. I would like to clear out that area enough to grow hay, or at least have it look a lot better than it does now. I figure that I can do one of two things: (1) slowly nibble away at it with my tractor and grapple (and chainsaw and pole saw as needed), or (2) hire a dozier to clear it out in a day or two. I am in no hurry to clear out the area, but maybe getting it all done at once would be worth it. I have never priced dozier work before so it may prove to be too expensive for my bank account. Have any of you hired doziers before? How much did they cost? Or maybe you might have suggestions regarding what to do with that area besides growing hay.
Comments?
Senile Texas Aggie
Mike CHS
Herd Master
It's different for every location but our guy gets $130 an hour and he doesn't have a minimum time. He said he's coming this week to fill our dry pond in and said it would take him most of the day. I was going to have him help knock out some of the fence line that I'm working on but can't do it since just on the CSX side of the property line is a drainage ditch that carries the majority of water away from the railroad tunnel. I doubt CSX would be happy with me if that ditch got filled in by the dozer.
Baymule
Herd Master
A bull dozer may be your best bet if there are large trees in there. They can be pushed up in winrows for burning. We hired one for property we used to have, but it was a neighbor across the street, so got a good deal.
Bruce
Herd Master
Dozer? What dozer?
I don't see a dozer. 
@Senile_Texas_Aggie I guess it depends on what you would be doing if you weren't clearing out the area. Do you enjoy taking down trees and brush or are you and your beautiful lady sick of doing that? Do you burn wood so the bigger trees are useful as firewood? If not do you know people who do? If you end up with a cord (for example) you could maybe sell it on Craigslist.
