Harvest has finally begun

We had some timely rains and temperatures were cool when the crops were flowering (that helps with the yield).   So, the crops look pretty good.  Because of the cooler temps it has taken longer to get things to ripen and dry in order to harvest.  Patience.

We were finally able to get into the field.  We had about 200 acres of Yellow Peas to combine.  Ours ran about average while our son's ran better.  Guys got that all done.  They moved on to the Winter Wheat.  We are shut down now for a few days as we had some more rain.  It seems like the Winter Wheat is yielding pretty good but we have heard reports that the elevators don't even want to take it due to very poor quality.  I have not taken a sample of ours to the elevator to see how ours is.   The elevator (local business used to market our crop) has special equipment to test the quality of the grain.  Brett can see that there are some kernels with a bit of mold (Vomitoxin and Egret) which hurts the cash value of the crop considerably.

Combining the Winter Wheat

Another problem we have had concern about is the water.   Some of our sloughs (wet areas) have grown over the summer.   Usually they dry up and we then hay them in the fall.  Yes, we had quite a bit of rain this year.  Many of the rural roads are in poor condition due to so much water along them for so long - that softens the road bed.  There are concerns of how to get our equipment to fields and the crop hauled out of the fields.  

We found out just how wet one field was when the combine got stuck.  The operator was working his way back to the trucks to unload the hopper (location on combine to store grain) when he got too close to the edge of a slough.  The water had come up so far that you can't even see the edge as the wheat is standing in water.

 

A couple of looks at the tires in mud.  It doesn't look too bad.  

However, when you realize that there is about 15,000 pounds (abt 250 bushels) of Winter Wheat in the hopper and, since this was on a side hill, that had slid down to the lower side, we have a problem.

So, we got a truck to back up alongside the back of the combine.  We could then unload some of the grain from the hopper.   After doing this twice, we were able to pull the combine out using one of our tractors.

Successful pull

And it was back to harvesting - after eating our dinner which was now cold!  We finished that field and moved on to the next one.   The day ended with a break down on the combine and more rain.

Sounds of the Night Shift

Back in the 'old days' - before Facebook & blogging - I used to send out emails to family and friends during my 3 AM cattle checks.  I would report on the previous few days or the weather or whatever was on my mind (& sometimes it didn't make any sense because I was too tired but HAD to stay up!).  Since Facebook, I have not done that very much.  So, I thought it was time to report again!  

The sounds on my shift tonight were so pleasant that I just have to share about them.

First, I wake up to the radio playing "I'll by Missing You".   So, that song is stuck in my head as I walk around checking the cattle.   (Lucky for all, I don't sing it out loud!)

First step out of the door of the house and I hear the jingling dog tags on Odie.  There is no wind which is perhaps one of my favorite sounds.   The sound of NO wind that is.  The temp is about 30 above so there is only a slight bit of ice on any water that had been running during the day.  The mud has just a little crunch to it from freezing on the top layer.  A train is heard off in the distance.  I walk down a little hill to check the heifers (those who have never had a calf before).  Clang, clink, clunk.  The sound of taking the chain off and on to get through the gate.  I hear, and see, a few 'girls' chewing on some hay.  Others chewing their cud.  Ahh, the sweet sound of a new momma resting with her baby as if to say, "Look at my baby, isn't it the best?".  She has the nicest, softest little "Moo" - almost like a whisper so not to wake the baby, but enough to get my attention.

The rustling of straw as I walk around the pen of heifers.  They sure have settled down since I started this shift the end of February!  Then they would get up and run, now I could snuggle right in with them!

A flock of geese must be flying over as I can hear the 'honking'.    I just hope they are headed north.

I crawl over the fence (there may or may not be a couple of human noises here) and climb up the hill to check on one lone cow.  Heavy panting sounds from the overweight human are heard.   Again, the quiet moo of a new momma cow.  Back down the hill, crunching ice as I cross the little stream of water.  Do you hear the babbling?   There is a little waterfall here too.

Up a little hill, over another fence and further up a hill.  Yes, the human is panting again!  Oops, a little calf is running around without the cow nearby.  It says hello, "Moo" in it's little voice then comes over to me.  "I am not your mom.  Go find your mom.", I tell the calf.  It is a cute little Hereford baby.

I climb through the feed manger and walk to the Jeep.  A bit of crunching of the thin ice and slightly frozen mud can be heard.  I can also hear two owls visiting with each other.  "Who-who-Who" followed by "Who".  (I never hear the 't' sound so I think they say 'who' not 'hoot'!)

Crunk, Bang.  The sound of the Jeep door opening (it has a few dings in it so the door hits the fender when you open it.).  Click.  rattle.  Click.  It won't start.  clunk.  (put it Neutral)  Vroom!  (okay, not really, but you know what I mean - the thing started!)  The crunching sounds of the ice bits again.  Roll down the window.   Now the crunching sounds of driving on a gravel road.   Banging around trying to get the spot light out the window - and plugged in to the lighter spot.  I drive along slowly using the spot light to check the cattle as I drive the half mile to the north.  I really don't hear much except the gravel and an occasional cow talking.  (Lucky for me, tonight I didn't even hear the coyotes.   Guess they were happy about no wind too.)

I turn around and come back home.  Tonight I leave the window down on the drive back too as it is so nice out.  I take time to enjoy the lights of Minot Air Force Base, the glow of the lights from the city of Minot and the dark sky so full of stars.  

Back in the yard, two dogs are excited to see me.  They growl and play with each other.  Their dog tags are jingling.  The third dog is waiting at the door.   They all want in the house.   "It is too nice outside.  You guys stay out."  *sounds of scooping dog food*  (I don't know how to describe that!)   clink, clink, clink as the dog food is put into three dishes outside.    Water is running to fill their water dish.  I need to tell them, "no", as I come into the house because Rufus still wants to come in.

There you have it.  The sounds from my cattle check.  It is so nice to have beautiful weather - with NO wind.

June 2 and everything is WET

Last evening a neighbor called sharing concern about the township roads.  Mark is on the township board so he is one to call.  Anyway, we visited a little and he told me that some of the roads in nearby townships have water going over them.   Well, it has been wet and just Thursday and Friday we did get 3.5 inches of rain so I went for a drive after mowing the lawns this afternoon.

About 1/2 mile south of us the water is just starting to go over the road.

 

The two puddles on the edge of the road are where the water is starting to go over the road.  Something very interesting to me in this photo are the objects that are white and look like flowing gauze.  They are actually spider webs!  They are all the way along the road/water here.  I have never seen such a thing before.  They did just flow in the breeze and were quite large.  The spiders were pretty small.

 

 

Here is a closer look at the webs (as they are wrapped around a twig):

 

 

Back to the water...  This is at the neighbors looking toward the Wilcox trees.  This is the third time this year that this trail has flooded.  We were able to use it (with 4X4 only) to get to our field west here; however, no machinery could have used it.  Now, it is flooded again.  UGH!

 

 

 

Then I went to some of our land that we call the Hammond Place.  (I think all farmers have names for their land - usually named after prior owners.)  I found more water over the road.  I parked my vehicle and walked toward it.  I did not know if a jet was flying over or if the water was roaring.  It was indeed the water!   The water was coming through the culvert so fast that it was foaming!  You can see it was not a long fall for the water but it sure had the sound of an awesome waterfall.

 

For some of the family:  this is the big slough in the SW corner of the former CRP  (looking toward David Schwede's former place). 

 

 

It has run over and joined up with all of the other Hammond Sloughs'.  (The only way I'd get a photo of that is if I was in a plane.)  Here is where it is coming to the road.  It goes over the road just to the right of the photo.

 

 

(This is especially for you Ken!)

 

 

Planting came to a halt for us early Thursday morning.  The rain started and did not stop until Friday afternoon totalling about 3.5 inches.  We are about 2/3 done with getting our crop in.  Sadly, there is a very good chance of rain for Monday-Thursday this week.  We will see what happens but it could mean that we will not get any more seeded.

 

 

Spring finally Sprung! (and Week 18: Andy)

I am happy to report that we finally have spring.  We thought we might have slept through it!  We had about 5 good days in the field and boy were we busy!  Mark got all of our peas planted.  This is our first year of raising field peas.  We have about 200 acres of them. 

Yellow Field Pea Seed

After we finished the peas, we started planting canola.  Mark & Brett have taken turns running the air seeder.  There is plenty else to do.  Brett has a sprayer that needs to be fixed and gotten ready so he has spent quite a bit of time doing that.  I shared a little about seeding last year.

Once we started planting canola, I got more involved in the spring planting season.  It is my job to pull Anhydrous Ammonia (NH3) tanks to town to get them filled and return them to the field.  NH3 is used to add nitrogen to the soil. 

Andy waiting for the NH3 tank to be filled.

Christopher just finished breeding about 50 heifers using Artificial Insemination (AI).  He goes through about a three step process to get them all to cycle (come in heat) at the same time.  I helped him get the cattle in to work them but he had to do the inseminating.  I understand he wants to breed some of the cows too.  I don't think I've ever written about this so I should follow him around with a camera next time.  He will not like that! We artificially breed the heifers (female cows who have never had a calf) to better control the birth weight of their calves.  We AI our registered (purebred) Polled Hereford cows to help improve the genetics in our herd.

Our seeding came to a halt on Saturday due to fog and mist.  By Sunday morning we had a full fledged rain.  Since about 10:30 Sunday morning until this afternoon (Monday) we have had nearly three inches of rain.  It has been a beautiful rain for our pasture grasses.  We must now be patient for the soil to dry so we can finish seeding.

Week 17/52: Dental day and Calving 2013 (Part 2)

This week Mark asked me if I realize that Andy is NOT human!  Well, duh, of course I know that but it is way more fun to treat him kind of like a human.  My guys just laugh at me and this Andy photography project that I have going this year.  I think they should just be happy they are not the subject on a weekly basis!

Great news since last week's post - we've had warmth and sunshine.  I glanced over at the park on my way from church on Sunday and noticed the snow was almost all gone!  That would make Andy happy.  Yes, I plan to have a photo of him playing - oops, pretending to play - there this summer.

That same sunshine and warmth melted snow around our place too.  Today the wind is blowing about 50 miles per hour so that will dry things out too - except for when the snow falls.  Yes, we had a few mini blizzards today (and I don't mean the Dairy Queen kind of blizzard).

Calving has been steady.  It will start slowing down now but we have had good luck for the most part.  We've had 5 sets of twins born - with only one of the 10 dead.  Twins really are a pain since most cows do not produce enough milk for two calves to grow the way we'd like them to.  We have found foster cows for one twin from each set.  These foster cows might have had a calf born dead or for whatever reason it died later.  Because the cow was still producing milk, we put one of the twins on her.  This process is not always easy, but we got lucky this year.  We are just over 80% done calving so have about 40 cows left to calve.

Back to Andy ...

Andy went along with me to the dentist recently.  Dr. Maercklein tried to take a little look - but you can see how that went! 

Week 9/52: Andy & the blizzard

We have been warned about an incoming storm so had been doing things to prepare.  We tucked a young momma and her twin calves into the barn, put extra straw into the barns so there is a nice, comfy spot for the cattle to lay and tried to mentally prepare for trudging through deep, blowing snow.  (Okay, my guys did the first two things and I did the last!)

The storm didn't come quite as soon as expected but the weather folks were correct about the storm a-comin'.  By the time I went out to see if there were any new calves at 3 AM it was snowing and starting to blow.  When I went out again at 6, it was really blowing.  I had sent a text to Christopher and told him to stay home (he lives in our little nearby town).  He usually is out here at 5 or 6 AM to check cattle but today I asked that he stay put at least until daylight.  He & Paige came out later to tend to their horses and help with cattle chores.  The visibility actually kept getting worse.  Sometimes we can see quite a distance, but the ground drifting is terrible making the roads bad.  Plus, it is very hard to see the edges of the roads when everything is white and moving.  Brett had to help Christopher & Paige get "unstuck" a couple of times after they decided they had better get back home.  After Brett was back home, he said, "I watched for the fences to find the road."  He made sure he could see the fence in either ditch but even that was tricky sometimes.  Anyway, everybody got to their respective destinations safely.

Andy went to see the blizzard and didn't even get the screen door open when he found this.

Guess that is what happens then the wind is blowing straight at the door.  Lucky for us the inside door is tight!

I went to the other door and could hardly get the screen door open.  Here are a couple of photos from that door (I wasn't going out into this mess unless I had to). 



















 

The visibility in the yard isn't too bad right now.  Heck, we've had blizzards so bad that we couldn't see the barn. 

COLD

We are having quite a cold snap here in northern Dakota.  Last night the overnight low was something near minus 35 degrees.  Today's high was about minus 5 degrees.  Tonight it could be about minus 20.  Now these are air temps, any bit of wind makes the wind chill (feels like temp) worse.  Last night they said the wind chill was about minus 55-60 degrees Fahrenheit.

Since we are calving now we need to be walking through the cattle herd occasionally.  When it is this cold we are checking every two hours.  What are we checking for?  Well, we are looking for newborn calves or females showing signs of labor.  If there is a fresh calf we need to get the cow/calf pair into the barn and put the calf in a specially built box with a heater so we can warm the little "guy" up.  If they are too cold they could freeze off part or all of their ears or tail or even have damage to their hooves/feet  OR  they could die.  If a female is showing signs of labor then we try to get her into the barn so she has her calf inside (saving moving a calf and it is warmer).  If anything is calving (in labor), then we check on them more frequently until they have their calf.

During the average temps, we will check every 3-4 hours and I take the middle of the night check (about 3 AM).  With this weather, we are taking turns checking.  Tonight (rather tomorrow AM) I will be checking at 3 & 5.  I usually take the night shift because it is easier for me to get back to sleep AND because the men are busy with other chores during the day while I can (hopefully) catch a nap.

I have written about my night checks before in case you are interested in my experience/thoughts from a previous year.

The Fotos by Friends group that I am in has a photo topic of  'Cold' this week.  I thought I would share a couple of the photos that I took that fit the topic.

Here are a bunch of horses.  Some of them have moved here from southern USA so they are not yet accustomed to the cold.  Paige will put a coat on them to help keep them warm.  The ones without coats have lived in the north country forever so they are already toughened up!!

I like the turtle shell coat on this one!  It makes me smile every time I see it.  You can see we have been getting snow during this cold snap too as it has settled onto the backs of the horses.

She who is not ready

Okay, so I live in North Dakota, I know it is winter AND I know it gets cold in a North Dakota winter.  But I have become a wimp!! 

The forecast on the morning of Wednesday, January 30, 2013

It is the time of year when we need to start checking our cattle more closely.  You see, it is calving time (or will be within the next week or so).  At this time of year we try to check the calving herd every four hours or so.  It is a little early for this yet, but the weather has taken a turn for the worse and sometimes those calves start dropping!  Christopher checked the heifers (cows who are expecting their first calf) around midnight.  He knew we were still awake so he called to ask if I would check between 2-3 because one of the heifers was acting odd.  "Sure," I told him and set the alarm. 

Well, you need to know that I have been quite spoiled these last couple of years.  Our sons are here full time so I don't need to go out to help with chores and repairs very often.  It has always been my job to check the cows in the middle of the night during calving season, but I just was not ready for it yet.  Because I haven't been going out to help with the outdoor side of our business, I have not gotten my nice warm boots out of their summer hibernation.  I've yet to purchase a nice warm pair of gloves for the season.  AND, I certainly had not prepared myself mentally for all of this!  Oh, and to top it all off, the weatherman reports that tonight is the coldest night we have had in two years.  GREAT and I am going out into this. 

I think most people are like me.  Getting up in the middle of the night, getting dressed and going out in minus 50 degree (F) wind chill is not your idea of a good time.  It is hard to wake up and focus ... until you open the door!!  WOW!  Talk about take your breath away.   (Now remember, I have not gathered my winter work gear.) 

Without my long johns, coveralls, warm boots and gloves, I am in for trouble.  I borrow someone's gloves since they lay by the door (the ribbing around the wrist is still damp from sweat).  I slip on my coat (without a working zipper for years) and snap it closed best it will do.  I put on my old sneakers  (remember, my warm boots are still hibernating and, lucky for me, there is hardly any snow) and stocking cap.  Off I go - first to the pickup to find the flashlight.  The pen of cattle that I need to check are in our yard so the dogs and I go walk around them to see if anything is calving.  (Oh the wind is COLD.)  We wander around each group of girls as they are snuggled in their little groups to keep warm.  (My legs are freezing.)  Wander. Wander (don't trip on frozen cowpies).  Good, everything looks okay.  We head back to the house.  (My legs and face are stinging from the cold.)  Into the house.  (I can't see a thing, dumb glasses fog up.)  Dogs are happy - so am I.  Now, do I go straight back to bed and snuggle my COLD body up to hubby to get warm (and risk waking him)?  Nope.  I need to find the charger to get that flashlight charged again.  Dang, where did I put that thing after last calving season?  Found it.  Need something to drink ... ahhh, a nice glass of chocolate milk.  Better write about this experience.  (Here I am.) 

Life on the ranch.  It is the best even if it is the coldest night in two years and I am not ready to go out into it at 2:30 AM.   Best place/job in the world.

Now, off to bed.

Winter Wonderland

We have had numerous days of snow and/or fog.  As I look out the window I see many images resembling Christmas Cards.  My guys remind me it might look nice from this angle; however, it is cold outside! 

Here are some photos of what we can see...

looking south from our mailbox

  

This photo is a macro of some snow.  After I loaded the pictures onto my camera and noticed that the little bit of sunlight we had was lighting one individual snowflake.

After our vehicle sat outside through a couple of snowy, windy days I got into the driver's seat and found this view!  I liked the layers and imperfect lines.

Frost on our kitchen window

Done

Just wanted to post a quick note to let you know that the crop is all planted.  This year the crops are:  canola, barley, Hard Red Spring Wheat, Corn (probably all silage corn) and sweet clover (which we won't be able to hay until next year). 

The alfalfa is getting close to blooming so it will be time to get the haying equipment ready.  Most of the cattle are out to pasture, but we still have to work the calves (brand and vaccinate them).

There is always plenty to do.  Today, Mark & I are off on a road trip to deliver some recycled plastic fence posts to Kulm, ND.  We will be back home tonight.  In the meantime, the "boys" will take care of the livestock!   It is supposed to rain for a few days now so I hope that we can all get a little rest!

Another day, another rain

As stated in my last post, not much seeding is getting done thanks to the rain.  Since the last rain (last post), Brett covered the tillable acres on one quarter.  It was planted to Hard Red Spring Wheat (HRSW or just "wheat").  Now, early Sunday morning we got another 1.1 inches of rain.  Mark wonders if the rain gauge drain hole is just above the 1.1 inch mark since that is the amount of the last two rains!

The rain has allowed us the time needed to tend to the cattle.  The A.I.ing (Artificially Inseminating) is done for this season.  Christopher must have artificially bred nearly 100 head.  This process takes working with each female three times.  We do a lot of our breeding this way to help improve the genetics of our herd.  It is much cheaper than buying expensive bulls to do the same job, but is labor intensive compared to letting the bull just do his own business.  We hope to see many healthy AI calves next spring.

Spring seeding

We are at the half way mark with seeding/planting here.  Brett does the seeding.  He has all of our canola and barley done.  He started the wheat today.  He has also fertilized the corn ground.  We still have all of our wheat (& possibly flax) to seed.  Also, we have corn to plant.

Here the guys are filling the air seeder cart with barley seed (one is watching the grain cart and one is on the ground to shut things down when it is full).  The semi has the barley seed which is augered up into the cart (yellow thing).  This cart has two compartments - one for seed and one for dry fertilizer.  The white tank here has Anhydrous Ammonia (NH3).  NH3 is nitrogen (fertilizer) for the soil .  I take these tanks into town to have them filled many times a season!  The John Deere (green) tractor runs the jump auger.  We use the jump auger to move the grain from the semi trailer to the auger that fills the grain cart. 

Brett is turning on the NH3 (Anhydrous Ammonia) tank as he prepares to start seeding.

Here he goes!  The implement in front of the grain cart is the part that actually puts the seed and fertilizer into the ground.  There are many hoses and tubes used to move the seed & fert to their proper locations in the soil.  We have had our soil tested so we know how much dry fertilizer and NH3 to add to it so it should be able to produce the best crop yield possible.

The above photos were taken a few days ago.  I just have not had time to post until this evening.  Here is why I now have time:

This evening around 6 pm the rain started.  Around 6:30 it started to hail.  Here is a sampling of what we got.  There is a teaspoon there to help see the size of the hail.  This could wreck havoc with the crops that  have started to grow.  We don't think it will hurt any of our crops, but our neighbors have some really nice winter wheat that could be damaged.   We also received a little over 1 inch of rain in about 1 hour.  So, we will not be in the field for a few days.  However, our neighbors who live about 2 miles south of us only got .25 inch of rain.  So, we hope we can seed our land near their place quicker than the stuff here at home.

Linking to Farm Photo Friday

A few other animals on the Ranch

We have had such awesome weather here in north central NoDak.  Our average high temp this time of year is around 36*F and we have been in the mid-70's!!  Around midnight we had a thunder storm!  In March, in NoDak?  Yes!!  Then when I checked cows around 3:30 AM, the stars were out bright and the temp was 50.  It is so nice to have all of this great weather.

We had a set of twins born a few days ago.  We brought them up to the barn so we could make sure they were both eating and doing okay - and they are.  One was a bit weak, so part way home the men loaded her up in the little pickup and I gave her a ride to the barn. 

This calf is a Charolais cross.  In this case, the mother is a black white-face cow (Hereford/Angus cross).  She was bred by a Charolais bull.  We will sell this calf in mid-January.  She will make awesome steaks for someone!

Meet Mavis.

Our son and his girlfriend own this mule.  She hangs out with their horses.  Mavis likes to be petted and will follow us around when possible.  She is supposedly saddle broke, but so far no one here has dared to find out!!  I was hoping she would be in the pasture with the cows and new calves.  They say mules will help keep the coyotes away and we have way too many coyotes around here.  Coyotes will kill & eat a young calf so they are a concern.

Night Checks

I just have to write about my night checks.  This year we have been blessed with AWESOME weather here in north central NoDak.  After the past three tough winters, we think we deserve this!!  The average high temperature in March here is about 35* F.  This week that is about the overnight low. 

When we are calving we like to check on the cows about every 4 hours.  Sometimes it is more if we see something calving or looking like she might be.  During the evening, night and early morning hours we have assigned times by assigned people.  My check is around 3:30 AM.  I  just got in from checking.  Nothing was calving but it takes a few minutes to unwind so I thought I'd share about this experience.  

Tonight, when I was walking around the heifer pen (those about to have their first calf), I thought, "I sure am lucky.  Few others have this opportunity - nor would they want it!"  There is no wind, the temp is right around freezing, and there are a zillion stars in the sky.   Ahhh, peace & quiet.  Oh, and there is the sound of a few cows crunching on some hay, geese flying over and a yearling bull wondering why someone is walking around with a bright light in the middle of the night.  (Plus the sound of an overweight gal mucking her way up the hill!!)  My favorite thing on this shift is to lean against a big ol' post, listening to the babbling brook that goes through our cattle yard and look at the stars - or, if I'm really lucky, the northern lights.  This spring the brook only babbled for a couple days.  Now the snow is gone, so the water quit running.   Yes, many people think I am crazy because I don't mind this shift but tonight, and others like this, make it all worthwhile.

Now if I would have posted a report about night checks last winter it would have been a whole different story.  Moving around in 3 foot of snow is not easy for anyone, although the calf sled pulls better on snow than mud.  But even with all that snow, a nice quiet night like this, with no wind and fairly comfortable temperatures, it is wonderful to be a rancher.