So this spring has been the craziest one yet. With the extremely mild winter everything hit the ground growing at light speed the second week of march and hasn't stopped yet! This pushed all the spring work at work to full bore earlier than we ever have. This caused me to fall behind on everything here on the farm due to the extra work hours so early in the year. On top of the extra heavy workload we had a wet hot spring that added to the rapid plant growth which is good, but with very little windows to make hay it caused getting first cutting done to be a challenge.
My wife also started a new job this spring!!! She got an opportunity to try a totally different career that she is enjoying and is doing very well at! It is great to see her taking on a new challenge and enjoying it. I know she will do very well!
So, as I said, the weather has proved perfect for growing hay!!!! Here are a few pics of what it looked like this year.
This first picture was taken at eye level looking back at the tractor on the first pass in the field.
The rear view. As you can see the hay was up to the top of the tractor hood which is about 5" tall.
The thicker part of the field wasn't as tall because it was so thick and big that it actually fell over and kept growing. If it wouldn't have fallen over most of it would have been close to 6' tall. My wife and daughter were standing in one of the thick spots for reference.
Here is what it looked like once it was cut. laying down full swath the hay was 14"-18" thick.
After raking the rows were so thick that the typical left to right and back again swerving needed to make even round bales was not possible nor needed. This field made an average of 8.2 bales per acre on 45 acres to total 327 full size bales for first cutting. This is more hay in one cutting than we have gotten off of this field in two years combined.
Team work was greatly needed to get this done as well. As I was baling the landowner and his boys were hauling and wrapping the hay as fast as I was baling it. Even my brother was down a couple of times to help with keeping the wrapper going and helping the guys start new rows as needed.
A quick pic of the kids out in the pasture helping with checked for calves!
My daughter got two bulls calves to take as dairy beef feeders. One of them became very ill and didn't make it. The day after he passed I was feeding the cows and remembered that I had used a dairy bull to breed heifers last year. He was quite diligent in getting the job done and actually bred a couple of cows that were supposed to be bred by Legacy. After doing some checking I realized that out of my two milking shorthorn mothers, one of them got bred by the dairy bull and had a bull calf. The mother is milking shorthorn and the father is a Lineback. The combination is very pretty and because it is a cross breed there is great heterosis!! After talking to Lisa we decided to go ahead and tag him for her second calf. He is about three months younger than her other calf but since he is still eating off of his momma he should still make weight. All we need to do is figure out how to get him broke so a halter to show him!!! That will be coming soon as we want to get him tamed down and ready to go for the fair!
We had another very successful farm party this year as well!!! We had some where around 90 people this year and other than a little mac and cheese and some cake we were cleaned out of food!!! It was also a pleasure to have a very dear friend of mine out to visit the farm with his children. We haven't seen each other since shortly after he got married which was close to 10 years ago. We will have to make a trip out to see his place and see what all he is doing with his milking goats!!!
Due to this crazy busy spring we made it a point to take a break and meet up with two very dear friends of mine for a fishing trip. Richard and Ryan were up for our customer party and we hunt mushrooms together in the spring as well. He loves to fish and the kids and wife have been asking to go so we took a day and went!
After a day of bickering and whining the kids finally settled in and started actually fishing late in the afternoon. This turned out to be a great thing as they both caught their first fish entirely on their own!!!
Of course, Zeus was along for the fun...this was one of the few times he was just relaxing. The rest of the time he was all over the boat trying to be involved and begging for treats!!!
Even the captain of the boat needs a break to fish once in a while!
Moving from one cove to another hoping for better fishing.
Zeus knows who to go to when he wants some good hugs and kisses!! Ryan and him are best buddies!!!
This was one of the times we were changing coves and trolling for some bigger fish. We only got bluegill, one Croppie, and a couple of small bass but it was worth the trip just to relax for a day!!
If you ever get a chance to visit Leesville lake in Bowerston Ohio please do!! It is a beautiful lake and given the right time of year it produces some awesome fishing opportunities.
Ryan had the first fish of the day, a small bluegill. We ended up with 18 bluegill and one Croppie. Was just enough to have a small dinner but was very good eating. We will be doing this again soon!
I want to wrap up with a quick pic of Zeus from a couple of days ago. I don't think we could've picked a better dog to take over Daisy's roll here on the farm. He is very well tempered and loves everyone. He is loud when he needs to be and calm when needed as well. It is also great to come home to a pup who cannot wait to spend time with me. The other night just as I got home my wife called to say she wasn't able to get the milk replacer for a baby calf we are bottle feeding. Since I was already home I decided to see if Zeus wanted to ride along. He didn't even hesitate. The best part is he typically will sit in the passenger seat just like one of us and watch out the windows or he will lay down with his head on my lap!
He also doesn't miss a chance to go with me in the tractor either which has made this busy spring much more enjoyable in the tractor knowing someone is there to keep me company! We can't wait to take him to the ocean again now that he is grown up and knows what it is all about!!!
Have a great day everyone and sorry for the long span between posts. Hopefully I can find time to post a little more frequently throughout the rest of the year since first cutting is finally done and things are slowing down to a more reasonable pace!!
Kenny
