Pouring concrete in the new building, a new baby calf, and a special interview for my EPRI/AFT project from last year!

Another busy weekend has passed and rolled right into a very busy week!  New concrete, new calf, and some new updates to the EPRI project from last summer!

We poured concrete Saturday morning.   I started at 5am with making sure the driveway was cleared out, grades were as close as I could get them and we were ready for the concrete.  Short of some little tweaks here and there I was pretty close with everything.

First truck arrived at 7:30 am.  We barely got the wire down and the two form boards that we needed set and he was ready to unload.  I am posting some random pics of the pour so that those who have never done this before can see a little of what is involved.  

I used a trench drain so that the floor could be evenly sloped from all corners and would also be much easier to clean as the space you are washing into is much larger than a small square or circular drain.  It also drains out the end so if something falls in it is not lost forever!  You will also notice that it is pinned in tight and also tied into with rebar and wire.  You pour the concrete under to lock it all together so it is one piece.  If you do not get the concrete to encase it well enough the concrete will break around the drain and fail.

Above the guys are getting the concrete spread and close to finish grade so it can be screeded of with the screed board.  To set the screed level you float the edges to the proper height and then using a long board you hand screed (scrape with the board) the concrete to finish grade.  After screeding to grade you use a large float to make it smooth and let it set for a while till hard enough to support some weight.

Once the concrete has set enough to support some weight they guys slide out on it on special kneeling pads to finish it off.  I wanted the shop floor smooth but not like glass so they troweled it one time to make it smooth but leave just a little roughness so you don't slip when it is wet.

The front apron has a broom finish so it is much more coarse so you don't slip if wet, dirty, or snowy.  This picture was taken just after everything was done and the guys were packing to leave.  Total time start to finish was about 3 hours total concrete was 14 yards.  It went very fast!

We always have to date our pours and so everyone got to put a hand print in.  If you look closely we had friends over for the day and their daughter got to put her print in with everyone else.  You may also notice that my sons print seams a little strange!  That is because he was upset for some reason and when he put his hand print in he tried to grab a wad of concrete so it is more of a claw print!  He will be able to tell his kids about that one!

Here is a good pic showing the finished floor inside and the broom finish outside.  

The last picture is of the back of the new building where the new feed area for the feeder pigs will be.  The new feed pad will be between the buildings.  The rest of the concrete I used to create a permanent swale so be sure the water goes away from the barn instead of into it.  Where the concrete is is also where the pigs liked to make a mud hole and would back the rain water up till it ran into the barn.  This will stop that from happening! 

Our last calf of the 2015 calving season has finally arrived.  Frosty had a beautiful little black baby girl over night Saturday night into Sunday morning.  

Lastly, those of you who do follow the blog will remember the large expansion project I did last year that included a buffer strip to control runoff, a heavy use feed pad, and a lot of fencing to keep the cattle out of the stream that our farm is named after.  This was funded through a program that is being research by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI).  They are partnered up with American Farmland Trust and together are trying to develop a nutrient trading program to allow for power companies to offset their emissions at their plants by helping install and maintain pollution sources upstream from their plants.  

There were several projects in the trial run but only four of them were selected to be a part of their campaign and for more study into the affects of the project.  We are one of those four selected projects and I had the honor of being interviewed for their future presentation of the results.  I also was able to show them personally the results of the project and how it has helped us and those around us.  

Power plants are a major source of pollution that is generated while creating the electric power that feeds our society and makes the simplest things in life, like running water and lights, possible.  For many years there have been large advances and upgrades in controls to minimize this pollution source.  However, at a given point, the return on investment is so small compared to the cost that it just doesn't make any impact.  "The law of Diminishing Returns!"  So, what is being researched and developed is a system for the power industry to be able to invest that money into other pollution sources in the agriculture industry to offset those emissions.  The return on investment in the agriculture sector is enormous per dollar spent compared to the same money spent at the power plant.  

A huge side affect of this program is an increased standard of living and quality of life for farmers who are part of the program as well as the animals and family fed by those farms.  Personally this project allowed me to be able to expand our farm to be able to support more families with the food they need without negatively affecting the environment that feeds us all.  Furthermore, because of the systems we had help installing we are also able to provide a much better quality of life for the animals we are raising here on the farm.   

  

If you have never heard of this or want to learn more please visit their website and learn what you can do to be a part of a solution to a world wide problem.  

http://wqt.epri.com

I also encourage you to check out American Farmland Trust who is teamed up with EPRI and has been the group directly working with our local extension agency and other agencies to get this out to the agriculture sector to see if it can work.  

Have a wonderful week everyone and I will be sure to let you know when the video is ready for viewing!!!!

Kenny

New building updates

Hello!  A couple of weeks have passed already since my last post.  Things are moving fast and I haven't had time to stop to do anything other than sleep at night!  The building walls are up and I am prepping for concrete.  I installed the footer drains last weekend and waterproofed the north wall and parts of the east and west walls where needed.  

I am installing a trench drain in the center of the building floor.  This will allow for a nice even slope all the way around the drain from all corners.  It is also much easier to wash a floor with a long trench drain than it is to wash one with a circular drain.  

I have man doors on the east and west walls of the building.  There are windows on the west, north, and east walls.  The south wall is solid because it faces the barn.  You can see in the picture below the waterproofing on the wall on the corner.

Just as the sun was setting I finished my stone wall to hold the hillside back the hill from the door.  Because I moved the building over it pushed it into the hill more so I needed to put in a quick retaining wall to hold the hill up.  I will get a better pic in the day light when we pour concrete!

This is going to be the new pig feeding area.  I have always struggled with a good way to wean and feed the feeder pigs away from the sows.  This year I am planning on switching the boar lot to the new feeder lot to wean piglets and feed them during the nasty winter months.  They will need to sleep in the boars nest till they are fully weaned.  By then I will hopefully have my new height restriction build that will allow just the feeder pigs into this lot and only they will have access to this feeding area making it easier to give them access to the extra buttermilk without having to compete with the big pigs!  I will let you know how this turns out!  I have roughly 5 days to figure out what posts I want and get them installed before the concrete is poured!  I may have to leave myself a couple of holes or get creative if I don't figure it out quickly!

Another upgrade is a drain line for the new building with tie ins for all the downspouts for the new gutters.  I also ran a new water line down to where the headlock is at so I can use it to water animals if I pen them up in the shed for something without having a hose laying down the driveway.  

Here you can see all the new drains and the water line tying into the new building.

I know I didn't get any good pics of the building yet but I promise I will get some better ones this week.  I was much too busy hurrying to get things done before the weekend was gone to stop for pics!  Hope everyone had a great weekend and I hope this week is a smooth one.  We finally got some good rain this weekend and I am starting to see my newly seeded hay fields slowly starting to sprout.  I hope all the seed made it through the drought!

Goodnight everyone,

Kenny

Purchased a lamb at the fair and a slightly large project going on here at the farm!

The Stark County Fair was last week.  We took the kids to go see the 4-H animals sell and to see my cousins's daughters sell their lambs.  We were lucky enough to be able to buy one of them at the fair!!  They did very well and I cannot wait to have some lamb chops soon!  We will also be inviting them down for a meal of leg of lamb as well!

The big project I have going on is building a new building between the driveway and the barn.  It will house the tanks that I store the buttermilk in as well as give me shop space to park equipment to work on during the winter when I have time.  Until now everything has had to be repaired outside in the driveway or the yard which is not very desirable when the weather is not good.  It also leads to a lot of lost small parts due to falling in the gravel or the grass.  

The first step was to level the site and move my White Spruce that I planted several years ago.  

It was actually bigger than the tractor.  I took it up on the hill next to where the new house will go in a few years and planted it where it will provide some blocking of undesirable views from the new house.  We decided to leave the feed bin in place and install a feed pad directly behind it to feed the buttermilk and feed supplement to the pigs that we feed out.  This area used to be the boar lot.  However, in the harsh winter month this will become the feeder lot since they will not go out much when the temps are very cold anyway.  The boar will get to sleep with the cattle and the sows will have their lot and all the pens.  This will allow for weaning of piglets while feeding out older pigs as well.  

I am having JC masonry do the walls of the building for me.  The walls will be all concrete block.  This will be stronger in the long run and much more durable than wood.  I can also paint it and be able to wash it and not have to worry about moisture rotting out the walls down the road.  

There will be 3-5 windows, 2 man doors, and one 12'wide x 11' tall garage door.  This will allow me to fit all the different size equipment in the shed without having to worry about hitting the roof.  I am trying to remember to take pictures from the same two spots every day so I can show the change from start to finish.  However, just like usual, I get so excited to get started that I never remember to take a picture before I start any work at all.  Now I have to go back and find an older picture of the area from last year for the starting picture!  My wife was on it a little quicker than me and took some pictures just after I started digging.  

One last item that had a much needed upgrade was my bale feeder.  I have a bunk feeder that I have had for about 8 years now and I also have a Klene Hay Saver Pipe feeder, Model C-7.  I have used it for two years and I absolutely love it.  However, I have outgrown the C-7 as it is 7'x7' and can only hold one bale at a time. So, I upgraded to a C-12.  This is a 7'x12' feeder that I can fit 3 bales into snugly extending the interval of filling the feeder.  I have gone from feeding one bale every 4-6 days to 7-8 cattle to feeding 2-3 bales/day to 50+ cattle.   I actually need two of these feeders but with the building project the budget is super tight right now.  So, unless we can sell both old feeders and sell some cattle at some favorable prices this fall, it looks like I will have to use this feeder and my old bunk feeder for another winter! 

With pulling the bulls off the pasture in the winter and separating them from the herd I was able to set the breeding date for approx 95% of the females.  I released the bulls on June 30th which will put most of my calving from mid March till the middle of April provided everyone is bred.  This means I can have a herd check in the first week of October to see who is bred.  Now, because of the herd size I can start to sell any of the cattle who do not produce the best calves and be more selective in who I have on the farm.  This will also create some much needed income to offset my large building project.  

Hope everyone is enjoying the end of summer and beginning of autumn.  The leaves are getting close to changing and I am seeing the birds start to group up for the flight down south.  Sometimes I wish I could go with them for a winter!  Before you know it it will be cold and snowing.  I don't even want to think about it!

Goodnight everyone! 

Kenny

We are back from Vacation and back to the GRIND!

We took our annual vacation trip this year to the Outer Banks North Carolina the first part of August.  Before I left it was very dry and it was supposed to rain while we were gone so Scott and I hurried to get everything seeded and the hay made so it would all be ready for rain. 

Since the hay fields were nine years old and were declining quite badly I decided to kill them off and reseed this year.  We made oats in early summer and have been waiting for it to dry out to seed the field back down.  It rained for almost 7 weeks straight and then it shut off and hasn't come back since!  I am seeding in a new batch of orchard grass, clover, alfalfa, and fescue.  This should produce almost double the tonnage per acre that my previous mix of grass and clover did and will be a much much higher quality hay crop.   Now we just need some RAIN!!!!!

Seeding fields down with Alfalfa, orchard grass, clover, and tall fescue.

The one share crop field I kept for this year is the same seed mix that I just seeded at home.  We made third cutting on it the night before we left for the south.  That was some super beautiful hay!   We will be able to sell for a premium price this winter if the drought conditions continue.  No one could make dry hay in the spring and most people just waited till the rains quit.  Since we feed beef cattle and have a market for silage hay we went ahead and stuck to our schedule and made the hay mid May, end of June, and now we have perfect third cutting in August.   Everyone who had to wait made dry very old first cutting in July and is currently waiting for second cut, which if we don't get any rain, will never grow.   Flexibility is one of the main keys to survival and success.  There is always a way to get to where you want to go, it just may be a path most are not willing/able to take.

Square baling selfie!

To get to Frisco NC we drive down to Swan Quarter and Ferry across the sound to Ocracoke Island.  From there we drive up the island and take the next ferry to Hatteras Island and drive up to Frisco. We were fortunate to have a new ferry this year.  It had only been in use for three years and was very nice.  The kids greatly enjoyed the ride as well.  

NC Ferry from Swan Quarter to Ocracoke Island

After we got to the campgrounds we set up camp and headed to the beach.  I get a beach pass every year so we can drive on the beaches.  That way we can go early in the morning, pick a spot, and stay the day.  We cook lunch at the beach so we don't have to leave unless we want to go somewhere else!  We did manage to catch a couple of fish but the fishing this year was bad so there wasn't much to get.  We did however catch several crabs of pretty good size and a bucket of Clams.  We learned how to clam from a local guy named Eddie.  He and his wife own and operate A.S. Austins in Hatteras and are both wonderful and very helpful people!  The kayak you see in the picture is from his store.  I cannot wait to go back again and learn even more off of him and try out some new stuff.  Thank you very much Eddie for your friendship and your kindness and hospitality.  I look forward to seeing you again during our next trip!

Parked on the beach outside Frisco NPS campground on Hatteras Island NC.

This was our third trip to the outer banks.  Every time has been quite different in conditions and experiences.  There is secluded beach near the ferry dock in Hatteras that we refer to as Sunset Beach.  It is the perfect spot to watch the sunset.  We have been trying several times every trip to see a perfect sunset and it has always clouded up, including the first two times we went this trip.  

So, our last night on the island we decided to try one last time.  We also went to catch crabs and some more clams as well.  We were successful with all three!!!!  The sunset was perfect and we dined on our catches from the day as we watched the sun fall into the water.  The perfect ending to a wonderful trip.  I learned so much this time and I cannot wait to go back and learn some more.  My goal one day is to be able to go more than just a few days a year!  It would be nice to make the trip two times in a summer.  There is so much to do and see and learn that 5 days is just not enough.

Perfect sunset in Hatteras NC.

Now that we are home and back into the swing of things I do have some updates.  We have had two new calves, one just before we left and the other just two days after we got back home! One of my new cows I got last year had another heifer calf.  It is a beaut and is very healthy.  I am pretty sure due to the coloring that the father is Thunder!  I am very thankful to have so many of his girls in the herd to keep his genetics going.   

Sire: Charolais    Dam: Hereford Holstein cross

The other cow to have a calf is Princess, my daughters cow.  She had a sturdy looking little black bull so I know he is out of legacy.  He is quite spunky and healthy.  Now Lisa has something to sell!  

Update on the buttermilk.  I am seeing quite positive results from feeding the buttermilk.  The cows look much better and are not losing the weight they usually do during lactating feeding their calves.  Usually by the time fall rolls around some of them are thinned down and struggle to catch up going into winter as they become pregnant again and start to wean the calves off.  Their hair is also shinier and I have not had any issues with sick cattle this summer at all.   The pigs are also showing very similar results.  Usually by the time the piglets get to about 25 lbs. the sows start getting thin and I have to wean the piglets sooner than I want to.  This round however, the sows are maintaining their weight very well and the piglets are growing faster than they have in the past. I have also been able to greatly limit the extra supplemental feed that I would normally have to be feeding due to the dry weather right now.  I am hoping to see similar results as we move into fall and winter.  

I will hopefully get to start posting a little more often again.  We have fall harvest coming up but nothing like it has been the last few years.  This year I just need to get a building built to store the milk tanks to keep them from freezing, help harvest corn and beans for the neighbor, and possibly make one more cutting of hay if we get any rain in the next week or two.  Maybe this fall will be a little hiatus in the craziness that has prevailed her for the last couple of years!

Have a great weekend everyone and I hope you all are having a pleasurable summer and are ready for fall!

Kenny

A few notes from the pasture!

I mowed some hay down one night this week and parked the tractor in the lawn by the house.  I went out to feed a calf and on my way back to the house noticed something on the hood of the tractor.  It turned out to be Mistletoe!  It was cool out and she found that the hood scoop vent for the muffler on the tractor was letting out a constant breeze of warm air.  So she snuggled up against it for the evening to relax under the stars!

Another treat this week was received when checking on the baby piglets.  I found them all snuggled up against a tree stump in the shade relaxing.  There was a nice breeze blowing and they were as happy as could be.  So damn cute at this age!

I haven't had a break till today to get some updates on a few of the calves from this year.  I wanted to show you some photos of how they are doing so far.  

The first pic is of  one of the three bulls born this year.  All have Legacy for their father.  They are looking really good.  Growing fast and look great and showing great traits!

A pic of two bulls on the left and heifers on the right.  The second bull from front is a grandson of fifty.  His mother is Precious.   He is looking very very nice!   The cows as a whole are looking very nice this year having good pastures to eat off of and having buttermilk to drink as well.  The difference is amazing and I am super excited about seeing the long term results!

I wanted to attach a picture of the shorthorn heifer I got at Christmas time.  Her name is Sugar and behind her is Spice.  Spice is part shorthorn and mostly mixed breeds.  Sugar is looking very very nice.  The neighbor is talking about taking her to the fair.  It would be exciting to see how she does at the show.  If she goes I will definitely post the results.  

Here is a picture of Frosty.  She is Sally Shorthorns first calf and is the mother to Baby Girl.  She was still pretty small in frame and stature last summer when Baby Girl was born with baby girl being her third calf.  I am amazed to see such a change in her after not feeding a calf over the last 11 months.  I think the break helped her a lot as she never really caught up after having her first calf and may have lead to part of why baby girl struggled last year after being born.  

If you look in the background to the right is Butterscotch and her calf Brillo is to the right.  I am not sure who is in the middle.  Brillo was born with a condition where her front feet were not working correctly and she had problems walking.  She was almost 3 months old before she would walk more than just a short distance at one time.  Now she is much much better.  Her stride has become much closer to normal and she doesn't walk hunched up like she did in the spring.  Hopefully she continues to improve and provides us with another reliable great mother to add to the herd!

As I type this the full realization that another year is well past half over is setting in.  I have mixed feelings on this as I want to continue to grow the farm and what we do here.  However, the more I try to make things easier and less time consuming it seems that more things demand my time and the time is flying by very quickly.  An even deeper realization is that my daughter is already half way to College age.....not cool!!!!  I need to get some of the added projects buttoned up before fall and then set some solid goals for next year this winter.  One of these will be to either find someone near full time help for the farm or alter what we do here to allow for some free time.  I want to spend some more time with the family and less time by myself in the field and at work.  I am also hoping that as the kids get older they will want to spend a little more time with me out in the field when I do have to work.   However, I have a gut feeling that that will not happen how I would like it to!

I will leave everyone with this small piece of advice.  Stop and smell the roses this week as many times as you can, for in a very short time, they will once again be dormant and covered in snow!  Sometimes the memory of that rose will be all you have to get you through those very cold and dark nights!

Have a great week everyone.

Kenny

BERKY HAD A LITTER OF PIGLETS TODAY!!!!!!

I am so super happy tonight!!  I almost sold berky earlier this year because I didn't think she was bred.  My wife and I discussed it and decided to give her and Lady until July 1st to show pregnancy or they were to be sold. Berky showed a lot of signs by July 1st so we kept her.  She had 9 beautiful purebred berkshire piglets today with no problems.  

We tried to move her into the barn tonight after she got done birthing but she wanted nothing of it.  So, I will work on getting her to move to the barn tomorrow after she calms down and the babies get to moving around some more. 

Have a great night everyone! 

Kenny

The cows loving some fresh buttermilk!!!

So I got a fresh load of buttermilk today and shortly after I went out and filled up the tubs for everyone.  The cows came running as soon as they heard the Farmall 706 start up.  They have come to know that the sound of the 706 means the buttermilk is coming!   The pigs know it as well but we currently only have Baconator and Berky out on the cow lots.  The other two sows are in with Doublestuffed getting bred.  

I am now feeding more buttermilk than I can store for a week so I decided to add another tank today.  I got a pretty good deal on one at our local TSC store.  This will almost double my capacity so hopefully I can swing getting more milk per week since everyone is loving it so well.  

The differences in the cows and the pigs is showing quite well now.  The pigs gain weight quicker and between the buttermilk and the pasture I am down to feeding very little grain in the summer.  I am hoping this continues when the cold weather returns.  That has been my struggle with the pigs from the beginning is keeping them on a a diet low in grain during the winter.  The milk supplies them with all the essential vitamins, minerals, proteins, and amino acids that they need to digest everything else they eat at an optimum level.  That should mean that this winter when everything is frozen, I should be able to reduce the amount of grain in the ration and still have a balanced diet that they continue to grow well on.

I am also noticing a very similar difference in the cattle.  In the summer I feed the hay that is lower quality knowing that they get fresh grass from the rotational grazing and they also need less energy from the hay in the summer.  The side affect from feeding lower quality hay is that the younger animals have a tendency to slow down growth over the summer months.  The buttermilk has helped to turn that around and I am seeing a very positive change in the younger stock this summer compared to other years.  

I am excited to see how this continues to work out and what results we get from the process.  We are in somewhat uncharted territory so I am going with a gut feeling at this point. 

Have a great weekend everyone!!

Kenny