Still livin the life....

and shoveling out bunks... and pulling out the chief... and pushing snow... and pulling out the chief again... and getting the skid loader stuck trying to pull the chief out... and praying the sun comes out to dry the calves... and wondering why the fuse on the skidloader wipers keeps blowing... and climbing onto the machine shed roof to screw down the steel roofing that is flapping in the 50mph wind before it and a couple others go flying ... and driving the tractor over to the chiefs house... and pulling the chief out again... and getting the skidloader stuck in the cattle yard... and bedding down the sows with dry straw... and battling the frozen silo unloader.. and freezing 2 pair of insulated coveralls solid... and pushing snow... and shoveling out every door on the place to get in... and "Grateful for the opportunity!"

Livin the life

A friend stopped out to get some eggs the other day. He said "Man your just livin the life out here aren't ya!" I said "You bet! And I am grateful for it!"

Loader reborn... maybe....

The old case died(radiator problems) and sat at another farm for a month or so. We made a risky decision to try and get her back in good shape as it still could be very useful. We had the fuel pump rebuilt and pulled it home where we could install it more easily. So the pump is on, it starts but needs some tuning yet. Roger got the radiator off and headed to the shop. We hope the end result will be it starts better than last winter if you remember that post. This machine is like an old farmer... replace/rebuild  some parts from time to time, starts rough, looks a bit crusty, doesn't move real fast, can't lift as much as it used to, but it can get a bunch done.

December tile

With the aid of the drought we put a bit of tile right through the chief's nemesis, the peat bed, as described in previous posts. The water was a welcome sight but as you can see the the ice indicates we probably won't get a second line in this year. We tiled last week of December last year and we had a drought this year. I hope that correlation doesn't follow through for this year.

Working cows

Worked the cows a week or so back. 2 open and the both had some age or issues so off they went to town. One was officially the last registered  RX3 we had. She had a letter k tattoo so she was Perry old. We still have one full Rx3 but she is not tattooed so wouldn't have been registered. Ken of Oelwein Vet clinic did the dirty work. He does a great job and is very good at communicating what he is doing and why. Since he was here we worked our last 10 late calves. All ten fit in the chute at once. The last couple there we are keeping for bulls. Still bring those two up on corn but trying to figure out an alternative ration because when they go on full feed it ain't gonna be cheap!

Feeding silage

How do you move a 50lb tub of silage? Well it might take a buddy and you have to grind your teeth. When feeding the calves on feed this morn I snapped this photo of the steaming goodness. Corn silage, cracked corn and ddg, suppose you could call this Iowa corn fed beef? I got out to level the bunk and it smelled so good I would have dug in if I had a big fork and a 4 compartment stomach.

Crappy day

It really was. I mean we had fun but we had to work with it. The rabbits and chickens were much pleased and the garden is the benefactor. But these kids can really shovel it and made the job easy . Thanks to Mr Hartman for letting us use the tank to pump an old pit full of mostly water and haul it to the field. It will take our few pigs awhile to fill it back up.

The good... The bad... The Chicken

A face only a mother could love. This fella is 5 years old or so. From what I can tell from my observations he doesn't have much luck with the ladies either.... Unlike the roosters in the pen next to his. He doesnt crow anymore either. Probably should get him someone that male enhancement stuff they advertise on fox news channel all the time.

Therapy

Chuck and Judy down the road had a batch of puppies arrive a few weeks back. It is good for the soul to hold puppies, I think there are published studies on that. Hauling wood is also good for the soul and body and these fellas can get the job done ensuring a warm winter at our house. Perhaps we should publish a case study paper "The Effect of Cellulose and Lignin Relocation on Human Wellness".

Streams of gold

Golden maize going in the combine, out of the combine, and into the bin. Should be done with corn harvest by tomorrow if all goes well. Don't forget the golden boy in one of those pics.

Summary photo

This photo shows lots of events, beans harvesting in the distance, freshly drilled rye in the tilled ground, hungry cows, and corn to be harvested. I guess I better get to work and stop typing...

Beans done last week

Finished up beans last week. Average was above 50bpa, can't complain about that. It got a bit dusty from time to time.

The light of day-old dog old trick

Out came the combine emerging into the light of day for its yearly duty. If it comes out more than once it usually means repairs are needed. Now note the farm dog. She knows that when that machine is fired up for the first time each year a rat or mouse maybe ejected. She gets all alert and gitty prancing around from the head to the discharge to the open return elevators. When she gets one she dispatches of it and turns instantly to look for another. If you look close in the third photo one victim can be seen but she knows another is under the tire and the machine could move at any instant causing the prey to scurry away allowing her a chance to get it. Now why is this blog worthy. Note what I mentioned earlier, this event happens once a year, maybe every 12 months. Best we can tell the dog is maybe 11 or 12 years old. She has learned this behavior in maybe 12 events in her whole life separated by almost a year between them, pretty amazing. I mean how many times did you have to tell your husband to put down the toilet seat or you kids to take their dishes to the sink before they learned?

Guest blog... Simon

Dad asked me to let you into my life a bit. It is hard work on the farm for a 2 year old. We have skid loader work to do and it is hard to get in the cab and be obedient when dad jumps out for a second and not touch anything. And there are gates to climb when looking at the cows, you think it is easy? Well try it at 2'6"! It takes some effort. One nice thing is dad had back surgery so it used to take at least 3 of my steps to each of his to keep up, lately it has only taken 2, pray for a slow recovery. Even at the end of a job it is hard to get a drink, I can get the hydrant on but turning it off takes all I got. Nice thing is to kick back with some protein laden ribs at the end of the day. But even with all the challenges there is no place I would rather be now than doing chore with Dad and the others.

Glamour shots

Looks like the glamour post pics didn't go through.... These match the caption below.... That's a  Smartphone for ya...

Russian feeding methods

A few of these are last falls calves. A couple odd looking critters in the bunch but all in all the group of cows was a good purchase. And yes that is the Belarus serving feed cart duty in true Russian fashion. If you have ever watch you tube videos of Russian ag and logging practises you will see they make equipment to work through thick and thin. This rig chugs through mud and muck with little complaint.

Some like it wet....

Farmers are not the only one who get excited when it rains. Casey and the Sunshine Band like it to.

Chopping continued...

A few more shots. This is what it looks like on top of 60ft of silage, sorry so dark. And Simon gives Grandpa a hat check while filling silo from a safe distance.

The glamour of modern farming

We have never owned a chopper at the ranch. We have filled the silo numerous times, filled bags, piled but always with the help of a hard working neighbor. Well this year we made the plunge... Here she is, a 1968 Fox Double D with  4 cylinder Detroit Diesel, two row wide head and vise grip mounted throttle control by the engine. Now this wasn't all by choice, some of the locals had gotten out of the business and the custom outfits we called said they were booked, one told us we had been the 200th call and he was already tired. We picked this unit because we figured since we had never owned a chopper before we want to jump in low on the technology curve so we figured getting one made about the same time the ranch was established would be good.... Or maybe it was the because it was priced right and available as they are hard to find this year. Well this unit has an appetite for corn and sustains itself on copious amounts of roller chains, grease, diesel, and oil... A good lube job every three loads is recommended and your hands look like you are an old steam train engineer, even after wiping them off as seen in the photo. Major thanks to Roger for working on her for a few days before running and keeping it running. He is a wizard with stuff like this and made it happen, I think he will fix up a few things over winter that we bandaged to get by and hope it still has some years left in it. We have a 3 row narrow head but it needs a new drive shaft so that is another project, anybody know where we could find a forge head to fit it? Will another color fit it? We also picked up a couple forage boxes from a neighbor and another from southern Minnesota. Total investment was around $13k to get into the business... Pretty reasonable I think. Still haven't been able to find a bracket to mount the autosteer.

So off we went north of Maynard, at 10mph. Yes 14 miles each way. And 60+ loads later, one full silo, and 150ft bagged we are done with the main part just in time for my back surgery. Still a few check strips for insurance inspection to harvest and feed. And we still plan on planting rye as a cover crop. Did I mention Roger went down a little over half way through the job with a banged up leg? And we limped along with out him...(pun intended) and a neighbor fellow and hauled a few for us, thanks Gene.

We also want to apologize for that hum/buzz sound you have heard the last week and a half for 3 or so hours at a time. That Detroit screams requiring substantial hearing protection.

Heat relief

If you didn't know it has been hot and dry here. The sows enjoyed a spray down. It works for kids too.

Classic tractors

A tractor ride was in town. We went down to Mr Smiths house to see a few of his on display, he is an orange tractor fan. They went by our house so we took a few moments to wave and cheer them on.

Corn time

It is sweet corn time. This crew helped with 10 dozen of so tonight. They did almost all of it by themselve. One little fella did his first ear by himself, raised it in victory!

Do you know what this is?

Have you ever seen those sections in a magazine that show some old piece of farm equipment that nobody uses anymore? Well what is that blue thing in the picture attached to that tractor? No it is not a counter weight.... We did a little cultivating of some corn on corn ground with a volunteer corn problem. Also did another 60 acres in place of second ignite  herbicide application, the cultivating was cheaper by my math even with the extended time of labor needed. I told Roger the neighbors might laugh at our little 6 row cultivator, he said the are probably just jealous and wish they had one. You can scream with this thing up to 7mph in tall corn, a far cry from the old S tine machine I spent months of my life on growing up. It is also important to have a cultivating buddy, one of mine is pictured here. Pretty brave guy perched high on the buddy seat with no shoes. When it gets really bumpy he likes to have the assurance of his hand in dads.