Craig got to use his new haybine last week- and he sure was happy with it.  No breakdowns!  First crop hay is down and will be baled this week.  The grass was very thick and long so we should have quite a few bales.  The cows just went into a new paddock and will be content there for a week or so.  Then, we go back to the first paddock and start another rotation.  That system seems to be working well.  Just hope the grass keeps growing fast enough to keep up with the cows!

We moved the cows from the winter pasture to the new spring grasses last weekend.  Talk about happy cows!  The calves were running and stretching their legs like a bunch of kids.  They quickly devoured the small area and we moved them into a larger paddock 4 days later.  Must have been good!  We are planning on moving them down the pasture through the end of June and then back to the pasture by the pole shed by July.  That’s when we are getting a bull for a couple months from Mary Anderson- our grazing specialist.  We’ll have 4 cows to be bred so that will be 4 more calves next year.  And the year after that we can breed 8 cows.  The herd will grow quickly to our 20-25 goal.  We plan to take back the rest of the rented land in the next year or two so we have more hay fields and pasture.  They really eat ALOT!

Finally got a bull calf on Friday, May 8th!  We are so excited to get 3 calves this Spring!  We were lucky since all 3 cows were with a bull for only one month.  This guy is the start of something big on Lost Creek Farm!  We are thinking about purchasing a couple more steers to raise along with this one so we can sell 3 or 4 of them at about 20-24 months as grass fed beef.  Prices for beef right now are very high, so we’ll have to see how that goes.

Another baby born on a Saturday!  May 2nd- it was a beautiful Spring Day too!  What a cutie!  This one wasn’t such an interest to the other calves anyway.  Guess they got that out of their system.  So fun to watch the newborns try out their legs- running, jumping and hopping around.  Bet that feels good!  Herd is up to 10 now.

And the new calf’s name is…. Back Pearl, (Pearl).  She got into some trouble the other morning.  Got through a small opening in the handling facility and couldn’t find her way out!  Mamma was standing on the end and even little Harriet was nearby, trying to coax her out.  But, Craig saved the day and got her out.  Poor baby- if we hadn’t stopped to check on them that morning, she may have been there all day.  But all is well that ends well!

We were so excited that Brownie had her calf this weekend!  Born Saturday, April 25th.  First calf of this year- and what a looker!  I laughed at the crazy markings on her face!  It looks like a sideways question mark.  A little heifer- but it sure looks like Harry Potter to me!  So we named her Harriet Potter!  The other calves were very interested- in fact we got a little worried that they’d step on the calf while Mama was eating.  But, she was fine the next day and not such a subject of interest.  Now we are waiting for the next one, and it may not be very long.  Up to 9 in our herd now…. growing each year!

We think the snow is finally gone… 74 degrees today!  This is the view from our deck looking out over the top of the hill.  This is the hill that protects the cows from the west and north winds.  But it’s pretty windy up by our house!  Last weekend we separated the 3 larger calves from their moms.  Wasn’t sure how that would go, but it went great!  Somehow, the 3 calves and one mom separated so that we could put a temporary fence between them and the others.  And soon, that mom separated from them enough to walk between her and the calves with the fence and it was done.  We’ll leave them apart for a few weeks so they are weaned.  We are waiting for three of the moms to have their calves some time in April.  Glad the weather is warming up for them!

It’s getting close… in fact tomorrow is the first day of Spring!  We took a drive just south of our farm last weekend to an area called “Lookout”.  And we saw why… it was a long winding road that led us up to a high ridge where we could see for miles!  A million dollar view!  Oh, to have a slice of land at the top!  The reason we were there was to purchase our “new” haybine.  It was on Craigs list, and was sold through Mondovi Implement.  A nice one, according to Craig, even though it was about 20 years old.  Well, we can’t get newer equipment on our farm’s budget!  But, as long as it works, it’s fine with us.  Craig is pretty handy at fixing things.  After a hand shake the deal was done and it wasn’t long before the conversation turned to deer hunting.  Which reminds me, our son Dusty shot at a really nice one opening day last November but didn’t find it.  And just last weekend Craig happened to see some antlers poking out of the brush near that trailer house we’ve been working on, and it was Dusty’s deer!  It was amazing that Craig even saw it- so much brush!  Guess his laser eye surgery paid off!  Dusty was so excited and knew by the shape of the antlers that this was the deer he shot.  A nice wide 9 pointer- pretty cool…

The cows are patiently waiting for the site of the first green grass.  Can you imagine how good that must taste to them? We are not as patient!  Meanwhile, we are attending the Spring Grazing Conference coming up March 21st, sponsored by the River Country RC&D Grazing Network.  We have attended this conference for the past 4-5 years and have always gotten good information and a chance to network with fellow grazers.  Looking forward to it-  and this year, we have our own cows to talk about!  Looks like a warm up is in site so maybe it will be an early Spring.  If not, we will be buying a few more bales of hay…

It’s been a long, cold February.  Not the “usual” weather!  I was looking forward to a few warmer days, but not so this year.  March will be here next week and maybe the warm-up will begin.  The cows are doing very well- they’ve been using the pole shed on those cold days and nights.  So glad we fenced in that area for them.   We had some 30 below wind chills a few times this month.  I guess the protection from the wind below the hill helps!  We’ve been working on other projects this winter- remodeling a mobile home just up the road for our kids.  A distraction anyway from the winter blues!  And, I’ve been doing some research on adding chickens this Spring…

It’s been a cold winter, with not much snow. But, that makes it easier to get the hay out to the cows anyway. Not so much for the snowmobilers, though! Our water system has been working out well so far. When we had some frigid temps, we were a little worried about a freeze-up, but we lucked out! So, in these long, quiet winter nights, we spend time planning for Spring and Summer. We need to buy seed for the hayfield that we got back from the land renter. Along with that we need a planter and a new haybine. Craig’s been watching the want ads and checking out implement dealers nearby. Meanwhile we have been working on purchasing a mobile home and 4 acres across the road from our farm. We plan to fix it up so our kids can rent from us. This parcel used to part of our original farm when my cousin owned it- so we feel it is fitting to get it back in the family. More projects to finish before Spring… yes, THINK SPRING!!