This week we closed the books on another silage harvest. David spent two weeks getting the chopper and trucks ready and finally made the first round with the chopper, and the engine caught fire. This could be the start of a really terrible story, but thankfully, it’s not.
We’ve been feeding the milk cows a TMR for many years. Until last fall, it was fairly complex, including a specially formulated multi-ingredient commercial blend. Last summer we made a decision to simplify the ration to include only corn and corn silage we raise, alfalfa hay we were purchasing from a neighbor, dried distillers grains (DDGs) and soybean meal. Now market conditions have led us to add a little complexity.
Recently, an activist from the group Mercy For Animals took a job on a Colorado dairy farm. While the farm was paying this person to care for their cows, the … Continue reading Report Not Record
Last Saturday as a calf took its first breath there were cheers and big smiles among a small crowd welcoming her to the world. A couple of women driving by … Continue reading Farmers are People
Last week we bred eight cows and six heifers. This is a pretty high number for our herd, but we’re breeding all heats in an effort to get ahead before … Continue reading In Synch: Breeding Cows using Synch Protocols
Today is National Ag Day, and this year’s theme is 365 sunrises and 7 billion mouths to feed. At our dairy we have about 100 Holstein cows to feed twice … Continue reading National Ag Day: 365 Sunrises and 100 Mouths to Feed
Two weeks ago, I pulled up to the barn before I headed out the driveway to work. I spotted number 1106 and couldn’t help but shed quite a few tears … Continue reading Tough Decisions
Last week I wrote about many of the reasons that we choose to separate newborn calves from their mother cows shortly after their birth (read: Calf Care Part 1: Why … Continue reading Calf Care Part 2: Why do dairy farmers house calves in hutches?
At a holiday party last fall I had a casual conversation about our farm with another local farmer’s wife whose exposure to agriculture was primarily related to raising grain and … Continue reading Calf Care Part 1: Why do dairy farmers separate calves from their mothers?
We did something recently that we’ve never done before. We intentionally crossbred Holsteins. Before I let my crossbreeding friends get too excited, I’ll explain – we used Angus semen and … Continue reading Thinking Outside the Breed
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