Weekend Farm Recap

I'm just got in from the milking barn on Saturday morning and thought I'd share a little bit about what's been going on this past week. 

thumbs-up to more milk

We've had two dry cows and two heifers give birth this week, running our total number of cows in our active milking herd up to 177. They have been slowly inching up on milk production and should bump up a little more once cold weather sets in. Their TMR diet currently consists of corn silage, bermudagrass hay, wet brewers grains, and a custom mix of ground corn, soy products, dried distillers grains, etc. that we purchase from a feed mill.

Weather-wise, we've had damp and mild conditions most of the week. The wet conditions have prevented us from planting any ryegrass this week, but the wheat and rye we've already planted is really benefiting from the moisture and the temperature. And since we couldn't do anything in the field, we turned our attention Thursday morning to our beaver problem. Beavers have built dams all up and down a small creek that runs through our farm, causing water to back up into and flood one of our pastures. We busted four dams and "let the water off", but we still have at least three more to tear out.

On to the links:

• The Tuscaloosa News ran a story in their Sunday edition's Business section about me being named a finalist in the USFRA's "Faces of Farming & Ranching" contest. Read the story here, and don't forget to vote for me every day through December 15!

• My dad and I left the farm in the hands of our farmhands during the first part of the week so we could attend the Alabama Farmers Federation's Annual Meeting in Montgomery. You can watch this nice wrap-up video to hear from our organization's new president, meet our new Outstanding Young Farm Family, and learn how much money was raised for the Foundation for Agriculture.

• Speaking of videos, I have followed up 2009's "The Gilmer Dairy Farm Christmas Song" with a new one entitled "Have a Dairy, Merry Christmas" and I hope you like it. If you do, be sure to hit the "like" button on YouTube. It's been entered into Proud to Dairy's holiday song contest, and the video with the most "likes", G+'s, & "favorites" wins. And remember, sharing any of my crazy videos with your friends is sure to bring them holiday cheer!

Have a "dairy" good weekend, y'all!

A quick lunchtime update

We spent most of the morning re-grouping and moving heifers and dry cows between pastures.

We also took a few minutes to scout the massive network of dams a colony of beavers has constructed that has backed up lots of water into one of our pastures. It's going to take a good bit of time to tear those things out, and we'll probably have to use a boat to access some of them. I'm not sure when we'll get around to the demolition, but it had better happen before it warms up very much...the snakes in that bottom are large and numerous.

This afternoon we'll be separating a group of heifers from our milking cows as we pull them off the grazing. Afterward, it looks like we'll just be doing our typically milking and feeding.

Have a good afternoon!

More of the Same

Were at the mid-point of yet another dry week, with not much chance of rain until next Tuesday.

Sometime today we may try to fight through the deer flies, ticks, and cottonmouths and tear out a beaver dam that been built across a small creek that runs through one of our pastures. If we do, we'll at least be reminded what water and mud look like.