The Last 3 Weeks in Farm Pictures

A lot has happened around the farm the last three weeks, and I feel duty-bound to get you folks caught up to speed. Instead of a long written narrative, though, I'll let a few photos tell most of the story.

PUSH!!! PUSH!!! PUSH!!!

We have had A LOT of cows and heifers calve during November. A majority of their calves have been bulls, but that'll get turned around sooner or later.

Thanks to all the "fresh" cows, our milking herd has climbed up to 207 cows. This is the first time we've eclipsed the 200 mark in well over a year.

The switch back to Standard Time means we have the opportunity to see the first light of morning and sunrise every day before we finish the morning milking.

A larger milking herd (and those cows increasing their production) means that we're spending more time in the barn every day. My wife and kids have had to leave for school some mornings before I could get home for breakfast. But on the plus side, more cows = more milk = FULL MILK TANK!!!

Aside from the cows, I've planted quite a bit of wheat and ryegrass for them to graze next Spring...

...I've slung a little "Water 'n Poo" to help fertilize pastures...

I like big bags and I cannot lie! You udder lovers can't deny! #cowtunes
— Will Gilmer (@gilmerdairy) November 19, 2013

...engaged in some Twitter nonsense...

...and we've generally been finishing both the field and milking chores just before sundown.

Though it's cold and lonely in the deep, dark night...I can see to plant my wheat by the GPS light.

(though I did run a little late planting wheat one night)

Despite the long, busy days on the farm, our family has still been able to find our way to Dear Old State for a couple of ballgames.

And the sun comes up again each morning, bringing with it new challenges, new opportunities, and a renewed sense of appreciation for the wonderful life I've been blessed with.

Enjoying the sunrise

One of the many perks of living and working on a farm is the opportunity to enjoy the beauty and serenity of God's Creation. And in my mind, the transition from a sky full of stars when we begin our milking shift at 3am to the sunrise when we break for breakfast three to four hours later is simply amazing. Here are three photos I snapped this morning at approximately 5:45, 6:10, and 6:30.

photo taken from outside the milking barn before I fed the cows @ approx 5:45am

photo taken from our milking herd's pasture @ approx 6:10am

photo taken from my back yard after we finished milking cows @ approx 6:30am

Friday morning farm photos

Here's a photographic recap of some of this morning's farm activity:

One of the first jobs after breakfast was to drive a group of seven "dry cows" up the road to a new pasture. We want to keep them a little bit closer as they begin to approach their calving dates.

 

We also moved our milking herd past the barn, down the road, and into a fresh grazing pasture this morning.

By the second half of the morning, we turned our attention to our disk. We now have a full (and long overdue) new set of blades on it.

The low, gray clouds finally cleared off shortly before lunchtime, so it looks like we'll get to enjoy a pretty Spring afternoon for a change.

Photo Friday: Recapping Spring Harvest 2011

We started harvesting our cool-season forages the second week of April. Now that we're finally finished, I thought I would give you a pictorial recap of what we've been doing over the past few weeks.

We harvested four varieties of cool-season forages this spring: rye, ryegrass, oats, and triticale (pictured).

During the first few days, we would mow down the crops in the late afternoon/early evening before chopping the following day.

 They say old equipment is the best equipment. I don't know about that, but at least our old equipment has long since been paid for. Our old John Deere forage harvester and its modified Gehl pick-up reel allowed us to chop over 70 acres of forage into silage.

 The chopped forage was dumped into our silage pits where most of it was packed and covered. A couple of dump truck loads were fed to the milking herd each day as greenchop.

We made it through the harvest with only one significant breakdown, though we had to adjust/repair/replace several chains on the chopper throughout the process. 

 

In addition to chopping the forage, we also harvested several acres of it as baleage.

Once we had finished harvesting the "good stuff" we planted in the Fall, we turned our attention to our hayfields where quite a bit of "volunteer" ryegrass has sprouted.  We mowed and dry baled it so the bermudagrass could start growing like it needed to.

With harvest completed, it was time to clean the equipment and park it under the sheds until we need it again.