Rain, rain, don't go away

Ah ... it's the familiar feeling of wishing it would rain.  As a girl - waiting on the front porch with my mom, begging for it to storm.  Now - going on a stroller ride with my sons, hoping we get caught in a downpour.

Today it (sort of) worked!  It wasn't so wet that we would've gotten soaked on our walk, but I was also really cold.  It's been sprinkling on and off since 4:00 p.m. 

We really need it.  Of course the crops need it, but it's so obvious it's dry.  Even the leaves of my mature trees are wilted.

We went strawberry picking today at a new place.  I told the boys the owners were fruit farmers, like we are dairy farmers. 

My son said, "We're also vegetable farmers."

His brother added, "We're also beef farmers." 

I didn't argue with them.  We sell milk for money, but we also sell cattle.  We don't sell vegetables, but we do raise crops for our herd.  Farming is farming, eh?

All of us need the rain.  Come on - POUR!

Crazy

What a holiday!  We had a baby boom ... the barn is filling up with calves.

With all the births, we now are the proud owners of not one - but TWO heifer red and white Holsteins! 

Black nose!

To show contrast

I was gone for the week, and while I was gone Kris was possibly more busy than he's ever been. So were my mom and dad. All three of them were taking care of my kids. They've asked me not to leave again - they're just joking, I'm sure! Right? Haha?

The fun/work in the calf barn never stops

It's nice to come home to a place that, to me, is just as beautiful as where you vacation.

Calves and more

Kris pulled a calf yesterday.  He said it was huge, and he knew the cow wouldn't be able to have it on her own.  The boys were with him, and later my son imitated Kris pulling the calf.  His face turned red and everything as he pretend-strained!  But it all worked out - a giant bull and a happy cow. 

If you want to see what's going on on other farms, check out the Farm Fresh Food Blog where I have a guest post this week.

Fighting cows

The Wall Street Journal had an article recently called, No Bull in Switzerland: In Spring, It's Time for Cow Fighting.  Yes, some Swiss are apparently very serious about cow fighting!  It's a 90-year-old tradition.  (I'm amazed I've never heard of it before.  Doesn't it seem like this would at the very least be a punchline to a joke?)

The article states, "... the action is largely limited to head-butting, heavy breathing and abundant slobber. Some bored bovines simply wander away."

There are drug tests, veterinarian monitors, and training.  It's also a specific breed - Hérens.  Apparently, they are big into establishing herd hierarchy.

Our cows aren't all the same. Some are definitely the leaders of the group - first to go to a new pasture, first to run up to the fence, first to do everything. The herd follows.

Some like people more than others. They rub up against you so much you want them to back off a little.  Lots of slobber.

I see them butting heads out in the field all the time.  They seem to be more playful than establishing hierarchy, but then again ... 'butting heads' has a negative connotation for a reason, right?

Of course, we have Holsteins, not Hérens.  I watched the video ... Hérens are sturdy.  They look more like bulls.  Their fights are much different than what I see between our cows.  Ours are a milking breed, theirs is a fighting breed.

Another funny thing ... this is Switzerland.  Known for being neutral.  But when you can turn a docile field of cud-chewers into fighting machines, what else are you capable of?  Holy cow.

Red and white calf

Yesterday after a tire on the rake split, and we had a hydraulic leak on the packing tractor ... we finished the first cutting of alfalfa! As a result, the guys had to cover the pile of newly cut feed with a giant tarp and tires to hold it down. 

Know what's easier than carrying all the tires up? Using a tractor to do it. The tractor drives over the pile pack it down anyway, so carrying some tires in the bucket just runs it over it a few more times.  (They also carry a ton up on their own.  Even though this is a physically demanding job, the guys actually make it look easy.) 

Not only that, but being this close to a running tractor made it one of the most exciting days of my son's young life. 

****

You may remember we got a red and white Holstein bull last year.  Today we had our first red and white Holstein calf!

It's a bull, so it won't be gracing our fields, unfortunately.  He'll be raised Josh, the guy who's buying them.

We went down to see him and I was really surprised by his eyes.  They don't look like our other Holstein calves' eyes.  Theirs are very dark, and his are light blue. 

My dad made the joke that he's a really patriotic calf, because he's - ready for it - red, white, and blue. 

Flat tire

Does that wagon look crooked to you? 

Yes, that is one FLAT tire.

This is the way it works:  the chopper chops the alfalfa and blows it into a wagon.  The wagon is being pulled by a tractor.  When we harvest, we have two tractors pulling two wagons.  Once one is full, the driver dumps it on the pile at the barn.  Then goes back.  It's a cycle so that the wagons never stop moving and the chopper never stops moving.

Unless you get a flat tire! 

The wooden blocks on the ground are for helping jack it up.  You have to jack, put a block under the axle, put a block under the jack, etc.  Since it's full of chopped alfalfa, it's really heavy, too. 

Thankfully, we had another wagon we could use.   Nice to have a spare - tire and wagon.

****

Kris said this is the busiest week of his life.  He's working every waking hour, and when he's chopping and such, he's planning what he needs to do next.  But he said that he's not sure if it's like this every year and he forgets about it, or if it really is more busy.

I guess next year we can just check the blog posts! 

Double digits

It was a record day yesterday.  Ten calves were born!  Kris saw one of them, because he had to pull the first backward calf of the season. 

Calves are born like this:  front hooves out, head following.  But some calves come out backward.

They almost always have to be pulled when they're backward, because like a breech birth, it's just not supposed to happen that way. 

After Kris got home after his 16 hour day, he was telling me about the calf.  I said, "Didn't you have a backward calf yesterday, or did I already talk to you today?"

He said, "My days are all running together."

If farming were like this every day, people wouldn't be able to farm for their whole lives.  Thankfully we have the winter to forget about how busy it is when it's calving season and harvest all at the same time.

After Kris sat down last night, it started to storm.  He joked, "Maybe it's heat lightning."  We had 60 acres of hay cut (ready to be chopped, but you have to let it dry), and the pile of feed was uncovered.  No one wants that rained on. 

I told him he should get back out there and cover the pile (haha).  It's a really physically demanding job, it takes many people, and there was no way he was going to go do it at 10 p.m.  Not if he planned on getting up in the morning again, anyway. 

Current stats:  39 heifer calves.  72 calves total.  (We sell the bull calves.)  39 of the heifers have had calves, which is good, because they usually get pregnant faster than the cows.  On the flip side, they have more trouble birthing, since it's their first.

Here's to a good Wednesday, which will be much like Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday!

No complaints here though - when Kris worked for Caterpillar he never wanted to talk about work.  He'd come home and he'd say, "I just talked about work all day.  Let's talk about something else."  I was always interested, but he wanted to focus on non-work topics when he wasn't there.

But when your work is your own business, of course you talk about it.  It's our work and life.  As for work-life balance?  It's all the same.  Though he is getting plenty of exercise.  It takes a lot of strength to pull a calf.