Defacer

When you have your feed in big piles on the ground, you have to get it off in an efficient way.  Until last month, that way for us was to knock it off with the skid steer bucket.

 

But!  There's a piece of equipment called a defacer that's designed to get the feed off the pile.  It helps in keeping the feed fresher, because you don't expose as much of it to the air.  It makes it easier for when we feed small quantities, like we do in the summer.  Overall, it helps in creating less spoilage. 

 

It's also ... cool.  We already had one James Bond torture device we used last year.  Now we use another one daily.  Rotating points grinding away?  Check.  On a piece of heavy equipment?  Coming right toward you?  IT'S THE DEFACER. 

 

And it's not even Halloween yet. 

 

 

 

Covering the pile

It seems like every time the guys cover the pile, it's 90 degrees. Except today, when it was 92! But there was a breeze ...

So, in six days, the first cutting of the alfalfa is done. Cut, raked, chopped. 97 times, they dumped a wagonload on the cement pad.

So, if you remember the first load:



In between loads, they drive a tractor over it to compress and shape the pile.



Then, they cover it with plastic and carry tires up it to hold the plastic down.

Voila - the first cutting!



Our employee Josh said to a new employee, "It's the hardest the first time. After that, you know what to expect."

He said this as he was carrying tires two at a time to the very top of the pile and making it look easy.

In another month, it'll start all over again. Then one or two more times this summer. It's like a season-long workout program. Easily offset by the pizza at the end.

Sights and scenes

Man walks on moon! Wait, no. Farmer walks on feed pile. But both have that otherworldly effect, don't they?

It's March Madness! Which means we'd like to spend every hour watching exciting NCAA basketball games ... but that's not possible. No! We take breaks to eat (me) and work (Kris.)

He is currently outside abusing a sample section of what the panels in between the calves in the new barn might be. He's beaten it with a hammer, beaten it with the claw of the hammer, and is now about to smear manure on it and see later how easy it is to clean off. Definitely more fun than watching that MSU game last night.

Enjoy the games!