The all-consuming chopping!

We chop our alfalfa and sudax (a kind of grass) for our cattle's feed.

To do this, you have to cut it, rake it into rows, and then chop it when it's dry enough - but not too dry!  We want to ensure the best feed for our cattle.

Sometimes it all goes perfectly.  Sometimes ...

It rains on it after it's been cut.
You have to rent a different kind of rake to rake it.
It rains again.  Not much, just enough to ruin your harvest plans.
You have to then buy a rake to rake it when you need to return the other rake.
A tire blows on your chopper.
You have to find the one tire in the area that someone will sell you to put on your chopper.  (Only dairy farmers really have choppers - they're not that common.)
You have to find a guy to come over really early in the morning to remove the rim and put the tire on the chopper.
You chop, find out one field is sort of wet.  Take the feed out and test it, decide it's fine.  Start chopping again.

So!  We got the hay chopped today, finally.  It took a lot of people and a lot of days.

Know what?  None of that matters to the next generation.

Yesterday, all three of the boys rode with Kris in the chopper.  Today they took turns.  (I also saw one of our team member's daughters riding with him in the buddy seat.  Kids just love it.)

My sons started asking about it as soon as we got home from town.  "Dad said we could take turns and each ride an hour with him!  Can we?  Call him!  Is he ready?"

They each eagerly left the pool, one by one, to go and ride with their dad.  They love the machines, they love the excitement of seeing the hawks in the field, a deer with antlers, the guys who work with us ... all of it.

When they're older, they probably won't remember any of the hard parts of farming - just the best parts. The harvest, the machines, and especially hanging out with their dad.

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Pay up

When I became an adult, my dad taught me how to do my taxes.  In the beginning, it didn't take long, and I kind of enjoyed it.

Then, one year I moved to a different state and was working for myself.  It required more paperwork, but it was fine.

Then I got married and worked in three states in one year.  It took me about three days to do our taxes that time.

I well remember my dad doing taxes when I was growing up.  He enjoyed doing them, and he was good at it.  Even while I was an adult, I called him for tax advice.

So when we came home to the farm, we ... hired an accountant!

Sometimes people ask me if I "do the books" for the farm, since a lot of spouses on farms do.  (Sort of a division of labor.)  I try not to laugh, because that is probably the last job I would ever volunteer to do.  Not that I'm horrible at math, (I do have a calculator), but I'm bad at making spreadsheets that anyone else understands.  They're clear to me, but probably the IRS would not see them the same way.

As a result, today Kris had a five-hour meeting with our accountant to do end-of-the-year tax things.  They meet once a year.  Kris keeps meticulous records and gives him both paper and online information.  They discuss it and we pay him to do the work. 

Kris scheduled this meeting a really long time ago, but today was a fantastic day for it!  Today was the wind chill of -26 with a thermometer reading of -9.  It got up to 4 degrees at one point.

This morning when Kris went to feed the cows at 6:00 a.m., the tractor wouldn't work.  It would run for five seconds, then stop when the fuel gelled.  He did that about ten times and gave up.  He got the space heater and put it against the fuel filters.  After he warmed it up for 20 minutes, it started and stayed going. 

The little amount of feeding he could do before he had to leave for his meeting, he had to do at low idle.  The tractor wouldn't rev up.  As a result, feeding took a lot longer than normal.

Also, something I never thought about.  We can't push manure into the lagoon anymore.  Manure is usually mostly liquid and it just slides down the angle into the bottom.  But!  When it's all frozen, it doesn't slide down the wall.  It just builds up on the wall, so you can't push any more in.  The guys were making piles on the cement and planned on putting it in the manure spreader.  However, since the manure spreader was frozen, the chain broke.  The guys spent the rest of the day fixing that.

In comparison, it almost makes paying taxes look better.

On the way

The tractor we’re buying is going to be ready next week. Why, if we bought a tractor, wasn’t it ready immediately? Well, a farm near Hastings ordered a new tractor from the factory. As soon as their tractor was finished, they wanted to use it.

The dealership wanted to get a jump on selling the old tractor, because it was the winter. Once it’s spring, farmers are busy and don’t have time to research, look for, and test drive tractors. And it’s much better to buy a tractor before you desperately need one, because one’s broken and you have to plant! So much about crops is time and weather-sensitive.

The dealership set the price based on a certain amount of hours. (Hours are how they calculate tractor use, not miles driven.) They guessed at the amount of hours the tractor would have on it by the time the new tractor arrived. If the tractor had more hours on it than what they guessed, then the price would be lower. (They didn’t.)

The tractor is at the dealership now, and they’re getting it ready to come here. Kris told me they’re doing things like changing the fluids, taking care of any known issues, and cleaning it. He also had them order a buddy seat for it.

A buddy seat is that little chair next to the driver’s seat so you can have someone ride in the tractor with you. Kris has had lots of people ride with him. I have, my dad, friends, friends’ kids, and I’m sure to come . . . all five of us will fit in that tractor at once.