Top farm blogs

I'd like to thank Seametrics for choosing Truth or Dairy as one of the Top 50 Farm Blogs!

They write, "On “Truth or Dairy”, Carla chronicles the evolution of corporate climbers into Michigan dairy farmers who see beauty in round bales dotting a field, find wedding conversations turning to calf bloat, and witness the future of farming when the neighbor brings home a robotic milker."

Want more farm news? Check out the rest of the list here.

Marketing

I was working with my son on writing his letters. After he wrote them all I said, "Since you can write all the letters, now you can write any word you want. Anything! What do you want to write?"

He said, "Got milk." He added, "Grandma has a t-shirt that says that."

After all these years, that ad campaign is apparently still powerful! Maybe I'll have to have my mom wear some shirts that encourage good teeth brushing and learning how to put on your own socks.

Bulls

We breed our cattle naturally, which means we use bulls to impregnate them.

My dad - whose 67th birthday is today, happy birthday, Dad! - visited my uncle and aunt's dairy farm in New Mexico last week. They impregnate their cattle using artificial insemination. My dad said he joked with them that bulls do the same job, and faster.

With artificial insemination you know exactly when the cow is in heat and when she gets pregnant. Using bulls is not as labor-intensive, but you don't know exactly when. Plus, you can buy bull semen from semen companies with desired characteristics.

Speaking of which, did you see the news story about redheads? Apparently there's not a huge demand for redheaded children, so the world's largest sperm bank can "afford to be picky." Just like people can pick a donor with traits they hope to pass along, people can pick bulls with traits they hope the resulting calves will have. I hope next year using a red and white Holstein will change the look of the pasture a little.

Bulls do their job and move on. We bought a bull in July. Today we sold him to a different farm. Next year, we're leasing out a bull to another farm. As long as they're doing their job, and they don't hurt themselves, they don't really go down in value. Whether they're fast, slow, or red, it doesn't much matter as long as they pass on those desireable traits. And continue to sell for (almost) as much as you bought them!

Fall

It's officially fall! Crisp apples, cider mills, changing leaves, and declining pasture quality! Right?

It happens every year. The pasture still looks good, but the nutritional value of the grasses goes down, because it's not actively growing. It's getting ready to become dormant or is dormant already. As a result, it's not as high in protein or energy.

There are always a lot of factors to take into account for milk production, but this is one we can look for each autumn. When the pasture quality starts to decline, Kris feeds them more silage. We like to keep those milk numbers up.

Fall also brings the apple harvest. We don't grow any apples, but we do support the orchards. On a normal day, our household consumes six apples. We like to keep those apple numbers up.

Farm facts

Last night Kris and I had our county's annual Farm Bureau meeting, where we vote on everything that needs voting on - like policy resolutions and board members. The great meal, awards, door prizes, seeing friends, and ice cream bar were all just a bonus.

At our table we had a brochure with some fun farming facts! Are you ready?!

- There are 1,231 farms in Clinton County.

No wonder I never thought being from a farm was anything special. When I went to college and people were always surprised I was from a farm ... I was surprised right back! Obviously, a lot of farms in my county.

- 86% of Clinton County is farmland.

Again, that doesn't leave a lot of room for skyscrapers. UNLESS you count silos as skyscrapers.

- There are 83 counties in Michigan. Clinton County ranks #2 for milk and other dairy products from cows.

Yes, that's right! We're #2! We're #2! The unfortunate side of that is land is hard to come by. But we have lots of dairy people around to support us!

- My door prize was ear protection, which I was excited about. Kris always gives his to our boys when he's doing something loud, leaving his older ears unprotected.

It was encased in that super-hard plastic, and there was a hole where you would hang it in a store. I stuck my thumb through it as we were standing around talking to people. After awhile, I realized I could not get it back through. There were two sharp points, so pulling the thumb backward was impossible. I was laughing at my situation and Kris said, "Just find someone with a jack knife. Probably 2/3 of the people in here have one on them."

It was true. A nice woman cut my thumb free. And that stat wasn't even in the brochure.

Tires, tires, and more tires

Today, Kris finished chopping the corn silage and covered the pile.



Big guys, big tires. Little guys, little tires.



We actually need more tires. Seems impossible, doesn't it?



I climbed up to the top for the first time. (Halfway up, I realized I really should have carried up a tire, not just a camera. I instructed my sons to carry twice as many to make up for it.) This is the view from above.

Making the pile

Here's the scene around here - Emptying a load of corn silage from the dump wagon. It's really loud when the tailgate of the wagon slams into the box. The video doesn't capture how that sound travels for about a half-mile. They do this all day long, all during harvest. As long as I can hear the wagon slam, I know things are going okay.