Category: Farm Life

Anything and everything about farming!

A DAY IN THE LIFE-SUMMER EDITION

What do we do all day during the summer? Every season is busy. Summer tends to be the busiest. The long daylight hours lends itself to long hours on the farm. Summer is when we put up hay and store up for the cows for winter. We’re rotating cows through summer grass, we’re doctoring pinkeye and all the other summer time things. We’re doing all the things and working a lot of hours.

Summertime is still my favorite time of year. I HATE cold weather. HATE it with a passion. Like hate it. It’s the worst. I love when it gets dark at 5 though. Most people hate the time change. I love it. It means that we’re not running as fast and hard as we were. But the shop still has lights. Still things to be doing except it’s cold and I don’t like cold.

A typical summer day means getting up early, normally a little after six. I check cows first thing. As the day heats up the cattle head to the shade or ponds. I want to see them while they’re grazing. I want to see them moving. Once they are all bunched up under the trees, it’s harder to see if anything is wrong with individuals.

Once I have gone to the cows I want to get to or it gets too hot, I move on to another project. In the midst of haying season, it’s normally time to head to the hayfield where we spend all day putting up bales. Once hay season is over, there’s normally grain to haul, repairs to make, rotary mowing to do, etc.

We pack our lunches almost every day. Chances are we aren’t going to be around the house during meal times and I need food to make it through the afternoon. Ask Matt, I get very not nice when I don’t have my food.

Another thing I’m meticulous about it having water packed. I love my water bottles that don’t condensate and keep water cold for a long time. In the heat of summer, it’s important for my body to be hydrated with water. Matt can survive on mountain dew and ice cream and feel great. I do not. So I make sure I have what I need to be as successful as I can be.

I’d love for Matt to pack my lunch and water, but it’s not important to him. He’ll be fine with ice cream so it’s not important to him to pack a nutritious lunch. For me, it is. So I make it a priority, most days. Some days I beg for Taco Bell.

My favorite part of summer is the end, when we get all the hay put up and hauled. That’s when I know it’s time to start planning our vacation. These 5 days of the year are my absolute favorite. We go somewhere secluded, normally by a lake and we just sit and relax and be together. It’s perfection. I write, he watches TV, we sleep, we eat, we love. It’s everything.

If you enjoyed reading this, we would love it if you would hit the share button and introduce us to your friends. You all are the reason we get to do this and we’re so appreciative of that! Please help us continue serving people by sharing us with your family and friends! Leave us a comment and let us know how this has impacted your life. It’s the little things that make me so happy to continue doing this, such as a like, comment or share! Have you subscribed to the page so new blogs will arrive in your email automatically? Go to our homepage to do so! Please and thank you! And remember: You are loved, you are worthy and you are enough!

~Matt & Kelsey

Hay Bales! How and Why We Put Them Up.

Have you ever wondered how the hay bales are made? And why they are?

Hay season has arrived in full force on our farm. I always feel like squirrels this time of year. We’re stockpiling feed for winter when there won’t be any for the cows.

Jackson County, Kansas, is the brome seed capitol of the world! Our claim to fame. We have a lot of brome grass on our farm. The seed is grown on the top part of the grass. If harvesting the seed, it has to be cut before we can put it up for hay. Brome seed isn’t normally ready until shortly after the first part of July. There’s a huge trade off between getting the money for the seed and having to wait until then to harvest the hay.

The grass, just like in your yard, dries out the later we get in to summer. We don’t have any irrigation on our farm, so it gets watered when it rains. The hay is what we feed to the cows in the dead of winter so we want the nutrition to be super high and good quality so the girls can stay in good shape. Waiting on the seed to be cut decreases the quality of the hay.

Haying, just like everything on the farm, requires careful care and precision.

  1. MOWING-First, we mow the hay down. We do this with a swather. There are a bunch of different swather types and brands on the market. But think of this like you mowing your yard. The swather puts the hay in to windrows.
  2. RAKING-Then the hay lays for 1-2 days usually, drying. The hay needs to be dry to put in the bales so it doesn’t mold and rot. After it has dried on the top, we use a rake to flip it to the other side so all the grass is dry. Normally, we combine two of the swathers windrows for the baler.
  3. BALING-Then, we bale it. Our baler has a moisture monitor on it so we can know how wet the hay is and whether it’s ready or not. Again, it’s vital that wet hay doesn’t go in a bale because it will rot.
  4. HAULING & STACKING-After the hay is baled, it gets hauled and stacked. This is for ease of access in the winter, but we also want the grass to grow back and when a bale is sitting on the ground, the grass underneath is going to die.

Just for reference, a cow eats approximately 20-25 pounds of hay per day in the winter. Our round bales weigh about 1300 pounds. That means one bale of hay will feed a cow for about 52 days. Our feeding season, depending on weather and how much stockpiled grass we have, is closer to 120-150 days. It takes a lot of bales to get our herd through the winter.

If you enjoyed reading this, we would love it if you would hit the share button and introduce us to your friends. You all are the reason we get to do this and we’re so appreciative of that! Please help us continue serving people by sharing us with your family and friends! Leave us a comment and let us know how this has impacted your life. It’s the little things that make me so happy to continue doing this, such as a like, comment or share! Have you subscribed to the page so new blogs will arrive in your email automatically? Go to our homepage to do so! Please and thank you! And remember: You are loved, you are worthy and you are enough!

~Matt & Kelsey

What Does A Cattle Operation Look Like?

Every operation is different. Every one unique. Every one doing things just a little different. This is a view of ours. We aren’t judging anybody that does things different than us. This works for us.

How Often Do Cows Have Babies?

Each cow will have a baby roughly once per year. We have three groups of cows. Our winter herd of cattle that calf in January/February. The spring herd starts in April/May and the other is fall calvers, beginning around September. We have the cattle from start to finish, birth to harvest. The cows are always on grass. The calves are on grass a majority of their lives. They are finished on a corn based diet to add the marbling, which provides the taste to the meat. We fully believe in a holistic approach-everything is intimately interconnected. The part of the year that our cash crops (corn and soybeans) aren’t being grown, we have cover crops growing. Not only because we believe this is foundational to our soil health, but it extends the grazing season for our cattle. The more time the cattle are grazing, the better for our operation. We want to minimize the amount of time/money we have to feed hay.

What Do Cows Eat?

We use rotational grazing as well. Each of our pastures are broke into paddocks, some with permanent fencing and some we use movable electric fencing. Our cattle our used to seeing the posts and knowing that is their boundary. By implementing a system like rotational grazing, it also extends the grazing time. We can graze a paddock then move the cattle off of it. This allows the grass to recover and we can come back and graze that piece more often while the soil health is improving, not deteriorating. The finishing cattle that are fed corn, are fed corn from our fields. We know exactly what has been done to the corn and when. We know that we harvest and store the corn in optimal circumstances. We know and understand exactly what goes into our feeding ration and spend a great deal of time creating that ration and tweaking it to make sure it’s perfect.

Who Takes Care of Cows?

I think now is a good time to remind you that we are a family farm. There are 3 of us full time on the farm: my father-in-law, My Forever and myself. My mother-in-law does all the paperwork, keeps us well fed and helps evenings and on weekends. Matt’s grandma is a land owner in the operation.

How Do We Keep Track of the Cows?

Therefore, with that said. These cattle are watched by 3 people. I’m mostly in charge of the cows in the pastures. Henry takes care of the weaned calves and finishing cattle and My Forever helps and make sure everything gets done with all of them. We have hundreds of cattle, but I can tell you a description and story about 98% of them. The first and second calf heifers I’m still learning. Each cow has an ear tag with a number in it. For each pasture, I make a list with all the cows on it. Once a week (at least), I go to all the pastures and mark off each of the cattle (this was adopted from what my mom does with her cattle). We drive by the cattle almost daily, just to make sure they are where they are supposed to be.

Family Farm versus Factory Farm

I stress and will continue to stress, our cattle are well cared for. We take care of them before we take care of ourselves. We have a lot of them, yes. We are not a factory farm, we are a family operation and very proud of what we produce and how they are cared for. As I type this from our deck, I can see our first calf heifer pairs grazing contentedly around our house. Cows are like children, they will let you know when they aren’t happy and need something. It’s all a matter of listening to them.

If you enjoyed reading this, we would love it if you would hit the share button and introduce us to your friends. You all are the reason we get to do this and we’re so appreciative of that! Please help us continue serving people by sharing us with your family and friends! Leave us a comment and let us know how this has impacted your life. It’s the little things that make me so happy to continue doing this, such as a like, comment or share! Have you subscribed to the page so new blogs will arrive in your email automatically? Go to our homepage to do so! Please and thank you! And remember: You are loved, you are worthy and you are enough!

~Matt & Kelsey

The Secret to the Perfect Burger is Easier Than You Think

It is grilling season! Beef can be an intimidating to cook with, but I’ve got a secret for you, it’s not as scary as you think.

Choosing Ground Beef:

First, choose your ground beef. Whether that be from the grocery store shelf or from your local farmer (we sell beef and eggs directly to customers if you don’t know a farmer), you want it to be thawed out. But, cold (reason coming later).

Equipment Needed for Perfect Burger:

Next, get your things ready. You will need:

  • Patty maker (if you don’t have this, don’t worry. It makes your burgers cook evenly and probably would be a good investment of your money. They are really inexpensive!)
  • Grill/skillet heating up
  • Seasonings, if using. (We use salt, pepper and diced onion for our typical burgers. You can add just about anything you want to mix up the flavor. Sometimes I add in garlic powder and red pepper flakes. It all depends on who I’m cooking for.)

How to Cook Your Patties:

Shape your patties. Pull your ground beef from the fridge right when you need it. It will hold the patty better when it’s cold. Mix in the ingredients that you need/want.

Then throw them on the grill or in your skillet. Cook for 4-5 minutes on each side. This should get you a medium done burger.

Add your favorite toppings and enjoy!

Don’t Be Scared!

Cooking chicken to me is as foreign as cooking beef is to most people. Beef is full of nutrients that you shouldn’t avoid just because you aren’t sure how to cook it.

If you buy direct from a farmer, be sure to ask them for their favorite recipe or way to cook the cut that you’ve bought. Don’t be intimidated by it! What questions do you have about how to cook the perfect burger?

If you enjoyed reading this, we would love it if you would hit the share button and introduce us to your friends. You all are the reason we get to do this and we’re so appreciative of that! Please help us continue serving people by sharing us with your family and friends! Leave us a comment and let us know how this has impacted your life. It’s the little things that make me so happy to continue doing this, such as a like, comment or share! Have you subscribed to the page so new blogs will arrive in your email automatically? Go to our homepage to do so! Please and thank you! And remember: You are loved, you are worthy and you are enough!

~Matt & Kelsey

Why We Use Antibiotics in Our Cattle

Does meat contain antibiotics?

The weather in northeast Kansas has been up and down and all over the place. While we can all enjoy the nice days, the up and down weather has been hard on the cattle. We have experienced some below zero wind chill days.

Nature takes care of itself. Cattle grow thicker hair in the winter (their winter coats) and shed in the spring, just like your dog does. They, unlike us, can’t just shed all those layers on the days that are much, much warmer. Because of this, I’m watching the cattle extra close. Just like humans, the elderly and the young are most susceptible to sickness. 

How Do We Use Antibiotics?

At the first sign of sickness, I tell Matt that we need to doctor. We’ve been running pretty hard applying fertilizer to the pastures and hay ground, but the cattle take priority. If I don’t catch them on their first day of showing signs of sickness, it takes a lot longer and more medicine to get them well again. 

We give a shot of antibiotic. We take the dosage rate very seriously. I want my sick babies to get better and don’t want to sabotage that by over or under dosing. Then I write down on my cattle list the date, medicine type and how much we gave. And we’re done. We let the medicine work. Just like with humans, we want to minimize the stress on sick animals. We get the medicine in them and then leave them in peace. 

Are There Antibiotics in Meat?

We get a lot of questions about antibiotics in meat. ALL meat is antibiotic free. Every single ounce. There are strict withdrawal periods that ranchers must abide by when administering medication. Cattle producers take this very seriously, but there are bad apples in every industry. All meat is tested for antibiotics. You never have to worry about antibiotics making it into meat you are consuming. So the extra money you’re putting out to buy a label that says antibiotic free is quite literally a waste of your money. 100% of the meat on the grocery store shelves is antibiotic free. 

I completely understand that you care so much about your family that you don’t want to feed them anything that will harm them in the short or long run. I feel you. I grew up and married into another family where we have our own beef in the freezer all the time. I know exactly how that beef was raised and how it was treated. I don’t know that about the pork and chicken I buy off the grocery store shelves. I’ve seen all the labels and scare tactics used to make you choose one product over another. I must state this again. If you want to buy organic, natural, or anything else you go for it. But I ask that you understand what it is you’re buying and you’re not buying out of fear and potentially wasting your money in the process. 

Why We Don’t Produce Organic:

For example, our eggs are not organic. We won’t go through the process to be an organic producer because of all the regulations they tell you. We’re doing all the things, but I don’t want some bureaucrat in Washington that doesn’t know what a chicken eats to tell me how to take care of my birdies. We take care of our chickens so it’s what is right for them, not to meet some ridiculous regulation that might harm our flock. I’m not saying organic is bad. I’m saying that just because it’s not labeled something doesn’t mean it’s bad. 

As always we encourage you to ask any and all questions. We will not make you feel less than because you don’t know something. I love answering questions. I love sharing our lifestyle, just as you like sharing yours. This life is too short to go through it fighting about unnecessary things. We’d love to be your farmer resource.

If you enjoyed reading this, we would love it if you would hit the share button and introduce us to your friends. You all are the reason we get to do this and we’re so appreciative of that! Please help us continue serving people by sharing us with your family and friends! Leave us a comment and let us know how this has impacted your life. It’s the little things that make me so happy to continue doing this, such as a like, comment or share! Have you subscribed to the page so new blogs will arrive in your email automatically? Go to our homepage to do so! Please and thank you! And remember: You are loved, you are worthy and you are enough!

~Matt & Kelsey

Cow Terminology

Breaking down the common words cattle producers say all the time

Ever wondered what the name for a female cow or male cow is? Or a baby cow? Or maybe what a heifer is?

This #FarmFridayTPStyle post is all about breaking down the terminology that many cattle producers throw around without blinking. I was raised around cattle. So often I forget that many don’t know the names that I say all the time. I wanted to put together a list for you to refer to if you don’t know what I mean in future blogs. There is no shame in not knowing. I’m glad you’re here to learn. Let me know if you have more questions or something doesn’t make sense.

  • Rancher: This generally refers to someone with livestock of some sort. Farmers, in the most general sense, grow crops.
  • Bovine: Relating to cattle
  • Cattle: General term for bovines. Includes females and males, young and old
  • Herd: A group of cattle
  • Cow: A fully grown female
  • Cull Cow: A female that is being pulled from the herd to be sold.
  • Bull: An intact male used for breeding purposes or calf that hasn’t been castrated yet
  • Calf: baby
  • Heifer: A young female
  • Steer: A young male that has been castrated
  • Replacement Heifer: A young female (normally between 1-2 years old) that is being bred for the first time. Replaces the older cows being culled from the herd.
  • 1st Calf Heifer: A female that is coming or has had her first baby (normally around 2-3 years of age)
  • 2nd Calf Heifer: A female that is coming or has had her second baby (normally around 3-4 years of age) (Another P.S. here: Heifers go from heifers to being called cows after being 2nd calf heifers. Normally, when they have their third baby, they are considered cows.)
  • Yearling: Either gender. These are cattle that are around a year in age.
  • Feeder: Cattle that are being finished for harvest
  • Springer: A female that is close to having her baby
  • Freemartin: In a set of twins that is a bull and heifer, the heifer is normally sterile and called a freemartin

What other words have you heard in relation to cattle and didn’t understand? Leave us a comment and let us know what it was and we’ll explain it!

If you enjoyed reading this, we would love it if you would hit the share button and introduce us to your friends. You all are the reason we get to do this and we’re so appreciative of that! Please help us continue serving people by sharing us with your family and friends! Leave us a comment and let us know how this has impacted your life. It’s the little things that make me so happy to continue doing this, such as a like, comment or share! Have you subscribed to the page so new blogs will arrive in your email automatically? Go to our homepage to do so! Please and thank you! 

~Matt & Kelsey

10 Fun Facts About Cattle:

May is beef month so naturally all #farmfridaytpstyle posts will be all about the cattle! Anything you want to know? Let us know in the comments!

#1. Cows are only the females and are usually only referred to as a cow if she has had 3 or more calves. There are also heifers (young female), first calf heifer (female that just had her first calf), second calf heifer (female that had her second calf), then they graduate to being a cow. Bulls are the males that do the breeding. Steers have been castrated (similar to neutering a dog or cat).

#2. Cattle only have teeth on the bottom. They use their very long tongues to pull the grass in (like a lasso) then chew with bottom teeth and pressing it against the hard top palette of their mouth. I can remember when I was little, maybe 4-5 years old, having a bottle calf (baby that doesn’t have a mother for one reason or other) and seeing that it only had teeth on the bottom. I told my mom, “Look this calf’s top teeth haven’t grown in yet!” She then told me that they only have teeth on the bottom! I was amazed and spent a lot of time looking in their mouth’s until I was convinced that she was indeed right!

#3. Cattle have four stomachs! The rumen is the largest and can hold up to 50 pounds of food. Grass is ingested and stored here until the cattle burp it back up and chew their cud.

#4. Cattle spend roughly 8 hours a day eating, 8 hours a day chewing their cud and 8 hours a day sleeping. When it is hot outside, they spend their early mornings and late evenings out grazing, where there isn’t shade. During the heat of the day, they lay under shade trees and chew their cud (burping back up their grass and re-chewing it! YUM!)

#5. Cattle outnumber people in 9 states (South Dakota, Nebraska, Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming, Kansas, Idaho, Iowa and Oklahoma).

#6. Cows have calves about once per year. They aren’t bred for the first time until around 14-15 months old and calve when they are around 2 years old, then have a calf once a year.

#7. Cattle are herd animals. If one isn’t near the herd, chances are they are sick, giving birth or have a new baby. On that note, cattle make very great babysitters. They often leave one to two cows with the baby calves all in a group and go off to eat/graze and drink before returning to the them.

#8. Cattle are prey animals. By observing cattle, you can learn a lot about your situation. They can smell and hear things WAY sooner than a human can. If cattle are nervous, there is normally a good reason to be!

#9. It is illegal to feed cows meat of any sort, so all cattle are vegetarian-fed!

#10. All meat is antibiotic free! Ranchers take great care to follow the withdraw labels on any medicine that is given. Once the animal is harvested, there are also tests done to ensure that it is antibiotic free.

#11. And, a bonus fact just for fun! Ranchers care for animals. Farmers grow crops. But they are often used interchangeably.

If you enjoyed reading this, we would love it if you would hit the share button and introduce us to your friends. You all are the reason we get to do this and we’re so appreciative of that! Please help us continue serving people by sharing us with your family and friends! Leave us a comment and let us know how this has impacted your life. It’s the little things that make me so happy to continue doing this, such as a like, comment or share! Have you subscribed to the page so new blogs will arrive in your email automatically? Go to our homepage to do so! Please and thank you! And remember: You are loved, you are worthy and you are enough!

~Matt & Kelsey

Best Way to Start Baby Chicks

8 steps to get your baby chicks

The other day when going by our local TSC, I saw it was chick days! While we’re not experts, we have started several chicks in our chicken operation and have a few tips to get you started right.

Choose what you want:

We do not do meat birds, just egg layers. Chicken breeds are different for what you’re looking for. Make sure if you want egg layers, you get a breed designed for that. We have a variety of chickens that are good egg layers and do well in free range environments. Our girls all lay brown eggs, but that is pure coincidence, not because we were specifically looking for that. Also, think about if you’re going to get straight runs (hens and roosters) or just pullets (only hens). Roosters are great for protection, but can be ornery when they get older.

Think about how many you’re going to want:

They look so tiny in those tanks at your store, but they do grow up! Depending on your size, 5 would be the least I would recommend to get. If you’re buying baby chicks, you’re a much better chicken farmer than I am if you can keep them all alive. Those chicks have been through a lot and some simply don’t make it. Keep that in mind when you’re purchasing your chicks. Integrating older chicks and younger chicks are hard to do so it’s best if you buy all the same age.

Equipment Needed:

Food & Water equipment:

You will need a waterer and feeder. Buy ones that can be used as they grow and not have to buy more as they get bigger. We feed the baby starter pellets while they’re growing to get them a really good start.

Where are they going to be:

Think about what you’re going to put them in until they’re ready to go outside. Baby chicks need to be inside and warm. They need a heat lamp. We use old metal stock tanks that don’t hold water anymore. Whatever you use, make sure the chicks have access for room to move. They need to have a heat lamp, but also an option to not be under the light. If you use a red heat lamp, it causes less pecking in the chicks. If the babies are huddled together, they are cold and the light needs moved closer to them. If they aren’t under the light and moving freely around their home, they are happy. Don’t turn the light off, they probably use it more than you think. We ended up giving our last set of chicks a couple lights because one wasn’t cutting it.

how to keep food/water cleaner:

Keep their water off the floor. Whether you put straw or wood chips or old newspaper down for bedding, they are going to get their water dirty. Keeping it hung up will keep it more clean. Be careful that they can still reach it because baby chicks need access to water at all times, but high enough that they won’t walk through it trying to move. The same for the feed. If you can hang it up a bit, it will keep the feed cleaner and the chickies will waste less of it.

Medicine:

Keep a close watch on your flock. Sometimes they get bored and decide to peck each other. Once they get the taste of blood, they will keep pecking one until it dies. We use blu-kote on the birdies that have been pecked. You should be able to find it wherever you bought your birds. We have also bought the flock blocks that are designed with bugs and other good stuff to give your chicks something to do. Chickens want to peck, that’s what their instinct is. So when we don’t give them anything to peck at, they go after each other. Provide them with other opportunities while they’re growing up.

outside pen:

Get your outside pen ready. Whether you’re going to be putting them in an enclosed pen all the time or they’re going to be free range, you need to make sure that it is tight and secure. All sorts of night creatures can take your birdies while you think they are safe in bed. Be sure to put a top over your pen so hawks and other flying animals can’t get to them. We move them to their home and leave them locked in for a few days to orient them to their new space. We leave their light with them until none of them are using it. The birds need to be pretty good size before trying them outside. When they start flying out of whatever you put them in when you got home, is a pretty good indication that they are almost ready.

FRESH EGGS!

Then enjoy your fresh eggs once they are old enough to lay (about 6 months old). The chickens that have pale legs or almost white are the ones that are laying. The ones with bright and vibrant legs mean they aren’t laying, if you’re curious.

What other questions didn’t I answer? Let me know how your chicken enterprise goes!

If you enjoyed reading this, we would love it if you would hit the share button and introduce us to your friends. You all are the reason we get to do this and we’re so appreciative of that! Please help us continue serving people by sharing us with your family and friends! Leave us a comment and let us know how this has impacted your life. It’s the little things that make me so happy to continue doing this, such as a like, comment or share! Have you subscribed to the page so new blogs will arrive in your email automatically? Go to our homepage to do so! Please and thank you!

How Do We Grow Crops

What plants we grow, when they are grown and how they grow

What plants we grow:

We grow primarily 2 cash crops: corn and soybeans. (They are called cash crops because they are harvested and sold on the market. Like My Forever said, it’s the final thing you sell. Sometimes corn is intended as cash crop, but ends up being silage or grazed. It all depends on the weather and outside influences.

When are they grown?

In NE Kansas where we are located, our growing season for these crops are from April-ish to September-October-ish. Planting and harvesting depends a lot on the weather. For example, sometimes we have a wet spring and we can’t get into the field because they are wet and muddy. We do not want to leave tracks in the field. Planting and harvesting are stressful seasons. A lot needs done in a very short period so that means exceptionally long days!

How they grow:

We are a no-till operation. That means that we do not till the soil. We plant directly into the soil without turning the soil over with a disk or field cultivator. We feel like soil’s needs are very similar to what we, as humans, need in order to stay healthy. We need shelter, food and exercise. Soil needs the same. Soil’s shelter is the material left on top of the ground providing shade in the summer months and as a coat in the winter. This is where cover crops come into affect. After harvesting the cash crops we immediately plant something into the soil to start growing so that the soil isn’t left bare.

Next food! Just like us, soil needs a diverse diet. We shouldn’t eat the same thing all the time, duh! Whether that one thing is lettuce or donuts, it’s not good for us if we eat nothing else. Our bodies are made for diversity. Think about how our ancestors would have lived. They would have eaten in seasons when the food was available, diets always changing. (No Aldi, Walmart or Target to run to back then.) That is what soil needs as well! Soil is alive. There are all sorts of organisms living in it. Some we can see, some are only microscopic. When we “feed” these organisms a diverse diet, they thrive. Another reason why we believe in cover crops with a lot of diversification in the seed mixture. The organisms are able to find what they like and need in the vast variety that is offered when we plant a lot of options.

Last, exercise. If we listen to some of the most successful people, almost 100% of them say that regular (read daily) exercise of some kind is in their schedule. So many of us feel like we can’t fit it in, but our bodies are made to move. They actually start breaking down when we don’t move our bodies like we should. Exercise provides stress on our bodies which encourages them to find ways to adapt and to grow. A little bit of stress on the plants are just like that. Too little moisture encourages them to really dig those roots deep into the ground to find moisture under the ground. A little pest control about the ground, encourages the good bugs to show up and take care of the bad ones, etc.

This is a whole system and it takes time to get a working system that is taking care of itself. It takes patience and really understanding how everything is intimately interconnected and everything we do has an effect on lots of other things as well. We aren’t afraid to use cattle on the farm ground, in the right situations. We don’t want them to tear it up after a rain, but we want them to put their all natural fertilizer (poop) on the soil for the organisms to use. We find cattle to be very beneficial in operation.

As you read about our diversified operation, keep in mind that we believe in holistic management! Everything is intimately interconnected. I know I keep saying it, but it’s true! With that in mind, we can make decisions for our operation.

If you enjoyed reading this, we would love it if you would hit the share button and introduce us to your friends. You all are the reason we get to do this and we’re so appreciative of that! Please help us continue serving people by sharing us with your family and friends! Leave us a comment and let us know how this has impacted your life. It’s the little things that make me so happy to continue doing this, such as a like, comment or share! Have you subscribed to the page so new blogs will arrive in your email automatically? Go to our homepage to do so! Please and thank you! And remember: You are loved, you are worthy and you are enough!

~Matt & Kelsey

Getting Cows Ready for Grass Season

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. This time of year, the cows definitely concur with that! They are pushing the fences and raring to get out on that fresh, new green grass.

We calf three times a year, but the cycle is the same just at different times. Our cows have a calving cycle of about 60-80 days. After most, if not all, the babies are born, we get the cows in. We work them before taking them to grass or turning them back out on grass. If any of these terms confuse you or you don’t quite know what I’m referring to, this blog will help iron it out for you. If you’re still confused, send me a message!

What medicine do cows get?

What do I mean by working the cattle? The cows get their annual vaccinations. They also get some dewormer. Cows can get internal worms by eating grass. It’s like a cleanse that humans do, kind of. The medicine cleans the cow’s guts. We also pour (we pour a liquid on to the cow’s back) to get and keep lice and ticks off them. This is just like when we put flea and tick medicine on our companion animals, we want to do that for the cows since they literally live in the grass. And we all know those nasty creatures carry awful diseases.

What vaccines do calves get?

The calves get a shot of blackleg (an awful disease that is fully preventable with this shot), pinkeye (helps prevent fly problems), they get branded with our brand, and the bulls get castrated.

Most satisfying feeling:

After this they are ready for grass season. We open the gate and let them go. The most satisfying feeling in the entire world is working a group of cattle and putting in a long, physically demanding day then opening the gate when we’re done (usually right around dusk) and letting the cows go to graze on the fresh new grass. It just makes you feel like life is all okay.

Then it’s pretty easy time. We rotate the cows about once a week, if not more. They get really used to always moving to fresh grass. I can move them on the four wheeler simply by calling them and leading them. The calves are growing, the cows are breeding back for the next season and life is good. The calves won’t wean for a while, they are simply growing. We have the least amount health issues in this stage because they are on good grass and doing good. Life is good! One of my favorite seasons!

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~Matt & Kelsey