Farm Life – Page 2

Why Are the Shelves Bare?

The last time I went to the store, the shelves were pretty bare. It’s a scary time. Nobody is really sure what’s going to go on. Nobody is really sure when it’s going to be over. Nobody is really sure what to do.

However, it seems that most are stocking up for the uncertainty.

It’s understandable. You’re scared. You’ve been told to stay home. You’ve been told to use social distancing. But this isn’t the 1920’s. Most of us don’t produce our own food. So you’ve been stocking up.

Friend I want to tell you, your feelings are justified. We live in a free society. If you want 32 packages of cheese, that’s your prerogative. However, your American farmers are still at work.

The cows are still getting milked, the crops are getting planted, the livestock fed. Agriculture is one of the “necessary” or whatever they’re calling it industries. We’re still doing all the things we were doing before this started.

Farmers are the best at social distancing. We can spend hours planting or feeding and see nobody. We have plans in place to keep the food supply not just present, but safe.

It’s a scary time. It’s hard to go to the store and see empty shelves and not freak out. However, the food is there and will continue to be there. We just have to let supply and demand even out. We have to let the trucks get there. We have to take what we need and know that you’ll be able to get it later.

Your American farmer is still producing for you!

If you have questions reach out! I’d love to answer them for you.

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 is Fertilizer? Why is it used?

I’m a certified plant killer. I’m really terrible at indoor plants. Please tell me I’m not alone. Luckily, this just applies to indoor plants or a garden, not the crops. I’m getting better. With more knowledge, you do better. Each time I kill another plant, I learn something new. My latest venture has been in fresh herbs. And I love it.

The thing I do wrong with my house plants is treat them like we treat our crops-only omitting a few very key variables. Our crops use the same soil again and again so why can’t my plants? Our soil grows multiple crops in a year, so why can’t my indoor soil?

I’m sure you’re all much smarter than me, but it finally clicked when I had a lengthy conversation with the woman that sold me my cilantro plant. Duh! Lightbulbs went off in my head. We REPLENISH the nutrients on our crop ground. (Like the fertilizer that we are applying right now) We rotate crops that take and put back different nutrients into the soil. We also utilize really natural approaches to keep the soil in tip top shape like keeping the microorganisms in the soil healthy and happy. We also let our cows graze the crop stalks and cover crops. They churn the soil up a little with their feet, while also putting natural fertilizer back out on the ground.

It never dawned on me that I couldn’t expect the soil in pots in my house to produce like the soil on our farm. When I bought my cilantro plant, that woman explained and I got it, finally. Not all of us think alike. Matt, I’m sure, could have told me how dumb I was being, but his interest in my house plants is zero. It took a caring greenhouse worker to say it in a way that I could get. I couldn’t figure out why people would buy potting soil when they lived on a farm with soil all around them. The greenhouse employee further explained that the things I’m growing in the house aren’t really growing outside in our part of the world. The potting soil is structured more like the soil that the plant is normally grown in.

So as we spread fertilizer on the pastures and hay ground, it’s just like when you replenish your plants’ soil nutrients. We do it in a very precise manner so as not to over or under apply. The outside soil has so much more going for it than the soil in my pots in the house. The soil is our livelihood. Without it we grow nothing. We want to keep it healthy so it will grow grass or crops for us. Nutrient dense soil produces nutrient dense foods.

~Matt & Kelsey

What Do Farmers Do All Winter

Have you ever wondered what exactly farmers do all winter when they can’t be in the fields?

There is always work to be done on a farm. Always.

In our area, very few are just farmers. Most everybody is diversified. Meaning we have multiple enterprises on our farm. Examples: corn, soybeans, cover crops, hay, pasture, cows, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, etc. Few have all of these, but many have several of these.

This list is just a few of the things that farmers/ranchers do during the winter.

1. Make seed decisions for next spring planting.

2. Spread fertilizer on pasture, hay ground and crop fields to ensure the plants have the nutrients next spring.

3. Repair problem areas in the fields. For example, ditches that were created during the growing season. When there is a crop growing, we don’t want to tear it up fixing problems so we wait until the crops come out.

4. Trimming/cutting unwanted trees around crop ground and in pastures.

5. Hauling grain that was stored on farm during harvest to the elevator.

6. Shop work. Fixing, repair, maintaining everything that got neglected during the busy seasons. Preparing equipment to be ready to go when needed. Creating and building new things.

7. Feeding and checking cattle. Winter often means extra protein needed for the cows to stay healthy. It also means frozen water. Daly trips to the cattle becomes a thing.

8. Calving normally happens or at least starts before being able to get back in the fields.

9. Working the fall calves.

10. Some ranchers finish their calves completely out ready to go to the harvest facility. That means grinding corn, mixing feeds, scraping pens and putting bedding down continually.

11. Meetings and appointments. Most organizations farmers are a part of have their annual meetings in the winter time. All the appointments: tax, financial, seed, fertilizer, insurance, etc.

12. Doing their wife’s to do list that didn’t get accomplished during busy seasons. I’m just kidding. That’s a lie. At least at our house. That never gets done.

13. And my favorite, with the time change there is more time in the evenings to simply be together to dream, cook and rest.

~Matt & Kelsey

A Day in the Life

Winter/Feeding Edition

It’s fun to go through a day in the life of other people and people often ask what we do all day so here it is!

I detest waking up to an alarm and am blessed to not have to. My Forever tends to be my alarm. My grandma had this uncanny ability to wake up at a specific time without an alarm. Matt has that same ability. I don’t. My Forever wakes up approximately the same time every day. If I don’t work out in the morning, I don’t work out. My schedule changes throughout the different seasons on the farm, but right now it works out great to work out before going outside. My workouts are usually 30 minutes or less. I don’t workout to look a certain way, I workout to feel a certain way.

We’re calving cows and feeding cattle right now. After dressing for the weather outside, I water and feed the chickens and Poncho. Then head to the pickup to take to headquarters to get the tractor and hay buster. Sometimes I need to check the cows before feeding, but most of the time Henry or Matt does that.

I load up the hay that I need and head to the cows. We use a haybuster that grinds the cattle up. Matt brings the pickup and gives them extra protein in the form of distillers. It takes me roughly 2-3 hours of feeding with the tractor. Depending on how the morning goes and how much Matt gets done, I feed silage once getting back to headquarters. We give silage to the cows that have had calves in the last few months. We also check the babies every day. Then we refill the silage truck to get it ready for the next day. If there are babies to haul out, we do that.

Then it’s lunch time! Lately, I’ve been pretty good about packing a lunch for My Forever and I so we don’t have to come home for lunch. I think it’s special to be able to eat lunch with my spouse almost everyday. I know so many don’t have that ability and I’m extremely grateful for it.

The afternoons are all different. The cows are checked every 2-3 hours (or more) by one of the three of us. The cows always take priority.

Matt always has a list in his head of things that need done. Always. And it’s always 3,004 miles long and never ending. The afternoon is when those things get accomplished. Sometimes it’s fixing things in the shop, sometimes hauling rocks, sometimes improving the pastures or crop fields, sometimes he gives me the afternoon off to work at home. It’s always different.

The evenings are one of my favorite times of the day. We get home, shower – seperately or together – cook dinner, discuss our day and generally unwind from our day. This is when Matt sits in a chair on his phone with a terrible show on TV that he’s not watching. However, if I ever try to change the channel he insists that he’s watching it. Even when his eyes are closed and he’s snoring – he’s still watching it! Insert eye roll here.

Then bed time, my favorite time of day! (For more than one reason – insert wink here). My favorite part of every single day is going to sleep beside My Forever. There’s something about ending a day, good or bad, beside the one that loves you for better or worse. It’s my favorite.

~Matt & Kelsey

Crop Terminology

A few weeks ago, we discussed all things cow lingo. You now know the difference between a heifer and bull, a steer and cow, a rancher versus farmer. But what about farmers? What is their lingo? Well, here it is for you! You no longer have to be confused!

Farmer: In the most general sense, farmers normally grow crops; ranchers grow livestock. Many times we are both and the distinction is rarely made except when farmers and ranchers are together.

Crop Varieties:

Cash Crop: This refers to crops that you are going to get direct income from. For example, corn, soybeans, wheat, etc in our area.
Cover Crop: These are crops that can be multi-purpose and can turn in to a cash crop, but are grown, normally, to increase soil production. Cover crops have a lot of uses: improving soil quality, grazing for livestock, harvesting the seeds, harvesting the cover crop to stockpile feed for later, etc. Cover crops are armor for the soil. They protect it when the cash crop isn’t growing. Covers feed the organisms in the soil. They replenish some of the nutrients that was pulled from the soil for the cash crop.

Tillage Options:

No-Till: This means the soil is never tilled up. Think of your garden. Do you till it (with your tiller or by hand) to prepare it for planting? On no-till operations the soil is never turned over. The new crop is planted directly into the old crop.
Strip Till: This is when you till just the strip or row that the seed is going to be planted in to. Strip till gardens would look like a strip of tilled soil and a strip of grass or non-tilled soil that would serve as a walkway or an area to work from.
Conventional Till: Farmers that use conventional tillage, “work” the soil. That means they turn over all the soil before planting anything new. Most gardens are probably conventional till, all the soil is tilled.

Equipment:

Tractor: These are the instruments that help us get a lot done! They are the things that pull the planters, certain sprayers, grain cart, tillage tools, etc. They serve multi-purpose in our operation and help feed the cattle their hay bales as well.

Planting Equipment:

Planter: This is the thing that puts the seed in the ground. There are a million different types of planters out there. Ours is a 16 row planter. That means we can plant 16 rows at one time. Each row has an individual box that holds the seed. It’s important that the planter is set correctly for the type of seed that you’re planting. It could mean a bumper crop versus a failure of a crop if you don’t have the planter set correctly. There’s a lot of pressure knowing how to do it! In NE Kansas most planters have 30 inch row spacings. That means there is 30 inches in between the rows of crops. (This varies tremendously by region and operation.)
Drill: My Forever likes to say a drill is a controlled spill of seed. A planter is very precise placement of seeds. Our drill is 15 foot. That means it’s roughly 25 feet smaller than our planter, meaning the planter covers a lot more acres more quickly than the drill does. Corn is almost always planted with a planter. Soybeans can be planted or drilled. Wheat is almost always drilled, but in rare situations can be planted. We use our drill with all our cover crops. Instead of having a row every 30 inches like a planter, drills have rows that are 7.5 inches. (Again this all varies on the different types, but I’m giving you what the general terms are). When we’re drilling we’re trying to get more of the soil covered, so we want the rows closer together.
Seed Tender: This is what brings the seed to the field to be placed in the planter or drill. Sometimes seed is placed in a bag and sometimes it’s in bulk. It depends on how the operation is set up. For example, our planter has 16 individual boxes so is nice to do with bags. But our drill and some planters have one big box that would be a pain to fill with individual bags. It all depends.

Harvest Equipment:

Harvest: This is when we get to bring in the crop that has been growing! It’s a fun, but very stressful time of year. It’s important to harvest at just the right time. We’re talking thousands of dollars losses, even on very small operations, when the crop isn’t harvested at the right time or the right way.
Combine: These are the big machines that harvest the crops. They are very efficient. The trick is getting them set correctly for the crop that you’re harvesting. It’s important that the right setting are selected so that the grain gets into the combine bin rather than falling on the ground.
Grain Cart: The goal during harvest season is to keep the combine moving and harvesting the crop. The grain cart is the tool that makes that happen. The grain cart, pulled by a tractor, can drive along the combine while continuing to harvest and unload the grain on the go. The grain cart then transports that grain to the trucks that can then take to the elevator or grain bin.
Truck: This is the vehicle that hauls grain from the field to the bin and eventually on to the selling point. Trucks are given weight limits, depending on the type. It’s important to know how much to put on to the trucks to remain under that limit so you don’t get served with a hefty fine.

Other Farming Equipment:

Sprayer: This is what is used to apply herbicides, pesticides and fertilizer, etc. Most sprayers are self-propelled meaning they have their own engine, but some are pull types that are pulled by a tractor.
Disk: This is used in tillage operations after the crop is harvested to disk the crop stubble into the soil.
Field Cultivator: This is used in tillage operations after the crop is harvested and the disk has gone through to smooth the field up to prepare it for planting.

~Matt & Kelsey

2020 Resolution Reflection: Farm Friday

We are almost wrapping up the first month of 2020. We are 1/12 done with the new year. Are you still on track with your resolutions or have you given up?

The joy of life is that you can start over at any point. Don’t have the all or nothing mindset. Do your best and give yourself grace. I wanted to spend this week reflecting on how we did with our resolutions for the first month. Go check out the original post for all the details on our life goals.

I may have to amend my farm goals because we have already accomplished one of them. We spent an afternoon one day cutting cedar trees. (Cedar trees are a pest to us. They take over a pasture and limit the grass that the cows have access to. They make great wind protection for the cattle during the yucky winter weather, but we want to make sure that we control them so they don’t take over.) So while I wish I could say that all the trees are taken care of, they aren’t. We have several other pastures that need some attention and work. It was amazing to me how much progress we made in just a few hours of working.

So far, knock on wood, I don’t want to jinx it, we are doing really great calving. We have had one single and one set of twins. Cattle are kind of like humans. One baby is the norm, twins happen, but a lot more rare and multiples of more is basically unheard of. We really want cows to have one nice, healthy calf. Some times when cows have twins they choose one and then don’t take care of the other. This cow is an amazing cow and taking care and loving them both. She will get some extra love and nutrients so she doesn’t go downhill in this bad weather while caring for two.

Do things before Matt asks was my last goal. I must have been crazy putting this one. Just kidding. Kind of. Matt has trained me, very unconsciously to me, to observe, to notice, to accomplish before being asked. We work together everyday. I’m amazed when we are with other humans how much I can understand and anticipate his needs while people are still trying to figure him out. I can have the wrench that he wants or be waiting in the spot he wants while others are trying to figure out what he said. I haven’t decided if this is a good thing or bad thing.

What were your goals for your farming operation? How are you doing with them?

~Matt & Kelsey

Baby Calves

What we do when the babies are born & the products we use to do it

Please Note: We do use referral links for products and services that Matt & Kelsey at Team Pagel love and recommend. We only add links to products that we use!

It is officially winter calving season on the Pagel operation. We have had our first baby plus our first set of twins. All are doing well. Last week we talked about how we prepared for the babies to be born. And now they are!

Cows have calves approximately once per year. We have three groups of cows. One group starts calving around late January, one group starts around May and the last group starts around September.

Calving is a stressful season. We feed the cows year round and only have one chance for getting a live calf from them. A lot of things can go wrong in the calving process. We do all we can by getting the cows prepared by having them in really great shape by feeding high quality feed during the third trimester and as they calf.

During the winter calving season, the cows are in barns out of the wind on cold days. They are let out on grass when the weather is nicer. The cows love their barn. Once they have babies, we monitor them to make sure they are doing well, then they are hauled to a pasture with babies their age. We want our calving barns to stay as clean as possible. The babies are much better off in a clean pasture than in the barn after they are a few days old.

I keep a bag of all the needed equipment. Or at least try to. This is what my bag has in it at all times. Unless somebody takes something and doesn’t return it, but I think I’ve finally got Matt scared enough to not touch the things in my bag. We have several of each of these things around the farm, I just like to have them in my bag so we can find at least one when we need it. These are affiliate links, so thank you SO much if you order through them. We really appreciate it! I wouldn’t recommend products if I don’t believe in them. These are exactly what we use and what we’ve used for years and years and years.

The cows all have their own cow ear tag with their number on it. The calves get a matching one.

All of the calves get an ear tag to match their momma’s number. This way we can keep track of who they are and when they are born. On the front of the tag we write the date the baby was born and the cow’s number large so we can read from a distance. On the back we write our brand. We like the blanks ones for this reason, but you can get pre-stamped tags.

I always have a tagger. That is what we use to get the tag in the calf’s ear.

Also, the special marker to write on these tags. DO NOT let your kids get a hold of these. They are WAY worse than sharpies.

I always have sleeves in case there are calving problems.

Along with those sleeves are straps or chain in case we need to assist the cow.

Also, I keep an old towel for anytime I need it. Then like the bottom of any bag or purse there is the compilation of unique treasures that we forget about: electric fence insulators, clips for fence, etc.

In the pickup is my list that has how many cows there are to calf and how many already have. I keep this bag stocked and ready at all times. You never know when there will be an emergency and you will need it. During peak season, we’re tagging at least one calf per day so it’s nice to be able to find what you need right away.

What questions do you have about what we do with the babies or the products we use to do it with?

~Matt & Kelsey

How Do Cows Have Babies

We have three herds of cattle on our operation. One have their babies in February, one in May and one in September. Each herd is managed separately. Each have their own challenges and good things.

As we are about halfway through the month of January, we start getting really serious about getting ready for babies. Cows gestation periods are 283 days, but like humans the babies could arrive early. We don’t want to haul the mommas too close to their due date to induce labor. We want them to have their babies on their time.

We are in NE Kansas. We never know what the weather might be like in February. We’re very lucky that we have good facilities. We have barns that the cows can stay in. They get locked in at night. All of the girls calving are mature cattle and have birthed several calves and know the routine.

We are cleaning out the calving barns of the equipment that get parked in there when we’re not using them for cattle. We’re setting up portable panels to give them a pen around the barn. We’re spreading lime and getting everything disinfected so they have a clean space so the babies won’t get sick when they are born. We are making sure we have tags to tag the babies so we know who their mom is. We’re making sure we have the equipment we need ready and available if a momma needs help having her baby.

We hope for good weather, but are prepared for the worst. Once the mommas have their baby and get them cleaned off and fed, the worst is over. They are monitored to make sure everything is good, before being hauled out to good grass with lots of protection. We want to keep the calving facilities as clean as possible. We want live, healthy babies and it takes a lot of preparation to make sure we do our parts so the girls so they can do theirs.

~Matt & Kelsey

2020 Farm Resolutions

Did you check out the #marriagemondaytpstyle and #wildwednesdaytpstyle posts this week? If not, they are here and here. Have you set your marriage goals for 2020? How about your life goals? Farm Friday is going to focus on my goals for the farm in 2020, which could be completely different than Henry or Matt’s ideas.

I’m not a huge resolutions person. I’m more of a goal person. I’ve decided to set three goals for our marriage for the year. I encourage you to set goals for your marriage this coming year. I believe that goals need to be measurable. How are you going to access whether you reached your goal or not?

If you’re new to goals, try something really simple. Set a goal and prove to yourself you can make it. Each goal, make a little more difficult. So many of us are so accustomed to failing ourselves. When life gets too busy, we’re the first one that gets knocked off our priority list. Make a simple goal and prove to yourself that you are important. Think of how much better you think, feel and act when you make yourself a priority. After you’ve accomplished that, move on to a bigger goal. Pretty soon you’ll be crushing anything you want to.

Farm Goals for 2020:

Do things BEFORE Matt asks for them to be done
Have a 100% live calf crop
Cut all cedars south of our house

Easy peasy. That’s it. Have you figured out how simple I like to keep things. Three things that are going to get me to a better place. Three things that I can easily do. Three things that are easily measured. What are your life goals? Leave us a comment and let us know what they are!

~Matt & Kelsey

Livestock Care During the Holidays

Are you still in a food coma from yesterday? More gatherings to go this weekend? Shopped all the black Friday deals?

I’ll be brief so you can carry on with your Thanksgiving festivities.

I love the gatherings and the events that come with the holiday seasons. But I’m a creature of habit. I love my routine. I love my wake up time and bed time. During the holidays and extra events and activities those things can be interfered with.

What can’t be interfered with is the care of our livestock. The cattle don’t look at their calendar and say, “Hey, it’s Thanksgiving or Black Friday or Christmas or New Year’s Day, we’ll let them sleep and rest all day and take care of ourselves.” The cows expect their food and water and shelter every single day of the year. No matter how tired, or busy or what activity is next, the livestock must be cared for.

As you enjoy this season of the year, make sure that your routine is not stretched too far. Move your body in some way. Drink water! Get sleep. Know your limits. I hope this season is amazing for you. As we enjoy, we will also be taking careful care of our livestock and making sure they are good every day of the year, but especially during this cold season.

~Matt & Kelsey