I just came in from checking a very pregnant cow for the hundredth time. She is totally oblivious to why she's getting so much attention these days - just stands there, chewing her cud, like there's nothing going in.
She's right of course, there is nothing going on. I'm sure she'll know when that calf is about to make an appearance - that's when she'll mosey off to the far end of the pasture for a little privacy. She's been doing this calving thing for years and isn't worried in the least. She doesn't watch the Weather Channel. She is unaware that the Arctic lost it's hold on the top of the map and is sliding down into the States, freezing solid everything in its path. If we aren't there to make sure that Momma and Baby aren't safe in the barn, we'll be calling the little guy Popcicle Pete - or even worse. Losing a calf is not the way we want to start out the new year.
We humans can merely watch for signs of imminent birth (and they are all there) and try to keep her under surveilance - especially when it's forty below zero. Morning, noon, and night - even a midnight stroll for Glen on the coldest night and still she just stands there, chewing her cud! There are some who believe that cows and horses can actually stall their labours for a day or two if conditions are very bad. I don't know if that's true, but this cow has managed to miss the bitterly cold temperatures now, and whether she had anything to do with it, or not, we're glad we didn't have to deal with a frozen calf last week.
I took a few days off this week to stay home and enjoy the grandchildren. Our son, Wayne, was on break from University so he and Jacqui packed the family up and headed for the farm for a few days. They have a three year old girl and twin boys at eight months old so it's been a busy place since Wednesday. They left this morning when the boys were ready for their nap so that they could cover some miles in peace and quiet. One of the little guys doesn't mind sitting still and playing, but the other one is on a mission to conquer the world before he's two.
We are again a billet family for the Katimavik program. This time we have Caro, a girl from Quebec. She is very much into experiencing the diverse cultures within Canada; very inquisitive and quick to understand what we tell her. She says that she didn't have much English when she started out in October, but you'd never guess it. After dinner today we drove over to where Glen is building an oilwell site and he gave her a short ride on the CAT. Those will be pictures she can brag about! We also went out and took some photos with her and the cattle and horses to help her remember her stay at a Saskatchewan farm. I don't know if all the billet families can say the same, but we've sure enjoyed our temporary teenagers every time.
I think we're going to try to catch the next Olympic hockey game. We haven't seen either game where the Swiss have beat Canada or when Sweden beat the USA, maybe it's time to pay close attention to what the Europeans are doing right and the North Americans are doing wrong.
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Happy Anniversary
It takes something special to get the farmer away from his farm, but I had circumstances on my side this weekend. 23 years ago, in the dead of winter (it was nasty cold in 1983) Glen and I were married - and then left for a Carribean cruise - ah, those were the days! This year, to mark the occasion, we travelled into Brandon, MN (100 miles away) for a little shopping, a lovely relaxed meal at a nice restaurant, and a one night stay at hotel. It was no ship with an endless buffet and a steel drum band, but it was much more within our price range - especially since the hotel stay was compliments of a gift certificate from the local paper for which I write a weekly humour column.
After sleeping in (we made it all the way to 8:00 - farmers aren't very good at sleeping in) we treated ourselves to a leisurely breakfast and headed for home. Glen had to grind grain for the cattle's ration for the week, and I had stuff I needed to get done as well. But the break, short as it was, was nice all the same.
As of this week Glen is adding a prescribed dose of vitamins into the chop he feeds his pregnant cows. As they head into the last two months of their pregnancies they need these vitamins to make sure their labours go well and that they don't retain their placentas. So far, this has had a 100% success rate and Glen would rather put the money into preventative maintenance than huge vet bills or lost cows, after the fact. Previously, when he switched from plain grain chop to the medicated stuff, the cows weren't too fussy about the new taste, so this year he thought he might sweeten the deal and bought a couple bags of molasses to add for flavour. It's not the cheapest stuff in the world so he cut the suggested dose by half, and then wondered if they would notice any taste change at all.
Out of curiosity he took a handful of it over to one of his pet heifers and let her eat it out of his hand. He said that she sniffed it, took a taste, and then nearly took his fingers off trying to get every last flake before he got his hand back. He thinks that the half ration will do just fine.
Tonight he is working on his environmental farm plan. This is a government-funded program to have farmers do a self study on various aspects of their farming practices and how they impact on the environment. Generally speaking, farmers take their role as stewards of the land seriously. Their livelihood depends on treating the land with respect - if they take nutrients from the soil, but never put anything back, it amounts to the same thing as strip mining. Likewise, their source of water must be kept uncontaminated, and their method of garbage disposal be planned for the long term and take into consideration things like fire hazard and disease and pest control. In a way, a farm represents a micro organism of the planet's problems with stewardship. Glen says that this particular study is only for the self awareness of the farmers who choose to take the course, but there are also related programs that offer funding for environmental plans farmers can draw up for their individual operations.
It must be getting on toward spring - Glen has started Phase I of his "what I'm going to plant this spring" projections. Over the years I've learned not to pay too much attention to the first five or six plans - planting schemes on this farm are very fluid for the first while. Actually, a week or so ago he took a few days to try to market some of the grain we have in the bins from last year. He finally admitted defeat one evening at suppertime; he said he could give it away, but there was no way he could sell it. What are the people doing who have to sell anyway? If it takes $10.00 an acre to produce a crop, the price offered to a farmer these days it $7.50 or lower. It doesn't take Einstein to figure that that kind of math just doesn't add up. No one can continue lose that kind of money on an on-going basis.
What Glen wants to do is buy more cattle. Our bins are full of grain too, but we're lucky, we're not in a position that we have to sell it to pay bills. My heart goes out to the people who have no choice. What does make money is feeding the grain to cattle and selling the beef, so I predict more animals on the place this year. Who would have thought that the BSE crisis would have been the best thing that ever happened to this farm? It let us buy cheap cattle while we built up a herd.
After sleeping in (we made it all the way to 8:00 - farmers aren't very good at sleeping in) we treated ourselves to a leisurely breakfast and headed for home. Glen had to grind grain for the cattle's ration for the week, and I had stuff I needed to get done as well. But the break, short as it was, was nice all the same.
As of this week Glen is adding a prescribed dose of vitamins into the chop he feeds his pregnant cows. As they head into the last two months of their pregnancies they need these vitamins to make sure their labours go well and that they don't retain their placentas. So far, this has had a 100% success rate and Glen would rather put the money into preventative maintenance than huge vet bills or lost cows, after the fact. Previously, when he switched from plain grain chop to the medicated stuff, the cows weren't too fussy about the new taste, so this year he thought he might sweeten the deal and bought a couple bags of molasses to add for flavour. It's not the cheapest stuff in the world so he cut the suggested dose by half, and then wondered if they would notice any taste change at all.
Out of curiosity he took a handful of it over to one of his pet heifers and let her eat it out of his hand. He said that she sniffed it, took a taste, and then nearly took his fingers off trying to get every last flake before he got his hand back. He thinks that the half ration will do just fine.
Tonight he is working on his environmental farm plan. This is a government-funded program to have farmers do a self study on various aspects of their farming practices and how they impact on the environment. Generally speaking, farmers take their role as stewards of the land seriously. Their livelihood depends on treating the land with respect - if they take nutrients from the soil, but never put anything back, it amounts to the same thing as strip mining. Likewise, their source of water must be kept uncontaminated, and their method of garbage disposal be planned for the long term and take into consideration things like fire hazard and disease and pest control. In a way, a farm represents a micro organism of the planet's problems with stewardship. Glen says that this particular study is only for the self awareness of the farmers who choose to take the course, but there are also related programs that offer funding for environmental plans farmers can draw up for their individual operations.
It must be getting on toward spring - Glen has started Phase I of his "what I'm going to plant this spring" projections. Over the years I've learned not to pay too much attention to the first five or six plans - planting schemes on this farm are very fluid for the first while. Actually, a week or so ago he took a few days to try to market some of the grain we have in the bins from last year. He finally admitted defeat one evening at suppertime; he said he could give it away, but there was no way he could sell it. What are the people doing who have to sell anyway? If it takes $10.00 an acre to produce a crop, the price offered to a farmer these days it $7.50 or lower. It doesn't take Einstein to figure that that kind of math just doesn't add up. No one can continue lose that kind of money on an on-going basis.
What Glen wants to do is buy more cattle. Our bins are full of grain too, but we're lucky, we're not in a position that we have to sell it to pay bills. My heart goes out to the people who have no choice. What does make money is feeding the grain to cattle and selling the beef, so I predict more animals on the place this year. Who would have thought that the BSE crisis would have been the best thing that ever happened to this farm? It let us buy cheap cattle while we built up a herd.
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