Mixing It Up

This week we bought a new-to-us TMR wagon. The TMR wagon is what we use to mix feed (TMR) for our cows. I’ve written before about some of the different components of our cows feed, and since we stopped feeding grain in the barn, the cows have been exclusively eating a TMR ration.

The new TMR wagon made it home!

This purchase is more than a change in equipment, though; it’s also a change in the way we feed our cows. Our old mixer didn’t have a conveyor for unloading feed into bunks or tires that would work off of concrete. This meant that we had to unload the feed where we mixed it, and then use other means to put it in the feed bunk. We had a bunk right next to our silo (where we mix) that we would scoop the feed into using a skid loader. The main problem with this was that the silo isn’t close to the free stall or lean-to that our cows like to hang out in, so they were eating and then going to lay down, with too much travel in between. It’s better for them to be able to eat and lay down as they wish throughout the day. The long walk meant they did one and then the other instead of eating a little, letting it digest, then eating a little more.

For a couple of months we did try loading the feed into a different wagon that did have a conveyor and adequate tires (but that couldn’t do the mixing) to be able to feed closer to the free stall and lean-to. It should have been better for the cows, but the process took a significant amount of extra time, required an additional tractor, and we saw no change in milk production to justify the extra effort. It became clear that if we were going to feed near the barns, we needed a wagon that could both mix and unload the feed.

The conveyor unloading the TMR into the fence line bunk.

We spent some time looking for such a wagon, but every one we found was out of our price-range. We really had quit looking; we were getting by with what we had. Then last week David’s dad was at an auction and noticed they had a wagon just like what we had been looking for. Knowing we had stopped looking, he didn’t bid. The wagon was auctioned and “sold”, but we have enough experience with auctions to know that “sold” doesn’t always mean a piece of equipment has gone to a buyer. The price they stopped at seemed reasonable, so the next day they called the auction company to see if the wagon was still available and it was.

On Friday, David and his dad went down to take a look at the wagon, and for the same price the auctioneer pronounced the wagon “sold” for, they pulled it home that afternoon. David mixed with it that evening and fed the cows in two big steel tubs and a concrete bunk along the fence line, right next to the freestall and lean-to. The cows were a little confused at first, as they stood by the gate to the silo while their feed was unloaded back by their beds, but they’ve caught on now. Our cows aren’t the type to miss a meal.

Some cows enjoying their dinner at the fence line bunk.

We hope this time around the cows’ production will increase, but if not the wagon is a good investment for the time it saves. The old process used to take an hour and 20 minutes twice day, but today mixing and feeding took a total of about 45 minutes. The new wagon has two augers to mix instead of one, so it mixes a bit faster, and the old process to unload and scoop the feed was cumbersome and time consuming. By giving David an extra hour every day, the new-to-us TMR wagon should help our overall dairy operation run a lot more smoothly!

National Ag Day: Why do we farm?

Today is National Agriculture Day. I often write about what we do as a part of agriculture, but today I want to talk about why we do it. Michele Payn-Knoper wrote this post about taking the time to explain the personal nature of farming.

I’ve said too many times that farming is hard, that it’s so hard that many people aren’t willing to do it. I’m certainly not saying farming is the only difficult job out there. Engineering is hard, too, trust me. But as an engineer, I’ve never had to get up at 2 AM and go out in a cold rain to check on anything. As a farmer, I have.

So, if farming is so hard – why do we do it?

It’s a difficult question to answer – and one I’ve asked myself a million times. After all, when I met David, I wasn’t a farmer. It’s difficult to explain a decision like ours to someone who hasn’t farmed. There are certainly easier ways to make a more comfortable living. I admit that at times I needed a little convincing, but the process that convinced me didn’t include lists of pros and cons and logical reasons.

The process of buying the farm was very stressful. If we had given up and moved closer to my job, our lives would most likely be easier. But it wouldn’t be right. We talked about it, a lot. The thought of someone else milking our cows, of not seeing our calves grow up and have calves, of my husband putting on a tie every morning – it was heartbreaking. The more we worked side by side, I just knew. I understood what David always seemed sure of.

David’s veiw from the tractor while planting corn

I believe farming is something inside of us. Its a love for all things living and (for us at least) a faith that God will provide what we need. We love the good times – the newborn calves, the high milk tests, the yields that exceed expectations. The struggles, though, are what make those good times great.

The weather and our prices are two of the things we depend on most, and two of the things we have the least control over. Last year, our first year as owner/operators, neither was favorable. The past year has no doubt made us stronger. It has made us appreciate the things that do go right. If farming was easy, it wouldn’t be so rewarding.

View from the chopper.

We enjoy the challenge of doing more with less and finding new ways to do old things to make our cows and our farm better than they were before. And I’ve said it before, and I’m sure I’ll say it again – we take pride in continuing a tradition that started in our families over 100 years ago. Farming is truly in the cloth from which we were cut.

If its so hard, why do we farm? We farm for our families, for our cows, for our land, for all those who need something to eat and drink, and for us. We farm because it’s who we are.

“It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. The hard…is what makes it great.” – Tom Hanks as Jimmy Dugan in A League of Their Own

Related articles

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The Pulse of Milking

Our pulsators are something we rely on every day, twice a day, like so many things at the dairy. When everything’s working correctly we can forget how vital things like this are to our operation. Two weeks ago half of our pulsators quit working, and we got a brutal reminder of just how important they are.

What is a pulsator?

The pulsators are really what makes the milking units work. You can have all the suction in the world, but without a pulsator, you don’t get milk. The vacuum pump provides the suction to the milking units while the pulsators cause the shell liners to move in and out, basically squeezing then releasing on the cow’s teats.

If you’ve seen someone milk by hand you know they don’t just pull and hold, you have to pull and squeeze and release and pull and squeeze again. That’s what the pulsators do using differential pressures on the inside and outside of the liners. They also alternate so that two teats are squeezed and two are released at all times. Our pulsators are fairly loud, so you can clearly hear them switching back and forth. I guess they provide the rhythm for milking.

Here’s a short video with clips of a couple of cows milking. With our (new) clear shells, you can actually see the black liner squeeze and release. You can also hear the rhythm of pulsators and see the milk flow alternate between teats.

When the electrical box for the pulsators on one side of the barn quit, we were able to get both sides wired through one box so we could get by. They didn’t have quite enough juice, though, so a few units wouldn’t work correctly, and it really slowed things down. We milked with disabled pulsators for three days before we were able to get them fixed (it was a weekend, of course). After that experience, we’re a little more grateful for things like our pulsators and vacuum pump that really make our lives easier when they work twice a day every day.

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A Calf Is Born

Pregnant cows and heifers within 2-3 weeks of their due date live in the pasture closest to the dairy. When it’s raining or extremely cold, we’ll bring the pregnant ladies into the barn next to the house, for their comfort and ours. Most of the time, though, they’re better off with more space where they can go off on their own and calve in peace. In this pasture “off on their own” is still easily visible to us. We keep a close eye on them and get involved when necessary. It’s better for the cow, if she can, to deliver the calf unassisted.

This heifer calf was born just before sunrise on February 3rd.

After a calf is born, the mother (dam) needs to get up to clean the calf off. Often this is where we come in, reminding her she needs to get up. We will also check the calf and make sure its airways are clear of mucus. We typically leave the pair together until the calf is cleaned off, and usually until it can walk. It will start trying to stand within the first hour, and usually the calf can walk within 2 hours of its birth.  Check out my first video of the calf in the first 2 hours of it’s life, trying to stand and taking it’s first steps (set to great music: Stoney Larue – “Travelin’ Kind”).

We then bring both the cow and calf in from the pasture. The calf gets her very own cozy hut, bedded with straw in the winter or sand in the summer. The cow heads to the barn, where we milk her for the first time. Her milk this first time is actually colostrum, a thicker version of milk with tons of good stuff meant just for her calf. (Read about cows freshening here.)

The heifer’s colostrum in the stainless steel bucket. The calf will drink this for it’s first two feedings.

We collect the colostrum in a stainless steel bucket and feed it to the calf by bottle. We feed 2 quarts at its first feeding and save 2 quarts for its second feeding. We also give the calf a probiotic to help its immune system get started. Finally, we give the calf an ear tag with its number, and sometimes it’s name. (Read about our naming practices here.)

Number 1205. The “BLVR” on it’s tag stands for Boliver, the name of her sire (dad). Her dam (mom) is number 1108.

Related articles from other blogs:

• Twin calves on the dairy farm.
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Milk: Keeping It Clean

A few weeks ago, The Bullvine posted an interesting article about how milk is losing it’s market share. It also pointed out something seemingly obvious that I had never really thought about. Dairy farmers love to talk about their cows, but we really don’t spend much time talking about milk. Milk is what dairying is really all about.

As farmers, we know that happy healthy cows are the best way to get the best quality milk, but we forget that to the average person that may not be an obvious thought. We love talking about our cows, but they aren’t for sale – our milk is!

There’s lots of good info out there about how awesome milk is, nutritionally speaking, but maybe you don’t know what role we as farmers play in that.

What do we do to make sure your milk is safe and nutritious?

First, we take good care of our cows! It starts there. I feel like a broken record, but it’s the facts. Healthy cows give higher quality milk. They also typically give more milk, so it’s a win-win. Our milking procedure includes dipping the cows teats with a liquid that cleans them and lets them know to let their milk down. Then, when they/re done milking, we dip their teats with another liquid that coats the teat and helps protect them from infection between milkings.

Milk goes from the cow’s udder through a hose, into a stainless steel pipeline.

Besides taking care of the cows, we keep the equipment clean. The milk goes from the teat through a hose into a stainless steel pipeline. The receiver pump then sends it through another pipe into the room next door, through a filter, and into our stainless steel bulk tank. There it waits for the milk hauler to come and take it to the processing plant, which he does every other day.

Milk in the bulk tank. The tank keeps the milk between 38-40 degrees, which is why you can see there is condensation. The thing going down into the milk is the agitator, which keeps all the cream from separating and rising to the top.

After each milking we wash each milk unit with hot water. Next we “rinse the line”, which uses water to flush out any milk that stayed in the pipes. We then “wash the line”. We use hot water with soap and then acid to get everything really clean. A pump runs the wash through all of the pipes, hoses, and milking units (everything milk touches before it gets to the tank) for several cycles. After the milk hauler pumps the milk from our tank into his truck, he sets a washer in the tank and turns it on. The tank washer system also uses both soap and acid to deep clean the inside of the bulk tank before the next milking.

When for some reason something isn’t clean, we will see a spike in our bacteria count. We get data on every load of milk the hauler picks up, usually within a few days. We check this data regularly (several times a week), and when we see an issue, we identify and fix the problem as quickly as possible. Usually we just need to adjust our tank washer, which can be accomplished almost immediately.

Besides being the right thing to do, the price we get paid is dependent on the quality of the milk, so we take our cleaning procedures very seriously and make sure that our employees do as well.

I realized as I started writing this post, that there’s quite a bit to be said about milk. I started here with what I know best, and I plan to follow up with some additional, related posts. After all, milk is what it’s really all about.

Update: As promised, I wrote a second post about milk that you can find here!

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Winter Workload

This week the temperature started off with a high of 75 degrees on Monday. Once it started cooling off, it apparently forgot to stop. Friday morning the temperature was right around zero.  We’re used to getting cold weather; we’ve had a couple of days with single digit lows already this year.  It’s winter, so it’s okay.

The item of note isn’t the weather, but rather, the work the weather creates.  I’ve heard it said that farmers don’t work in the winter.  Clearly, those saying such a thing aren’t referring to dairy farmers since the cows still have to be milked twice a day every day, just like they do during the other seasons.

It’s true that in the spring, summer and fall there are additional activities like planting, putting up hay, and harvesting to fill the “free time” we aren’t spending milking or doing chores.  In the winter, though, there are still other additional activities to fill our time, especially when the weather turns wet and/or cold like it did this week.

Keeping Everything Warm and Healthy

We use straw for bedding for our cows and calves, and when it’s wet or cold, we have to freshen that bedding every few days to keep everybody warm and dry. We also have to spend extra time feeding and watering.  Young calves in particular need extra attention to ensure that the weather isn’t causing any illnesses like pneumonia. Keeping things consistent for our animals is important, but unfortunately the weather is out of our control and isn’t always consistent. We give the calves a little extra to eat during cold weather, and we don’t do anything drastic like weaning them (stop feeding them milk) right before a cold snap.

This picture is actually from 2011, but this mama was well-behaved and had her calf in a nice dry spot. Interestingly, that calf is now bred and in the same pasture she was born in.

Feeding Hay

The calf groups that aren’t on pasture get hay year-round, and the cows get their forages in their TMR. However, we keep dry cows, bred heifers and a couple of heifer groups on pasture.  During the warmer months (as long as it rains) they have grass to snack on.  Once the frost kills that grass, we supplement that part of their diet by delivering hay to their pastures.

Thawing Waters

We also spend a notable amount of time watering everything in the winter.  The milk herd and dry cows along with a couple of heifer groups have frost-free waters that make this process easy.  In extreme cold we do need to make sure the floats don’t freeze, but we haven’t had trouble with that this year. The rest of the calves have water sources that can and do freeze.  Our youngest groups have tubs filled with water and one group in a rented pasture has a small pond.  All of these water sources need to have the ice broken on them at least once a day every day in cold weather.

Maintaining Equipment

Equipment doesn’t like the cold either. Our milking and feeding equipment can all struggle in the cold.  During our first cold snap this winter, the heater in our milk barn wasn’t working.  We used a smaller heater to help ease the chill, but we still had to use warm water to thaw out the units before every milking.  We also have to use engine block heaters on tractors and our skid loader to make sure that they start.

Protecting Against the Elements

It seems like every daily task takes longer when the temperature drops.  Getting dressed in the morning takes longer with all of the layers required to stay warm.  Lugging around all of those layers also makes tasks slower and more tiresome.  And when it’s really cold, the farmers need breaks to warm up inside or near the exhaust of the skid loader.  The days are also shorter. We work both before and after dark, but some tasks can only be done, or are much more easily done, with daylight, and we have that much less time each day to complete those tasks.

So if you’ve ever wondered how we fill the time we don’t spend in the field during the winter, now you know.  We’re working hard to keep our animals and ourselves warm and healthy.

End of an Era

Sometimes change occurs in unexpected ways. And sometimes, unexpected circumstances are the only way to change.

Despite knowing that it was not ideal for our cows’ diet, we had been feeding grain during milking. This wasn’t done with ill-will toward the cows. On the contrary, the cows were rather partial to this twice-daily treat.

Several years ago, David quit feeding in the barn, and the disgruntled cows simply refused to come in to be milked. He gave in and resumed feeding. We made some improvements to this feeding last winter, but all the pertinent research shows that it is best to feed dairy cows a TMR (total mixed ration), in which all the components of their ration are blended together.

Several months ago, a few of our feeders quit working. By the beginning of December, one whole side was basically useless. Inconsistency can cause problems, and each cow might eat a little different ration day-to-day depending on the milking order. In addition, the cows were very difficult to run in on the side without working feeders.

Finally, we quit using the feeders altogether. The cows were pretty ticked at first, but over a few weeks they adjusted, and things started going more smoothly. Now with a more consistent diet, and a true TMR, they’ve picked up on milk a little. It has been decided – the feeders won’t be fixed! We are officially done feeding in the barn!

This is extremely exciting for two reasons. First, fixing the feeders was an unfinished task that had been hanging over our heads for a month, and second, we’re doing the best thing for our cows, even if it wasn’t what they thought they wanted. I suspect this is how parents feel when they get their kids to eat their veggies.

Hitting Refresh

Snow was lightly falling on the farm as 2012 came to a close. To celebrate, we ate chili and watched ABC’s live coverage of Times Square. At 11 pm, we watched the ball drop in NY and headed to bed. We’re lame: deal with it.

2012 was quite a year for us. It started off on a high note with taking over the dairy. However, in our first year farming we faced some real challenges. There were, of course, bright spots, but overall it was a year we would rather put behind us. Nothing has really changed since yesterday, but the new year feels like a fresh start.

Sunrise over a fresh snowfall Jan 1, 2013.

One of my goals for 2013 is to be more consistent with my blogging. I enjoy it, and it seems like other people do, too. One of our most viewed posts was one that responded to a question from a friend: “Is it hot in here?”. Please, if you have any questions you would like answered or topics you would like to read about, let us know. You can reach us through the comments, the Contact Us page, or our Facebook page. Thanks for reading, and Happy New Year!

Sexed Success

This spring I wrote about a not-so-new technology we were going to try for the first time: sexed semen. We bought 10 units of sexed Chase from ABS. We knew the conception rate was reduced by the process they use to alter the semen, but we were still a little disappointed with our results. To date, we have used 6 of the 10 straws and only achieved one pregnancy. With conventional semen we average about 60% conception, so this is big drop.

The semen wasn’t the only problem, though. Every once in a while we will have a few weeks or a month where conception rates are low. Unfortunately we used several straws of Chase during one of these times. We never determined if it was something in our ration, the stage of the moon or the weather, but for about a month in late winter/early spring we didn’t get much bred.

We did, however, get one pregnancy. In fact, it was one of only two pregnancies achieved during that month. Even better, the pregnant heifer was Snowball: one of our favorites, sired by Aftershock. Snowball’s due date was December 21st. Thankfully the world didn’t end, but on December 22nd as we packed our bags to visit my family in Illinois before Christmas, Snowball stood around chewing her cud and showing no interest in calving.

The next morning while we enjoyed our coffee in Illinois, David and I were mentioned in a tweet (from one of our employees) that contained a picture of a pretty little heifer calf. Sexed semen offers a 90% chance at a heifer, so with only one pregnancy, a bull would have been pretty poor luck. This year, though, it seems like we’ve had plenty of that! We were relieved to come home to a nice fresh cow and baby heifer calf, who is the spitting image of her mama. This little gal is special, so she probably needs a name. Suggestions are welcome in the comments!

Snowball’s calf – what should we name her??

While we were very frustrated with our initial conception results, we still have two straws to use and plan on purchasing some more sexed semen from a different bull or two. Ten units of one bull doesn’t seem like a fair test of a technology that many farmers have been using for years. In the meantime, we’re glad our first try resulted in at least one success story.

FFA Dairy Judging Practice

Saturday morning the Pleasant Ridge FFA dairy judging team visited the farm for a practice before their first competition. Aaron, one of our milkers, is on the team. He and our other milker, Tyler, selected four classes of cows and calves for the team to judge.

FFA stands for Future Farmers of America. The organization teaches high school students about agriculture through judging and showing competitions. Of the kids who visited our farm, some had a livestock background, but many did not, and I don’t think any had a dairy background.  In high school David was very involved in FFA, and his coach Mr. Silvers is still leading the program at PR. 

I don’t know the specific rules of dairy judging, but I’ll share what I do know. At the competition, the students will look at some number of classes that each include four animals of similar age. Each animal is marked 1, 2, 3, or 4 for identification purposes. They judge and place these animals based on their body structure. For some of the classes at the competition, the students will have to give reasons explaining their placements.  Mr. Silvers has been teaching them about good and bad qualities to look for, mostly using slides.  Seeing real animals before competition is where we fit in. 

For practice, we started with a class of calves just under a year old. The team had several minutes to inspect the calves before placing them.  After they were finished, Mr. Silvers “talked” the class presenting his placing and reasons. It was interesting that the calf he placed last is the one we expect to make the best cow, but we have the advantage of knowing her genetics and that she was the youngest in the class (and also the smallest). He explained to the kids that judging calves can be difficult and that often a young class will place very differently after the animals have matured.  For those interested, a Trigger calf was first, and a Planet calf was fourth.

The students stepping back to take a different look at the class at their coach’s suggestion.

The second class was breeding age heifers 1 to 2 years old. In this class, three were sired by Sholten and displayed similar qualities making it a pretty difficult class. The process was basically the same as the first class. Mr. Silvers suggested that the students look from 20′ in addition to 5′ because different things might stand out.  The only non-Sholten, an Aftershock, took second. She was the oldest in the class and isn’t bred yet despite several attempts, but she does look good. The first place Sholten heifer was confirmed bred to Boliver last month.

The third class was 3-year-old cows. This class was easiest to place from the view shown below. If you’d like to give it a try, place the class in the comments section.  Do keep in mind this was only a couple of hours after milking.  First place was sired by Pippen and is one of the best looking fresh heifers we’ve had.  The fourth cow cracked David’s ribs while he was breeding her and didn’t stick. She’s destined for a trailer ride when her production drops.

The third class: three year old cows. If you’d like to try, place the class in the comments.

The fourth and final class was aged cows. For this class, Mr. Silvers asked the kids to place them and take good notes. He didn’t talk the class so he could have the kids give their reasons in class on Monday. We had a little excitement when one of the aged cows decided to try to jump the gate. She got hung up, but we got her over and she seems perfectly fine. The top rail of the gate didn’t fare as well.

The boys threw in a little bit of a curve ball for this class: a very nice 3-quartered cow. She probably would have been #2 in the class otherwise, but with one dry quarter, she automatically falls to fourth. This cow milks better than many four-quartered cows, but that doesn’t matter in livestock competitions.  Some of the students noticed, and others learned a valuable lesson. 

We really enjoyed having the students visit the farm.  We were able to answer some general dairy questions, and they got to see real milk cows before their first competition.  Placing classes isn’t an approach we often take to evaluating our animals, and it was actually really interesting to see how they stacked up.  Looking at their eartag numbers on paper, I would have placed the classes very differently than I did looking at the animals isolated side-by-side. 

Thanks to the team for coming out, and good luck at the district competition!