From our family to yours, we hope you had a very Merry Christmas and wish you a Happy New Year!
We have been very busy with various farm projects and holiday gatherings lately…it is hard to believe the year is almost over. Our family also lost a very special lady over the holidays, my MeeMaw (my dad’s mom). She was 90 years old and spent a lot of time on the farm (she lived with us) prior to moving to an assisted living facility the past few years due to age and health. She loved to tend her garden and lived for fresh tomatoes. MeeMaw taught me how to cook and bake…my favorite recipe she taught me, homemade buttermilk biscuits! Oh how I will miss her! Helen Brown 12.20.18 ❤
The biggest farm project is almost to a close for 2018. We installed five automatic insulated drinkers for the cattle and horses across the farm so fresh, clean water would be available without the hassle of filling tanks and dealing with water in freezing temperatures. It is a huge win-win for us and our animals. It has been an on-going, stressful, and costly project but we know it will be worth it in the long run. The last drinkers are going in as I type this blog post, just in time for cold winter temperatures to set in.
No more of this…
One of our automatic drinkers after installation.
In the middle of this aerial photo, you can see two automatic drinkers that were installed on the fence line to provide water for multiple pastures, since we rotate pastures frequently.
Another farm project we are working on is converting wood land into pasture land using annuals, hay feeding, and cattle along with chicken litter and lime to raise the nutrient levels and pH. In years past, we have fed hay with multiple hay rings and we would move them around to distribute nutrients. For this winter, we are experimenting with unrolling hay using a tractor attachment that spins the hay off the bale into windrows. This hay feeding technique allows for better nutrient distribution, minimal hoof damage, barely any wasted hay, and one cow cannot boss the others away from a hay ring. Plus, it gives somewhere dry and warm for calves to bed down if they need to. So far, we are very happy with the results and cannot wait to see how the land reacts after the winter.
This is the land we had cleared and are working to convert it to permanent pasture land. We plan to feed hay here for the second winter in a row to help add nutrients and to keep the cattle off the other pastures.
Hay being unrolled for the herd.
Our beef cattle herd eating hay that was just unrolled.
Lastly, our new herd sire, Toro was introduced to the girls this month as we started our breeding season. We are very excited to see what the 2019 calves will look like! What are you looking forward to in 2019? I know for us, we are hoping to continue moving our farm forward and to spend as much family time together as possible!
Toro checking out one of the cows.
“Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365-page book. Write a good one.”
-Brad Paisley
