From the Barns: Baby calves arrive

If March Madness is tied to having calves born on the farm, then indeed that’s what we have been having. No complaints. Things have been going quite well. Only had to pull a handful of calves, and outside of a couple that were stillborn, the percentage of live, healthy calves is very high. You drive past or in the fields and lots where we are calving and there are babies running around, enjoying their surroundings and their new playmates. It is a fun and beautiful sight to see. Still a good number to go and hopefully April weather will give us lots of sunshine and warm temps conducive to good calving conditions.

The weather has been good, although I don’t remember a time when we have had so many temperature fluctuations. Seems like we will get two to three days of 80-degrees-plus days, then it will suddenly turn to the 30s with highs in the 40s for a couple of days, then quickly back up in the 70s and 80s. That is of some concern and something to watch as that can bring an onset of respiratory illness in both newborns and feeders alike, so we are trying to monitor that as closely as possible.

The 100 acres of wheat we sowed last fall is being utilized heavily, with at times having as many as 300 head on it. That can range from recently weaned calves to yearling heifers to bred heifers to spring calving heifers with their new calves at their side. With the fencing and watering setup we have, we are able to keep these groups segregated.

We did pull the yearlings off temporarily a couple of days ago as they had eaten their paddock down and were seeking something to eat, so for now I am back to feeding them with the total mixed ration. We hadn’t had a rain for three to four weeks until now and I think the wheat pasture was showing some effects of that. We did get 1 inch of rain, and with sunshine and warm temps in this week’s forecast, I expect that the wheat will continue to grow.

We have been down to shipping one to two loads of fats per month, but I expect it may be another 60 days until we ship our next load. While our cow and heifer numbers of breeding stock continues to increase, our feeder numbers are definitely down. With the market still in upward volatility and the cost of capital and ability to secure it, it is still a risky venture — so continue to be very cautious, whether that is the thing to do or not.

Hoping to get some cows and heifers pregnancy checked this week. We have a good number to do and they need to be hauled out to summer pasture as this grass should really get into growth mode anytime with the weather conditions we are expecting. It’ll be interesting to see the results of those checks.

A lot of our focus this past month is still on our production sale planned for April 11. A lot of planning and management goes into that as we are learning and hope we get all the bases covered. David and Brett are mostly heading that up, but I jump in and help as necessary.

My job still continues to be keeping the cattle fed and keeping a close watch over health and other unexpected problems that might crop up. It is an exciting time entering this new territory, but one that still brings some nervousness to light as you just never know how things will go. Hoping we will be blessed with good results and a problem-free experience.