Fall Blessings

Although the farm work has not slowed down these first few 

days of fall, it has brought us that big sigh of relief  as we reached

into the closet for our long sleeve shirts  and hoodies with cooler

temperatures and less humidity.  On top of that, it rained three inches!

Talk about fall blessings!

With little rain through the summer and the stunted growth of the 

millet crop due to those nasty army worms, it was decided to harvest

 the crop when the rain was over. We were pleasantly surprised 

at the number of bales that were harvested.

These wrapped bales are actually making  fermented silage in a bag

that  will be fed to the dairy cows in their  balanced 

nutritional ration. 

Taking samples of silage and dry hay is part of 

the process to know the quality and types of nutrients 

provided for the feed ration.

My job was to patch the holes once the silage sample was

removed.  It was the easy job for sure!

We've also been welcoming new dairy  calves to the farm.

And at the end of the day,

                                             I am reminded of the simple blessings  we enjoy

                           and often take for granted during fall down  on the dairy farm.

Dairy Farmer's Thankful Thursday

It's June Dairy Month!

Hope you have been eating all the dairy foods you can!

We appreciate all the ways you and your families 

support us.

Down on the dairy farm, the calves celebrate

everyday with milk in the morning and evening.

Just like us humans, calves and cows must have

good nutritious food for growth and development.

Grain, a mixture of sweet corn that is pelleted,  

is added to their diet gradually to meet their nutritional needs.

Providing good nutrition and monitoring the growth and 

development of our calves is how we insure that we will

have healthy cows to produce milk.

As you can see, between the lines of barbwire, 

these beauties in the pasture will soon be

having calves and entering the milking herd.

Growing the milking herd is approximately a three

year project of love and dedication.

I'm thankful that even in tough times we can  

celebrate all that we love and care for each day.

We are blessed.

Happy June Dairy Month!

Dairy Farmer's Thankful Thursday

Last week when we ran out of room in the calf nursery area,

the new babies were brought to temporary pens in the 

feed barn.  It wasn't ideal but it provided a protected, 

individualized space for each calf. 

                                  I'm thankful that we were able to wean older calves to pasture

this week and for the hard work of all the family and employees

that moved all the calves to their individual hutches in the nursery.

My world is back to normal with all the babies

in one place!

On the flip side, I enjoyed being in the feed barn when the cows 

were  eating and enjoying their feed.  

Wouldn't you love to have someone plan and prepare every meal for you?

                           

                               

Dairymom's Thankful Thursday

Last week these two calves and I made to a visit

 to the Northwest Arkansas Children's Shelter.

It was an opportunity to allow children that have never been around animals to be able to pet the calves and share how farmers care for their animals and  produce high-quality milk.

                                                                                 
                              I'm thankful for the invitation to share our dairy farm story
                 in a facility that is working to make a safer and  better life for children.

Dairymom's Thankful Thursday

 

Although I love the beauty of snow, it brings new challenges when you are caring for dairy cows and calves. I wasn't too sad when the last of this snow disappeared.

 

 

 

I'm thankful that we were able to care for our dairy cattle and get all of our chores done in warmer temperatures and sunshine so we could enjoy more  time together celebrating Christmas!

 

These calves were thankful too!

Moovin' Into Fall

 We've been moovin' into fall for the past week...


                           as we harvested  a field of Bermuda hay for small  square bales to
                                 feed our young calves  and moved it to the barn for storage,

 

added new cows to the milking herd and new babies to the calf hutches,

 

 

 shared a little  dairy love with young consumers during a farm tour,

 

 

 

and watched the flowers breathe a sigh of relief  with the rain and cooler temperatures.

 

 

Just signs of the season down on the dairy farm.

 

Happy Fall, Ya'll!

Dairymom's Thankful Thursday

                                                                                  
    Although it's a chilly first day of spring, there are signs on the dairy farm to verify it's  the season of new life. Spring brings a fresh breath of  hope  and I'm thankful for the simple enjoyment of experiencing this season on the dairy farm with my family.

Super Tuesday--Dairy Style

Even though we didn't have elections in Arkansas  today on Super Tuesday, this has been a Super Tuesday for having new calves born on the dairy farm. We have baby calves born throughout the year but in the spring and fall of each year, a group of heifers will give birth to their first calf.  Right now we are waiting on thirty six heifers to give birth in the next couple of weeks.

Calving season, in my opinion, is more exciting than the political season because we are anxiously waiting  to add these new heifers to the milking herd to insure the continuance of our family dairy farm. It is a great feeling of accomplishment to watch theses dairy heifers that have been born and raised on our dairy farm grow and develop and produce their first calf. Our commitment to providing high-quality milk begins with taking good care of our cows and heifers and begins at birth.

We've been anticipating the arrival of new calves for several weeks and today was a hotbed of activity as two heifers and one cow gave birth within just a few hours. It's not really unusual to have two or three new calves to care for when a group of heifers are calving but today's births brought us to twelve new calves in three days. Adding more calves at bottle feeding time gives new meaning to Super Tuesday for us on the dairy!

Farm Tour Conversations

If calves could talk, what would they say when approached by twenty five college students?
Petting the baby calves seems to be the highlight of the dairy farm tour for all ages.  Last week when University of Arkansas students came for a tour, it was fun to watch the reaction of the kids and the calves.  It always seems to be such a surprise when the calf gives them a big slobbery lick on their hands!

Although every dairy farm will have their own system of caring for baby calves, consistent care and good nutrition are necessary for raising healthy calves. After the calves are born, they are separated from their mothers to ensure the best individual care and monitoring. On our farm, we raise baby calves in individual hutches for eight to ten weeks.   Each calf is fed milk and grain twice daily and monitored through the day.  By weaning time, each calf will be drinking water and eating  four pounds of grain per day.

Dairy farm tours are great opportunities for conversations about how we work everyday to produce high quality milk by providing good nutrition,medical care and healthy living conditions for our calves and cows. The calves and I are already looking forward to our next farm tour conversations!

Dairymom's Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful for the opportunity to raise and care for animals on our family dairy farm. Watching these calves enjoy their grain is what I call living in the moment--focus on what's important!

Antibiotic Care Plan

The day before Thanksgiving was short sleeve seventy degree weather. At the afternoon feeding,our baby calves were kicking up their heels and acting like it was spring. Fifteen hours later when I returned for the morning feeding,the temperature had dropped to twenty-six degrees and windy with a light mist. Extreme temperature changes are very stressful to baby calves and dairy moms. Extreme weather changes create added stress that increases the susceptibility to respiratory illness. When a baby calf is sick, we follow a care plan provided by our veterinarian. Antibiotic medication is given under prescription just like I would give my child. I document treatment for any calf that receives medication. As I think about all the statements being made about the use of antibiotics in animals causing resistance to antibiotics in humans, I am very concerned that our ability to treat and care for our animals will be taken away which will eventually eliminate our ability to maintain herd health. Making sure our animals are healthy and producing a healthy product for consumers is part of sustainability of our farm. As a mother,nurse, farmer and fellow human, I want the most accurate information based on sound scientific evidence when making such serious changes to our food production system. I would also add a dose of common sense !