Thankful Thursday

Just before Labor Day, the square baler was pulled out of the shed, greased and

oiled, and sent to the field for what almost seems like an outdated practice.

The making of small square bales is a might more tedious than 

driving the big round baler down the field.  

You have decisions to make on the size of the

bale and the tension of the string. It proves that there is an art

  to farming and a lot of patience and praying with each bale

 that scoots out the shoot!

With the help of  the hay accumulator, a skid loader,

and a long trailer, the job of storing the hay is greatly 

 improved from the days of  a hay hauling crew that 

bucked each bale on the trailer in the field then

 unloaded and stacked  them in the barn on

 a 100 degree summer day.

I'm thankful for all the modern machinery that 

makes it possible to produce food for our calves and cows,

for the rain that we have been blessed with in this 

late summer season,

                                                                                  

                                                                                 and 

                                                 for these farm dogs that love life on the farm!

 

Dairy Farmer's Thankful Thursday

Since 1939, June Dairy Month has been celebrated to promote 

and highlight the important health benefits that milk, yogurt

 and cheese provide and honor the farmers for their daily work that 

provides a steady supply of dairy products.

You would be surprised how many different jobs we may perform 

in one day down on the dairy farm  to make sure we are producing

the highest quality milk .

On this June day,

I was the gate woman as we sorted cattle in preparation for 

turning the next group of pregnant cows  from the 

milking herd to the dry pasture to rest for 60 days before calving.

With sunshine and dry conditions, 

we've celebrated many hours in the hay field

producing quality hay that is used to feed our dairy

and beef cows.

As we continue celebrating the goodness of dairy ,

I'm thankful for my dairy farm family that works  together 

everyday to feed and care for our dairy animals

and

for the dairy cows that produce high quality milk

for your family and mine.

Happy June Dairy Month!

 

Dairymom's Thankful Thursday

Dairy farmers in Northwest Arkansas can be found celebrating

 June Dairy Month in the hay field!

Today's hot,sunny weather  was perfect for cutting,baling and 

wrapping hay for our dairy cows. 

I find it amazing to watch this process...

                                                                                and
                                I'm thankful for the two sons who work on our Arkansas dairy
                                  farm  to make sure we  have quality feed for our dairy cows.

Harvest Wrap-Up

 

We've been enjoying great weather as fall harvest wraps up.   Even though it has frosted and  the days are cooler and shorter, hay can still be cut, baled and wrapped to make silage bales.  

 

 

Today's hay wrapping is  a great example of teamwork that happens on the dairy farm everyday.

Cody baled the hay, Casey moved it from the field onto the wrapper, and

 

 

 

Ryan and his dog supervised!

Harvest wrap-up activities are a part of our  commitment to providing high-quality milk by making sure our cows have nutritious feed. 

 

 

 

 

 

August Hay Marathon

Typical August hay baling in Northwest Arkansas  is usually as quick as a 100 yard dash because  the grass is short and it takes a day or less to cure before baling. With the combination of  an abundance of  late July and early August   rain creating a lush, thick field of grass and this week's  cooler temperatures and low humidity, hay baling this August  actually seems more like a  long distance marathon with the farmer  running slow and steady to complete the hay race.


                                    This field of mostly Bermuda hay was cut on Wednesday.

                 Finally after four days, it was cured enough for raking rows of mowed hay together.

 

 

Hopefully, tomorrow it will be baled into small square bales.

 

 

The ultimate  winners of this hay marathon will be these

young calves!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dairymom's Thankful Thursday

 

We've  been baling and wrapping hay this week that will be used to feed our dairy cows. Even though drought has severly affected the amount of hay for harvest, I'm thankful  for every bale that is harvested and for these two sons that work diligently every day on our family farm.  

Dairymom's Thankful Thursday

                                                                             
                        It was a beautiful day on the dairy farm  in Northwest Arkansas--perfect for baling and wrapping hay.   I'm thankful for the rain and sunshine that made today possible!

Christmas Wrapped Hay

It isn't the norm to see a farmer baling hay in December but all things are possible if you have the right kind of grass and the equipment to do the job!  Two years ago we invested in a hay bale wrapper that would allow us to utilize every bit of grass hay that is available on our farm. Typically after a killing frost, hay harvesting is finished in our area.  Fescue grass is the exception and that's what we are happily baling and wrapping. If weather permits and we have no machinery breakdowns--the grass is cut,baled and wrapped in the same day.

Hay stockpiles are extremely low due to spring flooding and summer drought in Northwest Arkansas. Farmers across our area report that hay production tonnage was only half the normal yields and hay feeding began at least two months early because of the limited pasture growth caused by drought conditions. Every bale of hay that we can produce will get us one bale closer to the spring growing season. Hay wrapped just before Christmas is a great gift for any farmer that is feeding beef or dairy cattle this year!

Our beef cows and young dairy cattle love to eat this wrapped hay and we are extremely grateful to increase our winter feed inventory.  In this year of extreme weather conditions, a wrapped hay bale could definitely be on any farmer's Christmas wish list!

Dairymom's Thankful Thursday

Fall weather in Northwest Arkansas has been perfect for the many harvest  jobs that must be completed on the dairy farm. These square bales of hay will be fed to young calves on our farm through the winter.  I'm thankful for  the technology and machinery that we have on the farm that make tasks like square baling easier and more efficient.