Dairymom's Thankful Thursday

 

                                                                             

                                                                                
       Due to the drought it has been very challenging  this year to provide good quality hay for our dairy cows. I'm thankful that we have been able to buy hay from farmers in other states that had an abundant supply.    

Harvest Round-Up

This year's drought has created a severe shortage of hay and pasture grass for our dairy cows and calves. Harvesting every bit of hay available is vital to our farm.  With the weather man predicting a hard freeze and the chance of rain, we seemed to be going in every direction to complete the hay baling and crop planting last week. I knew oldest son  Cody was desperate when he asked if I could help him get the bales loaded on the trailer in the field.

 

 My job was to drive the tractor and trailer to each group of bales in the field so that he could load them on the trailer.

 

 

 In the olden days (that would be before I married the dairy farmer), small square bales were picked up by hand and thrown onto a truck and stacked. It was then the hay crew's job to unload them by hand and stack them in the big hay barn.  I have a great appreciation for modern machinery when I think about hauling hay by hand in 100 degree weather!

 

As you can see, these bales are loaded by a skid loader with a grapple and stacked on the trailer.

 

 

Once the trailer was full, the hay was taken to the feed barn for storage.

 

 

I love watching Cody unload  and stack the bales --every move is made with precision!

I was also feeling pretty proud--he smiled really big and thanked me for my help!

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.  

Dairy Recycling

While shuffling papers and doing computer work this afternoon in the office, I kept hearing a constant whirring sound.  When I looked out the front window, I could see the tractor and hay mower in the field next to the house moving quickly across the field cutting hay. It was the perfect time and a good excuse  for leaving  the paperwork)  to  walk across the yard, smell the freshly mowed hay and capture the beauty of the aftenoon. While watching the hay being mowed, it brought to mind this complete picture of dairy recycling--cows eat the grass, cows produce manure,manure is applied on the land, grass is harvested to feed the cows.

Manure from our cows is a nutrient for the soil, builds up the soil and increases the water holding capacity which benefits crop or pasture growth. Since 1985, our farm has been permitted by the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality allowing us to store dry and liquid manure nutrient and use it to fertilize the soil on our farm. Manure is applied to each field in a prescribed amount that is guided by our farm plan that was designed by environmental engineers and technicians.

Dairy recycling is an ongoing manure management method on our farm that protects water quality for us and our  neighbors and contributes to the sustainability of our family farm!