by Ethan
on March 23, 2010
Calf number two came yesterday afternoon with no problems (this seems to be the trend with Dexters from what I’ve experienced and heard). This little girl (yep, it is a heifer) picked a great day to be born with a temperature in the mid 50’s and plenty of sun. In fact there was even some dry ground for them to get out on. It was nice to watch this little girl bound around the pasture so quickly after she was born … it never ceases to amaze me how quickly they get going.
I’ve include the picture here because people often ask about the size of our Dexters. As you can see the newest calf is just a bit over knee high and probably weighs between 20 and 30 pounds (I’m just guessing). The black cow in the background is the mother and this was her second calf. She is pretty much average sized for Dexters I would say … maybe on the slightly taller end of the scale. We have a couple cows bigger and a couple cows that are smaller. This calf was from a smaller bull, but I would say that she is pretty much average in her size and weight compared to the other calves we have had.
I’m expecting four or five more calves this spring. It seems like I should have a better idea of how many calves we will have, but there is one cow that hasn’t had a calf on our farm yet and I think it’s been a while since she had a cow period. We bought her with a group of cows, but if she doesn’t calve this year she is gone … I gave her a pass last year because of some issues we had moving animals around and exposing them to the bull.
Hopefully we’ll throw a few more bull calves as the calving progresses so we can start building some beef inventory!
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by Ethan
on March 22, 2010
Well, after the suggestions of many I’m finally reading “Comeback Farms” by Greg Judy. I know that people have been telling me for months now that I need to read it … and after getting just a few pages in I know why they have been telling me to read it! This book seems to be full of just the type of information that I needed a couple of summers ago, but since I didn’t have it back then I’m trying to read through it as quickly as possible now … and then I’ll read through it again! As I have with some of the other books I’ve read I will do book reports as I make my way through. Mr. Judy writes short chapters though (not a bad thing), so each report will cover a few chapters.
“Let’s assume you are starting from scratch with no land. That’s actually not a bad place to start.” Those are the opening two sentences in chapter one and as I read them I though … hmm … wish I could have read this book before I had any land or livestock! But, that’s not where I am now so I guess I will just have to learn how to grow from where I am. In this chapter Mr. Judy talks about the changes he had to make in his approach to the farm and his pastures in general, and of course the important attitude shift that went with that change. As I read through the first chapter I was struck at how important it really is to find farmers that are doing things they way you would like to do them and then learn from them! I will admit that seeking out those people has not been one of my strong suits and that I need to seek out their help!
In the second and third chapters the book gives a brief overview on some of the ways that you can turn around poor pastures by using grazing management and the cows to do the work. I think one of the things that I catch myself thinking about is how I can get to my ideal the quickest. As I read through these two chapters I was reminded that I can use the livestock to reach the ideal and that it will probably work out better that way. It is very encouraging to hear Mr. Judy’s first hand experiences (both the good and the bad) and I will admit that I’m experiencing a bit of excitement about the farm right now that might have been hidden a bit during the winter.
If you haven’t read this book I encourage you to check it out and follow along with the book reports because I think it will be a great read. If you have read the book … I would love to hear about some of the things that stuck with you as your read!
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by Ethan
on March 20, 2010
As you can see from the calendar today is the first day of spring. As you can see from the picture above that doesn’t really mean anything in southern Iowa. The snow today just serves to make things a little more exciting and I guess to make me even more anxious for sun and temps in the 60’s. There is a plus side though … you might notice in the the picture that the snow has driven the buffalo out of their spots down in the timber and up onto the pasture. It sure is nice to wake up in the morning and look out the window at a small herd of buffalo!
In other snow related news, it is supposed to hit 37ºF today and all the way up to 59ºF on Tuesday with the sun making an appearance on a couple of the days. I think that means that this snow will quickly give way to a bit more mud. I guess it is nice that we were starting to dry up just a little bit before this last round! Now, if I could just get some sort of guarantee that this would be the last snow of the season.
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by Ethan
on March 17, 2010
Last week this article from the Des Moines Register came across the Practical Farmers of Iowa Listserv. It is an interesting read about new farm policies coming from the USDA and the current national administration. I thought that this quote summed up one side of the article very well,
“USDA shifted on me,” said Tim Burrack, a farmer near Arlington in northeast Iowa who is chairman of the Iowa Corn Promotion Board. He said the Obama administration’s local-foods initiative, dubbed “Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food,” to promote small-scale agriculture, will drive up food costs because large farms are more efficient.”
There is some information from both sides of the coin in the article, but I think the quote from Angela Jackson (a small-scale farmer from northwest Iowa who supplies fresh produce to stores and customers) who is featured in the article. She says, “The consumer is driving this.”
While I’m not sure if the consumer is driving all of this (it seems that lately policy isn’t always inline with the opinion of the general population) I do believe that the consumer is beginning to make the largest impact and that their voice is being heard. This is an interesting place that we have ourselves in with farmers competing with farmers because they have different ways of doing what are/can be/used to be the same thing.
As I read through an article like this one I keep thinking back to the quotes from the “conventional farmers” in movies such as “King Corn” and “Food, Inc.” In both of those films the conventional farmers have said that they aren’t trying to hurt anyone or anything … and I agree with them. They say they are just doing what the consumer demands … and I agree with that! Maybe we just need to keep counting the votes of the consumers (thank you for all that support our farm!).
What do you think? I would love to hear your thoughts on the subjects laid out in the article.
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by Ethan
on March 16, 2010
When I wrote for Epicurious I often wondered what it would be like to distinguish the little nuances of food like their writers did. For me food just tasted good or I didn’t like it … and if I’m going to be completely truthful the list of food that I didn’t like (which holds many vegetables and other healthy things) vastly outweighed the list of food that tasted good. Things really haven’t changed that much since I started farming, but I do think I am becoming a bit of a food snob. And I kind of like it!
Last weekend we had a family gathering at my Uncles house (which is always a good time … especially when I bring home a chicken nest box). Like most family events food was involved and we grazed through much of the afternoon and evening on all sorts of stuff. But, the main course was a nice and big spiral sliced glazed ham. This is the kind of thing that I drooled over before I began the farm and I was pretty excited about it.
Don’t get me wrong … it tasted good and everyone was raving about how good it was, but to me it just didn’t live up to my expectations. I couldn’t really put a finger on it (my palate isn’t that well defined yet … too much fast food from the past messing with it), but it just wasn’t as tasting as what I have raised on the farm.
I think the taste difference comes from a lot of different things. The breeding could make a difference, the processing could make a difference, the curing will make a difference, the feed ration could make a difference, and probably a lot of other things. What may make the biggest difference some think (and I might be starting to agree more and more) is just the way the hogs were raised. Maybe the life of a pig does make a difference on the final product? Maybe the sun and the fresh air does matter? Just maybe …
Either way I know one thing … I really enjoy eating the pork I raise on the farm!
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by Ethan
on March 10, 2010
In the movie I think the river ran through Montana and was full of trout. Here the river runs through my pasture and down into the ravine flowing through the woods … plus, I’m pretty sure there are no trout! Right now it’s a pretty impressive sight with it streaming down from the hill top and making this neat little waterfall. Also, at this time of year I don’t think it’s doing much erosion damage because there is still some frost in the ground. Come spring and summer though when the water comes tumbling down like this though it usually takes a quite a bit of dirt with it. In fact last summer I think we lost quite a few feet where the little waterfall is.
I guess this should probably be added to my list of summer projects! Obviously this won’t be a little project that I can work on for a week and call good. In reality it will be a several year thing because part of the solution will have to be building up the soils so that they can store more water in the spring and summer (right now runoff is going to happen no matter what). As far as other options go I’m going to have to do some exploring. I think there would be some grasses that we could plant to help with this area and the rut that it is starting to create. Also, I’ve been filling it up with brush cut from other areas.
One thing is for sure … I could make a nice little pond down there. But, I don’t think it would be deep enough for trout. Maybe just some crappie and such …
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by Ethan
on March 9, 2010
Yesterday morning I was finally able to get my big chain saw (Stihl 034AV) into a shop for a repair and they were able fix me up really quick. It was just a broken pawl on the starter and then some missing screws and I was back in business. That meant I could put away the bow saw for now and get some firewood cut before the rains came … yes, you read that correctly! At least for the time being we have transitioned from snow into rain and that means the snow is making an exit (although there was plenty of it in the woods today).
Because of the melting snow, the rain, and the quickly vanishing frost in the ground I’m relegated to staying on top of the hill and trying to never face downhill. The thing is that there are no trees on top of the hill, so what I end up doing is walking down and cutting up long lengths of wood to drag out and then cut up into fire wood. It’s more work, but not as much work as it would be if I got the tractor stuck in the mud … again!
No matter what the weather is like though I always make sure to take a moment to settle down in the woods and take it all in. Yesterday I was down cutting in the very bottom of the wooded hollow near the mostly intermittent creek (although it was really rushing today). It’s pretty neat down there this time of year because all of the undergrowth isn’t clogging up the view so I sat down to take it all in (oddly enough sitting on a hollow log … in the hollow). Soon though everything will change and green will replace the snow covered ground and the canopy of empty trees.
Hopefully I will sit on a hollow log and enjoy that as well. For now I’m just glad the chainsaw is running again … and if you have a Stihl 009 that needs some parts, just let me know (mine bit the dust and is now just a parts saw).
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by Ethan
on March 8, 2010
Spring may not be here until March 20th, but the mud tells me it is coming soon. As for this blog … I think this quote will become at least a year tradition. “March is a green muddy month down below, some folks like it … farmers mostly.” (of course that is Bear Claw Crislap from “Jeremiah Johnson … one of my favorites) That quote just always seems fitting for this time of year. Right now, as you can see from the picture, we just have the mud. Hopefully soon we will have the green to go along with it. I do know one thing though … this farmer will take mud right now. I’m not saying that I like mud, but I will grudgingly admit that it means dry ground may be coming soon.
Mud does present it’s fair share of challenges though. Just last night I had the pleasure of loading a pig for the processor (at 9:15 PM). Things went surprisingly well considering how dark it was … and how muddy it was. I was able to get the trailer hooked up, the pig loaded and the trailer out of the mud in 45 minutes. Of course I’m pretty sure I will have to level out some ruts at sometime this spring and plant some new grass there … oh for lots and lots of gravel!
Once I made it back in the house I decided that I needed to add another thing to my list of possible projects. That is to make a centralized loading area in the winter lot area (I’ve decided the pigs and the cattle are going to live in what we’ll call a “sacrificial area” next year. In the winter neither of them use up much space, and then everything will be close to the feed, water, and shelter areas. Plus, then I would have the benefit of making one nice graveled loading area so that I can load without getting stuck all year long.
This would mean that I would have to do some advance planning to bring animals up towards the loading area when it is close to loading day, but I think that is a small amount of work compared to tearing up the whole farm or getting vehicles stuck in awkward places. It would also give me an excuse to have them bring out enough gravel to put down in front of the shed …
One more thing about the farm names again … Muddy Hole Farm seems to be pretty fitting now 😉
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by Ethan
on March 5, 2010
Since I have a tendency to become overwhelmed by the projects on my plate I thought it would be a good idea to get a jump on the planning and map them out so I have obtainable goals for this spring/summer/fall. There are quite a few things that need to get done and just as many or more that I would like to get done. So, here is what I was thinking … I have decent idea of some of the most important projects, but I thought I could list them out and you all could throw out ideas on the order I should attack things. Some things will be obvious because they have to be done first before other things can take place, but some other things … Let’s just say I always appreciate all the help I can get!
Here is the list as it stands now…
- Cut down small grove of thorny trees that have popped up in the middle of the pasture and plow up that area for pasture planting (they are about an inch think or more).
- No-till drill in a pasture mix throughout the main pasture areas.
- Run water and electricity out the the new shed (the extension cord from the back of the house works, but isn’t ideal.
- Put up permanent high tensile fence around the homestead area.
- Plant trees around the homestead (hardwoods and pines).
- Install a frost-free automatic cattle waterer for the winter lot.
- Cut lanes through the woods to setup electric fence for pig paddocks.
- Clean out area in the storage section of our house building for a chicken brooder (just a few chicks).
- Build a mobile chicken coop to follow the cattle out on pasture.
- Build three more pig huts (various designs to see what I like best).
- Plant a windbreak on the west side of the winter lot for the cattle (and probably the pigs next year).
- Gather wood for next winter (I understand that will be an all year thing and it really has already started).
- Get all my hay on the farm before fall (try to buy extra hay out of the field as opposed to all winter long).
- Clean out and compost the deep-bedding from the cattle shed.
- Put up gutters.
- Prep the garden and plow/disc the current pig area for this years sweet corn (this will be an as soon as possible project understandably).
- Build a portable loose mineral feeder and water cart.
- Gather all the materials needed to set-up at a farmers market (coolers, signs, table, tent, etc.)
That’s my 5-minute list (it took me 5 minutes to put it together). How would your rate the priority? Any thoughts on what to add (if you know much about the farm)?
**As a side note … Rich, that is a picture of my smallest cow at the hay ring. It’s a normal hay ring so I would say maybe 4 feet tall or so … You can tell she is small. I’ll try to get some pictures of me standing next to the bigger ones, but they really aren’t much bigger.
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by Ethan
on March 4, 2010
Thankfully the “King Corn” guys decided not to stop there and decided to make a companion piece to their hit documentary. Their latest offering is called “Big River” and is billed as a companion or continuation of the “King Corn” story. There have been screenings for awhile now and according to their website (check out the link) there are quite a few coming up. For all you Iowans you can catch them in Des Moines on March 23rd and in Ames on March 24th. In fact the film will be screening all over the place in March and April … even in Alaska!
I have had the opportunity to screen the film and I have to say that it lived up to my expectations as far as film production and research goes. Here are some of my thoughts after watching it six or seven times …
- After watching/hearing about the floods a couple years ago in Iowa they began to realize that the story of their acre of corn didn’t end with just where the food went. Because all of the chemicals they used and put on the ground traveled as well and made their presence felt … for quite a long ways it seems.
- I appreciate the fact that they are not afraid to get all sides of the story and are willing to go and talk to anyone that will share with them. In this film the talked with conventional agriculture supporters, farmers, scientists, researchers, chemical producers, wanter plant managers, fisherman, and others. This approach was one of the reasons I appreciated “King Corn” so much and I’m glad to see they continued it in this film.
- A little of 50% of this movie takes place in Iowa, but then ends up way down in the Gulf of Mexico. It really made me think about how far reaching our impacts are when it comes to agriculture … especially when we have so much in our state.
- When they do make it down to the Gulf and talk to some fishermen it seems that both the fishermen and the farmer are having a difficult time coming up with the answer to the problem. The chemicals and other amendments used up in Iowa keep food prices low, but at the same time they impact local economies hundreds of miles away. What is a guy to do?
- One last thing … An overriding theme that I came away with was that everyone has a hand in this. Not just the farmers. One of the talking heads reminded us that the farmers are not bad people spraying stuff in order to make other peoples lives difficult, they are just doing what is required by society right now.
My overall opinion? I Loved It. The downside? It was only 25 minutes! What gives “King Corn” guys … I wanted more 🙂
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Calf number two came yesterday afternoon with no problems (this seems to be the trend with Dexters from what I’ve experienced and heard). This little girl (yep, it is a heifer) picked a great day to be born with a temperature in the mid 50’s and plenty of sun. In fact there was even some dry ground for them to get out on. It was nice to watch this little girl bound around the pasture so quickly after she was born … it never ceases to amaze me how quickly they get going.
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