Some tractors have climate controlled cabs (heat, a/c, radio, and all that good stuff). My tractor as the beautiful winter air for cab. But, I’m not complaining because I’m just plain glad to have a working tractor at all (even though my PTO is out … AGAIN!). This morning I was making 1.5 mile trips to pick up some big round bales of straw that I bought. The temperature wasn’t very bad and the trip there was actually pretty comfortable, but the return trip with the west wind blowing caused me to hunch up and retreat into my hood like a turtle. My toes were cold though because I wasn’t smart enough to put on warm socks!
The good news is that I was able to bring over some more of the straw bales that I purchased for deep bedding (although the deep bedding areas aren’t exactly ready yet) and there are now 29 more big round bales of hay on the farm. I’m expecting a few more loads of hay tomorrow and then I think (and hope) there will be enough hay for the winter. I have purchased a lot more hay than I did last year and with all the money I’ve spent I really really really hope I don’t have to buy any more.
My hay purchases this year bring into extreme focus the high costs of starting a grass-fed beef herd. With about a two year turn-around from the time a calf is born until it is processed there is a lot of purchased feed that is needed for both the calf and the cow of course … and the bull has to be factored in as well because he likes to eat in the winter I’m finding. In the future I would like to be able to make my own hay on farm, but that wasn’t possible this year and even if I put up my own hay I have to factor in my labor and equipment prices. In hindsight I’m thinking buying the cattle right at the beginning of the farm wasn’t the best plan of attack …
