There's a light at the end of the tunnel...

I am so tired of blogging about the "s-word" and the "w-word" that I decided that I would post a more delightful blog from Minnesota!  Let's think spring!  This picture is from my garden last spring, and it gives me hope that after almost 4 solid months with the "s-word" we will once again see green grass, beautiful flowers and sunshine. 

These past few weeks at the farm have been long and tiresome.  Jon and I are working towards a number of goals for this year, but as a result we are required to put in lots of extra hours in at the farm.  Some days we get so wrapped up in the work that we start to forget what it is that we are working for,....much like our battle with the "w-word".  We get so busy working with the "s-word" that we forget that we are working towards spring!  Nothing like looking through some pictures from last spring to remind us of that.  So as we continue to work towards our goals for our cows and ourselves...as well as battling the eliments...we are reminded: there's a light at the end of the tunnel!

Winter's Slap in the Face

Oh Old Man Winter decided he wasn't done yet with us hard working dairy farmers in Minnesota.  Last week we were spoiled with warm sunshine and 40+ degree afternoons.  In those days, we felt as though a weight was lifted from our shoulders (physically-we were wearing a few less layers!)  We were able to finish daily chores quickly and we were actually able to work on a number of "projects" around the farm!  It was great to actually be accomplishing something!

But these past couple days Old Man Winter slapped spring back a few more weeks!  Yesterday we were in a Blizzard Warning, bracing for 12+ inches of snow with 25+ mph winds.  It was a snowy day, but we had a break in the snowfall at the perfect time to blow out and push out enough snow to feed, milk and bed our cows.  Today was a little more unforgiving....

We had a moderate/heavy snowfall through the morning and into the afternoon.  I believe that our storm total was 14 inches of snow, but it's hard to tell since most of our snow is still moving yet....yep, those Southern Minnesota winds are still pushing our snow around like sand in the desert.  It looks pretty, until you have to work in it.  I believe Jon and I worked an additional 4 hours each today, just moving snow!  I shoveled out my calf huts twice to feed my little girls, and then again tonight after the snowfall stopped to bed them in.  Jon used the snow blower to find our corn silage and haylage bags.  He also had to blow out the snow in the farm yard, to make sure the and the milk truck and tractors didn't get stuck.  Finally, he blew out the snow in the heifer and dry cow yards.  With this much snow we had mountains of snow for the animals to trudge through on their way to the feed bunks, before Jon moved it.  The disheartening part was that within hours of removing the snow, more of it was ready to take its place!  At least tonight, even though the snow is moving (slower now) the snowfall has stopped....so digging out tomorrow will actually last hopefully until spring, or at least for a few days!  So....we continue the fight against Old Man Winter....spring will be here before we know it!

How Dairy Farmers get dressed for Winter?

Well, we enjoyed weather today in the 10's above zero and that was a HUGE blessing.  For the past 2 days it's been below zero for most if not all of the day.  Yesterday's high was -2!  We work hard to care for our cows and calves in these temps.  Extra bedding is needed to make sure the animals can nest (tuck themselves in for the night).  While working for our cows, we do need to care for ourselves.  While I was waddling through the yard yesterday, I thought I would share the mountain of clothes that I wear each day to stay warm.

When I was 10 years old I was diagnosed with cold urticaria.  Basically, I am allergic to the cold, snow, ice, frigid air, and most of all cold damp air.  My body reacts to cold by producing hives...painful and itchy hives.  I share this allergy with my father, so we often help each other find ways to stay warm.  Even though I am allergic to the cold...I love living in Minnesota, so instead of moving I found ways to cope.  As you can see in my picture...I allow very little of my skin to actually come in contact with the cold air.  Once the temps are above 10 I can handle more exposure, but I still need to be careful.  So,....in order to stay warm and cozy while I work 10-14 hours a day outside I wear LOTS of layers!  So let's start at the top...

I usually wear a headband for my ears (they're very sensitive to the cold!).  In the negative temps I sport the insulated face mask.  I always wear at least 1 t-shirt and 1 long sleeved t-shirt, with a fleece hoodie on top.  I added another long sleeved t-shirt yesterday to insure that I stayed warm.  I wear a pair of athletic shorts, athletic pants, and a pair of jeans...all underneath a pair of insulated overall bibs.  On top of that I wear an insulated coat.  My feet enjoy 2 pairs of extra thick socks inside my insulated boots.  I swear I wear almost 50 pounds of clothing and gear, but all of it is needed so I can stay outside comfortably, working for our animals.  Sounds crazy I know, but I wouldn't trade anything, I enjoy being with my cows everyday...even in the Minnesota Tundra!

Winter vs. Cows

A frosty look at the farm...pretty to look at, hard to work in.

Well, winter is here.  It was inevitable.  Forecasts call for even colder temperature for the weekend (Sunday might not even make it above 0!).  Cold is usually harder on the people working with our cows than the actual cows.  We work hard to prevent any problems the cows might have with the cold. 

First we provide them shelter from the snow, cold, wind, and moisture.  Our barns are made to be cool inside.  Right now the manure is freezing to the alleys, so you ask...why don't you heat the barn.  There's a major problem with that....cows have winter hair!  Cows grow a thick coat of hair each winter, by putting them in a heated barn they would sweat heavily and catch a "cow cold".  Instead of warming the cows, we allow their hair to insulate them.  We work hard to keep them dry and comfortable with fresh bedding often.  With that thick hair they hardly notice the cool temps. 

The cold dry air is drying out my skin.  My hands are cracked....and it is also drying out our cows' skin.  We use a special teat dip for our cows with lots of moisturizers in it (just like a lotion).  We also make sure that cows leaving the parlor have dry teats, because wet teats can get skin damage and in extreme cold even frost bite!

The calves are the most susceptible to the cold weather.  New calves are quickly moved from the calving pen.  New wet calves can very easily get frost bite (especially their ears!), so we swiftly dry them off, put them in a calf coat, bed them in with lots of straw, and feed them lots of warm colostrum.  As they grow we make sure to increase the calories that we feed them.  Cold weather means they are using more of their own energy to stay warm, so we compensate for that by feeding extra milk each day.  Calves also have unlimited access to calf starter. 

Older heifers also eat extra calories and enjoy extra bedding.  All of the extra effort is worth it, knowing our cows are doing well...it just takes a lot of extra time and work on our part.  So...chores are taking a lot longer than they would in fall, spring or summer....bear with us, it's going to be another long Minnesota Winter.

Spring is in the air!

The concert was AWESOME! I can't wait to post some videos of Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan, but no time tonight. Oh Spring is in the air at the farm! I know spring is right around the corner for many different reasons....

New Ulm Farm Show: This weekend is the Farm Show. Farmers and businessmen alike were wandering around the show floor today with a "spring" in their step: planning purchases for seed for the coming crop season, planning new building projects as soon as the mud disappears, and planning "warm" weather projects. Everyone had smiles on their faces even though the fog and mist smothered out the sunshine.

Disppearing Snow Drifts: 2 weeks ago we had over 18 inches of snow at the farm, now, thanks to some major temperature changes we have only 6 inches left and a lot of mud! It's a nessesary evil when it comes to season changes in Minnesota. Snow melts...mud comes. Heifers LOVE the mud! Silly heifers always run in the mud-making themselves dirty and disgusting. If PETA drove by they would probably want to film those darn heifers, covered in mud, and put it on ABC news, but even though they are muddy-it's only temporary. Once the sun comes out and the mud dries up, those heifers go back to being clean and beautiful, almost picture perfect. Heifers and cows are independent animals and even if they were in the "wild" they would be muddy and dirty this time of year. Ironically it's their choice to be muddy. They're healthy even if they are temporarily dirty.

Thunderstorms: Yes, we had our first thunderstorm of the year on Thursday morning. It was amazing to see lightning and hear thunder again! The rain (almost 1 inch) was warm and wonderful...but also made the mud that was the result of the melting snow even more "muddy". We moved a new fresh cow during this thunderstorm, I was soaking wet, but I enjoyed feeling rain instead of snow.

Flooding: Yes, we have flooding now. Rapidly melting snow with added rain makes for a LARGE volume of water that needs to go somewhere. The frost layer (layer in the soil where the ground is frozen) prevents the water from soaking in...so there is run off. The water runs off into the streams, ponds, slouges, and into the fields. Our fields are all home to small lakes. Thanks to the work that we do with our local NRCS (National Resources Conservation Service) we have built filter strips (sections of grass that we planted to filter run off water) and drainage ditches (grass filled ditches that store and filter water, in addition to move it away from the farm and feedlots). We have taken steps to make sure that we protect our natural resources (land, water, air). We need to have these resources for our generation and the generations to come.

Frost Layer is Coming Out: That darn frost layer, which had been there all winter is now thawing. This means that we can no longer take tractors out into the field. Tractors can cause compaction, which is bad for the soil. Compaction is terrible for crops-they can't develop good root systems. Tractors also get stuck. Mud without frost underneath means those darn tractors will sink right through-making for an even bigger mess. So what do we do with our manure?...we stack it. We have a section of land where we pile manure until the fields are safe to be in again (hopefully soon). We are hoping to build a larger storage area for manure, which means we can haul manure less often during the year and not have to stack it. Hopefully milk prices increase soon so we can make this wish a reality.

Robins and Green Grass: Yep, we sure did see our first robin this week! I was so excited to see that red chested bird! The grass is also greening up under the snow, which makes me hopeful that the long range forecast is correct and warmer weather is on the way!

Wishing you a Happy Spring!!!

Recovering from the Blizzard

Yesterday we experienced, what I would call a "surprise blizzard" in MN. The previous week we had been enjoying some wonderful temperatures-30's. We even had rain at the farm, but yesterday we were rudely greeted with snow (2 inches) and 45+ mph winds from the northwest. These conditions combined to make driving practically impossible. Visibilities were down to zero and the Department of Transportation in MN decided to shut down the roads. Yep, everyone was stranded, except us. We had to make it to the farm to milk cows and feed everyone, so on the road we went. Jonathan and I found only a few drifts, and took our time driving through the "white outs". We made it to and from the farm safely twice yesterday. All of the girls needed to be bedded in (to stay dry and warm) and fed. Just because the weather doesn't cooperate with farming, doesn't mean that the farming stops on a dairy farm. We find a way to continue to take excellent care of our cows.

Today, we mainly focused on cleaning up the tall drifts (some over 6 ft tall) in the yards, on the roads, and around my calf huts. I even had one calf hut, mostly full of snow-except for the area where the little one was sleeping over night. Needless to say that little girl was happy so see me this morning with the shovel =) She's much happier with no snow in her room. Cold temps have moved back in (and wind chills too) so back to wearing insulated everything to work outside. We are definitely looking forward to spring at Orange Patch Dairy!

Frosty Pics from the Farm

Purple cone flowers that made it through the winter.

Pretty vines on the trees in the grove.

Frosted round bales of grass hay.

Winter view of the heifer lot.

Dry cows, relaxing in the dry cow lot on this frosty winter day.

Meet AC/DC, our heifer who is 16 months old and expecting her first calf this fall.

Yevette!!! (our preemie calf from this summer) She's doing so well! She loves it outside, even if it's frosty. She's almost as tall as the other calves her age, but has so much more attitude.

Kittens like to snuggle up with the bulls calves in the calf barn.

Frosty trees in the yard.

Silver Bells, checking out the frost covered shrubs in front of her calf hut.

Our Dairy Barn, almost 5 years old already. View from the road.

Komanche, our heifer, checking out the birds in the tree out in the yard.

It's so cold, but we have such a pretty view outside!

Which one of these doesn't belong? Yep, it's Glencoe, she was our "day care" calf this summer, who visited area day cares. She thinks she needs to be spoiled and is completely immune to electric fences-she goes where she wants to and we just let her.

What a great view from the dairy barn!

Cows eating in a very foggy barn. Yummy! TMR! (total mixed ration-containing alfalfa, corn silage and so many other great feeds!)

Congrats for surviving this Week of Winter!

Oh I couldn't be more excited for warmer weather than what I am right now! In case you didn't notice, I haven't posted a blog in over a week. There's a GOOD explanation for that-we were taking care of our cows the best that we could in some pretty miserable Minnesota weather. At last count we put in 3 16-hour days, 2 15-hour days, and 3 12-hour days. It's been tough, no lie about that. Our biggest challenge was just making sure that all of our cows, heifers and calves were protected from the wind and snow. Frost bite is just as dangerous to cows as it is to humans....we take the winter very seriously. We bedded in all animals everyday with lots of extra straw, thereby keeping them dry and clean. We moved cows that were due to calve in the coming days, into a heated pen to assure us that any calves born would be warm and frost-free. Accidents do happen, where cows are not smart enough to stay out the wind and decide to have their calves out in the open, in a snow bank, and in the wind-those calves usually die. Knowing this fact-we didn't want to take any chances-we want all live calves, so mothers got moved inside. We used special teat creams/lotions in the milking barn to protect teats on cows and heifers that could be at risk of freezing as well. The temperatures dipped below -30 a couple of times over night, but wind chills were out biggest enemy: -45! Add some fluffy, fresh snow and we had a good mess on our hands. One night we were even unsure if we could make the 7 mile trip from the farm back to our home since most local roads were closed...but we made it.

It's days like those that I really wonder how animal rights activists can accuse us on "not caring" for our cows!?!?! Seriously!?!?!? If I didn't care for my cows, I would have stayed at home, wrapped up on the couch with a warm blanket instead of sporting 5 layers of clothing and a ski mask to care for my animals. Those days were really hard on us mentally. Jon and I asked ourselves often-"Why is it that we are doing this?" We do it because we love our cows, and we strive everyday to give them our very best-they deserve it! Farming is not easy, but we do it because we know how important it is to grow, raise, and produce safe, quality, wholesome food for the world. So, I guess to rest my case....say thanks and congrats to a dairy farmer today....especially if they survived a week of winter like we did.

And, be grateful for the +30 temps coming this week!

Snow storm coming!

Looks like we have a monster of a snow storm coming our way. Sounds like we will receive snow between 12-20 inches over Christmas Eve/Christmas Day. While I love a good snow storm, it gets to be a lot of work on the farm. Today Jonathan and I were "battening down the hatches" trying to prep for the storm, so hopefully we can enjoy a little bit of Christmas with family if possible or with each other. On our list was:

• Bedding in all of the cows
• Bedding all of the calves
• Sealing up the calf huts
• Storing extra bedding for the heifers so we don't have to dig it out of the snow banks
• Feeding all of the cows and heifers extra feed for extra energy to get through the snow
• Fixing and sealing curtains on the milking barn
• Hooking up the snow blower so we can make sure the milk truck can make it to our barn
• Plugging in tractors so we can start them in the morning-to move snow just to milk cows
• Moving cows that are close to calving, so we can watch them more closely and don't have to move them to the milking barn in a blizzard
• Making snow fences to stop blowing snow from drifting in our feed bags

PLANNING, PLANNING, PLANNING....it's going to be a crazy couple of days at the farm! Wishing you and yours a Very Merry Christmas....and a safe one at that....here's hoping we can make it home from the farm to enjoy Christmas here instead of sleeping with the cows.

Why do you farm?

I went to a great speaker yesterday at the Midwest Dairy Expo. She inspired me to write this post. She posed a very thought provoking question to us in the audience.....

"Why do YOU farm?"

Hmm, I guarantee you that I don't farm because I enjoy working in the winter time. Today we had to wear over 4 layers of clothing just to go outside, shovel the snow before we could get into the barn, move the snow before we could get to the silage bags, and bed in everyone of the animals so they can stay warm and dry all day. Farming is hard. Not everyone can farm, but a number of smart people do farm. These farmers are smart enough that they could be excellent employees for any other company, but they run their own family business instead. When I left my job in January to come home and farm, I had 3 different jobs where I could work a 5 day week, making a sizable salary, but I chose to farm instead. Some would say that this would be an unwise choice, but it was the best choice for me-it just felt right.

I farm because I enjoy working with and in nature. I enjoy working with cows, one of the best creatures that God ever created. I enjoy the satisfaction of learning to do a new task, learning a new idea, starting a new project. I hope that some day that when Jon and I have children that we can use this farm to teach our kids how important life lessons like: respect for the environment, responsibility, strong work ethic, patience and passion. I farm, because at the end of the day I want be proud of the job that I did, the best possible job possible taking care of my cows and producing a tasty, wholesome, nutritious product for my family and yours.

Just so you know.....THAT'S WHY I FARM!

Another Minnesota Winter

Oh Geeze, looks like another Minnesota winter has arrived at the farm. We tried to hold it off as long as we could, but it turns out we ran out of time. Needless to say this wet fall has made for a major delay in our "to do list". We are still trying to finish up fall work and some fall work will have to go undone. But winter prep also was left behind.

These last 2 days we have been dealing with frozen hoses and water pipes. If we had enough time, we would have "winterized" these items, but we were busy doing "fall" things. As a result we spent at least 30 minutes these last 2 days thawing out the hoses and pipes to make sure that the cows and heifers have adequate water. The cold weather makes for difficult starts for all of the tractors. Some tractors, critical to our daily operations couldn't be started today. The cold weather makes everything twice as difficult, and that's not fun when we are calving many cows.

Today we welcomed 3 new calves! 2 heifers and a bull calf. All of them healthy and happy. Because of the cold weather we had to work fast to get the calves dry and warm. Once they are warm, filling their stomachs with warm milk from their mother's (colostrum) is very important. All of our calves drink at least 1 gallon of colostrum in the first hours of life. The cooler temps and weather also make life more stressful after birth, so we make sure that each calf is vaccinated for any possible disease and feed additional milk during the day to ensure that they have adequate calories to stay warm. For some calves that are struggling, we will cover them in a calf blanket and/or use a heat lamp to warm them. Making sure that their mothers are inside and protected from the elements is also important. Cold air and wind chills can cause skin on cow's teats to freeze and crack. The cold weather also stresses the mother, so we make sure the 2 months before the birth that they consume enough calories and protein to grow a healthy calf as well as care for her needs. Nevertheless, cold weather makes for extra work, but we love what we do. Just, grateful for insulated coveralls, heavy sweatshirts, and stocking caps!!!

The joys of dairy farming!

Today was one of those days, where you REALLY have to LOVE your job. It was a day where you really have to ENJOY the JOYS OF DAIRY FARMING....

This morning we dried off 5 cows (time for them to go on a 2 month vacation before they have their next calf). After that we noticed a cow that we gave medication to induce labor had finally started labor. After carefully observing her for a couple hours we decided to intervene, but not before we chased the cow out of the mud holes in the dry cow yard twice. We helped pull the calf, a bull calf, and momma cow was doing so well! After taking care of calf and cow, we moved on to a cow that had gotten herself stuck in the mud. Well, actually she was playing with another cow and it got a little rough. #55 fell down into a thick muddy hole, and couldn't get back out. We rushed to her rescue, using the skid loader to move the mud out the way and lift her out of the mud. Success! #55 was out of the mud, but she was also in shock. SO....we gave her some calcium for muscle tone, dextrose (sugar) for some quick energy, and some pain medication in case she hurt her leg....but one that was safe for her and the calf that she is carrying. We finished that up and got to chase a heifer that needed to be bred through another mud hole in the heifer yard! Seems like all of the cows were looking for those darn mud holes today! We got Lucy into the barn for breeding. We use artificial insemination for breeding, because it is safer for cows and people to NOT use a bull. Plus we get to use genetics from around the world on our farm to improve our cows. We bred Lucy.....next, move fresh cow (cow that calved) to the milking barn....and of course she found the mud on the way to the barn.....yikes! Next we found another cow in the dry cow yard that had an infection in her foot....she got a cut and thanks to all of the mud, she now had an infection....so we moved her to the barn to get a shot of Penicillin.

Sure sounds like we were treating a lot of cows, but we were merely working around the environment that Mother Nature provided us this week. 4.5 inches of rain and cool/cold weather makes for some muddy conditions outside. Cows are unfortunately not smart enough to stay out of said mud, therefore we tend to have cows that get into trouble. We are definitely looking forward to the day that we can put all of the cows inside a barn during the muddy seasons! Once we have the money you can bet that we will be putting up a barn ASAP! In the meantime we are working to keep the cows as dry as possible...

Oh yeah did I mention that Minnesota Winter is here! It's snowing outside as I type this! I can't believe it! 6 months of winter in this darn state! I am beginning to question Global Warming especially since I remember when it was 70 degrees in November just a few short years ago. Oh well, dealing with the cards we are dealt, and enjoying the JOYS OF DAIRY FARMING!