New Hay, smells so good!

I wish my camera and computer had smell-o-vision, then I could do this photo justice.  This is a picture of the feed that my brother’s cows eat every day.  This is called TMR (total mixed ration).  It’s like a big salad or hotdish.   My brother mixes all of the feed that his cows need for their daily nutrient requirements.  Just like humans, cows need energy (calories), protein, vitamins, minerals, and fiber.  Dairy farmers build their diets on a solid base of forage.  Forage is plant material that is harvested from the field, it is the complete plant that is chopped into bite sized pieces for the cows to eat and chew.  My brother feeds a combination of chopped up corn, alfalfa and oat plants.  May is the beginning of hay season so fresh alfalfa is on the menu for the cows.  If you look closely at this picture you can see the bright green stems.  Fresh alfalfa is very aromatic.  The smell is hard to describe; it’s like fresh cut grass but better.  This TMR smells so delicious I might even consider eating it and the cows just eat it up!  Milk production is increasing a little too because the cows are eating a little extra feed.  Fresh feed is such a treat for the cows!  Eat up girls!

Lingering damage from Drought 2012

Well Spring has finally arrived in Southern Minnesota!  That's the good news, the bad news is that we're quickly finding out what lingering damages exist from the Drought of 2012.  As spring starts, usually our alfalfa fields start to green up just like perennials in a flower garden, but this year the plants have been really slow to green up. 

We work very closely with a agronomist who has been scouting our fields for weeks already.  He's not finding very good news for us.  We know at this moment that we will need to re-seed at least 40 acres of alfalfa that never made it through the winter.  We planted this field last fall, and thanks to the drought only half of the seeds germinated, the other half sat in the field for the winter.  Those seeds that did germinate never made it through the rough winter, as they didn't have enough moisture in the fall to get a good start.  Moral of the story: 40 acres of alfalfa seed is now dead or rotten.  Yuck! 

Since we were building our lagoon last year we also postponed planting an additional 40 acres of alfalfa....so we need to plant 80 acres of alfalfa, hopefully this week!  It's possible these fields will yield at least one cutting of haylage for us this year, but we're going to need some serious rain and sunshine to push it along.  So that leaves us with the remaining fields from the past years (we plant a field of alfalfa and keep it for about 3-4 years).  While the acres are small, they are very valuable....our only source for alfalfa for the summer.  We still don't know that status of these fields.  Hopefully with 70's in the forecast, we will have excellent news by the end of the week! 

So what does this mean for the cows???  Well, we have already worked with our nutritionist and lowered the amount of alfalfa haylage in the cows' diet and replaced it with more corn silage.  Our inventory of haylage from 2012 is disappearing VERY quickly!  We'll be completely out in only a couple weeks.  Alfalfa is a very important feed to our cows, supplying protein and fiber, so we want to continue to feed it while we can.  By adding more corn silage we will be using more of our inventory than we expected as well...which means in August we may be rationing out our corn silage and replacing it with haylage....it's a balancing act.  Ultimately we will continue to do our best to make the best forages possible for our cows....sacrificing nothing for our cows...they deserve the best care & nutrition!

10 years ago....braces and all, I was a Finalist for Princess Kay of the Milky Way,
an experience I will never forget!

Wow has time flown by!  As I write this, we have finished 1st cutting of alfalfa.  Thankfully that frost earlier in April was not as detrimental as we expected it to be.  Thanks to lots of rain (5.25 inches in one week) we postponed planting our corn in exchange for cutting hay on May 12th...the earliest we have EVER cut alfalfa.  We also welcomed 13 new calves to the barn....all of which were born within the same week as making hay.  Now I am working on my presentation for the Dairy Princess event this weekend.  Here, talented dairy farmers' daughters and employees are competing to be one of the 12 Finalists for Princess Kay of the Milky Way.  The scary part is that I was one of these young ladies a mere 10 years ago!  Wow how things have changed, yet they are still the same!
The dairy princess program in Minnesota is still going strong, perhaps even stronger than ever, since so many young women are realizing the importance of sharing their stories with others.   Passionate doesn't even begin to describe these young women.  They are leaders, innovators, communicators, and most of all they LOVE the great community we call the dairy industry! 
10 years ago I had no idea how important the dairy princess program would be in who I am today.   Today, I am still advocating for dairy farmers like myself....using some of the same skills I had back then, with the same amount of passion, but with different tools...like this blog ;)
The final 12 will have the great experience of getting their likeness carved in a 90 pound block of butter at the Minnesota State Fair this summer!  A real honor!  (much like I did 10 years ago!)  We're wishing all these young ladies well, as any one of them would be an excellent Princess Kay!

Tulips and alfalfa are confused....

On eof the many tulips I have, wondering is it winter or summer in MN?

Boy does this weather in MN have my plants, flowers & veggies confused!  Not to mention the poor cows.  Just yesterday afternoon we were dodging thunderstorms in a humid 70 degree haze.  Today we are talking about snow, wind chills, and oh yeah....FROST!  Last week we endured a low overnight of 19.  That's not only harmful to my precious flowers....but also to our alfalfa.  It's scary to think what this next cool night might bring.  Last week's frost nipped the tops of all of our previously georgious alfalfa plants.  Most appear to have survived, but they are most definitely stunted.  Tonight's weather is going to put some already stressed out alfalfa plants at greater risk for more damage and even possibly death!   Our alfalfa crop is critical.  Healthy plants, harvested correctly, will make healthy feed for our cows...thereby growing healthy cows ;)  So, we are praying with fingers crossed that by the end of the week our dear alfalfa field will have survived the cool weather and resumed their path to an early harvest in May. 

God Bless Good Neighbors!

Not enough can be said about having good neighbors.  So often in the "rural" areas, we depend on good neighbors.  It's so much more than walking over to borrow a cup of sugar or glass of milk....it's depending on them when you're really in a pinch.  I can't count the number of times we've helped pull a neighbor out of a snow bank, helped chased cows back into their yards, or helped fix a flat tire.  The best part....is that our great neighbors repay those same favors back! 

On Wednesday, Jon was working diligently to finish the last of our 4th cutting of alfalfa.  We had some much needed rain on Monday night/Tuesday morning which delayed harvest.  I needed to leave to the MN State Fair on Wednesday, so Jon was working solo, with help from some of those great neighbors (and family too!)  Wouldn't you know it! Right before I was about to leave, I got a call!  Jon, "Do you have Greg's number?" Me, "Yeah, why???" Jon, "We've got a problem, that chain I was going to fix when we finished alfalfa broke and we only have 4 hours of chopping left" Me, "Hold on, I'll get it"  Minutes later, Jon goes flying by on the 4-wheeler, headed to Greg's place.  Turns out our good neighbor Greg had a spare part that we needed to fix our silage bagger!  Lucky for us, he was willing to let us have it, and replace it later.  Without Greg's help our alfalfa would have become too dry for silage before we could have drove 1.5 hours to get the replacement part.  We are definitely grateful for Greg's help and more than willing to pay him back!

The other "neighbor" issue on our farm is also a good one!  As we have been working on the next step for our dairy farm, we have also been working on renewing our permits to have dairy cows.  Yep, you got it!  We have to apply for a permit to have cows on our farm.   It's not a right to have cows, it's a privilege!  Part of the permitting process is to go to each of our neighbors to notify them of our plans and of the public county meeting, where we will find out if our permits will be approved.  The great part about notifying our neighbors, is that it gives us another opportunity to talk to them about what's going on at our farm.  Jon's been especially enjoying the conversations about how we care for our cows.  We know living next to a dairy farm isn't always glamorous.  Our cows make manure, and manure stinks.  We try to be conscientious of when we haul manure and where we haul it.  We also know that when we are in the middle of harvest, our tractors tend to make a lot of dust on the roads.  We are SO GRATEFUL for understanding neighbors!  How great it is to talk to them about improvements we want to make to be a more "neighbor-friendly" dairy farm!  We also make sure that all neighbors know we have an "open door" policy.  Any time our neighbors might want to stop for a visit or stop to talk about a concern...the door is always open!  We value our neighbors, and want to make sure that they can value us as well!  God Bless all of our Good Neighbors!

Wordless Wednesday: View from our office

This is the view from our office for the past 2 days.  Hoping to wrap up chopping today! Putting 4th cutting of alfalfa in the bag for the year!  Feels good to have quality feed ready to feed our cows in the coming year!

Saturated & Muddy!

Saturated & Muddy!  That's how I would describe the "environment" on Orange Patch Dairy, these days.  There are so many things to be done on the farm, but there's literally too much mud, rain, slop, and muck to get it done.  I would take pictures to share our misery, but it's almost embarrassing.  Just when the weather clears, and the soil finally starts to dry, and it might look like we can get back in the fields (we have corn to finish planting, soybeans to start, and alfalfa to chop) we receive another 1/2 to 1 inch of rain.  This morning we were "blessed" with another 1+ inch of rain.  The forecast has more rain predicted for tonight as well as Thursday night.  The sun might actually come out this weekend, but that's just in time for my brother in law's graduation party....which means we can't be in the field. 

Then there's the cows.  It's so muddy in the cow yards right now, it has become impossible to get bedding to the cows.  Thankfully the sand corners of the pens are drying during the day, so the cows can rest on dry "islands" in the sun.  It looks bad though.  I was out fixing fence in our yards today, and sank into the mud as I stood still, like in quick sand.  I nearly lost my boots twice, stuck in the mud as I tried to walk out.  I've never been more grateful for the concrete portions of our yards, where are animals can find additional reprieve from the mud, as well as eat and drink in mud-free peace. 

Even if we get into the field, the mud is so severe by our silage bags, we will not be able to make our new 2011 haylage bags in the yard.  We will be searching for the highest, driest location on the farm.....it's crazy to think about not being able to put a silage bag on our pad for weeks.  So please wish us well...these soggy dairy farmers could really use a dry break for the next 2-3 weeks, then we'll take some more rain.

We're not Lucky, we're Blessed!

Well, we wrapped up our 5th cutting of alfalfa this week, so as a result I have been working on that and recovering from the end of forage season marathon. It's been crazy, so a couple of days this week, we did the necessary chores and then came home for a nap (a much needed nap). The last load of alfalfa haylage was loaded into the silage bagger on Tuesday night at 7pm, and we celebrated with a good 'ol local beer (Grain Belt Premium Light)! It was a tasty beer! After working so hard this summer to make excellent, delicious, wholesome food for our cows, we figured we deserved the treat for ourselves. As we reflected on the past few months, we started to call ourselves "lucky", but I stopped short of calling us lucky. "We weren't lucky, we were blessed," I exclaimed. Jon looked at me, "I suppose we were."
As farmers, so much of what we do depends on nature. And nature is unpredictable, unmanageable, and uncontrollable. It's our faith in God that helps us pull through the though moments in life and on the farm. God protected us from storms, hail, wind, floods and droughts. God helped us work safely this summer, so that we were able to make tons and tons of feed, while the friends and family that helped us were kept safe. God helped us dodge some untimely rains, but also received some timely rains. Our first crop of corn yielded greatly, a miracle in our eyes. God protected our alfalfa from bugs and pests the entire summer, allowing us to grow alfalfa without spraying it with pesticides (saving costs and making better quality feed without insect damage).

So many times during a growing season, the crop can be destroyed, but we know we were blessed. Our former priest told us once that farmers are some of the closest people to God. "Farmers have to be close to God, to battle nature, feed the world's hungry, and work countless hours without recognition, while providing for their families." Those words have always stuck with me. Watching my grandparents and parents (who also farmed) I know that our priest was correct; they all have great relationships with God.

So, as the forage season of 2010 ends (we have some combining to do yet, but most of our crops are harvested) we THANK GOD for all of the blessings and miracles that we have received, for we are not lucky, we are blessed!!!!

Hello Blog, I am back again!

After a little time off to work on various other projects for the upcoming county fair, I thought I would just let everyone know I am still alive and kicking.  It's be crazy at the farm right now.  It's been raining about every 2-4 days and we are trying to make 4th cutting alfalfa in between showers/storms.  Our corn is loving this weather though, as it thrives with heat and moisture.  The cows are hanging in there with the heat.  Milk production has come down about 2-3 pounds per cow and their feed intake is down.  I wouldn't want to eat in this heat either.  Thank goodness for sprinklers and fans, those things have paid for themselves 10 times over already!  I know that the cows will be fine as long as we have sprinklers on them. 

Other than that we have the county fair this week, which means I will be busy with the princesses, the anniversary for the princesses, the dairy show and well....hopefully a demolition derby or two!  Stay tuned for pictures and more stories!

Got it DONE!!! Making Hay when the Sun Doesn't Shine!!

We have successfully finished out 2nd cutting of alfalfa!  It was a challenge and if I ever meet a weatherman in person I might have to ask him the following: "How can you still have a job after being wrong so many times?"  Our weather forecast for Thursday was for rain, which we missed, thank goodness as those storms were filled with wind, hail, and tornadoes.  We pray for those who were hurt by these storms.  On Friday it was supposed to be about 80 degrees and light breezes, but we had mid-80's and a strong dry wind....which accelerated the drying of our alfalfa, much faster than we anticipated.  As a result our hay was dry sooner than expected, and we had to move faster.  At midnight on Friday, Jon, I and my brother in law Marcus decided that we were going to keep on chopping alfalfa until we saw dew, which would make the alfalfa too wet to chop.  But as long as there was no dew we were able to keep on chopping.....and we kept on chopping alfalfa until 9 am Saturday morning. Yes, you just read correctly, we chopped through the night and finished right before morning chores.  That means that Jon and I worked about 35 hours straight without any sleep.  We finished chopping and jumped right over to milking, feeding and our morning chores.  At 2pm we made it home, and took a well deserved nap for 5 hours!  We were very happy that we finished our 130 acres of alfalfa even if we had to work that hard to get it done.  Unfortunately since we worked so hard and in the dark, I don't have any pictures of 2nd cutting alfalfa, but if you saw the 1st cutting, it's pretty much the same thing all over again.

It's great to be able to work with my brother in law as well.  He's an excellent worker and never stops until he finishes a job~which is great for chopping alfalfa!  We worked that hard to chop our alfalfa because we know from years of experience that high quality feeds make healthy cows which in turn make healthy nutritious milk.  Focusing on quality has helped us gain so much in milk production, but more so in cow health.  As cows are ruminants, forages and forage quality make a huge impact on health. 

We also had a successful morning on Friday taking our 6 day old calf Fuji to New Ulm for the KNUJ Dairy Day at the Glock.  Fuji visited with many adults and kids, celebrating June Dairy Month for a good cause: area Food Shelves.  Now that she's home, Fuji is spoiled and looking for a head scratch almost every hour!  She's so darn cute though, neither Jon nor I can say no to her...so we give in and she's getting even more spoiled.  I have some pictures of her that I hope to post soon!

Rain Delay

I just thought I would take some time to blog, as I might be missing in action for the remainder of the week.  We are patiently waiting for Mother Nature to cooperate with us; we are waiting to cut our 2nd cutting of alfalfa.  We have enjoyed some much needed rain for the past few days and it has been great for the corn and soybeans, but it has made a mess out of our silage bag pad and we know our alfalfa fields will most certainly be moist and soft.  Today we saw the sun for the first time in days, and it was a welcomed sight!  With a little bit of a breeze we started to see dry soil again.  We will need more days like this before we can hit the fields, but it sounds as though we have a chance of rain again on Thursday. 

Time will tell, but for the time being, Jon was able to haul liquid manure over to the neighbor's harvested pea field.  It's great to have such ag-friendly neighbors who appreciate the value of cow manure and its ability to grow great crops!  We definitely appreciate having neighbors who will take our cow manure.  By doing this they help us make sure we don't over apply nutrients on our own fields as well as stay within the limits of our manure management plan.  Plus, sharing manure with neighbors helps them grow awesome corn too! 

We were also able to take some time to work on a cow who suddenly developed a sore foot.  Isabel, our 3 year old cow (who has had 2 calves and is pregnant with her third) started to favor her front left foot on Sunday.  Sometimes cows will injure their feet like people do, misstepping.  Other times cows have a more serious issue like a sore or infection.  We trim the entire herd twice a year, which eliminates most problems, but since it's been about 5 months since the last trimming, little issues like this sometimes pop up.  Isabel continued to favor that foot, so we decided yesterday morning (Monday) that she needed some medical attention.  We lifted her foot with a rope, as we don't have a hoof trimming chute.  She was actually a great patient.  She calmly stood on 3 legs as Jon diligently worked to carve out the bottom of her foot.  He carved hoping to find the problem, but we didn't find anything wrong with her foot!  When we were about to give up on Isabel, Jon checked for a second time between her toes and found what appeared to be a small sore.  Sure enough, that was our problem...a small sore that looked to have developed from a small stone getting stuck in her hoof.  Cow's hooves are much like our fingernails, so they can pick up stones occasionally.  We removed the small stone and the hoof tissue that was damaged.  We applied some salve to help heal Isabel's foot and wrapped her up.  While Isabel didn't start walking perfectly right away, she definitely was running around today!  Keeping a close eye on our cows is critical to keeping them healthy.  By catching Isabel's foot injury early we prevented any further damage to her foot as well as the risk that she could have slipped, fell and hurt herself even more.  We work hard to prevent injuries and illness, but early detection also helps maintain healthy cows!

Hopefully I will be doing hay soon...pictures to follow!

Check out Cows n' Crowns!

Hey All!  I've been busy lately, devoting time to my new blog Cows n' Crowns a tribute to the 50 years of Brown County Dairy Princesses.  If you get a chance, please check it out, we are currenlty featuring princesses from the 1960's.  It's been a blast collecting information from these lovely ladies!  More to come in the next weeks.
As for the farm, well today was moving day for the calves.  I usually move calves all at the same time when I have a group of 4 ready to move to group housing from the calf huts.  Today was moving day for Theresa Joy and Theresa May.  They have been growing so nicely.  Both calves have gained about 50 pounds a piece, they have been dehorned, check by a vet and they are ready to be in a group pen.  In this pen they will join 4 other calves, teaching them about social interaction, preventing them being over whelmed by new friends.  We will move this group of 6 calves together for the rest of their lives as heifers (animals that have not had calves) until they freshen (have a calf).  Theresa Joy and Theresa May were so easy to move with the halter.  All of the attention from the preschool kids on our farm tour definitely helped to mellow them.  It's amazing how much attention and care from humans helps to calm a calf, developing a future animal that will be easy to handle, trusting of humans.  So I moved the calves inside, moved the previous calves in the smaller pen into a larger pen, the calves from the larger pen (about 12 head) were moved to the outside lot...where they will stay until they are comfirmed pregnant.  Of course all of the calves were moved into pens that were freshly bedded, clean and dry.

Other than moving calves, Jonathan has been working on getting our hay equipment ready to go.  We have about 7 days until we have to cut down 2nd cutting of alfalfa.  So our clock is ticking ;)

2010 Alfalfa Season-1st Cutting Video

I took some time tonight to do what I wanted to do last night, but instead had to respond to yet another attack on America's good dairy farmers.  Tonight, I finally got to put together my video clips from hay making last week, into a nice "collage" of videos.  Please check out how we at Orange Patch Dairy work to make high quality forage to feed our cows during the year.  The best part is that we get to do this 3-4 more times this growing season....I like this video and I hope you do too!!!

Weekly Re-Cap

Holy Smokes!  This has been one crazy week!  Monday was filled with preschool tours.  Tuesday was herd health day where we learned that we will have over 20 cows and heifers due to have calve in December.  Wednesday, our corn finally went into the ground~Jonathan and I are so excited to have our first field of corn.  Thursday I was at the dentist and making parts runs.  Friday, it rained, but then we had to bed in all of the cows and heifers.  Saturday we dried off 4 cows due to calve in July.  We also moved heifers and calves-graduating them to new pens with more space for their growing bodies. 

Today, well we enjoyed a dinner out with family and then returned home to care for our newborn calf Osseo and her mother Olivia.  Olivia surprised us with a new calf right before church this morning-I swear they do this on purpose!  Nevertheless, we worked even faster to care for the calf and the new cow...and returned after dinner and church to do the final touches.  Osseo enjoyed 1 gallon of fresh colostrum and Olivia enjoyed being moved to the milking barn, where she had all of the TMR that she can eat.  Jonathan worked this afternoon on our disk mower (machine we use to cut our alfalfa) as we know that we will be cutting our first crop of alfalfa soon.  I did a little landscaping.  Seems like the weather forecast is calling for  more cold and wet weather, so I am working during the sunny days while I can.  We had a small dose of frost last night.  The airport reported temps as low as 28.   We woke to frost on the grass and the rooves.  This afternoon I took a quick trip through the corn and alfalfa fields to survey the damage.  Our alfalfa got nipped in the low lands, but on the hill sides it appears that those plants were spared.  If we get some sun and warmer temps, I do believe that the alfalfa will be fine.  Our corn, as it was just planted was safe and sound in the soil (warm, since the soil temps are over 60 degrees) BUT...our neighbor's have corn that has germinated and sprouted out of the soil.  Those plants did get damaged, but if the growing point of the plant was still below the soil...the plant will be ok...so here's hoping their corn will be fine.  I will try to be back a little more often this week, but once we start cutting hay, all bets are off....another busy week at Orange Patch Dairy!

Planting Peas in MN

Field Trip to Central Plains Dairy Expo

2 days ago Jon and I made the trek to Central Plains Dairy Expo, in Sioux Falls South Dakota. We usually try to head out every year for this expo. For me, its like a class reunion, as most of my college classmates are either working on dairies or working for dairy companies in the dairy industry. For Jon, its a chance to meet with different companies that could be potential suppliers for future investments for the health and well being of our cows. Overall it's a great experience!

I attended a seminar where I met with other dairy producers who are also interested in telling the stories of their farms, families, and cows. How uplifting it was to hear those farmers tell about sharing through speaking events, online encounters, and social media. All sharing the honest truth about their farms: they care for their cows, they care for the environment and land, and they care about the consumers who choose dairy~! I am really looking forward to hearing more dairy farmers share their stories, consumers want to know where their food comes from and we should not be afraid to tell them how hard we work and how much we CARE for they food they eat.

Another interesting part of the trip was the amount of field work going on. Last year we encountered a snow storm on the way to South Dakota, but this time it was 70+ degrees, sunny and breezy. It's been an amazing week of weather here! When we left MN we saw farmers in our area digging fields and sowing in their wheat, oats, and alfalfa crops. When we got closer to South Dakota we saw farmers combining 2009 corn that they had to leave in the fields thanks to our soggy fall and early winter snows. Those same farmers were also taking advantage of the warm dry weather, they were baling up dried corn straw/stalks to be used on their cattle farms as bedding. It was really a tale of 2 season....Fall 2009 and Spring 2010. I know that this warm weather has been a real blessing for each of those seasons and we are truly grateful!!

At Orange Patch Dairy, we received a short shower of rain today, and it was as though God himself took a crayon and colored the grass and alfalfa fields green in minutes....EVERYTHING is green and beautiful! Spring is officially here!!!!!

Dear March

Dear March:

I was wondering if you could bring back a couple of my favorite things these coming days. Please bring back sunshine-we miss its warm rays to melt the snow. Please bring back mud, yes I said mud, because at least I don't have to move mud on a daily basis if the wind blows. Please bring back the rain-I love how it smells, snow doesn't really smell, and rain doesn't need to be moved. Please bring back dirt....I forgot how wonderful it smells after a warm rain and once its freshly tilled. Please bring back temperatures over 35 degrees, I forgot how freeing it can be to walk around without our almost 10 layers of clothing on, every day. I yearn to wear only a light sweatshirt and jeans once again.

You can kindly take back the 2 feet of snow that still blankets the ground, we don't need it anymore, Christmas was done months ago. You can take back the wind chills, we got it, it's cold in Canada...they can keep it. You can send back the clouds, unless they bring warm rains, since we really need the sun to dry out the ground.

We are looking forward to flowers (please see the picture attached below for reference), spring tillage, planting peas, and watching the alfalfa start to grow. And yes I am even looking forward to hay season.

If you could kindly meet my requests, I would greatly appreciate it,
Thanks,

One VERY Tired Dairy Farmer in Minnesota

Sleep needed!

Just thought I would let you know I am still alive, just that sleep is needed. After surviving the county fair with about 5 hours of sleep a night, we moved right into 4th cutting of alfalfa hay. Yesterday (Monday) we started cutting our 100 acres of hay, and today we finished cutting and chopped it all. 100 acres of 4th cutting hay should have filled at least 7/8 of a silage bag, but since we have been SO DRY it only filled about 1/3 of a bag. This means we will have to make more corn silage for the cows in order to have enough feed to feed the cows this winter. Corn silage will be starting in a few short weeks, so we will have to do some planning before then. Our alfalfa was beautiful, but so dry....so we hope for rain for a better 5th cutting of alfalfa in September. I will add more info from the fair hopefully tomorrow ;)

3rd Cutting of Hay Done!

Ah the joys of Minnesota weather! When we cut 1st cutting of alfalfa in May-it was 97 degrees and 50 mph winds. Our June, 2nd cutting took us 7 days between rain showers/thunderstorms and 80 degree humidity. This 3rd cutting of alfalfa that we finished last night was harvested in 60 degree weather-cool and day, much like October should be. It's been a roller coaster of weather this summer. We are currently 7 inches behind on our annual rain fall-which the crops are really starting to show. It's been cool and dry so the corn isn't "burning up" too quickly but if we don't get rain this week it will be the end of some of our corn-it's just been too dry for too long.

Nevertheless, we finished our 3rd cutting of alfalfa-all 130 acres which yielded only 85% of what it should have. It took us about 2 days to start and finish-thanks to the help of a good friend who came over to help drive tractor and lots of family. One of the joys of working on a farm is that family is usually able to help during big projects like this. Working with family is fun and trying all at the same time. Now we begin praying for rain-lots of it, with a little bit of God's help.

We got our milk check for June's milk today. As dairy farmers we are paid twice per month. Our creamery pays us every month of the 17th (for the month previous-June) and the 25th (advance check for July). Our take home price for milk was $10.68/one hundred pounds of milk. This milk price would equate to about 93 cents per gallon of milk. This price is not enough to pay all of our bills, but it does pay some. We also receive a monthly MILC (Milk Income Loss Contract) payment from the government. This check also doesn't help to meet our monthly bills, but it does help. We would prefer to not collect money from the government, but help is appreciated at a time like this. We try to capitalize on some premiums/bonuses from the creamery. We get paid extra money if we can increase our butterfat and protein levels. We also get increased premiums for high quality milk (lower somatic cell count or less infections/white blood cells). Therefore, we are doing are best to get any premiums we can---healthy cows are profitable cows!

Today was a good day for a nap-even if it was finally summer outside again. We went to church, out to eat, and home for sleep. It was awesome! It's been a couple of long nights working to get hay done.

Phew! Made it through the weekend!

It was another crazy weekend at Orange Patch Dairy...we went to Comfrey Days Street Dance on Friday night. We stayed up WAY too late, but we saw so many friends we couldn't bring ourselves to leave early. As a result we got a much needed and overdue nap this afternoon. it was only for a couple hours but was still good!

This week is going to be another event packed week. We will be starting out the week on Monday drying off dry cows. We have 2 cows out of our herd of 90 that are ready for their 60 day vacation in the dry lot. They will not be milked for the next 60 days, but instead be able to relax comfortably outside and grow their baby calves. When we dry off cows, we use an antibiotic not to treat infections but prevent any infections they could pick up during their vacation. Based on our somatic cell count our fresh cows almost always freshen without infection-a key to safe wholesome milk and healthy cows. We also treat our cows with an wax teat sealant which helps to keep out bacteria until the cow forms her own teat end plug of natural proteins.

On Tuesday we will be doing our monthly herd health appointment. Hopefully I will be able to take some pictures from the day.

The rest of the week we will be working on getting ready for our 3rd cutting of alfalfa hay. It will be another hectic week of greasing machinery, doing maintenance of the silage wagons, sharpening the chopper knives, and getting the bagger ready to rock. All of this prep is critical to making sure that get start and finish chopping in the least amount of time possible. It makes great feed and happy farmers :)