Coyote Ridge FarmsWelcome To Our Rural Blog

The forecast suggested it would be a windy day today – perfect for drying hay.  As soon as the dew left the downed hay, I began to rake some of the road side windrows.  After an hour or so, the breeze that was available, disappeared.  It became calm.  Not wanting to ruin my hay by having it rained on.  I ceased my raking.  Hours later, I checked the hay that I had turned over.  The hay was still damp.  Without a drying wind, I knew it would not be dry enough to bale on Sunday… it’s suppose to rain on Monday (40%).  I’m glad I didn’t rake all of it.

If I can’t bale, I might as well do some fencing.  A couple days ago I started a small fencing project, allowing the cattle to access the Ritchie brand automatic waterer on the other side of the fence.  What I had done so far was create an eight foot opening in an already established fence line.  I had installed two 6″ cedar posts on each side of the waterer.  The problem was that when I stretched the barbed wire back onto the posts, the posts pulled in the direction of the wire.  If I wanted the fence to last, the newly installed posts needed to be supported with a brace.  Since discovering the New Zealand style support post design (a.k.a. Kiwi brace), I use it whenever I can.

This is the waterer I installed last year. The Kiwi brace assembly on each side was completed today.

I attached the diagonal brace to the main post by drilling a 3/8″x2½” hole in both and then installing a 5″ length of rebar into the main post, then slide the brace onto the rebar pin (some folks simply notch the main post, then nail the diagonal brace to it).  Where the diagonal brace touches the ground, I put a flat rock or cement paver.  This keeps the post from rotting and/or digging into the ground.  Also, at the base of the main post and the lower end of the diagonal, I loop high-tensile wire and tighten it with a fencing strainer.

Kiwi brace with 8'x4" diagonal, mounted 3' on main post
(click on image for details)

The rule-of-thumb for the Kiwi brace is this:  If you have an 8′ diagonal brace it should be secured 3′ from the ground on the main post and needs to be at least 4″ in diameter.  If you have a 10′ post, it needs to be 5″ in diameter and should be placed 4′ on the vertical post.

After installing the posts and braces, I took a 16′ cattle panel and “wrapped” it around the waterer and it’s 4′x5′ cement pad (see upper photo).  It fit perfectly and the farm’s Highlanders have not had a problem using it… even with their long horns.

The reason for doing this little project was simple.  The cattle [somehow] kept shutting off the hydrant that filled their stock tank… and I was getting tired of it.  Last night, when I mentioned to Farmer Mike what I was working on and why I was doing it, he asked me why I didn’t simply remove the handle of the hydrant.  I really didn’t have a reply… but I was thinking, “Duh!”

This info is also posted on the ‘Small Farm & Sustainability‘ Facebook group.

If you are…

We invite you to join the Facebook Group ‘ Small Farm & Sustainability‘.  This group is intended to be a clearing house of information and ideas for the small land holder, homesteader & diverse family farmer. We invite the beginner and the experienced. It is, however, open to all.

Carol and I are the group’s administrators and we try to focus on topics of sustainability, organic practices and tapping into government agencies for funding, technical assistance and information.  From time to time, we will post topics that we feel is important news to all – these topics include genetically modified foods, food recalls and once in a great while, political news that does or could effect the small landholder/farmer/homesteader.

Carol and I are going out with friend and mentor, Farmer Mike and his wife Karen.  Their wedding anniversary was yesterday and ours is today.

25 years ago, this morning, Carol and I were married at The Chapel Of Love, in Las Vegas, Nevada.  At the time, both of us were students at the Willmar Area Vo-Tech.  Carol was studying to be a nurse and I was going to school for Parts & Merchandising.  Our classes had not yet started for the year when we took off for the City Of Lights – Las Vegas.

With a borrowed car secured just days before and $600 in my pocket that was loaned to me by my dad, Carol and I headed west, out of our town of Willmar, MN.  Thinking back to other road trips, the food and snacks that we brought was most likely a loaf of bread and a package of bologna, corn nuts, corn chips, a large bag of pretzel rods and of course pop/soda.  The car we were using was a green, 1975 Datsun B-210, hatchback.  It was powered by a little 4 cylinder that we later found out was not built for the mountains of Colorado.  It looked like the Datsun in the photo below.

This is nearly the identical car that brought Carol and I to Las Vegas, where we married.

The one and only major break-down was in the rain, outside of Vale, Colorado – the water pump went out.  After limping the car to a nearby town, we were towed to a Chevron station in Glenwood Springs, CO.  It was there where we spent 2½ days, waiting for a new water pump.  It seems one of the station attendants knew the part’s store owner and only after we paid him more than we should have, he gave his buddy a call and got the part.  Thinking Carol & I would run short on cash, I “rented” some tools from the station and installed the pump myself.  We slept in the car behind the station over the Labor Day weekend.

It was very early in the morning when we rolled into Vegas on Sept. 2nd.  Not knowing where to go or where to stay, at 3 am we rang the door bell of a small motel.  A short, older gentleman unlocked the door and checked us in.  He was kind enough to take interest in us and asked why we were in town.  We told him we were here to get married and gave him the short version of our trip’s follies.  He told us that he would take care of everything.  He simply asked what time we wanted to get married and what time we wanted to wake up… that was it.

Sometime after our wake-up call we received another call from the front office.  The limo service had a car waiting for us.  When we walked around to the motel office, there waiting for us was a white, stretched limo.  The driver was in the lobby waiting for us.  From that point forward, neither Carol nor myself touched another door until we were back again at the motel.  Our driver brought us to the marriage license bureau where he held the door for us, sat us down, and sought and retrieved all the paperwork we need to get hitched.  When everything was in order, he wisked us off to get married.  The drive to the wedding chapel was where we got to know our driver better.  He asked us where we were from.  We told him we hailed from a small town in Minnesota.  He then asked what town.  When we told him “Willmar,” he stated he too was originally from the Land of 10,000 lakes.  In fact, he once was an Old Dutch Potato Chip truck driver out of the Metro… and Willmar was his main stop.  We chatted a bit more, mentioning the rotten luck we experience on the road.  He must have felt sorry for us as he gave us some money-saving advice when it came to the chapel where we were to get married.

Carol & I got married here at the Chapel Of Love in 1985

At the Chapel Of Love, we chose the basic, no frills, wedding package.  Our limo driver was our witness.  After the short ceremony, we were handed an envelope with a large dollar amount written on the outside of it.  Our driver told us about this envelope… it was for us to tip the minister guy.  We put a $5 bill into it and walked to the car with our newly signed marriage certificate in hand.

On our way back to the motel, I asked our driver [and witness] how he makes money driving limo.  He stated he owned his car and he made his living on tips only.  Since he saved us $$$ with the advice he gave us about the goings-on of the chapel, I asked him what his normal tip was.  He would not tell us and would not take our money.  He just told us that he wanted to give us our first wedding present and the use of his limo service was it.  We thanked him as he dropped us off back at the hotel.

Shortly there after, Carol and I headed back home, via Hoover Dam.  We visited the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone Park before arriving back home.  We got home late, but in time for a few hours of sleep, just to head to our first day of class at the Vo-Tech the next day.  To say the least, our friends and classmates were surprised to hear we were married just a few day before.

Carol graduated from the LPN program and I graduated from the program I was enrolled in.  Carol is still in the medical field.  I on the other hand went to college and graduated.  From that point on I have several vocations.  I became a counselor for an are boys group home, became a DJ for an AM country music radio station.  I striped parking lots and later cleaned restaurant vent hoods.  I also owned a cleaning company and if you consider race care driving a job, I did that too.  All the while, Carol retained her nursing license through the years.  Even now, while we both embark on our farming endeavor, Carol remains a medical professional. I on the other hand am just a farmer.

I guess if you’ve read this post to the end… just be thankful this is the short version. 

Today is the day we send our 4H’er off to the Minnesota State Fair for 4 days.  At the County Fair level daughter Madison won several State Fair trips.

This morning she will start her first trip with a bus ride, with other 4H’ers, to the Metro.  She will be showing her mini lop bunny on 8am, Saturday… as well as giving her State Fair quality demonstration on Friday.  She will hanging with other kids that will also be showing rabbits.  There is quite a little group going.

Madison waiting for the state fair charter bus

Carol and I will be heading out to the fair on Sat. to watch the rabbit show.  After Sunday, Madison will have a few days off before going back to the State Fair for her 3rd project – an information display on how to make Mozzarella cheese from raw milk.

This morning, after dropping Madison off at the County Fairgrounds, Carol and I had an appointment with the loan officer at the Concord Bank, in Willmar.  We’re trying to secure a loan, in order to purchase a used house for the farm.  After speaking with the Farm Management Program instructor from the Willmar Community College, we were told that the Concord is a small, independently owned bank that is farmer friendly… more so than the larger area banks.  Carol and I have spoken with 2 other banks, but because the farm is in a non-revocable trust, it’s been tough going.  We’re hoping Concord is not afraid of the trust.  The other banks mentioned that since the farm is in the trust that it is in, nobody really owns the farm – thus… technically, no “person” is responsible for the loan.

After the bank meeting, Carol and I walked away from it with a less than optimistic feeling.  It seems that the bank has never given a loan to a trust… I think it is fair to mention, the bank president also stated that the bank had never had the opportunity to do such.  With that said, one might preclude from saying that there is no chance that we can get a loan from this bank.  I just don’t get the feeling our chances are much better than with the other banks.    I guess we’ll see.

The morning started as many mornings prior – with a walk around the pastures, checking fences.  The weed-load (weeds touching the “hot” wires) is extensive.  I was determined to get SOME spark through the entire fence – from beginning to end.  The problem was not weed-load this time.  Those rotten goats had tangled the hot wire onto the barbed… easy fix.  While walking the fence line, near the creek, I notice our Highlander cattle following me on the other side.  When I walked east… they walked east.  When I walked west, they did as well.  OK… I know what that means.  These furry cattle think they need fresh pasture.

I gave the cattle a little “come bossy,” just to let them know the needed to keep track of me as I was going to open a gate for them.  I’m not sure I needed to give them a call our not, but they seemed to get a little excited after I gave them shout.  When I arrived to the crossing gate for the creek, I already had some of the red cows in the water heading my way.  I no sooner got the gate open before LaVerne (one of our big red cows) was looking around me, trying to get to the fresh pasture grass.  Following her were the other Highlanders… all but Sadie.  Sadie, our dun colored heifer, and her boyfriend Donkey (a donkey) stayed north of the creek, with Farmer Mike’s Ayrshire heifers.  They wanted nothing to with crossing the creek.  So be it.  By now, the other cattle we running and kicking like spring calves in the fresh grass.  And for those who stayed behind, there is way more grass over there than they can eat down.

Hoping Farmer Mike and his son would find their way over here for some combining AND knowing the weekend was quick approaching, I figured I better make plans for storing wheat… at least until Monday.  The solution was sitting over at my grandparents old farm.  It was a 2500 bu. grain bin, tucked away in the trees.  It was last used about 20-25 years ago.  For all I know, I could still have grain in it.  I hope not.  I called my sister, who takes up residence on the old place and told her my situation and my idea.  She thought it all sounded good.  With the nod, I told her I had to get my chainsaw and a bite to eat and I would be there in about an hour.  When I arrived, she had already gotten a good start on the clean-up.  Using the skid-loader, she was able to push a small pile of rotted boards and such.  It was time to get the saw fired-up.  I cut limbs and she pulled them away.  After about an hour, we had widened the small road past the granary.  It was truly hot and heavy work, but the results proved to be worth every drop of sweat.  There should now be more than enough room to put the auger in-place and still be able to drive past it with a tractor or truck.  Besides being functional, the results were also aesthetically pleasing.  The removal of 25 years of neglect… accomplished!

With the granary area cleared and looking so much better, it was time to see what was in the structure.  Spider-webs and oats was the running theme of the bin’s interior.  The oats felt mushy under foot – weird.  When I tarted scooping the oats out the door, I discovered why it felt soft.  It was rotten – looking more like black, muddy compost than anything else.  It was nasty!

After the task of cleaning the bin, we headed to the grove to retrieve an old auger.  I would need to guess, but I doubt it was ever used by anyone in our family.  It was probably purchased at an auction prior to my dad’s bought with cancer, brought home and sat.  When I looked at it, most of the parts seemed to move.  I was hoping it was in good working order.  My sister and I chained it to the draw-bar of the tractor and pulled it from the jungle of overgrowth.  We got it moved and into place in-front of the bin.  Since the PTO shaft was rusted solid, I poured some wast oil on it, hoping it would loosen by morning, when I might need it.

Back on the homestead, Farmer Mike’s son was done with the harvesting of the oats and was well under way with the wheat.  His dad had picked up a portable moisture tester from another friend and the wheat was testing lower than 13% moisture… perfect for storage conditions.  And as long as wheat prices keep showing a bullish trend, the newly harvested grain will remain storage.

We now have oats in a flare-box and in a truck at Mikes.  We also have a truck and a gravity box full of wheat.  I’m hoping for no over-night rain.  Night-fall was upon us… time to pull the plug.  I’ll unload the wheat in the morning.

Some of you know that Carol grew up as a ‘Townie‘.  With that said, more folks know her as a farm gal.  But being on the farm for only 2 years, there are many experiences left to explore.

The last 2 days, Carol has found herself outside the ring of a couple local-ish livestock auctions, looking for goats & chickens.  It seems we are selling more livestock and poultry directly to our customers than we think we can replace sustainably.  It’s a good position to be in [business-wise] but we want all of our customers (present and future) to be able to buy the meat they want and still have a good selection in which to do so.  So, Carol has been looking primarily for more meat goats as well as a dairy goat or two… the last few weekends, we have been selling-out of raw goat milk too.

Well, today, Carol found a few things at one of the auctions she attended.  She did find some goats, but only dairy goats.  These goats will help improve her herd as she intends to cull some of her lesser quality milkers.  She also purchased a few more layer hens – yep… we have been selling out of eggs as well.  We have standing orders for 6-8 dozen and we haven’t been able to meet the demand.  My question to Carol, after she got home, was how does she know if she got hens that were actually going to lay for us.  It seems that when the hens lay eggs on the way home from the auction, chances are the hens are in good working order.  We’re both happy.  BTW:  You can buy our fresh eggs in Kerkhoven from Kristine at Inspiring Path Alternatives.

Another thing she bought was this little tool.   Or maybe I should say “little tools”.  She bought 2 cases of them.

Tote-N-Cut bale handling/feeding device

She may have paid too much for them… who knows.  But, we have one down in the barn, awaiting to be used.  It looks like it would be a handy thing to have around, but I guess the proof is in the pudding.  If you want one, contact Carol.  She’s selling them for only $2/each.  I tried to find some information about them on the Internet, but came-up empty.  As you can see, they are/were locally made… the question is “When?”

Carol also bought a Home Health brand home milk/juice pasteurizer, if for no other reason than to give folks a chance to experience or taste our farm-fresh dairy products without the worry of things made from raw milk as seeming weird.  Believe it or not, but some folks still think milk comes from a carton and not a cow or goat.  The pasteurizer Carol bought is a low temp unit.  Instead of heating the milk to 165°F for 15 seconds, it heats it to 145°F for 30 minutes.  The lower heat process does not kill all the helpful/healthful micro-organisms, like the beneficial pro-biotics… just the bad (if the milk were not handled properly).  The price of this handy-dandy appliance was 50¢, minus the 25¢ worth of puzzles she sold [that came with the pasteurizer].  Once home, we tested the Home Health pasteurizer and it seems to work perfectly.  If you would like to taste some pasteurized goat milk or goat milk cheese, let Carol know before heading out to the farm.  Of course, our goat milk soap does not need pasteurized milk – soap is soap (even if it is weird).

Carol knew what to do.  She started canning jam.  She had a few flats of strawberries and some stalks of rhubarb that needed to be preserved so she made 9½ pints of strawberry-blackberry jam, and the same amount of strawberry-rhubarb jam.  She then made some cheddar cheese from our raw goat milk.

I, on the other hand, went outside in between rain showers to do a little of this, then a little of that.  One of the tasks was to pound a single post in the vineyard.  Carol and I decided it was time to reinvest some of our time back into the grapes.  We want to string high-tensile wire between the posts for the vines to cling to.  We’re hoping to have better luck with the grapes this year.  Last year we were hit by hail.  The storm took the vines down to the ground.

Tonight, Carol and a friend went to the livestock auction in Hutchinson, MN.  Carol set out to buy some meat goats, if there were some available at an affordable price… we’ve been selling quite a few goats here at the farm and felt we want to give our customers a good selection in which to choose from.  This will be Carol’s first livestock auction experience.

… and inspected.

For the most part, I had the fencing project [north of the creek] done yesterday.  But today I added the finishing touches by installing temporary gates to the paddock entrances.   Just before that, I called my local Natural Resource and Conservation Service (NRCS) official and asked him if we could schedule an inspection time/date.  He said, “How about 1:00 PM today?”  My response was, “Um, OK.”  That’s when I put the temp. gates in place and connected the fencer unit.  And right on time, the NRCS guy pulled into the drive.

On an aerial map, I showed him what fences I built/completed and how to get out to the newly installed paddocks.  Roughly a half an hour later, he and his assistant were gone.  I’m hoping everything met government specifications.  That’s how I built the stuff.  I even built it better than what was called for.  While I was fixing the fencing for the goats and sheep (on the south side of the creek) I could see that the inspectors were photographing my fencing – and admiring it, I’m sure.  Once they were gone, the rains came… again.   So far this month, we have had 13 days with precipitation and only 2 day without.  What a change from last year.

Here’s hoping the fencing passed inspection.  Whatever the case, the Scottish Highlander cattle are in some tall grass now.  In some areas of the paddocks, I could only see horns and tail.  I’m assuming all the other parts, in between, are there as well.

I received a call this morning. It was a gentleman who identified himself as Mark, from Minnesota Public Radio (MPR)  The main topic, being the raw milk issue in Minnesota, which is just now making it to the national new services.

This is the 2nd interview I have participated in with MPR.  The first being in May… again on the subject of raw milk.  Today’s interview focused on the reaction that we have seen from our raw milk customers.  As I told Mark, Carol and I have not seen an increase or decrease of our raw milk sales, nor have we heard any concern from customers with regards the general safety and/or hazards of raw milk.  I told the MPR reporter that many people have yet to hear about the raw milk issue(s) of the Hartmann farm that has been in the news lately.

When asked about how we would describe our milk customers, I also mentioned that our customer base cannot be put into any one group (other than being raw milk drinkers).  I let Mark know that we sell raw milk to educators associated with the University of Minnesota, wealthy area families… as well as those who once drank raw goat milk when they were growing up and have simply missed the taste of the product.  As I mentioned in my previous MPR interview, our family started drinking raw milk due to the complications associated with Asthma that our daughter, Madison, experiences.  Since drinking raw milk, her asthma symptoms have decreased from monthly (sometimes weekly) to less than bi-monthly.  That is ultimately the reason why we got involved with dairy goats.  We thought a cow would produce too much milk for our family… a goat or two would be perfect.  Since we started raising and milking goats, folks have found us and have purchased our raw goat milk.  We may not make much money selling goat milk, but the sale of the milk does help pay for the goat’s feed and care.

As a side-note… goat milk makes some of the best homemade kefir, cheeses and ice creams we have ever tasted.  Carol is getting quite good at making it.  It truly is some of the most delicious products we have ever eaten.  Our family drinks raw milk everyday and we believe we are living a healthier lifestyle because of it.

Carol, Madison & I buckled-down and got to the task of constructing the high-tunnel.  We ran string-line to make sure we had a level building site.  It turned out the one corner of the high-tunnel will be trenched approx. 14″ into the garden bed (hill-side).  Where we placed the building, we thought was the most level area on the farm for it.  We had no idea it was so ‘off.’

The girls laid out the structure’s frame work on the ground, where I then assembled the individual framing units.  Later, Carol and I lifted 2 of the frames into place, over the ground stakes.  Not knowing if the wind would pick-up, we assembled the cross frame supports , tying the 2 pieces together.  It should keep the frame from blowing over.

This morning was beautiful – warm, with a nice breeze.  Although we had a birthday party to attend, I headed out, north of the creek to get a couple of hours of fencing.  By hand, I finished pounding in the remaining T-posts… approx. 25.  In the box of the pick-up, I had a few bags of pin-lock insulators, so I installed those as well.  I got back to the house in plenty of time for the party.

After coming home from the birthday party, I went straight to work on the new fencing again.  I finished the installation of the insulators… then I ran the high-tensile wires.  In a few short hours the job was completed.  I do have a few wood posts I need to get pounded into the ground on the ends of the paddock, before calling the pasture ready for cattle.  I had time to pound post.  Unfortunately,  the tractor I use for driving posts had a flat front tire.  Needless-to-say, that’ll need t be fixed.

All-in-all, it was a great Sunday.  A good day to be alive.

Carol, the girls and I headed south to the Granite Falls, MN area.  Our mission was to look at a Scottish Highlander bull that we’re interested in leasing for the summer.  We heard of this bull (name Curly) from Farmer Mike, who called me last week.  He asked if we’d found a sire for our four cows.  When I regretfully told him no, he mentioned he had gotten a phone call from a fellow farmer and among other things, this farmer asked if we had gotten a bull for the summer.  It seems the guy’s aunt had a Highlander that she may be willing to lease… and that’s how we got to this point.

The ranch we visited belonged to a gal named Terry (of Red Tail Valley Beef), who raises grass fed Angus/Highlander beef for direct marketing to [I believe] restaurants in the Metro area.  She was a lovely human being with a real passion for what she was doing on her ranch.  Her small spread was nestled in a river valley, with grass as far as the eye could see.  It was a wonderful site… like a mini version of the ranch on the old TV show Bonanza.  As we drove onto the place, Carol mentioned to me that she recognized Terry from an Organic Seminar we attended a year or two ago.  Anyway, after some light chit-chat, she escorted us to the pasture to “meet” Curly.  We first walked past some of her beef cows… a few with calves and then there was Curly.  WOW!  What a handsome little bull.  Immediately, we could tell how he came upon his name.  His forelocks were more curls than long hair.  He was dun in color.  I say he was a “little bull” only because when one thinks of bulls, we think of massive, almost monstrous creatures, but Curly was not that.  He’s a Highlander and as Highlanders should be… he was smaller in size, especially compared to Terry’s cows.

The size of Curly impressed me.  As most folks, who know me, know that I’m not a real big fan of large animals.  Big cattle are less efficient, harder to maintain if things get tough and they don’t dress-out as well as smaller cattle.  Large cattle have a higher ratio of bone and gut (waste) to meat than do smaller creatures.  Personally, I believe it’s easier to sell a small amount of beef than it is to sell lots.  If you want a half of beef, I think one can find room in the deep freeze for 300 lbs of meat much easier than 450 lbs.  Smaller is better. And Curly was small… just right for our cows.

After leaving the pasture, we talked about what she wanted from us for leasing her bull.  I asked if she still thought $25/cow was enough.  She thought it was fair… but after a few seconds of thought, she changed her mind.  She asked if we raised turkey… we said we did.  She mentioned how she would be interested in one of our free-range, heritage turkeys for Thanksgiving (instead of a store-bought bird).  She also thought some lamb-chops would be good too.  It seems as though $$$ is over-rated, but we all need food.  Score another point for team barter.  One could say we are trading beef for turkey and lamb.

After we got back from or little road trip, I headed north of the creek to do a few more hours of fencing.  I know have the wires on the east side of the paddock up… not all the insulators are on the posts yet, but the wires are there.  I also had time to finish all my H-post assemblies on the north side of the paddock.  I have more work to do on this side… like measure and mark the positions of the T-posts, install the insulators and then run my wires.  It sure is exciting to see this phase of fencing draw nearer to the end.  Once the perimeter is fenced in, I think I will let the cattle start grazing this area as I subdivide it into 3 smaller paddocks.  The grass right now is quite tall.  A little grazing over the entire pasture will do it some good.

We will try to explain what this site is about, but we would like to send-out this notice before we lose your interest with our small-time, homesteader ramblings.

It was a long, hot day. The first of many, I’m sure.

Shortly after 7:00AM, I set out with the hay rake in tow. Although we didn’t really have a dewy overnight, I still wanted to rake or turn over the hay windrows while the hay had some night-time moisture. When the hay gets too brittle, it loses too much of the drying foliage of the clover, alfalfa and/or grass.  The moisture helps toughen the hay, keeping the leaves attached to the stem. With the windrows being so thick, the hay on the underside was still ‘green’, while the top ¾ was nearly dry.  I thought if I turned the hay over in the morning it would be ready to be baled in a couple of short hours.  I was right.  It was surprising how quick this cutting dried.  I had cut it only 36 hrs beforehand.

It didn’t take too terribly long to get the 10 acres of hay raked.  I knew I would be able to come back to the farm-site, unhook the rake, uncover and hitch onto the baler.. then head out after going over it with the grease gun.  Before being able to do so, I received a call from Farmer Mike.  He was at a farm a few miles away and he needed a little help getting a repair done on his corn planter.  Since I was heading back to the farm anyway, I told him I’d be there in a few minutes.  I jumped on my cycle and helped him out.  About 15 minutes later I was heading home again.  It was a quick fix.

After the detour, I baled and baled… then baled some more  It was hot and dirty.  Traveling down the field one way was quite pleasant – I was heading into the wind.  Going the other way was hell.  The dust and chaff, blew right on me.  For hours I was subjected to this.  It sucked.  By evening, I was so hot and tired.  And it seems when you aren’t feeling great, things start to go wrong.  It seems the grass hay was getting very dry and slippery to bale correctly… it was not loading into the baler correctly.  Instead of going into the baler (up and over the pick-up), the baler pick-up assembly was rolling the grass in-front of it, then becoming clogged. I thought I was dirty and miserable before, but when I crawled under the baler to pull the jammed grass out from the baler’s pick-up, I was shoulder deep in fine dust, chopped up hay and dirty chaff.

I decided to call it a day around 8:00PM – 13 hours of haying was enough for one day.  I guess I’ll have hay that gets rained on… we have a forecast of rain and thunderstorms for the overnight and tomorrow morning.  Oh well, I guess I’ll deal with that if/when it comes.  What I need now is a long, cool shower.  A couple of cold ones sound good as well … but they can wait until after the shower.

Much of the day was spent cutting hay with the farm’s old swather.  I first started cutting some of the ditch grass alongside the state highway that passes by the farm.  It was dry, sunny and a little breezy – perfect for drying… and very comfortable to be working in.  After swathing the grass in some of the ditches, I headed north of the creek.  We have a 10+ acre field of organically grown grass/alfalfa hay.  We will use this hay during the winter for the dairy goats and for all the goats and sheep, just before kidding/lambing season.

One thing I’m doing different this year, with regards to the hay cutting, is I’m starting to swath in the center of the field and working out.  According to the local National Resource & Conservation Service (NRCS) office, this pattern is encouraged.  Supposedly, it promotes the ‘flushing’ of wildlife.  It is said to chase the birds and small animals to the outside of the field.  Normally, folks start cutting hay from the outside, working in.  This practice traps critters, often mutilating them with the cutting blades of the cutting equipment.  An alternative [approved] hay cutting pattern is to start swathing on one end or side of the field and moving across, flushing wildlife across the field.

Swathing First Crop Hay

The hay was thick.  The warm, moist spring seemed to be what the fields needed this year.  Even the grass and clover in the ditches are coming in quite dense.