White Christmas?

In Winter, Minnesota is lovingly referred to as Minne-snow-ta...but not this year.

Minnesota traditionally has a white Christmas...but not this year.

This is not your typical December.

Thanks for the photo Face Book friends.

I have been patient up until this point. After all, the official first day of Winter was just yesterday. Now don't get me wrong, I am enjoying the warm weather. Average temperature this time of year is 26 to 32 degrees and that's snow-making temps, but we have been riding 14-18 degrees warmer this month. And that means rain, not snow. It's been dark and wet in our part of Minnesota.

According to Cody and Keith, my two favorite meteorologists from Fox 9, we have had .8" of snow and 1.46" of liquid, rather than the 11.5 average snowfall for this time of year. Minnesota (at least our area of Minnesota) will not be living up to its Minne-snow-ta nickname this year. But isn't this rain good for the farmers?

If the ground is not frozen, and the rain water can soak into the soil, this is helping the farmer, and recharging the groundwater supply. If the ground is frozen, most of the rain will run off, or dry up when (and if) we see the sun again. 

Until then we will just have to slip on our waterproof boots, run through the puddles, and perhaps even build a mud snowman.

Warm greetings from Minne-snow-ta! 

U Is For United

It's June dairy Month! The barn doors are open, 

so join me on my daily A to Z journey 

to learn more about dairy. 

U Is For United

We have had a lot of rain here in Minnesota...and I mean a lot! Rain can be a farmers best friend, or worst enemy. Yes, crops need rain to grow, but farmers also need dry weather to get those crops out of the field. Besides the weather being a bit uncooperative, perhaps you remember that we are going through quite a few transitions lately due to some serious health issues of my in-laws, who are also our farming partners. You can learn about our changes "in the blink of an eye".

Farmers are like a community. We are united. We look out for each other. We come to each others rescue when someone is in need. You may know the saying, "It takes a village to raise a child." The same is true of farming. It takes a community to raise a farm. With the help of our neighbors, the Sorg family, while Sara, Michael, and I miked the cows and did chores- Farmer John, 4 men, 4 tractors, 2 choppers, 4 wagons, and a payloader put up 40 acres of haylage.

Haylage is green, freshly cut alfalfa that is cut a few days earlier, then chopped to be served to our cows later. Since we have had so much rain lately, this is a good alternative to baling hay which requires that the alfalfa be drier. This video shows the chopping process. You will also see a second tractor, chopper, and wagon pass in front of the camera, as we were able to have two choppers going at the same time (thanks neighbors)!

Once the haylage leaves the field it is stored in a concrete bunker until it is fed to our cows. The haylage is  tightly packed, using a tractor, or, in this video, a payloader. This reduces the air from causing the haylage to rot. The end of this video shows unloading the wagon that just came from the field. After it is unloaded, the payloader adds the haylage to the pile which is being packed.

*Typically when we do not have our neighbors help, and equipment, unloading is done slightly different. Usually we use a blower to unload the wagons, and our tractor to pack the haylage tightly in the bunker.

 

The final step is to cover the fresh haylage with a plastic sheet, weighed down with discarded tires. This is again to keep the haylage from rotting. We only serve healthy food for our cows!

 

John is starting to unroll the plastic. Yep, I'm supposed to be helping.

 

Thanks to our neighborhood of "united" farmers, we were able to finish our 40 acres of haylage in about six hours. Without additional help, this project would have taken days...weather permitting.

 

 

When It Rains, It Pours!

I wish the title of this post was a commentary about the weather, but sadly it is not. Unfortunately, we are in need of rain here in Minnesota, but more about that in a moment. My plan is to post on my blog once or twice a week and as you can see, it has been longer than that, much longer. When it rains, it pours is in reference to the busy, crazy times going on here. In the past 2 weeks I have helped plan and execute a retirement celebration for our Pastor of 31 years, sewed 6 costumes for my son's work and a pirate costume for my daughter, and helped construct a booth and a float for our annual summer festival in town. Whew! All of this on top of the day-to-day duties that continue. I'm not complaining, in fact, I look forward to this kind of additional "busyness." I love working with family and friends to accomplish goals, and we've accomplished a lot in the last 2 week. Now, about the weather...

According to the National Weather Service- Climate Prediction Center, "The drought and heat arrived at a critical time for Midwestern agriculture, especially corn. The combination of heat and dryness has severely reduced the quality and quantity of the corn and soybean crop, with 38 percent of the corn and 30 percent of the soybeans rated as poor or very poor as of July 15 by NASS/USDA. Some states, such as Kentucky, Missouri, and Indiana, had  over 70 percent of their corn adversely rated. Unfortunately,drought is expected to develop, persist, or intensify across  these areas, and temperatures are likely to average above normal."  

Although not as desperate, our area is praying for rain too. We have had some, but not enough to provide the moisture we need. Our farm is fortunate to have mostly irrigated land. Granted this watering system is not free like what Mother Nature provides, but it is a welcome back-up plan for this dry, hot weather. 

My prayer is that rain will be provided and we will see relief from the heat so that farmers can continue to FEED THE NATION that we are so proud to do!

PS- I am still sporting the "Rambo" look. See my previous post for an   explanation.