When The Storm Rolls In

hay in the field as the storm rolls in

Two things that don’t go together….rain and hay! This summer has truly been one to remember. It has been very difficult to get that 3 day window to cut and bale hay, while in other parts of the country, farmers are extremely dry and in need of rain. Recently, hay was cut and although great attempts were made to get it baled in time, the storms rolled in and the hay was ruined. Sometimes things just don’t go as planned!

Hay that is cut and baled for cattle can get a little wet, if it is allowed to dry before baling. But hay for horses cannot get wet at all. I don’t know all of the science and reasons behind it, but I’m sure it has something to do with cows having 4 stomachs and the ability to process the hay in a way that horses can’t. Nevertheless, when our friends cut down this hay for horses, and the rain came, the hay was ruined. I don’t know about you, but standing in a field looking at a $10,000 loss is a sobering thought!

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Chasing a Legacy

cattle on the farm- part of chasing a legacy

Farms are work! Most people can never understand how much work goes on around here on a daily basis. I am so thankful for farmers of all kinds. Big farms, little farms, cattle farms, chicken or pig farms, crop farms, all farms/farmers are necessary and underappreciated! (my opinion) But at the end of the day, there is a lot of work involved and sometimes people can get the wrong idea. Our philosophy is that we aren’t chasing a living, we are chasing a legacy!

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Army Worms and Restoration

tractor is spraying for army worms and bringing restoration

Well, they have struck! The army worms are here and it feels like a biblical plague! Thankful for friends who stepped in while we were out of the country to start spraying and hold off the nasty little critters! Surveying the pastures this past weekend, showed that more spraying was needed. The ground was literally crawling!

Army worms are a moth larvae and one female can lay up to 1000 eggs. These worms can eat and destroy a football field size area in 2-3 days! All of the hard work put into fields, to grow nutritional grass for the cows and hay for the future, can be gone so quickly. Noticing a unusual flock of cow birds in a field is a tell-tale sign.

Husband asked me to ride with him to check pastures this weekend and to be honest, I didn’t want to. I had a few things I wanted to do, and I didn’t want to go ride in the muggy heat on my Saturday morning. But I did. I was shocked! I was so saddened to see completely bare patches of ground where worms had eaten the grass to the dirt in just a few days. It was disturbing to see all of the hard work of planting grass, stripped of its leaves and just stalks standing.

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