Jim finished up baling fourth cutting alfalfa yesterday afternoon, stopped to help milk, and then finished wrapping around 9 pm. I never thought about the view from this field before, but it's the highest field on our farm,and you can see for miles in all directions. The moon was gorgeous...but of course the picture doesn't do it justice...
Jim's mode of transportation to and from the field...the trusty 100...
I got to do something new last evening. It's been so horribly hot, and we like to get the cows out of the barn in the evening as soon as possible. Jim or Eric have been taking round bales to the meadow for the cows to munch on in the late evening and overnight. Neither one of them was available to do it last night, so I got the honors. I've run the skid loader before, but never moved a round bale. Piece of cake! I dropped it in place and removed the plastic and netting. When Jim came by with the wrapper to wrap the hay bales, he stopped and flipped the rack over the bale and it was ready to go...
The cows know just where the rack is when they head out of the barn for the night...
They can't all fit around the rack at once, so the stragglers have to find something else to eat for a while until it's their turn. There's always plenty, as it lasts for several days. They come into the barn so much more content in the mornings when they've had a bale put out for them...
We're ready for the fall like weather to come any day now...the heat and humidity have taken their toll...on us and on the cows. The milk truck driver told us this morning that milk pounds are way down this week. All the trucks are about 4000-5000 lb down from their normal loads. The cows hung in there for so long, but finally said "enough".
How's the weather where you are? Is the summer flying by or dragging on?
sweet farm views and good cows. wow...4th cutting! if we manage to get two in texas, it's kind of a big deal!
ReplyDeleteWe are on our third cutting of hay in Kansas. We are supposed to have a "cold" front come through today. I hope we miss the wind and hail that it could stir up. But, otherwise, I am ready for cooler temperatures, though this past week wasn't as bad as it could be in mid-August. I hope you get some relief soon!(I love that first photo!)
ReplyDeleteThat's pretty great to get a fourth cutting. Interesting about the milk production suffering from the heat. (Well, not interesting for you, of course, that means a loss). We are still in a heat wave here, but did get rain this past week which turned the lawn green again. -Jenn
ReplyDelete4 cuttings!!? WOW! We are lucky to get 2 here in our piece of The Great White North.
ReplyDeleteI thought the same thing, four cuttings. Three is awesome when we can get it. We are so dry here that they bale hay in the early morning or late evening to capture the moisture. Sometimes they bale in the middle of the night. Humidity, what humidity? Our milk production also suffers in the heat and it has been a hot summer but then the production also suffers in the really cold. I suppose our dairy animals would prefer central heat and air conditioning in their barn but that is not going to happen. Fussy things!
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