Never Mind the Sheep

The bottom line is the dogs.
This is one of the most popular YouTube videos this week. Although I am sure folks just love the coolness of it, I got cold chills watching the border collies working. What incredible work by the stockmen and stock dogs involved in producing this video of Welsh farmers making pictures with sheep, dogs and LED lighting. Wow, just wow!!!!






Here is a story about the making of the video. Training a sheep dog, or in my case a couple cow dogs, is among the most rewarding and difficult things I have ever experienced. Worth every minute of it though. The way I felt coming in after successfully doing almost any job with the dogs, even moving a few heifers to the barn, is about as great a high as any other superlative I could even imagine. Nothing in my life, except maybe parenting, has offered the same frustrations and thrills that working with my dogs has given me. And this video is about as far beyond anything I have ever experienced as the NFL is beyong tossing the ball around on the back lawn.

HT to Kim Komando

Kind of off topic, but I just read that Dan Seals passed away. I have enjoyed his music since he played with John Ford Coley many moons ago. Everything That Glitters is one of our very favorite car singing songs. We drive the boss nuts singing it four or five times before we move on to the next song. The music industry has lost a real talent......

Farmer in USA Today

HT to World Dairy Diary.

Here is a story in a major newspaper, about the current dairy price situation. I think it contains some very telling statistics, especially that, while the price paid to farmers has declined by about 50 percent, the cost of milk in the store has only dropped about 2.4 %, with the cost of a gallon of milk only falling 14.7% in the past 12 months.

When the boss took those calves over to the sale barn the other day, he stood among three or four other dairy producers there to take their shellacking on calf prices because they simply have no other choice. They weren't anybody we knew, as this is still a farming region, although that may change. As they commiserated about trying to get by these days a kind of frightening statistic appeared. ALL of them are selling their cows in the next month. Every single one of those other dairy farmers, or dairy farmer kids are going out of the dairy business. Some of them figure on changing over to selling hay. I wonder who is going to buy it.

And just to add to the excitement, the VP of our milk cooperative showed up yesterday with the news that we are going to be shipping to a different market now. No idea how that is going to work out, just another challenge in a bowl full. Time will tell.

71

Here are a couple more shots I took when looking for one for Sunday's post.

Went out at four to check cow number 71, Cisco. She is bred to Silky Cousteau and the boss thought she would calve last night. Not yet, but soon I think. I gave her fresh straw and gave the springers and fresh cows some hay while I was out there. Chucked some wood in the stove on the way in. A big hunk of log tried to roll out the door on me when I opened it, but I caught it with the shovel. Burning good this morning, house is nice and warm..

Roosters were in full flap and crowing up a storm, despite the fact that the only light was from the stars, my flashlight, and cars on the Thruway. Silly birds. Liz thinks somebody dropped us off a couple of ball bearing mouse traps last night. There was a big orange cat and a small black one on the porch when she came in from checking the cow before bed. This winter, what with coyotes, owls and all was really rough on the barn cat population so I guess I don't mind so much if they stick around.

Issues with Dogs and Other Stuff

Due to a faulty thermometer and a few other significant details last year we are calving our cows like ranchers this year...all in a bunch. Dairy and beef are very different in how the calf planning works best. On a dairy we want cows having calves year round so there is a fresh supply of milk on a more or less constant basis. That would be terrible on a ranch where animals are managed in groups. Having them all come at once is a nightmare on a dairy. Just now when prices are so low most of our cows are dry or drying off. (Yeah, the average dairy cow gets a much longer vacation than you or I do, somewhere around six weeks a year. This is called the dry period. All the cows do during this time is eat and rest.) There are twenty cows due to calve in in June and four more this month. And a large bunch in April too

So far there are three on the ground, all bulls, which is not a happy circumstance on a dairy farm. Normally bulls are sold to be raised for beef for between sixty and a couple hundred dollars. Now farmers are often getting bills for the beef check off and auction commission and no money at all for their calves. You used to could count on calf and beef checks to beef up the milk check. Not so much any more. Liz isn't getting much sleep these days what with checking the barn nights and milking and chores take an hour extra on each end of the day....so if posts seem sparse....

Then there is the dog thing. Mike has always been top dog. Nick has always put up with it. Now Mike barely knows he is a dog or even where up is. I guess that left the field open for some social engineering on the canine end of things.

Anyhow the other night Alan bought us Chinese. That is a huge treat around here. We were just opening those wonderful little goldfish cartons and checking out the lo mein and wontons when Nick suddenly lit into poor bumbling old Mike with the intent to kill. At least he is well trained enough to listen to me when I screamed at him to stop. He ran and hid in his crate.

Poor old Mike never knew what hit him. His tongue was bleeding and he had a small puncture on his face, but seemed quite happy to suddenly be invited to share the bounty from our favorite Chinese restaurant. We gave him a tasty batch of rice and mushrooms.

About twenty minutes later he started wheezing. He was not in the least distressed by the rattling gasps that accompanied every attempt to slurp up another grain of rice off the floor (he is not a tidy eater) but we were majoryly concerned. (It was by this time about nine thirty PM, due to the other issues mentioned below.)

It was decided that his old collar was distressing him because of swelling from his Nick bite....and we couldn't unbuckle it without causing him still more distress. Thus Alan cut it off with his ceremonial Buck knife. As soon as it was gone the old man was fine and went back to rice hoovering very happily. The next morning he popped out of his crate as happy as ever. However, the dog routine will have to change now, as I can't trust Nick and they both live in the house. So it is one dog out and one dog in and the cat out and the cat in and I feel like a pet traffic controller.....only Gael requires no extra attention, well except for her trash collecting route but we won't get into that.

Then last night the heifers that are pastured behind the barn found an open gate and went roaming. The boss got them back in while we milked, but it was worrisome. Nothing worse than cattle wandering around at night.

Basically this has been a crazy place lately and blogging is falling by the way side. Lovely things are still happening outside, with stars gleaming like cut crystal at night and sunrises that could fill in for windows in the world's greatest cathedrals.....I just don't seem to have time to do anything about them..

Eagle Nest Cam

Live video from an Eagle nest in Oklahoma.

Thanks to a very excellent friend for this.

Sunday Stills.....Lines

I put this one off all week. I am not such a linear thinker I guess. I like the juxtaposition of lines from these roofs on our old house. She is a little shabby around the edges but still a grand old lady.



More Sunday Stills

Revised Birthday Post

It has been pointed out to me that I had better recognize this 19th birthday or else!

****Really, we were just joking around about putting his birthday on here. He knows I love him.
This is my special boy and they have been 19 wonderful years...literally, years full of wonder, watching a fascinating person evolve from a red headed baby with bright blue eyes.

His early years were a harrowing struggle for him and for us, as he had asthma so bad life was a constant terror. (Not much different with either girl. They all have asthma and common colds still cause uncommon and sometimes dangerous problems.)

He barely grew at all until he went on a nebulizer program at 2. Holidays in hospital cafeterias were the norm for me. He, or sometimes Becky, was upstairs in croup cribs, which looked like cages for zoo lions. Many were the nights I somehow crawled inside those cage/cribs and spent the night cuddling and listening to my little ones struggling for breath and praying my heart out.

Thank God for a great pediatrician, the right specialists and the simple act of growing bigger lungs so they could breath. Thank God for great kids who make every day an adventure. They mean the world to me. Happy birthday kiddo, many happy returns.

Neighbors

I think this pair of Canada geese has plans for the heifer pasture just behind the kitchen. They make a lot of noise and fly whenever we go outside, but they seem to settle right back down in the same spot. As long as they don't actually bite me I am good with it.

Farm Income Available to USDA

I can see the reasoning behind this, but it feels wrong and intrusive. Even if you are upfront and honest in your dealings it just has a snoopy feeling about it.

Birding Between the Lines

Only on Christmas Bird Count day can I set aside farming, writing, housework and being mom to just go out and bird watch. All day and with complete focus. The rest of the time it is a part time task sandwiched in between real work. That has yet to stop me from enjoying watching and listening for the birds around us.

Even though I was still pretty sick with this nasty thing we all have, something half way along the road between just a cold and not quite flu, yesterday was a spectacular day for that between the lines sort of birding.

I was doing dishes, so I looked out the window over the sink (one of the finest household features a woman can have) and there was a herd of turkeys scuttling around the horizon on the heifer pasture hill.

Out to fight with the stove. Certain sick male people let it go completely out dead. It is somewhat challenging to light large, green, wet rounds of wood (the splitter tractor is dead) from scratch. However, I used the intervals while I was waiting to see if it would take a hold to wander around listening and watching. Over at the side of the lawn was a flock of passing goldfinches so large that their calls were loud enough to drown out even the Thruway. They were creating such a din I thought they were Sassenachs (English sparrows) but instead there was this huge flock of dim brown/grey/green not changing feathers yet finches.

I happened to look up toward the pasture and our resident red tailed hawk was lazily swooping over the horse pasture, not bothered much by a pair of bedeviling crows. A speck over the river was at first dismissed as just his mate hanging around hunting half-heartedly, but something made me look closer.

A bald eagle, sailing the sky like he owned it, heading north to the big lakes on a tilt of a wing as if they were just an acre away instead of half way to Canada. I know there are places where eagles are as common as crows, but in Upstate NY they are still a thrill. I was duly thrilled.

The whole day was like that. Pine Siskins and house finches joined the gold finches in emptying the feeders in record time. I didn't have time for the camera, but they kept the hours full of interest.

Finally, at day's end, as the pear tree and the big spruce were making pen and ink drawings against the peach glow of a watercolor sunset, I leaned on a fence post up in back waiting for the woodcock. Milking was done and I wanted a few minutes quiet before going indoors. There are no mosquitoes yet. It isn't quite freezing so such waiting is possible and even pleasant.

Geese were everywhere, racing up and down the valley debating with their haunting bugles where to settle on the river for the night. Although the woodcock didn't show up until this morning's dog walking session when he was competing with a robin for backyard performing rights, it was a sweet and peaceful time. I watched until it was too dark to see their silhouettes against the sky.

Three geese came up from just behind the fence to the heifer pasture and flew so close above me that I ducked. I could hear the air rushing through their feathers as they flew, like someone opening a rustling curtain in the sky.

This is a fine time of year. I like it.

Sick Puppies

That is us. The boss brought this bug home from the farm store along with some nuts and bolts and such. Then he very generously shared. We still have to work and all but we sure ain't doing any more than we have to.

JournoList

There has been a great deal of discussion over whether there exists a left-leaning conspiracy in the main stream and not so main stream media. Check this out and see what you think.

An alternate title might be, Hen Fruit on the Pysiognomy

Killdeers

From a dearth to a dozen in just one day. They were screaming around the lawn when I took the dogs out under the notdawn moon. Wonderful!

*** If you have a minute check out the video of our mockingbird on the View. He isn't quite the virtuoso he will be later in the summer, but he is still pretty cool

Two Year's Work

Went into this lovely quilt my mom made for Alan. Over the years she has made others for the girls, me and other family members, but I think this one is perhaps the piece de resistance. Notice the turkeys and deer for our favorite hunter, the little Scotsman for the times when he attended Scottish games in his kilt (back in the day). And tractors for the farmer and drums and cymbals for all the years in band. I guess she knows our boy pretty well. We love you mom!

Timberdoodle Time

When I walked out of the milk house tonight on my way over to the house to make cole slaw, the belt on the vacuum pump was squeaking. I thought to myself, that sounds exactly like a woodcock's wings when it is doing its sky dance. Most years we have one or two in the horse or heifer pasture over by the house. Hearing them is to me one of the best things about spring.

I grinned to myself as I sloshed through the mud because I knew that it is almost time.
Then as I walked into the house yard I heard the sound again. Almost the exact same twittering, whistling, squeak, just up by the corner. A glance at the almost full dark cobalt sky revealed a spiraling bird, just coming down in the corner up by Jack's yard.
I paused.
Waited.
And there it came, that nasal, buzzy peent that is one of my very favorite sounds.
They're back.
It IS time!

Sunday Stills...Water

This one was fun. There is water everywhere, although this week most of it is in a solid state.



This stuff was formed when we had a tremendous wind one night....so bad that it blew away a wheelbarrow tub that houses my long, long garden hose. That has sat in the same spot for two years and never moved. It also heaped up the water on the garden pond, which had momentarily thawed, then froze it in curves. I thought it was sorta, kinda neat.



More Sunday Stills

If by chance you missed...

Farm Side Fridays, they are absent because the paper took the column off the webpage. Guess you have to live locally and buy the paper if by chance you want to read it.

This is a small portion of the sugar bush on the farm from the photo the other day.

Liz and I are off to man the Farm Bureau booth at John Deere Days today. Come on down, enjoy a good time and stop by and visit...Sign up as a member of the organization that serves as the voice of agriculture, both in the state and nationally if you can. Among other benefits for your bucks you will get Grassroots, a newspaper which will keep you informed on important rural issues much sooner than the regular medai. Even if you are not a farmer your support helps efforts to inform both the public and our legislators about our industry. Have a great day!

PS, can't wait for tomorrow's Sunday Stills water...it was a fun one!

For a Friend

Rain and Remembering

Us

Golden and Galloping

Our Horses

In Meadows with Blue-eyed Grass

I Disagree with National Animal ID

The concept is being spread all over the Net that dairy farmers are in favor of mandatory NAIS, the national animal ID system.
I have very harsh words for that idea and I really, really, really would like to print them here.
Just think about the inevitable byproduct of the male bovine digestive process, the one that has the initials, BS, and you will have my opinion on making NAIS mandatory. As has been repeatedly proven, we can already trace cows and other livestock and we can trace them quickly. How long did it take them to find out where the first BSE cow in Washington came from? No time at all. And they keep touting stopping mad cow disease as an excuse for this intrusive program. A big waste of time. We already have more safeguards in place than we need. For Heaven's sake you are much more likely to be struck by lightning while riding an elephant in the circus than to contact BSE.

The groups that are making this claim are not dairy farmers. They are mostly folks who sell ear tags and maintain for-fee databases of animals. It is just a case of follow the money. Take for example the Holstein Association, Holstein USA. One of the things they do is maintain the registry for the purebred Holstein herd in this country. Another thing they do is sell ear tags and keep records on the critters that wear them. Of course they want to force everyone into a position where they have to buy their products.

And the whole ear tag thing is a sad and sorry joke anyhow. Please take a minute, click on this link and read this story about the cost of tags and their efficacy.

However, IDairy is in Washington telling Congress that I want mandatory ID on our cows. They claim the idea of buying expensive tags that the cows will promptly lose in the feed throughs and maintaining records of every time one moves anywhere is my plan for a good day. They are lying. I swear I am about ready to cancel my membership in Holstein USA. I already pay them for three memberships for family members, plus a good chunk of change for every calf born on the place. Now they want me to pay them to keep track of and tag cows that we already keep track of and tag. Bull byproducts to them!!

This kind of program should be MARKET DRIVEN. If consumers want meat and eggs from micro chipped, ear tagged, tattooed, pass ported animals they should pay a premium for such products. I assure you, if there is money to be made in the marketplace by tagging cows or keeping track of every time they take a breath, farmers and ranchers will do what it takes to get the money. However, what the government wants is for those same farmers to pay for the program whether anybody gives a hoot about it or not. Bah!

Randomly Yours

Traffic in the town of Glen

A really pretty farm on the way over to Coby.
They have an amazing sugar bush

Amish corn shocks

Inside door knob sitting porch

Outside door knob sitting porch

Before and after the mockingbird

Just a few pictures from a road trip yesterday and a couple of door knobs. Everybody takes pictures of door knobs, right? Also before and after the mockingbird worked over an apple on the sitting porch.

Home again, home again, how bout that driveway?!