Thursday, July 26, 2007

Today is dry off day, which means we stop milking the cows that are 60 days from calving so they can have a rest and get ready to calve. It also means Thursday is moving day, because the cows we dry off come from pen 5, the low-producing pen, so cows from the high producing pens move into pen 5 to replace the ones we dried off, and cows from the far dry pen (60-30 days from calving) move to the close-up dry pen (30-0 days from calving). The cows we put in far dry and close up all need to be weighed and get shots, so it makes for a pretty full morning at the very least.

In the afternoon, Wanda’s husband, Jerry, gave a talk on cow evaluation. He works for Select Sires, which is the company that provides semen to us. Part of their job is to evaluate and score cows and bulls on 17 traits so that cows can be inseminated with bulls whose traits will improve upon the traits of the cow. The 17 traits are stature, dairy character, strength, body depth, rump angle, legs-side view, foot angle, fore udder, front teat placement, front teat length, rear udder height, rear udder width, udder support, udder depth, pelvic width, legs-rear view, and rear teat placement. For some of the traits, a high score is desirable, such as for strength and dairy character, although these should be balanced. For other traits, like rump angle and fore udder, a moderate score is ideal. It was very interesting to see the power point Jerry had, with extremes and ideals of each trait, because after paying attention to all of it, I could really see the differences in cows once we went out in the barn. It’s just knowing what to look for. For instance, dairy character means the cow has sweeping, angled ribs, a long neck, and fine skin. I didn’t even notice that our cows ribs were angled (in comparison to beef cattle whose ribs are nearly perpendicular to the ground) until it was pointed out.

The image below is from the Canadian Holstein Association website and it is the closest thing I could find to the chart we looked at.

Wednesday, July 24, 2007

Wednesday is Dr. Henderson’s day to do pregnancy checks and check any other cows that need looked at by the vet. The big excitement of the morning came when he checked the heifer Anna bred last time I had herd health, and she was pregnant. Then we had vet discussion, and we talked about how cows that stay in the milking herd too long because they aren’t getting pregnant cost a lot of money. We figured this out by looking at the average days in milk. If the average is 210 and the goal is 180, it costs the farmer more than $170,000. This is because the longer a cow stays in milk, the less milk she tends to make, so the income from her milk probably doesn’t pay her bills at the farm.

In the afternoon, Ev took us on a driving tour of the Quebec mucklands. These are very flat, low-lying areas of soil that was deposited when the region was underwater. They are extremely fine, rich soils and they are used only for growing a handful of vegetables: onions, carrots, celery, and lettuce. It was very interesting to see those crops growing in big fields on the side of the road the same way you see corn and soybeans in most other rural areas (at least the ones
I’ve been in).

Baby lettuce.
Harvesting green onions.
Irrigation.
Lettuce field. If you look closely you'll see a lot of lettuces heads didn't make the cut to be sold in stores.
Carrots or celery, I forget which. They look pretty similar.

Monday, July 23, 2007

Yesterday Wanda let us pick what we wanted to do today because she hadn’t had time with the fair to make our schedules, so I picked herd health with Anna because I hadn’t had it since my second week. There wasn’t too much to do. One thing I did was spread predatory wasp eggs, as part of our fly control regimen. They are very small, about ¼ inch long, and do not pester people or animals. They lay their eggs in the same places pest flies do, and the predatory wasp larvae eat the pest fly larvae, stopping their development. They work extrememly well and are environmentally friendly. The company sends 2 quart size bags every Friday. We spread them in the places flies breed, which is anywhere moist, not just near manure. Also, we keep our manure liquefied in pits, and it is too wet for flies to breed there.

I stopped to visit Cricket on my way back and I think she's happy to have some friends.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Today was the last day of the fair. We had an easy morning because we didn’t have to wash the animals as carefully since they weren’t going in the show ring. We had to use this stuff called Hocus Pocus to get the Prime Time adhesive out of their toplines. All for vanity! as Steve would say. I spent most of the morning reading my book, and most of the afternoon, too. I walked around with Anna and got fresh-squeezed lemonade, one of my requisite fair foods. Around 2 o’clock, Adrianna (Steve’s daughter) came to get us to take the animals to the trailer. They all seemed very happy to be heading home, and Cricket hopped right into the trailer as if she was born to do the county fair circuit. I held down the fort while Blake and Steven took them home and nearly finished my book. Blake and Katy and Kristy met Steve and I at the garage to unload all the show equipment, and then Blake and I went back to watch the demolition derby. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, but it was pretty amusing. You could easily see how a bunch of guys were sitting around and one said, “Hey, let’s find some old cars and crash them into each other!”

Corn update: tassles!

Saturday, July 21, 2007

The day after the fair was a little like the day after Christmas. Certainly, the whole atmosphere of the barn was much more relaxed, but you do miss the energy and excitement of the day before. Blake and I were up early, as usual, to bring donuts to the fair. Since the show was over, there was very little to do. Everyone else in the barn was suddenly free to socialize. It's not that people were unfriendly before the show, just that nobody had any time to spare between getting their animals clipped and keeping them clean. Two people from other farms came over and chatted with Blake and I for a little while. They were Connie Gerow and Mel(vin) Irwin. I really enjoyed talking with them because it made me feel like a part of the community. I also spent some quality time with Cricket.I mentioned to Blake and Anna that mom and dad were going to Burlington and they both said I should go, so I did. We took the ferry from Port Kent, NY to Burlington. We went as foot passengers because we just wanted to walk around Burlington.

It was a beautiful day and there were boats all over the lake.
It was the day after the new Harry Potter book came out, and I saw at least 5 people reading it over the course of the day. Two girls on the ferry were sitting right next to each other reading it.
Burlington from the ferry.

This is the top of Church Street, which is the pedestrian-only street with all the shops. I assume this is the church after which the street is named.
This guy was riding a unicycle on a slack line. He was pretty funny. He got all the people clapping and then he kept saying louder, louder, but people just clapped faster until he said, Louder, not faster!
I showed them City Market, where Claire took us, and they got just as big a kick out of it as I did. Mom said it was very similar to a co-op they were members of in CT before I was born. There was a farmer’s market and this local artist, Dug Nap was there selling his prints and Mom got me one that has 2 cows and at the top it says “Girls not gone wild.” I got a T-shirt with Holsteins on it from Ben and Jerry’s, and a couple of post cards and a mug with cow art by the same artist (Woody Jackson).
Some nice Vermont scenery from the ferry on the way back to New York.


The Port Kent ferry terminal.
The Port Kent Amtrack Station. That's all there is to it.

Saturday night at the fair was the tractor pull. There is a huge range of “tractors.” There are regular old tractors, which are called farm stock, there are tractors that just have souped up engines, then there are tractors that look like drag race cars. I liked the farm stock tractors best.

Friday, July 20, 2007

Today was the Open Dairy Show. The classes go in order of age, from youngest to oldest, so mine was the first class. We start by walking around the ring very slowly. The judge looks at all the animals and one by one, stops them to examine them more closely. When one animal is stopped all the rest have to stop, too, so here we are waiting our turn.
The judge had us line up in a row so he could compare individual calves against each other more easily. I tried to stand Cricket next to a calf that was shorter than she was.

Cricket got 6th place. I was very excited to get a ribbon, and she was very well-behaved. I’m so proud of her. We all got ribbons except Blake, but his class was big and very competitive, and he wasn’t last, so that’s something. This is Blake's class lining up.
Anna giving Beatrice a pep talk before their class. There were only 2 other heifers in that age group, and the one who won the class was 6 inches taller than Beatrice! Height is a major factor in the judging, especially in junior animals (2 years or under) because if a heifer is a lot taller than her peers, even considering age, it means she's growing well and will be a big cow and hopefully will be a good producer. The cow that won that class was also Grand Champion Holstein.
Anna in the show ring.After the individual cows are show, they have group classes. We were entered in the Junior Best Three class. Each farm picks its three of its best young animals, and they are judged together against the animals from the other farms. Wanda picked Katy, Adrianna and I to show our calves again in this class. We didn't get ribbons, but we weren't last either, and to me, that counts for something.
Our successful show string.
A class later in the day, Senior Best Three, I think.
As soon as the show is finished, there is a rush to the milking parlor. None of the cows have been milked all day, because they need full udders to look good in the show ring.
The show is done!
I honestly don’t remember where the rest of Friday went. I guess I watched the rest of the show, ate lunch, napped, and then took Katarina (Wanda's daughter) and her new friend Lauren on one ride. I let them pick it, which was a big mistake because the picked the spinning-est ride there. I felt like someone was swirling my insides around, trying to make a tornado like you can in a cup of water.

Wednesday and Thursday, July 18-19 2007

Today after we got home from the fair I had crops. I helped Henry spread manure and I drove a whole load by myself, from backing up the spreader to the spout, driving to the field, spreading, driving back, and backing up again. Bethann made me back the trailer up one time last week and it was very frustrating but it forced me to figure out the whole process, even if it isn’t second nature yet. Now I know if I look at my front tires I can figure out which way the back of the truck or tractor will move, and then the trailer or spreader will go the opposite way. After lunch, I painted the inside of the fertilizer box with graphite paint. That was an interesting experience. First I had to use a wire brush to get all the rusty spots clean. Mark put a ladder in there so I could reach the upper edges. The box is shaped like an upside down pyramid with the top sliced off. The flat part at the bottom is pretty small, just big enough to stand on, so you have to clamber on your hands and knees over all the sides to reach everywhere. This is no easy feat, because last season’s graphite paint is still there, making the entire inside of the box more slippery than ice, hence the need for the ladder. I kind of enjoyed figuring out how to manage the ladder, the paintbrush, the can of paint, and myself all at once.

This is just a picture of the Massey, my favorite tractor to drive.

When we went back Wednesday evening, Wanda said the FFA folks were looking for a calm and gentle Holstein calf to use in their “Little Britches” show on Thursday, and she offered them Cricket. I guess that's when I really felt like I accomplished something with Cricket, for Wanda to think she would behave well enough for a small kid to lead her. She sure didn’t look very small next to the kid who helped show her! She did great for her first time in the ring.