Neither Snow, Rain, Hail nor Dead of Night ...

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night will keep us from our appointed rounds.

It's not just a slogan for mail carriers. Cattle feeders can relate.

 

Through snow ...

 Sleet ...

 

Rain ...

Hail? It's usually not a factor during a Kansas winter.

Heat? Also usually not an issue. More often, the rather drafty feed truck cab is plenty chilly.

Dark? While I know some people feed closer to dark, we feed in the mornings. So no gloom of night required - unless we have cattle out. And that has been known to happen on occasion.

Feeding cattle is an everyday occurrence during the winter months for Kansas farmers/ranchers. The pastures that provided plenty of feed for the summertime are dried and brown. So we deliver takeout to the feeder calves and to the cows who are in the County Line maternity ward. 

So what does this every-day routine entail?

First stop for me is the shed to get my trusty chariot. (First stop for Randy is feeding and watering the other livestock - the farm cats.) He usually starts up the loader tractor to warm up, too.

 

After revving up the feed truck, I get a short concert, if you can call a monotone blaring alarm a concert. 

Until the air brakes build up pressure, the alarm sounds, and I wait to back the truck out of the shed.

I only shared 5 seconds of it: You're welcome!  

Photos by Randy

Next, I pull under the grain bin and Randy deposits grain in the bottom of the truck. He uses the highly-scientific method of yelling, "Up!" when he wants me to move the truck forward to evenly distribute the grain, and then "Hold it!" when he wants me to pause. 

As a courtesy to the "feed truck traffic controller," I keep the heater blower disengaged so I can hear him. Honestly, the heater doesn't work that efficiently anyway, since I have built-in air circulation through both the driver's side and passenger windows.

Then we go 1/4 mile north to the pasture where the trench silo is located, crossing this wooden bridge.

Because the turn radius is tight and to make sure I don't end up in Peace Creek, I pull into a driveway past the actual entrance into the pasture, back up and then come in from the north, where I wait on Randy to open the gate.

 

file photo from The County Line

The cattle are glad to see me. 

 Every morning, Randy uses the loader tractor to scoop out silage from the trench silo.

We feed the silage that was harvested in the early fall. (Click here to read more about filling the trench silo.)

 

Randy feeds silage to the cows in the pasture there, putting the feed into a bunk made from boards from an old Peace Creek bridge.

 

He feeds the cows first to keep them occupied and out of the silo. He then fills the feed truck.

 

The silage "steams" as the fermenting plant matter is pulled from the silo and is exposed to the cold air.  

Several scoops later, we're ready to be Meals on Wheels and deliver the silage to the feeder calves. 

Once I get a thumbs up, it's time to get the truck turned around and headed back to the corrals.

It's kind of a tight squeeze. My least favorite part of the trip is pulling in and out of the drive and the narrow gate. I reverse my path, again pulling to the north to avoid a swim in Peace Creek. There are no guard rails on that wooden bridge, you know!

 

Then we go to another pasture where we feed silage to the feeder calves - those calves who were born during our last calving season last January/February. We will feed them into the spring and then sell most of them, with 25 of the heifers remaining in our herd. Randy opens that gate, too. (Yes, I know I'm spoiled.)

We do it whether it's a relatively nice - though chilly - day ...

... or a rainy or snowy day.

 

 Just like humans, they like their grub on a daily basis.

 

 Randy also feeds hay as needed ...

... and we haul water to tanks in the various pastures.

 

 

"Did you bring the sparkling water for Christmas morning, Bessie?" this cow seemed to ask her companion.

Nope, it was Randy and Kim.

 

We aim for satisfied customers.
 

(Note: These photos were taken on all kinds of days - sunny, rainy, snowy, etc., but represent the daily process.)

Filling the Pantry: Silage Cutting 2020

 

Having a well-stocked pantry took on a whole new meaning this year. While we've always eaten the majority of our meals at home, suddenly all of America was scouring the freezer and the pantry for yet another meal to make during the stay-at-home orders due to Covid-19.

At the time, I joked that we could live off my food stash for a good long time. I grew up in a farm family, 15 minutes away from a grocery store. It wasn't a matter of running down to the corner store to get one lone missing ingredient to complete a meal. My mom had a well-stocked pantry and multiple freezers. I learned from the best. And it's a good thing: Just like my childhood home, our County Line home is 15 minutes away from a grocery store - or any restaurant offering either dine-in or carry-out options.

After last week, our cattle's "pantry" is again full, too. 

Harvesting silage is a different kind of harvest around here.

For one thing, it was all over and done with in about 4 hours. That's my kind of harvest. There's not the two weeks of wheat harvest angst with uncooperative weather and interminable breakdowns.

We hired Williamson Harvesting, St. John, to bring their silage cutter and trucks to cut 30 acres of silage.

For years, Randy's family and a neighbor family - the Hornbakers - did the job themselves. (I looked for photos, but I didn't find any.) When Randy was young, they had a one-row, pull-type silage cutter. Then they upgraded to a two-row, pull-type silage cutter. They each provided a tractor, one to pull the cutter and the other to use to pack the trench silo.

They each provided a truck to haul the cut silage from the field to the silo. And the wives provided a harvest meal for the four- to six-man crew. I seem to remember my mother-in-law talking about creamed peas being on the menu as a side dish. You'd think I'd retain knowledge of the favorite main dishes, but I didn't.

Randy says it took two days to get everything ready. It took a week to get both family's silage cut and in the silos. And then it took another two days to get everything cleaned up. 

Just like other farm tasks, the methods and the machinery have evolved during Randy's lifetime. We've hired the job done during our married life (and that's nearly 40 years now).

Hiring it done certainly simplifies things - though it does mean writing a check. There are tradeoffs to everything in life, I suppose.  

Silage cutting is another one of those choreographed farm "dances."

The silage feeds into the cutter and is chopped. An auger carries the chopped silage into the truck. 

 

All this happens "on the go," with the truck and the cutter continuing in sync through the field until they get to the end of the rows. They then move into position for the next swath down the field.

As they cut, another truck follows behind, ready to move into position when the first truck is full. By design, Randy plants the silage in fields fairly close to the silo so that it doesn't have to be trucked so far. This year, it was literally as close as possible, in the field just north of the silo.

 

Once the truck is full, the trucker takes it to the silo. 

The silage trucker backs into the trench silo, dumps his load and takes off for another load-on-the-go. 

 I give the truckers an A+ for their backing skills.

Between trucks, the tractor driver packs the silage into our own "Green Mountain." 

We grow the silage (also known as forage sorghum) for cattle feed. This particular variety is dual purpose: It has both grain and forage (or roughage), both of which are important to the cattle's diets as TDN - total digestible nutrients.

Once in the silo, the silage goes through an "ensiling" process. The silage goes through chemical changes and heat builds up. It raises the pH of the silage so that it doesn't spoil or ferment any more. About the top 6 inches of it will rot, but then it forms an airtight seal, protecting the silage underneath.

After we bring the cows and calves off the summer pastures, we'll start feeding the silage to the cattle. The mama cows will get the silage as is. For the feeder calves, we add about 3 to 4 pounds of vitamin- and mineral-enriched grain per head, since they need the additional energy to grow to get ready for market.

I'll be back in the feed truck this winter, helping Randy care for our feeder calves and mamas.

 

Last year, we didn't have enough silage to fill the trench silo. We sold feeder calves earlier than normal because of the lack of homegrown feed.

This year's crop should keep the "pantry" full all winter.