Moo

[Jpshostr]

Yes, I got some more pics.  

 

This is some of our cows in and in front of the shed where we feed em hay.  As you can tell, it was a bit muddy, but this is from about the 20th of December, now it is nice and frozen.  The black and white one in the front right is one of mine.  Dad bought her for me at a salebarn when I was in third grade when she was only two days old.  I raised her myself, fed her milk replacer twice a day, the whole biz.  Took her to the fair as the first one I ever showed, got a writeup in the paper with her.  Since she was a female, I didn't want to give her up, so dad relented and kept her back in the herd, it was one of the best cow decisions we've made.  She has never caused trouble and has made many pounds of calves, a money making cow.  Her name is May by the way and to this day you can go up and scratch her in the middle of the pasture.

 

These are the three steers we are working on to show for next year, so far we are very pleased with them.  They have been the best set at this point we can remember having and they sure are calm, not one has even tried to kick yet.  They are busy stuffing their face with feed, what a steer does best.  Gotta love that corn fed beef!

 

These are the same calves during their daily tie up session.  We put halters on each one, tie them with their heads high like this so they learn to hold their head at this height, and comb, clip, or train their hair, as well as break them to lead so we can control them when it comes time to take them to the fairs.  This shows how much work goes into this before you show up, we started in mid-December and the first show isn't until late June.  As we get closer and closer to showday the time spent working with them will go up until we are rinsing them twice a day and working with them for two hours each night.

[DigUout]

So why are you bothering going to college?  I bet there are lots of guys here not using their degree as with most places.  Seems you've got enough to do at home -  ???

[Jpshostr]

So why are you bothering going to college?  I bet there are lots of guys here not using their degree as with most places.  Seems you've got enough to do at home -  ???

While I fully hope to return to the home farm here, with the way production agriculture is these days one would be a fool not to get an education if given the chance.  While at the current time our home farm here is pretty stable, things could come crashing down real quick if something completely unexpected happened, where would I be stuck then?  I'm sure you have heard of the funk ag is in now.  While the country as a whole is in a depression now and has been for what, a few months?  This is going on our fourth year of record low commodity prices and an economic state which is worse than the USA's as a whole.  Our farm is also not currently large enough to support two familes, I would have to pick up another 6-700 acres to support myself when I use this place to make a living for myself on.  That is a lot of ground that I would have to pick up, it would take several years until I am able to do that, until I get that needed ground I hope to use the degree I am going to earn working for John Deere or a similar company.  My dad also is not completely crazy about my wanting to come back to the home place and earn a low wage for all the hard work and risk that I would put in, but he will support me under one condition, as long as I go to college and get away from the day to day routine for four years and earn a degree, after that its my choice what to do.  Yes, I may gripe and moan about school, but I would be a fool not to go.  The days of the stupid son staying home and farming after HS are all but over unfortunately, heck I graduated at the top of my HS class, have a good standing in my community, and know quite a bit about this whole farming biz, but I still have a hard tough road ahead of me if I want to farm.  One wonders why someone would do this, my dad included, and I really don't know how to answer that either, other than to say I've got my heart put into it.

[NewbieZ71]

JP - My advice:

 

1.  Do what you love.

2.  Love what you do.

3.  Watch out for the big brown piles when you are walking around the farm.

 

There are MANY people who got a rude awakeing after working a good portion of their lives with money and only money in mind.....it gets old and isnt as satisfying as many would have you think....answer this......found anything that beats raising a good cow?!?!?!?!

[chevy4x4trucks]

Her name is May by the way and to this day

 

Great pics, and just do what you want to do.  But, I would lean away from being a poet

[NewbieZ71]

Red is for Santa,

Pink is for cupid,

Dont you wish,

Newbie's posts werent so stupid?

[DigUout]

OK Jp.  I got ya and it seems a well thought out plan for your future.  Keep it up -  

[Jpshostr]

found anything that beats raising a good cow?!?!?!?!

Just eating a good cow!  

 

I agree with you completely Newbie on the rest of it though, to be involved in ag you have to love the lifestyle it gives you because you sure aren't going to make a killing at it.  After being away from here for close to two years now I still have the fire in me to come back, as long as that fire still burns that is what I'm going to do.

[pacodiablo]

interesting...

 

are those cows eating corn??

[NewbieZ71]

no, rabbits feet.....they eat teeny, tiny, itsy, bitsy little rabbits feet.

[Jpshostr]

interesting...

 

are those cows eating corn??

Some of it is.  Its a feed mixture that we have mixed up that takes corn and oats we grow and adds in a manufactured feed that contains the needed protein and other nutrients that cattle need to grow.

[Kansas Kid]

Just eating a good cow!  

Oh man do I agree on that!  My mouth is watering just thinking about a nice juicy steak.  

[DuckhunterInTN]

Quite mooooovvving........

[siume99]

Why are there so many people out there trying to find money, and not trying to find happiness?  ???

1.  Do what you love.

2.  Love what you do.

I agree totally.  I don't think people honestly go to college in a particular degree because the "money is good."  College is tough and worth a lot more rewards than just money.  That's my $0.02