Early Start To Winter

We were lucky to get the brief window of Indian Summer in mid October to finish the harvest but now its November and more winter than summer. Cold winds and trying to snow make it miserable out there. Down in the teens for a day time high.
Grass froze off pretty bad in the pasture so the cattle are complaining as they always do this time of year. I took pity on them and put out the first hay bale of winter. Almost a month early compared to most years so its going to be a long winter of feeding til May. Once I start there is no stopping. Got a load of oats through the old hammer mill last week so they have plenty of oat chop to build up a little energy and insulation against the winter cold. I think cattle burn up a lot of their feed just keeping warm in this winter we get  here.
Field work is done. The ground has frozen. There might still be a field or two of unharvested crops around but they will likely wait til spring now.

More Snow

After a below normal snowfall all winter we are finally getting closer to normal. Last night and today's snowfall was the biggest yet this winter. I'd guess ten inches on top of what we had before. Its heavy walking and almost knee deep some places. Some highways were closed as well as some schools. I didn't move any more than necessary as it hadn't finished yet. Maybe get the blade working tomorrow to make a few trails.
Some video of the old Massey getting around in the snow with a bale of hay. It does surprisingly well for two wheel drive and no tire chains.

Carbon Tax

I probably should not even comment on the carbon tax that will eventually be imposed on us in spite of our premier refusing to sign on. But CBC keeps bringing on the experts telling us how beneficial it is going to be for us. Apparently all the money we pay as a carbon tax will be given back to us in some other yet to be defined form.
They are talking a tax of $20 a ton for now and increasing to $50 a ton by 2022. First of all how do you measure a ton of carbon? How do I know when I have produced a ton of carbon to be taxed on? How do I slow down my production of carbon and thereby save myself money? Stop driving? Stop farming my land thereby reducing fuel and tax? There are way more questions than answers so far.
If they really want to sell us on this wonderful new tax that is going to save the planet, they need to give us a little more information. At this point it sounds like more smoke and mirrors designed to squeeze more tax dollars out of us.
I guess I am part of the problem. Now I have to get back to work producing more carbon as I feed my cattle.

Early Winter

Since winter has set in early this year I had to start feeding hay bales November first. Last year November was warmer than normal with no snow and I didn't start feeding til the last week in November. A layer of snow several inches deep makes it harder to find the frozen and dry grass that remains after the dry summer. So the cattle are appreciating the hay bales I put out. At least I hope so. If nothing else it is good exercise I guess.
I mixed up a tank of winter diesel for the old Massey so it won't gel up at super cold temps. (I hope). Shot some video of a typical day here this week.

Yes, Its Cold Now

We are finally down to normal and below temps for December. Daytime highs just about 0 farenheit are not bad if the wind stays down. Many layers of clothes help but if I have to work with bare hands, like changing a battery yesterday, it  gets pretty hard to work when I lose the feeling in my fingers. Have to smile a bit at the irony of a space heater that won't start up when it gets really cold. It worked fine a couple of weeks ago when the temp was around the freezing mark.
Cattle seem fine as long as the feeders are full of hay although they start to complain if the water trough is empty, or full of ice.

When I was a little kid out "helping" my dad and whining about the cold he would say just beat your hands together and stomp your feet to get the blood circulating and warm. It never seemed to work for me. 

I have to say its a little less stressful and more satisfying sometimes working out in the cold with animals or machinery compared to fighting this computer trying to install a download I need for another project. Instructions sound so easy but they don't work. Its for a new project (toy). More to come on that.

Feeding The Herd

I call this picture "Feeding the Herd". I took it over the hood of the Massey on December1
when I put the first hay bale of winter out for the cattle. They were good and ready for it
and followed along all the way to the feeder helping themselves to the hay right off the
front end loader.
Theres many a day that I would gladly get rid of the whole herd of ungrateful animals, especially
when I am busy at another job and the cattle are complaining for water/feed/ needing fences
repaired.
Its also getting more difficult to keep a small herd as the new rules for cattle
identification will soon apply and all cattle sold will require electronic ear tags before
they even leave the farm of origin.
Mine are all home grown, no tags, needles, or antibiotics of any kind. If the day comes that
I have to upgrade my facilities and install electronic tags in all the cattle, that will be
when I get out of the business for good. It will be strange to break a tradition of over a
century of cattle on this farm but I guess it has to end some time.
But on a sunny winter day when the cattle are contentedly eating hay out of the feeders it
is not a bad way to pass the time.