Hauling Wheat March 2019

I'm not normally a morning person but I've been up well before the sun the past 3 days. Wheat contract needed to be filled now that the terminal finally had rail cars but we had to do it "on the frost" to avoid tearing up my yard and driveway while it was thawed. Saturday morning was a false alarm as it barely froze the surface overnight but Sunday was a go. 18F overnight and the mud was hard as concrete. So even a loaded semi did not leave a track.

This morning was the same and with an extra truck on the job it was all done by dinner before the ground turned to mud.

Bison In The Hundred Acre Woods

Fence went up last November in preparation and this week in March the bison herd arrived. The hundred acre woods now has a small herd of bison roaming in it. Probably for the first time in 150 years. My grandfather and uncles would be amazed to see them on the land they used to farm. I only gave up about 20 acres of farmland. The rest was poplar woods and uncultivated grassland but that gives the herd about 80 acres to live on. Hopefully the rain falls and the grass grows to keep them fed.
Just a quick drive by photo as I passed the farm yesterday. Hopefully more and better pictures to follow.

A Little Late

Late to install the snow blower on the 11th of March but I figured it would be easier to park back in it's storage corner of the shed if it was connected to the tractor. So its on and I'm ready now in case we get a late winter snowstorm. Always a possibility here.

Its finally warmed up after a record cold February and beginning of March. We nearly hit the thawing mark today.
Its been a low snow winter adding to the concerns we are in a continuing dry spell. Somehow we grew an excellent crop last year on the minimal amounts of rain we got. I can't see it happening two years in a row.
Our most profitable crop, canola, has taken a serious hit thanks to China rejecting imports from Richardson Grain. Politics. Using the farmer as bargaining chips as usual. That represented about 40 percent of our export market. Prices had been mediocre prior to that and took a drop after the news hit. So its 1990s prices for our canola. Yet the seed companies are expecting us to pay 4 times what we paid for seed in the 1990s.
Got the 4 yearling calves hauled out last week so cattle feeding is a little slower here now with only 4 cows and the bull  left. They seem a little quiet and depressed. Missing the young ones I guess.
The recent warm weather gave me the opportunity to take the drone up for a short flight over the yard. And of course I shot a bit of video.

Cattle

Not sure what to title this one. I'd been dreading and stressing about this day for weeks. A mix of sadness and relief that the yearlings went away on the cattle trailer this morning. Glad to see those two little horn headed yearling bulls go as they were getting to be a problem. The two heifers, I could have kept as replacements at least one anyway. I kind of regret letting the best one go.  Maybe next year.
It went surprisingly well. I was out at the shelter in the dark shortly after 6:00 am. Could not sleep anyway so might as well get to work. Luckily it had warmed up to -5F or so and the relentless wind had dropped.
I got lucky, the four I wanted were still in the shelter/confinement area. Wearing my trusty headlight and throwing down some hay to occupy them, I was able to pull the steel gates in place to pen them up. Then wait til the extra cow and bull were ready to walk out and let them out of the gate. So far-so good. Now to clear the snow away so the truck and cattle trailer can get around. The 2090 started fine seeing as the block heater had been plugged in almost 24 hours. My half mile riveway was heavy going with hard packed snow drifts but they reluctantly yielded to the mighty 8 foot Cancade dozer blade. The yard took a little longer as I needed to clear a big "turn around area" for the truck and trailer. That goes slow with an angle blade pushing less than 8 feet. But not bad work with the heater blowing warm air and CBC radio to entertain and inform me what is happening in the rest of the world.
The trucker showed up in good time considering I was ready about 3 hours before the appointed time. No great drama or excitement with the loading. Only one of the four remaining cows seems to be concerned about her missing calf but its for the best he is gone. The last thing that old decrepit cow needed was to keep feeding a big calf. Now she can concentrate on getting herself back in good shape maybe.
No video from today. I just could not bother with a camera this time. Later in the afternoon these cats were sure enjoying the sun on the sheltered side of the barn so I took this shot.

March In Like a Lion

Once again the first of March has rolled around and we get to decide whether it is "in like a Lion" or a lamb. I was leaning toward the lamb this morning but by noon we had reduced visibility and cold NW wind. The temp had climbed to at least +10F but then started dropping making it decidedly uncomfortable.

Still, since I had planned a trip to town and the Blazer had been heating up with the block heater for a few hours ready to go, I figured give it a try. I soon decided it wasn't worth all the spinning and reversing it was going to take, even with 4 winter tires chewing up the snow. I was able to reverse back to the yard and call it off. Nothing I needed that badly in town that can't wait for another day or two. Looks like I might finally have to use a tractor on the driveway.

Rant About Rabbits

No, I don't have a problem with rabbits but listening to the interviews and comments on the radio this morning did make me a little angry. Apparently jack rabbits are moving into the city and damaging people's trees. So opinions are divided as to whether it is best to trap and destroy or just live with it and wrap the trees. I would not complain if they wanted to release a few here as I have not seen a jack rabbit in a long time. We do have a few "bush rabbits" but the jacks seem to be at the low point in their population cycle.
What really annoyed me was a few comments stating that the jack rabbits have been wiped out in the country by "farmers" spraying pesticides on the fields. What a stupid comment. Farmers have been spraying their crops for longer than I have been around and we used to have plenty of jack rabbits. It was not uncommon to see road kill after they became mesmerized by vehicle lights at night and would do their broken field run down the road ahead of the vehicle sometimes resulting in their demise.
But it is the typical type of comment I hear more and more as the general population becomes ever further removed from their farming roots. All they hear are the extreme groups shouting about our pesticide laden grains and terrible gmo products. Not to forget the antibiotic laden beef and chicken we produce. In case you missed it the last paragraph was sarcasm. Our food is safe. If I didn't believe it I wouldn't be eating it.
Its been a long cold winter and I guess my tolerance for b.s. is dropping as time passes. There are far bigger concerns out there than this "first world problem".

Scenic but its the kind of day I really appreciate the protection of my trees.

Out And About In The Cold

I must be getting used to this below normal cold. Went out for a walk to the threshing machine on the hill after finishing cattle chores. Even at -30 it felt ok because the sun was shining and no wind blowing. Of course I am wearing my usual multiple layers of clothes. My hands got a little cold working with the straw fork but that is not unusual. Cattle were content to stay out by the far hay feeder and did not come to the yard for grain or water until late in the afternoon. They seem to handle this cold just fine. Guess its all the grain they are eating.
I wore the Gopro camera for some action video while I was doing all this so I had some new content for youtube. Not that I am making any money on youtube. They don't approve of me using somebody else's copyrighted music on a few of my videos and I don't want to give up the music so...