In anticipation of the birth of baby goats here on the ranch, correctly termed as kidding for you accuracy junkies, I'll share with you the complicated art of determining if a goat is "with kid".
I have great respect for vets. The kind that fix animals as well as the military. However, lest there be any confusion, I'm referring to the animal kind. So having great respect, it still never ceases to amaze me that vets can fix damned near anything wrong with a critter. In most cases it…
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Added by J.N. Raia on February 28, 2009 at 8:00pm —
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Hello my name is Jay Jones, im 22 and live in a small town in Indiana. My dad and i farm about 742 acres used to be 800 but we just lost some family ground tht we had rented for years and most of the ground was pastuer, thats about all the ground for we only farmed 18 cres of it, any how we have about 135 beef cows and, we have about 100 acres in hay. if you wanna talk or anything let me know
Added by Jay Jones on February 26, 2009 at 11:24pm —
3 Comments
Part 1
15 Tips for Digital Photography
First off I would like to say
Thank you to Jeff and everyone else who has made this site happen. That is what led me to give the members here some pointers I have picked up over the few years. Now I must tell you that I have never attended a photography class and everything that I know has been found by searching through Google. I then used the techniques that were avaliable to create a style of my own which I find very…
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Added by Clayton Thacker on February 26, 2009 at 6:51pm —
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Just got back from the Renewable Fuels Conference in Texas. I suppose my favorite part was being able to go outside without freezing. It was a little discouraging to see the issues of blend wall and green house gas fuel ratings that are facing the industry. One thing that should be pretty simple is to just make flex fuel vehicles mandatory on all new cars. That would at least give the country an option. They already mandate pollution control and safety. I think my pickup was an extra $400 for…
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Added by K2 on February 25, 2009 at 10:44pm —
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I live on a farm. Have I mentioned that? Well, I live on a farm. A small farm, what’s referred to around here as a farmette which means not enough land to be a real farm with tractors and cornfields but too much to be called a big yard.
I have specialty cows. Short, black, pastoral looking cows. I make jokes that they’re Italian cows: full sized bodies, short, stubby legs. My Italian husband finds this mildly humorous.
I…
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Added by J.N. Raia on February 25, 2009 at 8:00pm —
3 Comments
Hey my name is Josh, I live on a farm in Chipley Florida. We currently farm about 600 acres of row crop 400 acres of hay, and also have a small registered angus heard. Im just now going on my on, im trying to grow every year. I hope that next year i can have 400 acres of soy beans, 200 acres of peanuts, and hopefully 400 acres of wheat.
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Added by Josh Hayes on February 24, 2009 at 10:11pm —
2 Comments
Now don't get bent out of shape, guys. It's all in good (albeit sarcastic) fun and all turned out just fine in the end. Edited for a more refined and probably more language sensitive audience.
Someone explain something to me....preferably a man since they seem to suffer from this disease. Guys, here's a hot news flash....you don't know everything. Your way is not always the right way or the smartest way, in fact sometimes it's pretty damned stupid, complicated, dangerous and ill…
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Added by J.N. Raia on February 23, 2009 at 8:30pm —
5 Comments
I write silly, rather irreverent blogs relating to my life on a small farm. How lovely to find a different place to post them where folks will have some idea what I'm talking about and how entertaining living with animals can be. I'll start copying some of them here so if you want a giggle and don't mind sarcasm, take a look.
Added by J.N. Raia on February 22, 2009 at 11:52pm —
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02-20-2009
We had the steers loaded by 7 am and they were on their way to Johnson, NE to a locker named Pellican’s. I only have 4 steers left. They are due at Pellican’s next Friday. I don’t mind doing bucket chores, but it will be nice to have a break before we begin calving.
I was cleaned up and out the door by 9 am. I had to stop at the bank to pay my cow note before hitting the road.
I had a great sales call with Stan P and was headed home in good…
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Added by Brady Smith on February 22, 2009 at 5:55pm —
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I want to grow organic produce. I haven't started it. Can you help me with ideas?
Added by Ina Putnam on February 22, 2009 at 5:19pm —
6 Comments
Thought I would go with a shorter blog title..
Stuck in the Cincy airport with a 3 hour delay scheduled. It will be good to get home and see the girls but short lived. Heading to the RFA meeting in San Antonio at 5:30AM tmrw. Im not looking for a lot of smiling faces in the ethanol space this year.
We finished out strong yesterday. Put the 200 gallon pop up tank back in the new cradle and plumbed the pump. I added a shut off valve before the pump in case we need to isolate it.…
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Added by K2 on February 22, 2009 at 12:01pm —
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Why are old farmers quiet? Some would say it’s because they are hard of hearing, and that would be true. But I think it’s more than that.
A lifetime of seasons: planting, growing, harvesting, dying. A lifetime of doing: Planning, trying, succeeding, failing. What is there to say? What is to be warned about when the failures made the man as much as the successes.
A humble farmer knows success comes not from him. Sun, water, soil, seed, collaborate to make the miracle he’s witnessed…
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Added by Curiousfarmer on February 21, 2009 at 7:30pm —
1 Comment
Off to the shop first thing and finished one of the brackets for the fertilizer pressure gages. I managed to ruin a coupler I need to finish the other. We had to run to another farm to look at some wind damage and stop at Precision to get the last seed firmer. He's been super good about answering my rookie planter questions.
One of the neighbors had invited us over for dinner. We had home made chili. Times are tough for neighbors that work construction yet they still invite u over. I would…
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Added by K2 on February 20, 2009 at 8:21pm —
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When you use limited vacation days to get your farm going it feels like every second counts. Today didnt promise to be very productive on the farm side and it lived up to those expectations.
I headed to the shop first thing and dad went to check for calves. He's been good about letting me work on the row crop business this week. We had a still-born during the night. The weather here was rough last night but dad thought from the carcass that it never moved. After 25 years he still takes it…
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Added by K2 on February 19, 2009 at 8:53pm —
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02-15-2009
Melis and I went to 10 am church. I came home and did chores late. I spent the rest of the day at home watching Daytona and relaxing. Go Carl Edwards and Mark Martin! Race ended due to rain and I was incredibly disappointed with the outcome….it is a long season and I am glad it is hear.
Melis went to a jewelry party and made it home for the end of the race. Ryan W stopped out to add some of his home remodel trash to our burn pile. Leo is supposed to be here…
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Added by Brady Smith on February 19, 2009 at 6:59pm —
2 Comments
Greetings all,
It warmed up a little and rained overnight. It made working with the shop door open a little easier. I had four rows left to get seed firmers and fertilizer tubes run. I needed some parts for the last row so I started on the closers. I went with Dawn on one side on all 11 rows. The corn rows have a single disc fertilizer opener cutting 3 inches of row oposite the side I mounted the spiked closer. In the end Dawn's instruction were cryptic, but I got right through when…
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Added by K2 on February 18, 2009 at 10:00pm —
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http://cornandsoybeandigest.com/equipment/0212-worlds-largest-planter/
Added by Brady Smith on February 18, 2009 at 7:35am —
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I managed to catch the planter on fire tonight but I should probably start at the beginning. I was up around 6AM and I spent a couple of hours knocking out some tax stuff. We had an appointment at 8:30 at the FSA office. If you havent gone yet this year be ready for some intrusive questions. How do you finance you operation? What are you land rents? What % of the work do you do versus others....? It took 2 hours round trip.
The coop wanted me to stop in and look at some alternative…
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Added by K2 on February 17, 2009 at 9:56pm —
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The average age of a farmer in Florida is 57 and his income from farming is dropping substantially. This is not sustainable.
The sad state of affairs for Florida Farmers is that we can talk about pastured poultry, rabbit, eggs, growing organic vegetables, having a dairy herd, making cheese and intensively grazing beef -- learn how to do it -- go to workshops and demonstration farms -- BUT at the end of the day -- we can't legally sell it without running it through a USDA processing…
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Added by Sandra Williams on February 17, 2009 at 4:39pm —
3 Comments
I felt like the kid from Family Circus making a winding route. Started the day at the coop getting fertilizer prices, picking up seed, and going over nitrogen strategies. Then it was the Deere dealer for the spiked closing wheels. I spent 30 minutes with the head if sales. Everyone knows more than me so Im an absolute sponge, but it makes for long stops. The Precision Planting stop was next. That guy has forgotten more than Ill ever know about planters. I did by the Esets, $125/row. They also…
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Added by K2 on February 16, 2009 at 9:58pm —
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Goat Tails, Um, Tales
Hello
Part 1: 15 Tips for Digital Photography
K2 Feb 25
Hey my name is Josh, I live on a farm in Chipley Florida. We currently farm about 600 acres of row crop 400 acres of hay, and also have a small registered angus heard. Im just now going on my on, im …
February 20th - February 22
Want to do Organic Farming
Why are Old Farmers Quiet?
regulations keeping the future of farming dim...
