Welcome to Part 2 of our blog series on Testing and Measuring the Quality of your Cattle's Winter Hay. Please be sure to read Part 1 - Why should we care about hay quality? Today's post will focus on the methodology of collecting a forage sample, the tools/supplies needed, and where you can send your forage sample for analysis. We live in Northern Maine and send our … [Read more...] about Testing and Measuring the Quality of your Cattle’s Winter Hay – PART 2: Testing Hay Quality
Farming in General
Testing and Measuring the Quality of your Cattle’s Winter Hay – PART 1: Why should we care about hay quality?
This will be a 3-part blog series on: Testing and Measuring the Quality of your Cattle's Winter Hay. Today's post is Part 1 - Why should we care about hay quality? (Part 2 of our series is ready to read as well! Please check it out!) Forage costs are arguably the highest expense for any cattle operation, especially for those farmers whom feed-out hundreds of hay bales … [Read more...] about Testing and Measuring the Quality of your Cattle’s Winter Hay – PART 1: Why should we care about hay quality?
Thinking Ahead to the Beef Calving Season
Apparently, it is springtime now. It sure doesn't feel that way on the farm. For us, spring doesn't really emerge until April or May. But, spring will arrive to our neck of the woods soon enough and with it, preparation for our 2019 calving season. We pushed back our breeding season last summer by one week and therefore, we anticipate calves to start hitting the … [Read more...] about Thinking Ahead to the Beef Calving Season
Raising Beef Cattle in Brutal Winter Conditions and Sticking to the Routine
Hello from windy, northern Maine! The wind has been whipping through our area like a bull on a mission during the breeding season. ha! We have had wind gusts up to 50 mph, with the potential for wind chill to reach -40 F today. It makes a person want to hunker down and hibernate for the day. Hiding is not an option when you operate a farm or ranch, even during the … [Read more...] about Raising Beef Cattle in Brutal Winter Conditions and Sticking to the Routine
Does Agriculture HAVE to be BIG???
Chuck Jolley recently wrote an opinion piece on modern agriculture for Drovers Cattle Network, defending the large-scale farming model we have in most of America today. His basic point? Farming has become BIG, BIG, BIG, and has to remain BIG to supply food for the nation and the world. He defends the bigger-is-better mentality as a necessity. For instance, he describes the … [Read more...] about Does Agriculture HAVE to be BIG???