We had lofty dreams when first starting our beef cattle herd, six years ago. Our goal was (and still is, eventually) to grow from 10-head to 100-head of beef cows. Well, we have certainly had growth but we are far from that 100-head goal. There are less cows on the farm right now than we had two years ago. The necessity - the NEED - for culling within the herd has slowed … [Read more...] about That Cow Needs to Go! – Culling your cattle herd to improve your cattle herd
Herd Management
Winter Comes Early on the Cattle Farm: Snow, Ice and All That’s Nice (and sometimes, not so nice!)
As it happens every year, winter has officially begun here on the cattle farm. Technically, this is still "fall-time", but mother nature doesn't pay attention to a calendar. Dreams of the snow and ice waiting until December, are just that - dreams. For some reason, I am having a harder time adjusting to the start of winter than I did last year and the year before. I am … [Read more...] about Winter Comes Early on the Cattle Farm: Snow, Ice and All That’s Nice (and sometimes, not so nice!)
Testing and Measuring the Quality of your Cattle’s Winter Hay – PART 2: Testing Hay Quality
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
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?
On the Cattle Farm – Cold, Snowy Winter 2018-2019 Update
It has been a while since our last post on Cattle Starter. We are still keeping very busy with our cattle farm. We have many goals for our farm operation in 2019 and one of those goals is to keep current with our Cattle Starter blog. When we first started Cattle Starter, we were intent on having a blog that was very heavy on beef cattle information and very light on personal … [Read more...] about On the Cattle Farm – Cold, Snowy Winter 2018-2019 Update