Cattle Starter

Category: Herd Management

  • That Cow Needs to Go! – Culling your cattle herd to improve your cattle herd

    Our foundation herd, Winter 2013/2014

    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 down our growth. But, culling has also improved our cattle herd. The fast track to growth, just for the sake of growth, was not a reality for us. As I have discussed in our last post, we HAD to put emotions aside, and make some serious decisions regarding culling these past years. This has affected our growth. Also, access to additional grazing land has drastically limited our abilities to really grow our herd but that’s for another post.

    What do I mean by culling?

    Simply put, culling means removing cattle from your herd that no longer meet the requirements to stay in the herd. Whatever those requirements are for your operation. Every operation is unique.

    Why is it important to cull?

    We feel that culling is an important and necessary component to any cattle operation. Having a solid foundation of cows that really epitomize what you want in your cattle herd, will most likely require culling along the way. Odds are, there will be cows that no longer meet the goals of your operation. By removing these animals from your herd, you will be able to narrow your focus to breeding the cows that have the bloodlines and genetics that work for YOUR operation.

    Here are OUR reasons for culling within our cattle herd:

    • Open cow. A cow that tests not pregnant during pregnancy checks or does not deliver a calf come calving season, is immediately culled.
    • Stillborn calf. A cow that delivers a stillborn calf is culled from the herd. We have only had this happen once, over six calving seasons.
    • Sickly, newborn calf. A cow that delivers a weak, sickly calf (and despite attempts by us to save, does not thrive and dies), is culled from the herd. We have had this happen two times.
    • Disrespects the fences. A cow that does not respect our fences, is culled from the herd.
    • Size. Some farmers look for big-framed cows, others prefer medium-framed cows and others yet, may not have a size preference. We have had interested buyers comment on a certain cow, saying that she was definitely not a good pick. When in reality, that cow (which was not for sale anyways) was and still is one of our top-performing cows on the farm. Top-performing according to what we consider to be top-performing. We look for a medium-framed cow. Our buyers wanted a big-framed cow. As I mentioned in a past post, we have some big-framed cows on our farm. The first two years of our operation were focused on growing and purchasing cows with good genetics. As such, we added some cows to our herd that were bigger than we would have liked but had good genetics and bloodlines. Those mamas have gone on to deliver and perform for us, year after year. The calves they produce each spring bring us enough of a profit to justify feeding for their larger frames. That being said, this fall, we did trade one of our larger cows, with her calf, for some winter hay (see picture below). Our buyer wanted a bigger cow. We needed hay, and we really would like to start narrowing down our herd to medium-framed cows. So, the trade worked out well. Both parties satisfied.
    Traded this larger-framed cow for winter hay.

    Other Reasons for Culling

    Spring 2014 – Our very first birth EVER, and the calf needed to be pulled. First-calf heifer and a small heifer at that. This heifer has grown into one of our top-performing cows and one we would call calving-ease.
    • Aggression. We really have been fortunate to have mild-mannered cattle. In certain situations, especially during calving and afterwards, we definitely see a shift in personality in our cows. That is normal, though. They have hormones flowing through their bodies and their protective instincts are in HIGH gear. This is short-lived, though. When I talk about culling animals due to aggression, I am talking about animals that charge you when you enter their pasture. Unprovoked, for no reason other than they are bad-mannered, wild cows. We have no place for that on our farm. Fortunately, we have never had to deal with that kind of behavior and hope to never have to. We are very selective in bringing new cattle into our herd. Also, we are selective in which heifers we retain within our herd. While, we have never culled for aggression purposes, we have culled heifers for being too skittish. In fact, we recently sold two yearling heifers that were just a bit too-high strung, both in the pasture and in the cattle handling facility. We could see the writing on the wall with them, and sent them down the road.

    Take Home Point

    Culling is an important and necessary component in herd management. Give this serious consideration. Don’t be afraid to sacrifice growth for herd quality. Growing just for the sake of growing and not culling those bad weeds out of the herd, may not be the best approach to managing your herd. But, as we always say, each operation is unique. This is what WE do. Find what works for YOU.

    Thanks for reading!

  • Winter Comes Early on the Cattle Farm: Snow, Ice and All That’s Nice (and sometimes, not so nice!)

    Hay bale grazing site #1 after first storm, November 13, 2019

    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 pretty such it has to do with the fact that last winter was BRUTAL for this part of the country. The absolute worst winter in a very long time. Spring was wet. Summer was a nice break but also so incredibly buggy (rare August hatch of black flies in addition to the usual May-hatch). We did have a few nice fall days and now, winter. All in all, our spring, summer and fall brought a lot of rain, which was great for pasture growth and for the haying season. There just wasn’t enough of those nice sunny, bug-free days, though…..

    The boys and I made our rounds on Veteran’s Day, enjoying the bare ground and NO SNOW. I explained to the boys that by this time tomorrow, we would be full into winter and that the pasture grounds would not visible again for a good 6 months. Sure enough, the next day saw us with school canceled, as a major storm dumped snow on us all.day.long. Hello, winter. It has certainly not been long enough since we last visited….

    So, yesterday morning found me chopping ice off of hay bales and removing heavy ice from hay bale grazing wires.

    Chop, chop, chop, take a breath, chop, chop, chop, contemplate my life choices, chop, chop, chop, and there goes that top frozen layer…bye bye and hello, nice hay below… See you again this afternoon!

    Ice can really weigh down your wires and take away the tension. This was the aftermath of storm #2. Neither the cows nor I were impressed. But, life continues, as does work on the farm. You gotta hunker down and get it done.

    We feed out our hay via hay-bale grazing during the winter months. The location for our hay-bale grazing sites rotates each year, allowing us to add fertility back into the soil, promoting increased grass production and ultimately, allowing us to get more summer and fall grazing days out of those same pastures.

    Summertime fun! This pasture used to be a field full of TREES and weeds and moss. After chopping down the trees for firewood and using it as a winter grazing site, it is now a productive pasture!

    We have had great success with this method. It has been really incredible to see a previously under-performing section of pasture or pastures, flourishing, with good quality grass and clover and not choked with weeds, following a winter hay-bale grazing season. Good validation for what we are trying to do.

    Keeping pasture improvement in mind and knowing that winter loves to come early to Northern Maine, we placed a certain number of hay bales in a separate pasture, away from our main hay-bale grazing sites. We knew that our cows would rotate into this final pasture as winter approached and having a hay bale site already set up, would make the transition much easier for them and for us. With the unpredictability that winter can bring, we were certainly glad that we planned this way.

    hey, mama’s!

    The morning of November 13th, found me at the hay bale site, calling “hey mama’s!”, to the herd way across the snowy pasture. The cows know our voices and they know when we start calling, they better start coming. Slowly but surely, they made their way through the snow, to the hay bale site and started chowing down! Good, Mama’s!

    Hay! Yay!
    Chow time
    Good job, Mama’s!

    Be sure to check-out some of our winter related posts below. We will be adding many more for winter 2019-2020. Also, be sure to check-out our new blog series on Hay Quality as well as our updated thoughts on Beef castration banding and delayed castration!

    Staying Warm in the Winter on a Cattle Farm: Carhartt Women’s Insulated Bib Overalls

    Christmas Gifts for the Cattle Farmer: Clothes, Books, Tools and More!

    Winter Hay Bale Grazing: Part 1 of 4

    Beef Bull Castration: How to Use Castration Banders, including the Callicrate SMART Bander

    Testing and Measuring the Quality of your Cattle’s Winter Hay – PART 1: Why should we care about hay quality?

    Testing and Measuring the Quality of your Cattle’s Winter Hay – PART 2: Testing Hay Quality

    Raising Beef Cattle in Brutal Winter Conditions and Sticking to the Routine

    On the Cattle Farm – Cold, Snowy Winter 2018-2019 Update

    2017 Update: Part 1

  • 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 hay samples to Dairy One and their Forage Testing Laboratory, based in Ithaca, New York.

    Their website is extremely user-friendly, and their instructions for collecting a forage sample are thorough and easy to understand. Further, they even provide forage analysis kits and other supplies to help with the sample collection process.

    Forage Sample Submission Form
    Collecting a Forage Sample

    Their Forage Sample Submission Form is available online, as well as a step-by-step guide to Collecting a Forage Sample.

    Forage samples need to be submitted in a quart-sized plastic bag within a Dairy One Forage Analysis Laboratory mailer envelope. For our purposes, we will be discussing the methodology of collecting a HAY sample. Please see the guide for Collecting a Forage Sample, for all other forage types.

    Steps for Collecting a Hay Sample

    Hay Probe Tool

    If you don’t already own one, you will need to purchase a Hay Probe tool. This tool will allow you to bore (or make a hole), through each hay bale. Using a hay probe to collect a core sample will allow for the most accurate nutritional breakdown of each of your particular sample lots. Also, the hay probes on the market today are extremely user-friendly and can be used to collect many samples, both efficiently and effectively by a single person.

    Determining Different Sample Lots (if applicable)

    Be sure to determine your sample lots.

    Let’s say you purchased hay from two different hay producers, and their hay bales are from two different cuttings, a month apart:

    We have Producer A, with cuts from July and August, each from a separate field, and we have Producer B, also with cuts from July and August in two different fields. That gives us 4 LOTS to sample.

    For the most representative and accurate analysis, the lab recommends that you sample 12-20 bales per lot, picked at random.

    Collecting the Hay Samples

    Supplies/Tools Needed:

    Hay probe

    Clean bucket to collect hay samples

    Clean, quart-sized plastic zip lock bags

    Permanent marker to label each bag with Lot Name (e.g., Producer A – July Hay)

    Use your hay probe to bore into each bale in the appropriate location (see here for instructions for square and round bales). Empty the hay probe’s cleanout rod into your clean bucket, and then move to your next bale, adding each sample to the same bucket as you go along. After completing each lot, you should have 1 bucket with all of your samples. Mix the samples by hand in the bucket and fill your sample bag with approximately 1 pound of material (the lab recommends 2-3 good handfuls). Squeeze out as much air as possible and seal the bag. Repeat this entire process for each of your lots, being sure to keep your samples labeled.

    Place each labeled, quart-sized plastic zip lock bag sample into your Dairy One Forage Analysis Laboratory mailer, along with a completed submission form and place in the mail. The lab will test your samples based on the type of forage testing you select. We always select the Forage NIR testing, which is $18.00/sample. This analysis provides us with Crude Protein and Total Digestible Nutrition, as well as a wide plethora of other nutritional information on a Dry Matter and an As-Is basis. Results will be sent to the email that you provide on the submission form. You can also receive copies by fax or mail.

    Please see our final post in this series: PART 3: Receiving and Understanding your Forage Analysis Results

    Also, if you missed Part 1, please check it out here: Part 1 – Why should we care about hay quality?

    Thank you for reading!

  • 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 each winter. When you are budgeting for, and estimating your winter hay needs, it is important (nutritionally and financially) to know the actual quality of your hay. Each hay bale purchased is a small investment into your operation. You are putting forth money (and a lot of it for many of us) into forage/hay purchases and in turn, you hope that your forage/hay will provide the right rations of nutrition for your beef cattle. Ultimately, your “pay-off” will be represented by those same beef cattle thriving throughout the winter hay feeding season and then producing a healthy calf come calving time, and continuing to thrive and produce, year-after-year.

    When I talk about a cow thriving and producing, I am thinking in terms of this: “thrive and produce” = a gestating cow that can maintain her body condition (as best as possible) during the winter, by consuming forage/hay that is a high-enough quality to allow for healthy fetus development of her calf, lactation production, and delivery of a healthy, strong calf. Then, post-calving, she needs to come into estrus/start cycling and be bred-back, all the while nursing her calf. AND for first-calf and second-calf heifers, we expect them to do all of this, PLUS continue to grow themselves. A tall order, indeed!

    We expect a lot out of our beef cows, and therefore, we need to provide them with the quality of forage/hay/feed they need to thrive and produce.

    So, how do we test our winter hay? (Please check-out Part 2 of this blog series, where we discuss this in more depth)

    How do we measure the quality of all those winter hay bales out in our fields or barns? (Please check-out Part 2 of this blog series, where we discuss this in more depth)

    Does quantity equal quality? No, it does not. You can have all the hay bales that you require according to your calculations (see here for calculating winter hay) but if the hay quality does not meet the nutritional demands of your animals, you very likely will need to feed out more forage/hay/feed supplement per day/per head than you initially calculated for.

    And, what do we mean by the term “quality”?

    Have you ever looked a bale of hay and wondered, “what really is in this hay?” “How nutritional is this hay? And how does my hay meet the nutritional demands of my animals?

    We have only been in the beef cattle business and thus, dealing with hay, for six years. As such, we continue to learn and grow in regards to what we look for when buying hay. We have started to get a very small sense of the quality of our hay by sight and smell. Hay that has more of a “fresh-cut smell”, than a “musky, moldy smell.” We have had some bales with mold all the way through. Moldy hay will likely provide your cattle with little, if any, nutritional value, and more importantly, may not be safe to feed your your pregnant cows (moldy hay has been known to cause fungal abortions in pregnant cows). The more hay bales you look at, the more you can start to develop a visual basis, for which you can compare to bales from different producers/fields/times of year. We can look at two different hay bales, from either two different producers or the same producer but different fields and/or different cut, and visually see a difference in what we perceive is the quality of those bales. Then, we can discuss those differences until we are blue in the face. In the end, we could think we feel confident that we are feeding our mama cows hay with the right nutritional break-down but are we really????

    What nutritional break-down are we looking for in a bale of hay?

    Throughout this 3-part blog series, I will be referring to several nutritional terms:

    Dry Matter (DM): Simply put, the term dry matter is the amount of hay, that when tested, is moisture-free. When a hay sample is tested, you will receive a forage analysis report, and one of the variables quantified, is the amount of moisture in the forage sample. Say that a particular sample of hay is 15% moisture and 85% dry matter. When making beef cow feed ration calculations, you need to use the dry matter composition. We will discuss this in more-depth later on in this series. I will refer to Dry Matter as DM.

    Crude Protein (CP): Crude protein is another variable quantified in a forage/hay analysis. The percentage of crude protein tells us how much nitrogen is present in a given sample, representing both true protein and non-protein nitrogen. For example, a 1200-pound beef cow, in the pre-calving stage (60-90 days before calving) will require a diet of approximately 8.6% crude protein. (https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/400/400-012/400-012.html). This value will vary depending on the age of your cow (first-calf heifer versus mature cow, time of year, weather conditions, and where they are in the production cycle (pre-calving, postpartum, lactating (nursing a calf) and pregnant (bred-back after calving), and gestation (pregnancy stage after weaning calf, not lactating). This publication, by the Virginia Cooperative Extension, provides an extremely detailed and very useful guide for nutritional requirements (CP and TDN) for beef cows throughout the entire production cycle for mature cows, 1st-calf heifers, and more.) I will refer to Crude Protein as CP.

    Total Digestible Nutrients (TDN): The TDN percentage in a forage analysis tells us all about energy: The total amount of the digestible protein, lipid, carbohydrates and fiber components present. Knowing the TDN percentage allows us to better decide if our forage is meeting the energy requirements of our cattle, and further, is a key component in determining and balancing winter forage rations. I will refer to Total Digestible Nutrients as TDN.

    Continuing with our example from above (Crude Protein needs) of a 1200-pound beef cow, in the pre-calving stage (60-90 days before calving), this cow’s diet should be comprised of approximately 54.6% TDN. Our hypothetical, 1200-pound beef cow, in the pre-calving stage (60-90 days before calving) will require around 24.4lbs Dry Matter intake/day, with a nutritional break-down of approximately 8.6%/2.07lbs/day Crude Protein and 54.6%/13.2lbs/day Total Digestible Nutrients. (https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/400/400-012/400-012.html).

    How we approach the management of our cattle herd is an ever-evolving work in progress, and there will never be a one-size-fits-all mold. What worked last winter may not work this winter and so forth. Thus, I think part of the draw and challenge for us is that there always is and always will be new things for us to learn. The all-important topic of Winter Hay/Forage/Feed Quality is always on our minds, no matter the time of year. On that note, I thank you for taking the time to read this post. Understanding the importance of – and how to test for – the quality of our cattle’s winter hay is critical in ensuring top performance and production of our beef cattle. I encourage you to please check out the rest of this 3-part series, as we post it. Thank you!

    Please head over to PART 2 in our Testing and Measuring the Quality of your Cattle’s Winter Hay blog series and take a read! PART 2: Testing Hay Quality

    Please see our final post in this series: PART 3: Receiving and Understanding your Forage Analysis Results


  • On the Cattle Farm – Cold, Snowy Winter 2018-2019 Update

    Mama Cow – Feb. 2019

    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 and family antics/adventures/stories. Over the years, though, it has become apparent that there is no way to keep some of the personal and family out of this blog.

    Obviously, our family and our cattle are intertwined, and while we still want to provide facts and information important to raising beef cattle, we also want to share our own antics, antidotes, and adventures with our little family along the way. We had a pretty scary medical situation in November and while in the end, everyone is okay, it reinforced in our minds that our family unit needs to be healthy, strong and smart in all operations – farm and personal. Maintenance for ourselves is just as importance (and more) than it is for our cattle.

    With that being said, let me provide an update on our winter 2018/2019 thus far.

    Snow, Cold, Wind, Ice, Snow, Cold, Wind, Ice, Snow.Cold,Wind.Ice.

    Spring, are you coming soon?!?!

    We live in northern Maine. Cold, snowy winters are a way of life here and nothing out of the ordinary. Winter 2018/2019, though, has taken our definition of a northern Maine winter to the extreme. Snow started here the end of October 2018 and the snow is still coming steady (storming outside as I am typing this). From that 1st snow storm to now, we have been pelted with storm after storm after storm after storm. Mixed in with the snow storms has been bitter cold, and blistering – blow-you-over-sideways – wind storms. It has been brutal – plain and simple. As soon as we clean up from one snow storm, the next one is on the horizon.

    Having this kind of winter has pushed us to our limits – physically, mentally and emotionally. When he can, Jer uses the snowmobile after a snow storm to help pack down a trail for us to access the cattle. The cattle themselves have established some excellent packed-down trails in their respective pastures. But, there have been countless times where we have had to battle through deep, deep snow to reach the cattle. One of the big challenges comes with digging out frozen and snow covered round hay bales. Our bales range from 4-5 ft tall and they are all buried in the snow this winter. We still feed out our winter hay via our hay-bale grazing method. It is a constant job of digging out hay bales, cutting off frozen tarps, and hacking away at frozen hay bales with the trusty axe.

    Hay Bales on November 15, 2018

    Same hay bales from the other side of the fence on February 15, 2019. We have had more snow since this photo was taken.

    In addition, as more and more snow falls, we are constantly trying to maintain the high voltage on our wires that is needed for our hay bale grazing method to be successful. The tops of our pasture fences are all buried or very nearly in snow. In many pasture sections, we have not been able to spy the top wire of the fence line in a long while now. Luckily, cattle (as are many animals) are heavily motivated by food. Sometimes, this means they may try to break into hay bale sections that are not open yet. I suppose you could say that the silver lining of all this snow, though, is that the cattle do not want to stray far from their food source. They don’t want to trek through the waist deep (and deeper) snow anymore than we do!

    We will be heading into March soon and we anticipate that it will be a good two months before our cows will be able to start grazing on pasture. The next two months will be a delicate juggling act of making sure we have enough hay and supplemental food. For our mama cows (21 currently), hay is their primary (and normally, only) diet during the winter. We supplement with mineral daily.  With our situation this winter, though, we are currently looking into inquiring some supplemental feed (e.g., culled potatoes, etc) to help get us through the remainder of our winter season. I want to add here that it is important to make sure you train your cows to finish up their bales well. You could be losing hundreds and hundreds of dollars due to hay waste by not managing your herd to clean-up after each hay bale. You know what I am talking about. There is always that pile of leftover over hay that has been a little buried by snow or stomped down by the cows. It is free of poop and pee and it is still GOOD feed that needs to be eaten. I have had many afternoons where I have had to limit hay bale access to “force” the cattle to clean-up. When I say “force” I don’t mean this in a negative way. They are not being starved or mistreated but simply, being trained to finish-up “their plate of food before having their next plate of food”. Every hay bale is like a big gold nugget during the winter to us, and we can’t afford to waste any of it.

    We learn lessons every winter and some lessons are hard-learned. This is our sixth winter with beef cattle and it has been lessons galore. We have some ideas for changing things up for winter 2019/2020. You can have the best plan laid-out on paper and in Excel sheets. That piece of paper can tell you how much hay to feed for how many cattle for how many days. You can make calculations in Excel until the cows come home! And everything will go according to plan and to those calculations! Plans made in the summer and fall seasons (while we sit at the table in our shorts and t-shirts, sipping lemonade…), change as quick as the winds here on our farm come winter time (while we are scrambling around with heavy snow socking in the farm 5 weeks early than normal). Mother nature does not care about our “plans” or our “goals” or even our projected end number of hay bales! ha! She comes storming in and takes us on a wintry ride for over 6 months of the year. In all seriousness, though, planning is crucial for a successful winter season. You HAVE to sit down well ahead of time and make projections for your winter feed needs. For most of us, we need to do this BEFORE the haying season starts and then you need to start making friends with every hay producer in a 60-mile radius. You have to be on top of this. You can’t wait until the last minute. We can’t stress this enough. You need to be prepared and organized or your winter will be a struggle – weather aside. For us, we always try to purchase more hay than we need. The wrench in our plan this year, was that winter came a whole month early and she came hard and fast and she hasn’t let up yet. When we sit down in a few months to make our winter 2019/2020 plan, you better believe that we will be looking to purchase the number of bales needed in case winter does a repeat on us and then, purchase even more just to be SAFE!

    In addition to our 21 mama cows, we have 30 spring/summer 2018 calves that we are overwintering. A good majority of these will be sold as yearlings in July. Those not sold as yearlings will likely stay on the farm as replacement heifers. We feed our calves a little differently than our cows during the winter. We have two different operations on our cattle farm – cow-calf operation and a backgrounding operation for our calves. There are separate goals and management plans for each operation. Our calves are raised grass-fed (supplemented with loose barley malt tailings for additional protein and energy needs) and marketed and sold as such.

    Calves eating barley malt sprout tailings. Good supplemental food for grass-fed calves.

    No culled potatoes or corn or grain for our calves. From the time our calves are born to the day they load on the trailer as yearlings, we are managing their feed type and consumption, and overall health to ensure as much weight-gain as possible. They are also free of any added hormones and antibiotics.

    A FEW PIECES OF ADVICE

    • Plan and prepare for enough winter feed. Look at the number and size of animals you will be overwintering and their daily feed consumption requirements. Once you have that information, then calculate how many bales or feed you will need.  You will need to have an approximate idea of the size and weight of the bales to get the most accurate calculation. Example, a 4×4 round bale will yield less pounds of hay than a 5×5 round bale. A square bale will yield considerably less pounds of hay versus a round bale.  As finances allow, purchase extra hay as a safe-guard in case you have to start feeding out hay earlier than normal. There will always be a use for extra bales come the end of winter.
    • Cull animals before winter comes. It is always a good idea to take a good inventory of your herd throughout the summer and fall. Some culling decisions may be made for you (open cow, etc.) but for the most part, you need to take a hard look at what direction you want your herd to take.  You may find that you have an animal or two or more that no longer fit into your farm model and it may be time for them to head down the road.  No need to be feeding animals over the winter that no longer serve a purpose for your farm.  Each farm has their own model and their own goals.  Operate your farm to meet your farm’s individual goals.
    • Communicate with your farm partner(s). As we always stress, communication is key for a successful farm operation.  For our family operation, it is me, Jer and our young boys.  Jer and I are husband and wife but we are also business partners.  This farm is a business. It is not a hobby.  It needs to be treated with the same respect and seriousness as all businesses and partnerships.   Talk often and make sure all partners are on the same plan.  Learn from each other.  My husband and I each have our own strengths and weaknesses.  For me, I am always trying to learn how to tackle and handle farm problems that for my husband are a cinch.  One day this winter, I was so frustrated with all of the snow and ice and the calves breaking into hay sites that were not open yet, and I just wanted to give-up.  I wanted an easy fix and the reality was that there was no easy fix.  I had to button-down and fix the problem the right way and 3 hours later I did. It took me probably 3 times the amount it would have taken Jer but I learned some important lessons.  I did call him for some advice and during the course of our conversations, I admittedly got very defensive that he was criticizing my methods.  I was cold and tired and felt like nothing I was doing was good enough. It was a disheartening morning.  But, during those 3 hours, I also worked through some emotions and thoughts.  At the end, when back at the house, Jer and I had a good talk and I felt more confident about my abilities.  My husband is my biggest supporter as I am his.  I am very lucky to have the husband and farm partner that I have and I am sure he feels the same way! 🙂

    In closing, I know that winter has hit hard across the whole country this winter.  Best wishes for a safe rest of the winter!