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| Farmers do not get weekends - the cows have to be fed, milked, & cared for every single day. Dad feeds a TMR - total mixed ration - which includes (but is not limited to) corn & soybean meal, haylege & corn silage, and a variety of vitamins & minerals. Yum!  :) |
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| My brother and his favorite tractor. |
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| Cow is helping with the farm books today. We keep track of financial records via QuickBooks, cows via DairyComp 305 Scout, & land/crops via AgConnections Land.db - keeps me busy on the days when I'm not outside as much. :) |
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| April 17 - Cow is setting up the Cadman reel so we can pimp out the manure pond. |
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| April 18 - Doing some research. |
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| April 19 - Cow is my right-hand gal on the farm. Today she is spreading manure with the drag-hose system. . Everything is used on a farm; nothing is wasted. The manure produced by our ladies is put back out on the fields to replenish the soil's nutrients. :) |
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| April 20 - Cow likes open fields that allow us to use the GPS. (Trees & gullies can interrupt the satellite signal.) We use the GPS to track where we have spread & to drive the tractor - we just have to turn it around at the ends!  |
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Cow loves our babies & she helps me take care of them whenever she can.  . We bed the young calves & heifers with sawdust or chopped bedding twice daily. A clean bed keeps the animals clean & happy and helps keep diseases under control. :) |
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| April 24 - The manure pond is emptied! Now we're flushing the line with the leachate pond (which is water & bunker-silo runoff) to finish adding nutrients back into the fields. |
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April 26 - Congratulations to all of the farmers who received quality awards last night!!! 
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The milk that is produced around these parts is top quality (as it is in the rest of the country as well!) and our co-op recognizes the hard work that is put in to producing that product.
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I have to say that I'm a little biased toward one of the farms; I did grow up on it after all.
(That's my beautiful mommy with our favorite retired inspector.)
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My parents have shipped milk to the St. Albans Co-op & received quality awards for 22 consecutive years.
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Explaintion: P.I. count - PI (preliminary incubation) means that a sample of the milk was incubated at 55ยบ F for 18 hours. A sample of the “preincubated” milk is then cultured for the SPC (standard plate count) to check for psychrotrophic bacteria which are capable of growing at colder temperatures. This is an important test because cold-tolerant bacteria produce enzymes during chilled storage that can damage both the milk protein and fat, leading to decreased milk quality. This bacteria can also survive pasteurization and potentially decrease the milk’s shelf life.
.
The milk that is produced around these parts is top quality (as it is in the rest of the country as well!) and our co-op recognizes the hard work that is put in to producing that product.
.
I have to say that I'm a little biased toward one of the farms; I did grow up on it after all.
(That's my beautiful mommy with our favorite retired inspector.)
.
My parents have shipped milk to the St. Albans Co-op & received quality awards for 22 consecutive years.
.
Explaintion: P.I. count - PI (preliminary incubation) means that a sample of the milk was incubated at 55ยบ F for 18 hours. A sample of the “preincubated” milk is then cultured for the SPC (standard plate count) to check for psychrotrophic bacteria which are capable of growing at colder temperatures. This is an important test because cold-tolerant bacteria produce enzymes during chilled storage that can damage both the milk protein and fat, leading to decreased milk quality. This bacteria can also survive pasteurization and potentially decrease the milk’s shelf life.
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| Our retired milk inspector and my beautiful mommy! :-D |
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| Twice a day we give the cows a "new bed" to sleep on - dirty bedding is cleaned out & new fresh bedding is pulled from the front to fill-in any holes. This makes a comfy pack for our ladies. |
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| Baby nose |
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| April 27 - Cow says that the white stuff is pretty on the green grass, but that she will be happy when warmer weather is here to stay. |
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| April 27 - New baby, only minutes old! Mommy is giving its first bath - licking helps stimulate the calf. It'll be eating before too much longer. |
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Have you ever seen a happier cat? Look at those eyes roll  |
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April 29 - Can't beat the view we have while working cattle! :-)
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This week Mom and I are giving the young stock their Spring vaccinations. These pictured are "bred-heifers" - pregnant & due later this year - they get rabies and a "blackleg" vaccine that protects against 9 clostridial diseases.
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Normally the cows are able to freely move in & out of the headlocks to eat, but today we turned the top bar so they lock. This keeps us safe well as the cattle while we are working with them. Mom is easily able to give the shots while they eat, and then I pop the latch with the long bar pictured.
(They are locked up for less than 5 minutes and then the next group is brought in. )
:-).
This week Mom and I are giving the young stock their Spring vaccinations. These pictured are "bred-heifers" - pregnant & due later this year - they get rabies and a "blackleg" vaccine that protects against 9 clostridial diseases.
.
Normally the cows are able to freely move in & out of the headlocks to eat, but today we turned the top bar so they lock. This keeps us safe well as the cattle while we are working with them. Mom is easily able to give the shots while they eat, and then I pop the latch with the long bar pictured.
(They are locked up for less than 5 minutes and then the next group is brought in.
)
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