Still frosty!

[cowman]

I don't know about you but I'm ready for spring anytime now! It has been pretty "brisk" here in central Alta. for about the last 12 days!
I had a little heifer calve outside two nights ago. -27 C! She got him up, licked off, fed, and had him buried in the straw. All you could see was the top of his head! Smart little cow....how come some have a brain and others are about as dumb as a post?
Those old cows sure can pack away the groceries when it is like this. Hay is very difficult to find around here. I have guys calling me all the time looking for hay. I guess I have kind of got a reputation for knowing who has some. So I've put a couple of guys together and more than glad to do it!
I wonder how much longer til Spring? Usually the starlings are back by now but no sign of them yet! I always figure when they get back spring has sprung!

[rookie]

In the northeast we received about four inches of snow the other day and it was followed with the same cool weather. A year ago I was fertilizing the field. ... Cowman, a good friend of mine is in the hay business. Sounds like y'all should meet.

[cowman]

-32 this morning! Sure makes that middle of the night check a fast one! I guess it's one time we are grateful that there are no new babies!!
I had a guy call me last night with some hay for sale. It was pretty darned reasonable so I bought it sight unseen over the phone. I've bought hay from this guy before and know him to be totally honest. I didn't need any hay but bought it for my sister who runs some cows up in the hills!
Some of the prices for hay this year are a scandal.I saw some hay that sold for $75/ bale that was just about the weediest stuff I've ever seen. Full of chamomile!
An old boy called me two weeks ago. He had 100 rd. bales of two year old hay. All in a shed, never rained on. $40/bale. I called my neighbor and he took it all. Why do I get all these calls offering me hay? Well I used to buy a lot of hay and I never screwed people and I always paid right away. People who sell hay are so used to getting screwed(especially by the horsey set!) that they appreciate being dealt with in an honest way. How you deal with one person goes all the way down the line!!! So if you screw someone, whether buying or selling, don't expect it to never get out! And it works the other way too...if you deal in a very fair way it will become common knowledge.

[Muttley]

Hay is still selling high in Sk. to. I have being hearing prices as high as 160.00/ton The trucking prices have also gone up.
I am not sure just how high it can go. If we have another drought out here we may be better off to sell what hay we do get than feed the cows. Probably the only thing keeping me from doing this is that if I sell cows I will lose alot of genetics that have been built up over the years.

[rodbradshaw]

-29 C and it still dropping.
CTV did a story on the continuing drought in several sectors of North America. Most of the angle was on water to wash the streets of New York and the other major metropolitan areas. One quote from a fellow in Nova Scotia was that hauling water could be as big a revenue generator as fuel if the rains doesn't start soon.
They did have a bit of the story from Sakatchewan and how farmers are starting to move some more livestock through the markets.At least with snow cover we are not losing any right now.Had a friend from Manitoba e-mail and he said its looking awfully dry in the corn and bean belt.

[cowman]

Rod: I live in the same area as you basically. I believe we have more snow tha we've had for quite a few years. I "suspect" this drought has broken. How do you see it? I know it is almost insane to predict Alberta weather, but what do you think?
I feel so sorry for the guys in Sask. I sure hope they get some decent rain this spring. I really get disgusted with people who hope other regions don't get any rain so that the price for their products will go up. I believe that is a flaw in their nature as a human being!

[rodbradshaw]

Cowman
The snow is quite variable. Red Deer seems to have quite a bit more than we have. We have about 8-10 inches on the ground here. We are going to need rain as the last decent rain(More than 3/4 inch at one time) that we had was in 99. The weather patterns are getting wierd as we haven't gotten that general 1-2 day rain that this area is famous for.
It is a sad state of affairs when you hear of people hopeing that someone else has a wreck. Last year it reminded us that it could be us.
rod

[cowman]

I haven't got to far from home the last month or so and just assumed the snow was about the same as here at least as far south as Olds. But I guess the snow is as variable as the rain was last summer. Straight east of Red Deer they actually had lots of rain for most of the growing season and there were some truly phenominal crops. There was a little pocket or two around Stettler that was good. It was very bad down east of Bowden.
It was frustrating being in Red Deer with the rain pouring down only to hit dust a few miles south. At least there is some snow on the ground this year.