Prices not that good?

[burnt]

This gives you a bit more insight into the crop / salvage situation -

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1229812--ontario-s-corn-crop-withers-under-drought

[kato]

Thanks for posting that.

[T.N.T.]

I agree with you Kato,that would sure be something i would be telling people,i'm to lazy to wean my calves.I guess it takes all kinds!!

[ASRG]

If you never try anything different how do you know it won't work?
When I first tried this it was out of necessity. I had a contract that had to be done within two months and had no time to be messing with calves. What I found was it worked very well.
If we just do things the way they have always been done, we'll never move ahead.
When people started swath grazing, or no till, or intensive grazing, all the old stick in the muds said it would never work! I bet a lot would be horrified if you said a lot of your ration was based on straw or you let cows bed out in the snow?
No weaning works for me. My cattle are healthier, my bottom line is better.
If you are addicted to running around with a feed bucket in one hand and a syringe in the other, well go to it, no ones stopping you! But don't rip me if I see things different.

[T.N.T.]

I'm sure with 1000 plus or minus calves coming home in the fall at weaning time,and almost 9000 acres to combine,we got all the time in the world to have a feed bucket in one hand and a syringe in the other,LOL!!!

[grassfarmer]

I'm not a stick in the mud ASRG, I like doing lots of
crazy stuff that other folks haven't tried. But I try to
really think through all the details of any system
before trying it. Sometimes the early adaptors of new
systems are just followers of fashion and haven't
thought it through themselves.
Feeding a cow enough to milk for her calf after she
has been calved 6-7 months is a very inefficient way
to feed the calf. Especially given the cow doesn't need
that much nutrition for herself at that stage of
gestation. If it suits the other things going on in your
life it is certainly a labor saver depending what you
plan to do with the calves eventually. I need mine to
be growing faster going into winter than I can rely on
them being if they were left on the cow given my feed
resources. I had a pneumonia outbreak last winter but
in the previous 5 years probably didn't have 1% of
calves suffer any ill effects of weaning.

I'm reminded of one "early adaptor" who moved from
traditional winter calving to late spring to reduce cow
maintenance costs, followed by starting to swath
graze, followed by leaving the calves on the cows on
the swaths, followed by starting to supplement the
pairs with pellets - on the snow, on the swaths
because the swaths were't high enough quality.
Followed by selling the cowherd.

At some point along the line the he seemed to forget
the original intent was to reduce winter maintenance
costs of the herd. He finished up growing cereals to
swath graze supplemented with pellets in the snow to
allow him to have his cows milking in the dead of
winter. I think it was ultimately the wastage he got
with the pellets that turned him off the system and
the cows.

[ASRG]

TNT: You are a big time operator. I am just a little guy. With those numbers you can pretty well do it how ever you want. Good for you.
I'll just have to do it my way.

[ASRG]

grassfarmer: I know you are an innovative guy and I know you do what works for you. I truly enjoy your outlook on raising cattle.
At the end of the day we all go into the dirt and no one will care in twenty years. We need to enjoy our lives and live it how we see fit.

[gaucho]

ASRG... could not agree with you more on the late weaning... we fell into it by accident... we had good quality 2nd cut hay off the pastures we grazed in June and felt it woudl be a waste bale grazing dry cows... We wanted to go on a family vacation over Christmas and wanted to minimize the work load and the issues that could arise from having them look after weaned calves... so we left them on till the end of January... It was working so good we left them on another month and then finally got around to splitting them off the cows mid March because heifers began cycling and all the bulls were still bulls. The calves grew better on the cows, it reduced our work load, we had healthier calves and we made the best use of the good quality feed... What we went into by accident will now be a conscious management practice around here... WE will have over 500 cows this winter that will be packing calves... I really think that cows shoudl have to work more than 7 months a year and they are cheaper and usually better hired hands than you can hire. You do need to have the right type of cows and I don't quite think that I will leave the calves on the 1sdt calf heifer till Match but mature cows for sure. Below is the link to a video we made and shared with our bull customers to prove the point. Maybe Kato can imbed it
http://www.youtube.com/user/spiritviewranch99?feature=guide

[kato]

I'll try.