Hay

[rookie]

I'd also do it on shares, and when you come home from a money making job, you can find someone to buy your share and then forget it...

I wrote off my canola this morning as it rained ( thats' irony ), and have made the calls as the cows are getting the boot soon aswell.

Maybe its just because I have been bankrolling my own outfit and am getting a little tired of dealing with forces beyond my control that I may sound a wee bit snarky, but if the dog won't hunt, get rid of it.

Is it a business or an addiction....

[frustrated1]

Thanks all. Every year a couple hundred crop acres is dedicated to cow feed. I'm already old and tired. The opportunity to rent an extra thousand acres of cropland on my doorstep just came up and methinks it's time to shift. Rid myself of cows and any cropland that isn't convenient. We've got cowboys that would rent pasture, even take some cows on shares. Do one thing and enjoy it more? Perhaps a holiday...?

[grassfarmer]

Each to their own I guess but there are a lot of things going for cows and grass. We have been in a green drought this spring with exceptionally dry conditions for this area. We just had 3 inches of rain since July 1st. We have been grazing since April 18th and hopefully will graze until mid January again if we get just a little more moisture. We do not suffer the problems of lack of germination, frost damage, hail damage, weed or insect damage that our farming neighbors do. We have a system that almost eliminates purchased inputs - we rely largely on free solar power and water for our inputs. Grass is a wonderful crop - the ultimate sustainable crop in fact and cows are a pretty good way to harvest it in this climate. We don't need millions of dollars worth of machinery either. Yeah, we have some problems getting a fair price for our product from the marketplace at the moment but don't you grain guys also?

It saddens me to see folks like Parsley say they were glad to leave the cattle business because of calving in winter - the cold, frozen calves, the sleepless nights etc. It's a common thread amongst many ranchers but if they would just change their management to calf in better weather it becomes a very different job. You can calve 250 cows at the right time of year with as little work as calving 40 at the wrong time.

[parsley]

I left the wrong impression. They were show cattle, for us, timing births for show in specific classes.

It was wonderful, but a lot of really hard work, and dedication, and the season for that kind of committment has passed for us.The purebred business was good to us, and filled with adventure, and good sales and travel and visitors from other countries.

But we also have other interests.

To be honest grass farmer, if I was one year younger, lol,..maybe two, hmmm...how about three?, lol, I'd go out today and buy a swack of cows, maybe 200, and bring them home and build a herd based on sound health. It would be an economic decision.

It's a perfect time to buy.I'd keep them free from untested imports, and log each and every aspect of their feed, health and treatment on the computer.

I agree with the grass aspect. We still grow sainfoin...a perfect crop for show cattle, or dairy or horses, or commercial cattle because it is totally bloat free, livestock love it, and we can sell it for either seed OR for hay.

As well, it is a nitrogen fixating plant, so it builds the soil<p></p>
<p class="EC_style8ptBK"><strong>[url="http://parsleysnotebook.blogspot.com/search?q=sainfoin"](Sainfoin)[/url]</strong></p>