Do cattle still court like people did back in the day? Either way I found this couple off to themselves in the pasture this week. I turned bulls out with the cows back on May 3rd. Our breeding season is 75 days long, so come July 17th the bulls will be headed back to the … Continue reading Wordless Wednesday: Courting Cattle
A Look At the Hay Mower
Hay season is well under way, and with any luck we should finish up with another week of cutting, raking, and baling. However, some rain is in the forecast this week so we'll gladly take a break for the pastures to get some moisture. In the video above I walk ya through one of the … Continue reading A Look At the Hay Mower
Breakdowns and Hay Season
If there's one thing synonymous with hay season, it has to be equipment breakdowns. There's always something. If it's just twine on the baler snapping or the frame on a mower cracking, it'll happen. Not many farmers and ranchers are lucky enough to have all brand new equipment, so that's why learning preventative maintenance is … Continue reading Breakdowns and Hay Season
Wordless Wednesday: Cleaning Brush
It may be the middle of hay season, but we've got some brush cleaning to do when the hay mower gets ahead of the baler. Maybe ya'll can identify these tall green weeds in front of the tractor... Tomorrow I'll tell ya why we have a break between hay fields.
National Geographic: Ranch Edition
Out here on the ranch I am accustomed to seeing all the birds and coyotes and wildlife that one would see in the outdoors. However, this week's encounters have been a bit more of a National Geographic/Animal Planet scene. I've seen black birds pecking at and a chasing a hawk, a turkey chasing a coyote in … Continue reading National Geographic: Ranch Edition
Spontaneous Combustion
Last night I was doing some digging around on facts and figures of hay quality. Scooter Moody (@moodycattle) forwarded me a link to a great fact sheet on hay quality. The topic I was looking at is Moisture content. Have you ever heard of a barn burning because the hay spontaneously combust? Well it'll combust alright, … Continue reading Spontaneous Combustion
Wordless Wednesday: Summer Daze
A couple different things this week for Wordless Wednesday. First of all, yes it's that time of year when the traffic can be a little slow... Second, I am super excited to see the first of the wild blackberries cropping up. Means my morning snack will come from the pasture instead of the cabinet... Third, … Continue reading Wordless Wednesday: Summer Daze
From the Hay Field
Just a short vlog from the hay-field the other day while I was waiting for a second opinion that the hay mower was broken and that it wasn't operator error. Turns out it was something done wrong while piecing it back together.
Photo Friday: Hay Season!
Thank goodness its Friday! On Fridays I will post a photo from the ranch and discuss the subject. Take a gander and see if you can guess what we are looking at… It's hay season in Arkansas again. We just baled our first fields yesterday and things are off to their usual start. The transmission in … Continue reading Photo Friday: Hay Season!
Summer Has Arrived – Mind The Water Supply
I never thought a dive in the stock tank could feel better. Yesterday was a hot one and today will only be worse. Folks summer has arrived in Arkansas. The 7-day shows lows 73-74 and highs 95-98 all week-long. I have never been to a sauna, but I have a feeling those of us in … Continue reading Summer Has Arrived – Mind The Water Supply