It's officially Fall which means we are in the middle of putting up silage as well as getting ready to harvest our soybeans and milo. We've also had a very wet October which has put us behind even more than we already are with our wet Spring and Summer. This leads me to the title of my post. This Fall has become an uphill battle. During our silage season we have now had two pieces of equipment break down. This was another thing that put us behind. It's also supposed to rain overnight tonight so that will stop us for another day. And to make things even more fun our milking system has been throwing fits off and on for the last couple of weeks. Thankfully we have Phil, who is the guy that fixes the barn when it breaks down. He's probably getting tired of hearing from me at this point though.
And while all of this stuff is going on you have to keep in mind that we are a dairy farm as well so the cows are still getting milked twice a day and the calves still need fed as well. I consider my Dad and Uncle Frank to be excellent jugglers. They juggle all the responsibilities of running our dairy farm as well as getting all of our crops put up. I'm happy to say that I am too becoming good at juggling. I can even drive the tractor while talking on the phone and telling my sister which field to bring our lunch to and then calling some of our suppliers and putting in orders. This is the first year that Dad has let me in on helping put up silage and even though it's been exhausting I am enjoying it. I also know that we need all the help we can get since everything is so far behind. The hubby has even been drafted to drive the tractor while my sister and I were milking. It's basically all hands on deck at this point.
Not all dairy farmers put up their own silage. I've known many to buy their silage because they don't have the storage for it or they just don't have the man power or the land to do it. It is a lot of work, but it is also what saves us money.
In 2006 I was in high school so my sisters and I were helping out on the farm every weekend and I also had a weekend job at the local gas station. During this time milk prices dropped to historic lows. I remember the discussions about it around the dinner table and how Dad would speculate how long the low prices would last. Milk prices fluctuate just like everything in the market does. At this point the prices dropped so low that it put many dairy farms in our area out of business. What kept us going is the fact that we do produce so much of our own feed. Now milk prices are at all time highs and dairy farmers everywhere are thanking God everyday for that. We also pray that those low prices never come back.
What this taught me is that no matter how exhausted I am I will keep up with Dad and Frank and get as much silage brought in as we can every single day. There are no days of rest during this time of year for us and that's okay with me because I know that it will be worth it come winter when I have happy cows with silage in their bellies.
No comments:
Post a Comment