Cutting Hay - View from the Cab - Part 3 of 3

Here is one final video of hay cutting.  We will be starting to cut our 3rd of 4 crops next week.  I will try to get some more videos of the other processes that go into making hay to feed our cows. 

A little bit more about this crop.  Alfalfa is planted in the spring of the year.  The seeds are very tiny - sort of like grass seed.  The roots of this plant go very deep - probably about 2 feet under ground.  Unless there are bad conditions in winter with ice, the plant comes back yearly and usually will produce a good yield for 3 or 4 years.  Each year the plant gets to be 18 - 24 inches tall before cutting and there are 4 cuttings taken usually every 30 days starting in the middle to end of May.  This mower will cut the plants about 2" from the ground meaning we have to do a very good job picking the rocks out of these fields.  Rocks and harvest equipment don't go well together!!  In a typical year, the four cuttings produce about 4 - 5 tons of haylage per acres.  This forage is high in protein which carries through into the milk produced by the cows.

Here's a song that we sing about hay when we host school kids.  (To the tune of Row, Row, Row Your Boat).

Milk, Milk, Milk the Cows

We milk them every day

Ice Cream, Cheese and Yogurt too

We make them all from HAY!!

Cutting Hay - View from the Cab - Part 2 of 3

This video shows just how accurate the GPS autosteer system we use for cutting hay is.  You will notice there is no overlap into the previously cut row and no hay that gets skipped.  This technology makes us more efficient in terms of labor and fuel.

Cutting Hay - View from the Cab - Part 1 of 3

This video was taken on July 1, 2011 as I was cutting hay.  Our farm cut 400 acres of alfalfa hay on Friday and Saturday and chopped it all on Saturday and Sunday.  The following 2 days we cut about the same number of acres for my uncles farm - we do all our harvesting with them in a partnership.  They provide half of the equipment and labor and we provide the other half, which allows us to spread our equipment costs out over a larger number of acres.

Enjoy the video!!!

Farmin Facts!! Doing More with Less!!!

Dairies Environmental Impact: 1944 vs. 2007.

Did you know that research by Capper et al. (2009) shows that modern dairies require 21 percent fewer animals, 23 percent less feedstuffs, 35 percent less water and 10 percent less land to produce the same 1 billion kg of milk. Emissions have also been reduced since 1944, as dairies today produce 43 percent less CH4 and 56 percent less  N2O per billion kg of milk.

 

Since it is estimated that we need to nearly double food production for the world by 2050, we need continued advancements in technology and science to feed the world.  This is such a progressive industry we are part of and not only are we looking forward to what's to come, but we as an industry are up to the challenge!!

Cool Cows!!!

The dog days of summer can be quite a challenge for cows.  The past few days have been in the 90's and our big girls need to use extra energy to keep cool in temps like this.  There are several things we to to help with keeping them cool and comfortable:

When the girls come back from the parlor and stop by their feed bunk for a bite to eat, they are treated to a misting sprinkler system which gently sprinkles cool water on their backs.  A similar system in located in the holding pen to cool the cows while they wait to enter the parlor.  Admittedly, on days like today, I tend to find myself walking through rather than around this area!!

Then once they return to their beds, they get the breeze produced by one of these 4 foot fans mounted over where they sleep.

Finally, in the summer months, we add extra water troughs to encourage them to drink on the way to and back from the parlor.  These water tanks along with the 3 located in each pen are cleaned and disinfected twice weekly to make sure they are drinking plenty of good quality water.

So in the end, I guess you could say we treat our cows the same as our kids.  You see yesterday, I sent my daughter Kelsey for a swim in her cousins pool.  My daughter Hailey is gone this week to summer camp and I made sure she had a fan along to keep her cool.  And tonight when I took Kelsey to softball practice, I made sure she had a drink along and reminder her and her teammates to make sure they drink a lot during practice.  Now if only I could get my kids to be as predictable and mild mannered as my cows....