A pat on my back....

Calving season 2018 has started hot and heavy. We have about 10 cows in the maternity ward with all of them being cows that I AI'd. That is a pretty big deal for me. We decided in 2014 that I would take the AI course and start AI'ing to help save money. Well last year I had two AI calves stick but unfortunately one was born premature and didnt make it. If you look at past blog post, I shared that experience with you. Well this year I am 2 for 7 so far, with the remaining cows ready to go at any time. I am pretty excited with 2 as that for me is a big accomplishment.

Having the security cameras up and running has really helped alot. As we speak we are watching the new momma cow lick her calf clean from the comfort of our warm home. While we all went out to make she the birth was going okay, we don't have to spend hours in the cold keeping watch.

2 down.....70 to go!

2018

2018 started out with cold weather and a good freeze, but 2 days later we are flooded and antipicating ice. What a mess. We took advantage off a good Black Friday sale and added a security system to the calving barn which will hopefully allow us to keep a closer eye on the cows so inturn help the calves. It has been quite an improvment and already is allowing us peace of mind. I told Will tonight that I might have to pull the plug if he keeps waking me up asking....is that a calf? Needess to say, there is a learning curve to it all. 

We received 2.5 inches of RAIN today so Will spent the day creating trenches to keep the water flowing as the temperature is hoovering around 33 degrees. After the trouble we had with the ice last year we are extra caution to keep water flowing. Hopefully we can escape the predicted forcast of freezing and then snow. With the cold weather we had the first few weeks of January the frost is very deep so we might be pumping water out of the field to clear the pond! Mother nature is one powerful women.

This year we retired our herd bull V56 Jalnie. After keeping almost all of his heifer over the last few years it was time to say goodbye, so Will has been busy looking for a replacement. After looking through our records and our calving rates we are needing to eliminate some of the old cows and replace them with more productive heifers so Will is also looking for breds to buy. Never ending....

Well, Lyndin is ready for bed and  I need to finish lundry and go checks cows (in person as I keep reminding Will is something that still needs to be done) before I can get some sleep. 

Cheers to the end of 2017

If you follow my blog I have wrote about a lot of our downfalls in 2017. Will and i often comment on how this was the hardest year so far so they can only go up...or so we hope. I am not going to recap the bad things as I hope to never relive them again but I want to recap the good.

January.....had our first batch of lambs. Started calving. Heather nominated for church council.

February.....moved into our (hopefully) forever home. Continued calving. Iowa beef expo. Surprise 35th birthday party pulled off for Will. Bought a new cattle trailer.

March....continued calving. Bought 2 new cows.

April...finished calving. Started working on plans for Wills dad's next step in life....assisted living and selling his house. Fast planting season

May...cows to pasture. Father in laws house listed for sale. Spent most of month cleaning out his acreage. Lyndin got tubes put in.

June...AFRICA! accepted offer on house. Parade season.

July...happy birthday America. Spent weekends in west union enjoying cows being on pasture. Jim moved to assisted living and loves it. Chickasaw county fair. Open cattle shows.

August...Lyndin turns 2. Iowa state fair.

September...another batch of lambs and goats. Redid bull barn. Bought j bunks. Big 4 Fair

October...Weaned calves. Harvest started. Chopped silage. Accepted second offer in wills dad's house.

November....Welcomed my goddaughter Mya to the family. Brought cows home. Thanksgiving. Sold feeder calves for $200 per head more than last year. Harvest finished. Finally finished family room in basement.

December...christmas. new years. Getting Christmas tree. Lyndin was a flower girl. Closed on wills dad's house. Heather accepted position on 4h youth council and will accepted beef superintendent position. Bought 30 new cattle gates.

We did have a successful year overall even with all our bad luck but I guarantee we are both looking forward to 2018 and a fresh start. Cheers to staying positive and things looking up.

If your thinking of marrying a farmer...

It is October and that means any plans made will be without my farmer. It's not the first, nor the last I will have to RSVP to a wedding 1 for sure, 2 depending on the weather....

It's harvest season, which means anything I do that isn't in the cab of a semi, likely doesn't involve him.


It has been 3 years since we said, "I do", and planning another play date so Lyndin doesn't notice her dad is gone.

If you're thinking about marrying a farmer, stop.

You will think about an insane schedule, completely dictated by weather the seasons. And completely out of your control. Completely.

You will picture interrupted dinners because someone showed up for a load of cows at an ungodly hour and interrupted weekend getaways because the cows are out. The cows always get out.

You will think about being solo at everything from weddings to funerals, that is, if you can even go at all.

You will think about making budgets and vacation plans based on the price cattle, knowing full whatever your plan won't be right.

In fact, it won't just be your budget that won't go as planned. It will be everything. EVERYTHING.

You see, marrying a farmer is full of risk. And thinking on it too long might let the risk overshadow a lot of things.

Things like riding together in the ranger to check cows, saving a calf you both poured your souls into.

Or watching your child's face light up when a baby lamb stands for the first time. Or raising your children knowing that the value of hard work will be engrained so deep in them they won't ever know any different.

Or being woke up at 1am by your farmer finally coming home - not from a night out on the town - but from a long day of working toward everything you both want.

Or sitting on the deck together, watching the sun rise over the land, animals and children the Lord has entrusted you to care for.

So if you're thinking about marrying a farmer, stop. Stop thinking and just do it!

​Because this crazy, dependent on the weather and price of grain lifestyle, is truly the greatest blessing in the world.

Even if it means going to everything stag.

Happy 3rd Anniversary

Today marks three years of Will and I being married and what a ride it has been. September 20, 2014 was a lot less hot than it is today. We got a little rain in the morning and the afternoon was just beautiful. We chopped corn the following week where this year we did in two days before. What a crazy three years it has been.

Will and I are still close with all of our wedding party except for one usher (family drama). We have welcomed into our hearts a daughter and 2 nephews (my sister's 2nd son and Will's "Brothers" third son) and a great nephew (Will's niece's son) and in those three years along with watching our nephews  who were just month's old at our wedding grow. There has been a lot of up's and just as many down's, but we have made it.

Marriage is hard work. There is a lot that goes into taking two different people and making them live cohesively and then add kids into the mix......crazy! I can say we have both grown individually, as a couple and as parents. Life is busier than ever, but we are surviving. We have made new friends along that way, some by crazy chance (like cows walking 3 miles to their house) and some by fate (like Will's cousins he didn't get a chance to grow up with). We have both taken a long look at who we want apart of our lives and who we need to cut out. Sometimes it is clear to us and other times we had to learn the hard way.

Our farm has grown by leaps and bounds. We added farm land and pasture land. We sold cows and added cows. Will even decided to part ways with his first bull he bought 9 years ago. We have upgraded our facilities and learned new ways of doing things to make things easier.

The one thing that stays the same is the love and commitment we have for each other, our daughter and future children and our promise to raise our family on the farm. As hard as it gets we will never fail as along as we don't loose site of those commitments.

Fall is coming Fast!

A week ago I thought harvest was never going to come. The corn was as green as it could be and the weather has been perfect for us but terrible for drying corn, but a lot has changed on the horizon in that week. Fields of corn and beans are drying up quickly and the weather is feeling more and more like fall. I would say we will be chopping within a week and harvest will start shorty after that. I think Will is feeling the pressure to get things ready for cattle to come home as we spent all weekend digging in posts and working on barns. The winds we had in May really did a number on our bull barn and wind break. Our contractor is about done with the bull barn repairs and Will and my dad worked on the wind break this weekend. I am not looking forward to Will going into the fields for harvest. Even though he really isn't home a lot now, he is a least able to do chores, during harvest that responsibility falls onto me. Last year Lyndin did not see him for 38 days. I am hoping since she is a little older maybe she will be able to spend some time in the semi with her dad this year. I learned last year that I really rely on my family and friends to help me get everything done during this busy time. As Lyndin gets older she likes to do her own thing instead of helping me and she doesn't like to sit still long enough to enjoy the tractor.

With this cooler weather it gets me thinking of Christmas and how busy our schedules can get so I am trying to pre-plan this year as we also have a family wedding during the holiday season. So if I ask about Christmas plans don't think I am crazy. I am just trying to squeeze everything in.

Shortly we will have feeder calves for sale. With the corn prices so low, now would be a great time to feed out some cattle. If you are looking for any, let me know. We also have a few show calves left if anyone is needs some quality show stock!

We made our own "high"

After all the lows we have had this year, Will and I decided to make our own high. Will has always talked and dreamed about owning an Australian Shepherd, but we never quite found the right fit until a Facebook post popped up in my news feed about a family looking to re home a 9 month Australian Shepherd male. I immediately sent a message to the lady and went and found Will. It was like it was meant to be. He quickly fell in love with just a few pictures. After talking to the lady they were looking to re home due to his anxiety when strangers came into the yard. He was great with their 2 and 3 year old daughters and other dogs and animals, but didn't like strangers, especially males. We decided to take the risk and made arrangements to meet in Austin, MN to pick him up. Well, after a few days of anxiety that the deal would fall through, we got to meet Sully. They asked that Will and Lyndin hide while they introduced him to me first. Sully jumped out of the car and right into my arms. He was full of kisses and love. Lyndin couldn't stay away any longer so she came running over and Sully greeted her will a million kisses. They both were in love. Then it was Will's turn. Will walked up and Sully sniffed him and went back to kissing Lyndin. The previous owners were happy with that response to him because normally he becomes aggressive. We loaded Sully into his kennel and off we went. We had planned to stop at a park about 30 minutes out of Austin to let both Lyndin and Sully run. Sully jumped right out and played on the playground with Lyndin and went right over to Will. They instantly had a great connection, so much that Sully road in the front seat with Will on the way home. It was great to see Will smile when he would look at Sully, I knew his heart was full once again.

Once we got home we introduced Sully to Aspen and Ahlee. After a few battles Aspen and Sully turned to playing. Ahlee is still a little unsure. We left Aspen and Sully in the garage overnight and moved Sully to the shed this morning. We noticed he liked to run after cars as one went by last night so we will need to teach him his boundaries before he is free to roam.

Sully has already started working on sit, stay, come and kennel and responded very good to those with us. He did chores with us last night and never once was aggressive towards any of the animals. I think he is going to be an excellent fit and a big highlight for our family. Our dog Aspen who is half german shepherd/half blue heeler has started showing some aggression towards the cows and other animals so we are hoping Sully will help calm her down. Will is hoping to work with Sully more to train him to watch gates while he is doing chores.

What a great "high" we had yesterday. Lyndin woke up saying "Ahlee Out" to put him outside and then "where Ully" as she wanted to see the new family member.