Shelled Corn Harvest 2009

We are so thankful to be done with Harvest for the year!
Shelled Corn Harvest was wrapped up late Wednesday and it feels pretty good to have all the crops in this year! It was a challenge to say the least and would have been almost impossible had we not been blessed with the weather in November.
Above is a picture of my dad combining the corn and unloading it into the Grain Cart that Jerry is driving.




Jerry drives the Grain Cart over and unloads into the semi-trailer for Dennis. A full trailer will hold around 1000 bushels of corn. The average bushels per acre for this year was around 170. Some of the lowest yeilding feilds were the last to be planted this spring because of the rainy cold weather.




The trailer heads back to the farm, drives across the scale, and then unloads the corn so it can be dried.






Uncle Tom will take a sample from each load and test it for the moisture level. The corn needs to be at a minimum of 15% moisture. Which was one of the biggest challenges this year. The average moisture level of the corn we harvested was 30%. So that meant a lot of work for the Corn Dryers, and a big bill from the Propane Company:)




The corn will be stored in the big silver Grain Bins and some will be used to balance out the diet of the cattle- starting with the little calves, all the way through to the milking cows.
We will sell most of this corn through contracts to the local grain elevator.
And of course, about 30 bushels will be set aside for the Corn Box!

Magical Beans!

The soybean is a truly amazing plant!


We wrapped up Soybean Harvest 2009 about 5 days ago. The yeilds were actually quite good (about 55 bushels/acre) and much better than we anticipated with such cold and wet conditions this year. We will keep some of the crop to use as a protein source for the cow's feed. We contracted a lot of the beans to Zeeland Farmers Elevator this year. They are known for making products like Zoye soybean oil. (I use it in place of vegetable oil!)
We did try something new this year (new for SwissLane anyway). We are going to use the soybean chaff as bedding-just like straw. It has been a little challening to get consistent, quality sawdust this year (see previous post) so this will help. We typically don't harvest this because we don't have a whole lot of storage.



We started bedding the calf pens with this yesterday....so far, so good!

Hunter's Holiday

Opening Day of Deer Gun Season is always a pretty big deal at the farm. Most of the guys around here enjoy hunting (and see the great need for it in the last few years). So, that always leads to a few challenges for morning chores every November 15th.... this year I kind of enjoyed it though.
After I finished my calf chores this morning, I headed over to the "Vet Office" to see if the Weekend/Holiday Crew (my dad and cousin Tom) needed any help. Of the many objectives each morning, the main focus is Prevention and Early Detection of sick cows. The cows are the most susceptible to illness (like mastitis or uterine infection) right after they have their calf. So, we have a special group for all of the new mothers.
One of my jobs today was to take the temperature of all the cows that had delivered 3 and 12 days ago (they also take a urine sample of these cows too). The cows will be moved to the next group (according to her age/milk production) if her temp/urine check is good.
My next job was to tend to a new mother. She needed Calcium (the developing calf can deplete the calcium from the mothers blood) and Vitamin B (for appetite).
Taking these precautions every day is crucial to the health of our cows!

We finished the last few tasks and all of us even made it to church on time!
It was really nice to break out of my routine and see how important each person's role plays in producing high quality milk.
As for the deer...only one doe was taken off the property this morning!

In Case You Haven't Herd...

Milk is the best (tasty and nutritious)way to get your calcium! 3-A-Day: A bowl of cereal, slice of cheese on a sandwich, and a yogurt....that's all it takes to get the calcium you need for the day!

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See Michigan...Ohio GETS IT!

http://www.dairyherd.com/news_editorial.asp?pgid=675&ed_id=9806&ts=nl1&emc=el&m=1839757&l=16&v=b66680d9c9
I think the lesson to be learned here is that consumers just want to know that animals are well cared for- no matter who is behind the legislation.
This summer I posted about Animal Care legislation that had just been introduced in Michigan.
http://dairydiscoveryatswisslanefarms.blogspot.com/2009/07/animal-care-legislation-good-for.html
I was so excited about this legislation I even sent a letter to The Grand Rapids Press.
All aspects of agriculture came together to support this legislation because it would first and foremost ensure animal care, while protecting the future of agriculture in the state. Decisions would be made based on science by knowledgeable professionals instead of the emotions of activists trying to advocate Veganism.
Well, the legislation passed through Committee and the House but, when it got to the Senate things took a little turn.... The Poultry and Pork groups went into private negotiations with the Humane Society of the Untied States (HSUS) and amended the legislation by changing current industry practices (increasing cage size and decreasing time in gestation crates).
I am not here to argue about how much space a sow needs because I have no idea! I have maybe seen 10 pregnant sows in my whole life- clearly I should not decide how to care for them.
What I will say is that negotiating with groups like the HSUS is a very bad idea. Their agenda is to abolish animal agriculture- they don't care how big the cages are- they don't want anyone to even OWN a chicken! To them the chicken should have the same rights as humans.
In one (and only ONE) way I can see the positive in the slanderous, untruthful, hateful messages that Animal Rights groups spread about farms across America. It makes me even more passionate and thankful for the job I get to do every day!
If you are genuinely interested in the truth about what happens on today's farms- you are but a phone call away from your own Dairy Discovery tour!

It must be the MOOn!

Yesterday there were 18 calves born at SwissLane! And 6 of those were born between 4:30 and 5:00pm! WOW! The record number of calves born in one day still stands at 21. The average number is 4 per day.

Typically, we will blame the surge in births on a change in barometric pressure. However, the weather was pretty calm last evening and it left us a little puzzled... until the moon came out. It must have been that full moon!
To say the least there was a little commotion in the "Maternity Ward" last night. Luckily, we have got a really good team that knows the routine so all of the cows and calves received the best care possible and they're doing great. While 2 guys were helping one cow with a somewhat difficult birth, one was tending to the newborn calves, and yet another focusing on the post-partum care of the cows.
Looking ahead it seems that we may be experiencing more and more days like this in the coming months! The projections are about 470 cows due before the first of the year! HOLY COW:)

Milking it Through The Hard Times

Changes in milk prices are just a way of life on a dairy farm. However, the volatility of the market over this past 18 months is just plain scary. The extremely high prices from last summer were matched with the extremely low prices we have been facing for the past 9 months.
I get a lot of questions about why this is happening, and here are even a few local stories on milk prices:

http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2009/09/no_longer_milking_it_low_price.html

http://www.wzzm13.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=110560

http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/09/glut_of_milk_hurting_michigan.html

There are many factors that have contributed to the decline in milk prices. Just to name a few:
- China's Melamine Scandal
- New Zealand and Australia recovered from drought and took over the exports the US was filling
- Dairy Farmers expanded their herds to fill the demand of 2008 which led to more milk on the market
- Product Substitution: when milk prices jumped companies turned to alternative products like soy
- Depressed Global Economy

Well personally, I typically support the idea of a free market and have never really been to thrilled to hear about subsidizing or "bailouts" for an industry. If there is no demand, discontinue the product.
Here is a very opinionated editorial about dairy subsidies from the Washington Post.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/08/AR2009100803578.html?referrer=emailarticle
Mr. Editorial seems to make a few good points.....
However, when we are talking about our food supply, and dairy cows for that matter, it gets a little more complicated then just supply and demand. We can't just shut down the parlor for a month when there is too much milk. We would actually have to slaughter animals. Then when demand increases we can't just start bringing cows back to the parlor. It takes years before the cow can even produce. The US Dairy Industry was right there to fill the demand last year and must be ready for next time. I pray that we won't see a day when we have to rely on other countries for our food supply.

“Just two years ago, the price of milk was approaching $5 a gallon, thanks to strong U.S. and foreign demand; dairy farmers were making money hand over fist. But no one passed a law telling them to share the windfall with grocery shoppers,” the editorial said.
Just for the record..... there was no windfall! If you remember, energy costs skyrocketed at that same time which, in turn, caused feed and fertilizer increases. So when it was costing farmers $18 to make 100 lbs of milk, they were getting paid $20 (this was for about 5 months in 2008). Compare that to now, cost of production is $15 milk pay price is $10 (for about the last 9 months).




There are a few forecasts that predict prices to rebound (and maybe even spike again....ugh) by next spring. Until then we'll just keep hangin in hangin out and hangin on!