Fodder for the guys at the local feed and seed

Posted on April 18, 2012 by Sheri

The boys at the local feed and seed store chuckled at me today. I asked if they carried crabgrass seed. The reply, “People would give their right arm to get rid of their crabgrass. You must be pulling my leg.” Well, in mid-March I attended a forage conference near Linneus, Missouri. As you might assume, all the attendees were farmers and/or ranchers. As talk of forage management evolved, the subject of crabgrass came up and these farmers and ranchers started discussing the possibility of inter-seeding crabgrass into their pastures. The thought was to lightly till or drag pastures in May then broadcast seed at a rate of four pounds per acre. Graze at eight to ten inches. Also mentioned was that crabgrass seed is pricey, however it reseeds itself if managed properly.

This discussion stuck with me so when I went to purchase some fescue and orchard grass seed, I inquired about crabgrass seed. When the clerk realized that I was serious, he did offer to look up the availability and price. I declined, but thanked him all the same and went out to get my purchased seed loaded. As the dock loaders tossed the seed bags into my Cherokee, they said, “So, tell us about this crabgrass seed.” “Well”, I said, “In mid-March…”

As I pulled away, I could just picture those feed store fellows settling back into the old, worn chairs they had left in order to assist me and start talking about the girl who came in asking about crabgrass seed. Seed for a grass nobody wants.

The Noble Foundation and Auburn University are a few places that have done research on using crabgrass as a forage. It sounds promising but management is key.

After returning home, I did price crabgrass seed… $325.00 per fifty pound bag. Pricey is right.

Cowbirds are trailing the herd

Posted on April 13, 2012 by Sheri

The Brown-headed Cowbirds are back and trailing our small herd. I have mixed feelings about their presence though. Cowbirds are small blackbirds with brown heads, which walk the ground among grazing cattle, to forage on insects, beetles, spiders and seeds among other things. They can have all the flies they want, however I covet the presence of dung beetles. Cowbirds are known as parasites. They lay their eggs in the nests of other birds then fly away. The nest owner mistakenly incubates the eggs along with their own.

Well, darn it…

Posted on April 12, 2012 by Sheri

We received a letter from our milk supplier yesterday; he is retiring from his farm-based dairy business. Darn it. I can’t recall how long we’ve been buying raw milk from Sam, however it’s been awhile. Sam is a local, honest, reliable business man, and we appreciate the service he gave us. The fact that Sam hand wrote a full-page letter to his customers testifies to the fact that he cared about the people he served. It has been great to have fresh milk delivered to us and we’ll miss it. Thanks, Sam.

And homemade ice cream season is just starting too. Double darn it.

In hindsight, we should have let the grass rest

Posted on April 9, 2012 by Sheri

On March 30^th I mentioned drought conditions in mid-Missouri. As the summer passed by, we grazed the pastures low in an effort to hold off on feeding hay and hoped for rain that didn’t come. We also sold a few cows. On September 24^th of last year, we started feeding hay. We usually start feeding hay in January. Now spring is here and we’ve had some timely rains. Our pastures are growing and looking good, however they would be further along in growth if they had had more rest during the drought. In hindsight, we should have let the grass rest more and fed hay earlier in one lot while the other lots rested. What if the spring moisture hadn’t come? When little forage is left for long amounts of time, such as drought conditions, the plant will stop growing to preserve its root energy. If the plant’s root reserves are used up, it dies. When this happens, there are no leaves to catch the rain when it finally does come and funnel it into the ground. We could easily continue our own drought conditions due to a lapse in management. Two thousand-eleven was the first year with such tough drought conditions since we implemented rotational grazing. We’re still moving forward though, and 2012 is looking good.

Eyeballs, lips and whatever else is dropped and scraped up off the floor

Posted on April 6, 2012 by Sheri

“Pink slime” has made the news and false claims about it are hurting the beef industry. It has been exaggerated to be made of discarded meat scraps which are soaked in ammonia and mixed in with meat products such as hamburger. I like to keep in mind that reality cook shows and the media like drama and attention. I also like to keep in mind that the USDA Food Safety and Inspections Division prohibits the use of mechanically separated beef in food for people. None-the-less, I decided to look into this pink slime stuff. Apparently it is lean, finely textured beef separated from fat trimmings by the use of a centrifugal force. Sometimes, these beef trimmings are exposed to a small amount of food-grade ammonium hydroxide, in a gas form, to act as an anti-microbial agent. Meat isn’t soaked in ammonia. Which, really, is just common sense. Small amounts of these trimmings are then mixed in with products such as hamburger. Because the trimmings are so lean, the burger doesn’t have the flavor and texture that consumers are used to. The fat in beef accounts for part of its flavor. So, basically, pink slime, which is actually a misnomer, is lean beef. For anyone who might stumble across this post, I hope you understand that beef is delicious, safe and nutritious.

As a side note… Mechanically separated meat (beef) is a meat product made by forcing bones with edible meat attached through a sieve-type device to separate the bone from the meat. This becomes dog food.

It’s official

Posted on April 2, 2012 by Sheri

Grazing season officially started today. Our daughter and I set up the first lot. I did something a little different in this area as opposed to last year. By running an extra polywire through the a small area of our woods, I hope to extend the grazing time by a day and to trample some multifloral rose sneaking into the area. We plan to graze most of our wooded areas this year to manage for invading cedar tree sprouts as well.

Pioneering spirit

Posted on April 2, 2012 by Sheri

I’m not saying we’re as rugged as the homesteading families of the 1800’s, however we do have a streak of pioneering spirit running through us. After Don started smoking a ham this morning, he lit a fire under the lard kettle and set up the press. Time to render some lard. It was a boiling hot chore usually reserved for the fall season, however an opportunity to get some free pork fat came our way and we just couldn’t pass it up.

It’s the life

Posted on March 31, 2012 by Sheri

This morning we picked up a 30 foot steel beam and trailered to our farm. One of the out building is shifting and we plan to use the beam for stabilization as we shore the building up. Our flatbed is only 18 feet, however loading and transporting went very smooth.

This evening Don made kettle corn and as a family, we listened to the night as the fire died down. It’s the life to live.

It’s that time of year

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Sheri

It’s that time of year. The grass is growing well and it’s time to review our grazing rotation plan. Don and I have already walked the pastures to see what forages are showing up. Of course there is fescue, this is Missouri. We mostly looked for legumes and found them. The summer of 2011 brought drought conditions to our farm; however the pastures are bouncing back with the spring rains. Our girls are eager to get out of their winter pastures and into the taller, lusher green grass. We, however, would like to see the pastures mature a little more.

I been thinkin’