The County Fair

The Milligan Dairy  Farm has never gone to the fair, till now! I have decided to take our cows on the road to Jackson County Fair Grounds this fall.

As a dairy class, open show, we will take calves of various age groups to show. We might try to take some of the milking cows. I say "might" for one good reason, these cows might let you pet them, but not one of them  grew up with a lead rope around her head, and for a cow, that could seem pretty scarey.

We will also be sure to take some very young calves so kids can help bottle feed babies. So please, weather you are a share holder, neighbor, or blog follower, come hang out with us and our lovely cows at the fair.

Another sign of Spring

Getting stuck behind a slow moving tractor isn't fun for anyone, not even another farmer. Just remember to be patient and know that we farmers have to get from one field to the next if you want to eat again this year.

From now till October, if you have to travel down a country road, you might want to leave a bit earlier. We will be working fields and planting through May, then we go into hay season, mowing every 30 days. For us, it takes about that long to get all our hay fields cut, so when we finish the last field of hay we restart the first one in just a few days, so we are on the road almost everyday in the summer. Just when we are about done with the hay, it's time to start harvesting soybeans and corn.

Spring is here!

Spring is that time of year when everything feels like a game of hurry up and wait.

Glenn and Garrett spent two days running around all the pastures checking that every inch of fence is up and working. We don't want to turn the girls out and watch them head down the road. But now we have to wait for the pasture to be growing before we put the girls out. Hurry up and wait!

Our big group of heifers are all calving. That is very exciting, but also nerve racking. There are 30 young cows having a calf for the first time. First time mom's of any sort are nervous Nellies, and the babies don't always just drop out. We are trying to stay out of the way so as not to upset the young mom, but still be there and ready should she need help. Hurry up and wait!

We are also trying to get all our equipment ready to do the fields, planning what crop will go where, and then we have to wait for the temperatures to be right so that our crops will grow. Hurry up and wait.