Calling the Cows...

One thing that I have really appreciated about the new perimeter fence is the ease of moving the cows to new grass. We are not yet to once a day rotations yet, but we are getting there as I figure out how much grass they need each day and how to handle them with the tall warm season grasses that we have right now. I'm trying to use the cows as part of my pasture renovation by getting them to eat down as much as I can before I come back in with the anthill buster and the brush hog (to get rid of all the bushes).

All that being said, one of my favorite things to do is call the cows to some new grass ... it always amazes me that they will come (even from the other side of the farm) and it surprises people when the see it. I can't say that I've done anything special to train my cows, so I just think it is in their genes (kind of joking there).

But, Saturday evening a they were in a far corner of a large open area and I wanted to get them into some fresh grass. I walked out into the field and started calling out, "Come on now cows!" Slowly but surely they started bawling out and starting to move towards me. I kept calling and walking towards the opening in the electric fence I wanted them to go to. Once the lead cows came over the hill and saw what was going on they took off running!

In a matter of minutes they were all in the new area and grazing away. I stood there for quite a while (with some friends) watching them fill their mouths with fresh grass and see the calves bound around and upset their mothers by walking under the fence to the good stuff (there is clover in the areas where I have mowed). I'm not saying that I know why it works to call them like I do ... I'm just saying it works and it is enjoyable!

(I'll try and get a picture up this afternoon or evening)

1 in 6 Iowans...

I realize that from time to time it may seem like I'm a little hard on conventional agriculture here in Iowa and around the country. Really, I just am passionate about what we are trying to do and what others are already doing that is outside of the "2009 agricultural box" that it can come across like that (and sometimes I'm just plain hard on something). But, the other day I came across this report from the Iowa Farm Bureau that says 1 in 6 Iowans have jobs either directly or indirectly related to agriculture. I thought that was a good thing for my state...

I'm not sure what the percentage was 50 years ago, but 1 in 6 isn't too bad in an age where the number of farmers is shrinking, but the size of farms is rising. Our state has found ways to capitalize not only on our great soil and climate from growing corn, but also on our ability to come up with different ways to keep the economy rolling within the agricultural world we have here. There are some very smart people coming up with some pretty crazy things here in Iowa that effect farming all around the world.

Just think how many more jobs agricultural could provide in Iowa if we support for locally raised food continued to grow at the rapid pace that it is growing now ... We'd have to add more farmers! Just a little food for thought...

Where Have I Been...

For about a month I have been mostly gone when it comes to the blogging world, in fact I'm not sure if there will be anyone left out there to read this. But, I am back ... well, at least I think I'm back and I'm going to try to be back. I guess after 600 plus posts here and over 100 posts on the Epi-Log I kind of caught a bit of the writers block bug and slowly fizzled out. First I started posting later in the day, then I started missing a few days, and then I just quit posting altogether. But, today ... maybe ... I'm back. At least I'm going to try to be back because I miss the interaction and the exchange of knowledge!

So, what has been going on? I don't really know where to begin because I'm not exactly sure where I left off, but I will share a few updates today and over the next few days.

• As you know from previous posts (at least I think this has been covered), the perimeter fence is completely up now and working wonderfully. I still have to put up four 12 foot gates (two openings) on the outside by the woods, but other than that we are just using it and it is working great. Out on the line we get about 9.6 kV, which I think is pretty good (and I can say from first hand experience it provides quite a shock!). The next chore is to put up the fence around the house, it will run at half voltage and have a cut-off switch.
• Last week five pigs took a trip to the locker. Loading was quite a chore, but I feel like I was a little more prepared this time even though it still took a while. One of these days I will build the perfect system, for now less than perfect will have to do. In other pork related news we now have two state certified freezers that we can sell meat out of. This allows us to sell by the package or by bundles of cuts. I'm looking forward to this because I know we have quite a few customers interested in 10-20 pounds instead of a half or a whole. The inspection process was pretty easy. We just had to pay the money, have them come out, show a label from the locker (we can put a "raised by" label on it), and put up a "No Smoking" sign by the freezer. If you are insterested in pork send us an e-mail and we will let you know what is available when it is available.
• The shed ... ahh ... the shed. It needs steel on the sides, I haven't gotten that done yet...
• Our new bull Sundance is adjusting well to the farm and being kind of loud! He is doing great, but we have him seperated from the herd still so he likes to call out and make his presence known to the ladies and the other boys in the herd. I find that he likes to talk the loudest at the times when I like to sleep the most. But, other than that we are still super glad that he is here and I absolutely love his temperment ... and he loves his treats!
• Winter hay is still and ongoing issue for me, but I think we are starting to get this squared away. In fact I didn't mean that to be a play on words, but I think will will actually be feeding mostly small square bales this year (from our farm and my dad's). I think this will work out the best, because it will make it much easier to feed inside the shed with deep bedding for the animals. Now, I just need to line up some corn stalk bales for bedding (I have no idea how many I will need).

So, I'm back ... and ... that is just a taste of what has been going on while I have been away from the blog. As some of you may have figured out I haven't been getting back to all my e-mails either with all that has been going on, but I'm slowly making my way through those as well. Thanks again for all the insight and discussion all you readers have added! All that help has really come in handy as we begin to make some visible progress on the farm.

Follow Stoneyfield on Facebook

Becca has recently set up a Facebook page for our farm, Stoneyfield. You can check it out here or from the Facebook button on the right of the page. It contains links to things like our websites and features done on our farm. There will also be some photo galleries. If you become a fan of it (a Facebook term for the non-Facebookers) you will recieve updates about products for sale, any new features done about the farm (hopefully there will be another one or two sometime), and whatever else gets added to the page.

The Vegetables of Our Labor

There are many things that I enjoy about farming and living on the farm, but one thing that is really fun are the times when we get to enjoy the fruits of our labor. Or in the case of the supper I had the other night it is the pork and vegetables of our labor! As you can see from the picture above we are starting to harvest some of our sweet corn and while we have it at meals there is also plenty to freeze for the winter. Along with the sweet corn my wife has also been canning green beans and we should have a good supply of each until next years garden is producing.

One thing that we have noticed though is that the sweet corn in the ground where the pigs lived is doing amazing. But, the tomatoes and other things in the area where they weren't isn't doing as well. It is obvious why this is happening, but I'm always amazed at how much some good nutrients can add to the garden. We will put the pigs in there for a little while in the fall again and hopefully begin building some good soil.

In the mean time we can eat plenty of corn and beans (and a few tomatoes) and of course enjoy some great pork along with the meal. Now, if only I could plant some grains on a small scale then we could have home grown bread as well...

Busting Anthills

A Ford 5000 ... a spring toothed harrow with sweeps ... and a drag harrow ... now we are in business busting anthills! Thanks to the help of (and shopping) of my uncle I am now able to bust up some anthills and try to get this pasture smoothed out a bit. And, I must say that this little rig is working great. Because of the size of some of the hills it will probably take a pass from each direction, but once it is all said and done I think we are going to do quite a number on the anthills on the farm.

The next step will be getting rid of all the brush and then over course deciding what to send into the grasses that are already there. On one hand I could just let it come back on it's own over time, but I think with a little investment we can get the pasture in shape a little more quickly and add in some cool season grasses to go along with the relatively thin stand of warm season grasses that are left in the fields.

I will admit that it is the brush clearing that will take the most amount of time though. For much of it I can attack it with my brush mower on the back of the tractor, but there are a few stands of locust trees that will need to be taken out with the chain saw because they are pretty thick and pretty plentiful. On top of that they are very thorny! Once we get that accomplished then we may drill in some seed.

I plan on talking with some farmers in the area for a good seed mixture to use, but I know for sure that I will be talking with the local grassfed beef farm that has hosted a couple PFI field days the past two years. It is nice to see things start to come together around the farm!

Pork For Sale!

Once again, we have “Old Fashioned Pork” available, just like Grandpa and Grandma used to have. Our pigs are kept outside free of confinement houses and have been allowed to live the way pigs were designed to live - rooting up the ground, wallowing in the mud, and relaxing in the sun. This summer the hogs we have available are a Berkshire/Hereford cross, for sale by the whole and half.

Pricing is as follows:

• Purchase of hog = $1.85 / pound hanging weight to be paid to Stoneyfield Farm
• Processing of hog = $0.60 - $0.65 / pound hanging weight (their average for a typical order) to be paid to Milo Locker - an award winning, state inspected locker

The hanging weight of the hogs we have this summer should be somewhere around 175 lbs, give or take depending on the individual animal. The amount of meat you receive will reflect on the specific cuts you choose. The average order usually takes home around 70% of the hanging weight. For example, 70% of 175 lbs is 123 lbs.

We have a processing date reserved at the Milo locker, and the meat should be ready to be picked up the first week of September. Feel free to e-mail with questions or for more specific information on cut choices.

Meet Tama Sundance

Well, about 1,100 miles later we finally have our new bull, Tama Sundance, home safe and sound. Except for some storms on Tuesday morning our trip was fairly uneventful as far as things go when you are hauling a bull half way across the country. Sundance was a good passenger who didn't make any noise and drank plenty of water along the way. It was also a relief to see him walk right out of the trailer and have some grass, drink some clean water, and eat a little all within the first five minutes on the farm.

As you can see from the picture above he truly does look like a bull, which is something that we were really looking for. But, beyond looking like a bull we think he will add a lot to our herd. He has great feet and seems to pass that on to his progeny (good feet are an issue in the Dexter breed). Also, the folks we bought him from feel like he improved the udders of his offspring as well.

Another plus for him is that he is red and homozygous from the dun color. That was a nice addition for us because we have a growing number of dun cows and heifers in our herd and I just plain like that color. Also, the red is nice to have becasue we do have a red heifer now and I wouldn't mind adding more so that we can have a representation of all the colors (black, dun, red).

All in all I'm glad to have him here on Stoneyfield Farm. He seems like he is a gentle guy and I think will be a great fit for the farm. Right now he is haning out by himself and getting acclamated to the farm, but we can't wait to get him out with some of the herd.

"Why Don't He Write..."

Okay, today's title is a great line from a movie ... anyone know what movie it is from? But, the bigger question is where have I been. For quite awhile now I have been blogging six days a week. In fact I have even come up with posts to put up while I was gone on mission trips and other youth related things. But, for the past month or so blogging has been pretty tough because of all of our projects and farm work. I guess it finally caught up with me and now it has been almost a week since I have posted. But, I have a reason...

We have been on the road for the past few days taking in a wedding and heading all the way to Virginia to go bull shopping. I figured that since we were in the area (well, it was 9 hours from where the wedding was) we might as well go and pick up a nice Dexter bull. Our travels took us to Olde Towne Farm in Virginia and to Tama Sundance (the picture above is from the Olde Towne Farm website because I forgot my camera cord).

Sundance is a great looking bull that we think will add a lot to our herd in years to come and we are excited to see some calves! Hopefully now I can pick-up the blogging again, because there sure is a lot that I need to catch up on.

Farm Updates...

You may have noticed that I haven't posted the past couple of days like I usually would. Things have been busy on the farm as I've been pushing to get some projects finished up so I can move onto the next thing. I thought it would be good to just share a few quick updates today while I'm at work...

• The fence is really coming along and I'm hoping to have the perimeter wrapped up tonight after picking up some supplies in town. All I have to do yet is bury a wire underground and then put on some jumpers. With that we will have electric fence all the way around! Some of the finishing touches will have to wait until a couple other projects are done, but the most important stuff is done.
• If you are scoring at home we have had four calves this year. One dun bull calf, one dun heifer, and two black heifers. Seventy-five percent heifers ... I guess I'll take that! I will admit that in the evenings I often get side tracked watching the calves run around kick up their heels.
• Our pigs are growing. In fact we have five butcher hogs ready to go and I'm thinking they are going to be pretty tasty because of the Berkshire in them. The only problem we are facing right now is that the processor we used last time is booked up because of fairs until late August. We are looking for another option now, but if you are interested in a half or a whole just let me know.
• As I have mentioned previously the shed is up and it is now ready for steel to be thrown up on the sides. I'm hoping to get the project knocked off the list in the next couple of weeks, but we have to do a little planning first. Hopefully it won't be an overwhelming job, but if I have learned anything out here on the farm I have learned that nothing ever goes as planned.
• In other farm related news my wife has been canning green beans at least once a week for the last few weeks. When all is said and done we hope to have a good supply for the winter. Also, the sweet corn is coming along nicely, but it isn't quite ready yet. I can't wait for it!

Thinking of Winter Feeding...

With all of the fence blogging going on lately I have neglected to mention one of the biggest topics on my mind lately, which has been winter feeding. Because of everything else associated with getting the farm up and going (which is the big push this summer) we weren't able to make hay with the first cutting of our grass and I know that with only one cutting there won't be enough to make it through the winter. This means that I'm going to have to buy in some hay, which also means that I'm going to be feeding mostly round bales again this winter. And, to top that all off it means that I need to figure out how to get the big round bales to the farm. So far I have come up with a couple of options.

Option #1: Try and buy all of my hay relatively locally. I'm hoping to have between 40 and 50 big round bales so that I don't have to worry about buying late in the winter, but that also means quite a bit of transportation. Last winter when I bought 12 bales a friend from church hauled them for me in two trips, but this would be a much more substantial undertaking. One idea would be to buy from someone that delivers. This would be the easiest way to get my hay and would take the least amount of my time, but it could be the most costly.

Option #2: This is kind of the crazy idea and whether or not I like the idea really just depends on my mood at the moment. My step-grandmother owns some land about an hour and a half from us that has about 11 acres of grass on it. I could use my dad's tractor, mower, and rake to get that hay ready and then hire my cousin to come down and bale it. This would also include paying some sort of rental price to my step-grandmother. After it was all baled then I would have to hire my cousin again to haul it up to the farm (where I would need some help unloading). One nice thing is that my cousin can haul 11 bales at a time. The downsides of course are that it will mean more time spent on my part and that it may not save me that much. I guess an upside is that I could maybe get a very small second cutting off the ground that I could square bale so I would have some small squares on hand.

As I have been walking around the farm pulling fence, pounding posts, and putting in cotter pins these are the two options I have bounced back and forth in my mind. As I type them out I still can't decide which option I like the best. Any thoughts?

A Good Fencing Wrap-Up

It's another busy day at the office, at the fair, and on the farm. But, I did want to point out a great overview article about the fencing project that Gary Duncan put up on the Powerflex website. You can check out his thoughts and some pictures of the work by taking this link. I think Mr. Duncan did a great job of boiling down our three days of work into a nice article and it is pretty cool to see how far we have come! Of course I need to thank him again (and my uncle) for all of the help. Without their help we wouldn't have cattle up against new fence now ... but, we do!

Another Fencing Update

There may be a point when you get tired of blog posts about fencing, but right now I'm just so excited about it. Plus, yesterday I made quite a bit of progress on the exterior fencing along the woods and I'm getting pretty close to fencing in some cows. There are three sections of fence along the woods and I was able to get all three wires up on the shortest section and even have them clipped in before dark. But, that was only part of my night.

After work I loaded up a trailer full of Powerflex posts and other supplies and took off. In just a little over one hour I was able to pound in 71 sixty inch Powerflex posts 18 inches into the ground. After I had all those in it took about another hour to go through and drill three holes in each post for the cotter pins. Then with the sun still up (or at least it was still light enough even though it was cloudly) I decided to put up a couple more wires! I feel like I'm getting the hang of it now, even though I still can't break the wire like Gary Duncan did.

I guess I don't have a lot of other fence building experience to draw on, but I feel like working with the smooth hi-tensile wire is fairly easy once you get the hang of it. And I know that attaching the wire to the Powerflex posts is extremely easy, plus I love the fact that I don't have to worry about shorts on the posts like I would with steel.

All in all, I think I'm just a few evenings of work away from getting everything up and running except for a bit of fence around the yard. That will be a day of celebration!

Marion County Fair 2009

It is county fair season here in Iowa (and probably around many parts of the country), so that means it is time for kids all over to throw on their farm clothes and spend a few days showing their livestock and hanging out in the barns. I love this time of year because I think it really does cause the kids involved to slow down a little and really enjoy life without all the cultural stimulation, but I have a feeling that the 4-H shows of today are quite a bit different than there were 50 years ago and it does cause me to think a little.

This morning I spent some time at the breeding ewe show and watched kids of all ages show their sheep and take home their ribbons and trophies. There was an interesting comment from the judge that did cause me to think a little about the world of showing livestock and what we have to look forward to with our children (because 4-H is probably in their future if they want). As he was judging a class of eight ewes he said something along these lines,

"My son is big into the club lamb world and if he were here right now he would be scratching his head at the order I have them lined up. But, I'm a farmer and our lambs need to make us money so I like this first ewe because she looks like she is ready to go to the pasture with the ram."

I am actually glad that he said that because in my mind that is what 4-H should all be about ... kids showing animals that are and will be productive on their farms or on a nearby farm. But, I think there is a growing push to buy in livestock that will help bring the prizes instead of producing good stock on the farm. I hope there are judges like that when our kids are showing.

So, do any of you have any experience in 4-H or the livestock showing world? Like most of the farming world it is pretty foreign to me, but I'm interested in learning more!

Not Just Fence...

The past couple of weeks has been all about fence on the blog and on the farm. But, that hasn't been the only thing happening. As you can see from the picture above the builders finished with their part of the shed and now the rest of the work is up to me (and hopefully the help of some other people). We ended up with 13 foot side walls because there was some extra room on the posts (which is really nice) and because we have the higher sidewalls it also means the lean-to is a foot taller as well on the outside wall. All in all I really love the shed and can't wait to get some steel up on the sides and get it closed in. In the meantime I'm just glad to park stuff inside and keep it kind of out of the elements.

Our super-duper late calving season is also continuing, but I think we may be getting close to the end of it. So far this season we have had four calves with three of them being heifers (two black and one dun). Those are pretty good percentages, but it doesn't give us very many steers for the freezer. One neat thing about the most recent dun heifer born is that it happened right up by the fence where Gary Duncan was working. So we have so pictures from early on in it's life!

Other than that things are moving right along and it is beginning to feel like things are starting to come together. The work does seem a little overwhelming, but like people keep telling me ... it will get done!

PowerFlex Fence Project :: Day Three

Yesterday was Gary Duncan's last day helping out on our farm and I just want to say ... Thank You Mr. Duncan (I guess my habit of using "Mr." on the blog is causing him some grief back at the office)! The help that he was able give was incredible and really gave us some help in a very important project. Beyond the teaching though I have to say that he just plain worked hard, and hopefully we didn't wear him out. By the end of the day yesterday we had all the fence up along the roads and the grounding rods installed.

We were also lucky enough to have a couple visitors today that drove down to check out the Powerflex posts and the hi-tensile fence. They were a couple we met during our Grow Your Small Market Farm class and I have to admit that I learned a bunch more with them here because they asked a lot of great questions. Later in the eveing while I was putting the finishing touches on some fence a neighbor stopped by and said, "Okay, you have piqued my curiosity". We were able to have a nice talk about fence and I shared a little about our new fence and the Powerflex posts in particular.

This was such a great experience and I am becoming a big believer in hi-tensile fencing and the Powerflex posts. But more importantly I think I have learned enough to finish the rest of the fence. As a truly beginning farmer there are a lot of things that I do on the farm that I have never done before. Thanks to the help of people like Mr. Duncan, our friends, and of course our family. Keep checking back for updates on the fence and I'll let you know how it goes!

PowerFlex Fence Project :: Day Two

Tuesday was a nice day. It was partly cloudy with a breeze that kept things cool for all of the work. Tuesday night into Wednesday it stormed and stormed, but when we woke up yesterday morning the sun was shining and except for all the mud it was another great day to work. So, with the weather in our favor we started early and got quite a bit of work done. If you were out on the farm working with us today you probably would have heard me say things like this:

• "Ahh, my boots are stuck in the clay/mud/goop!"
• "I am ready to be done with the wood posts and move on to the rest of the fence."
• "There is no way I could have every got this done without the help of you (talking to Gary Duncan of PowerFlex)."
• "I cannot believe how light weight these posts are."
• "There is no way I could pull one of these out of the ground."
• "I've put a few different kinds of posts up on this farm in the past year, but by far I like putting this one in the best (in reference to the PowerFlex posts)."
• "Check this out, I'm carrying the post driver and five posts with no problem. No way I could do that with steel posts."
• "You know, I think even I can figure out how to do this (in reference to putting up the fence myself)."
• "That is so cool, but I can't do it (me talking about how Mr. Duncan breaks off the wire with a clean break)."

That is just a small sampling of the positive things I had to say about our new Hi-Tensile fence and PowerFlex posts. I really can't believe how cool the process is of putting up this fence and strength (and looks) of the posts. One really cool thing about the PowerFlex posts is how easy it is drive them into the ground. Granted, the ground was soft after the rain, but we drove them in so quickly with just a regular post driver. If the ground is more solid you can just pound a pilot hole and then pound in your PowerFlex post. Let's just put it this way, in about thirty minutes time we put in about 70 posts!

Another thing that I found really exciting is how easy it is to attach the wire to the posts. We made a guide to place the holes at the correct spacing on the posts and then just used a cordless drill and a 7/32's bit to drill through in no time. Now we have one section of fence along the road completely done. I can't tell you how great that is and how amazing it looks!

Today we are back at it again and I think we will finish up the rest of the fence along the road. After that I will move onto the three-wire fence along the inside of the trees. I have set that up with a couple of gate openings so that I can get back there with a tractor to cut wood and also so we can flash graze the cattle in the woods and along the edges. Make sure you check back tomorrow to see what we get done!

Also, if you are in the area today, feel free to drop on by to see the process and talk to Mr. Duncan.

You're Invited . . .

We are opening our farm up today to anyone interested in PowerFlex fencing. Mr. Duncan is using a variety of products on our farm to show different options available with their products. He will also be here to answer any questions about their fencing system. So if you are wanting to learn more about this type of fence, drop us an e-mail and we'll send you directions to our farm.

PowerFlex Fence Project :: Day One

We have started! I can't tell you how great it is to actually say those words and see the progress as we get work done. Gary Duncan showed up yesterday morning with a truck load of materials and the know-how to get this fence going! Shortly after that my Uncle Loren pulled in with a tractor (my cousin Verne had also brought a tractor and post-hole digger Monday), a mower, and a bunch of tools. Before I knew it corner posts and wood transition posts were going in the ground and by the end of the evening we even had our first PowerFlex posts up on the perimeter.

In the picture above you can see Mr. Duncan teaching me how to tie a wire knot. Let me just tell you that it is one cool little trick. This is the process that he uses to tie the insulators to the wood posts and to tie the line wire to the insulator. In other places he used a crimp sleeve to make the loop. He is doing different things in different places so that I can get an idea of what is possible, but I have to say the wire knots seem the best because you don't really need any tools. Check out this link to go to a little article that explains the process.

This picture shows what much of my day involved. We had to put in the corner posts and line posts in order to start stringing the wire so there was a lot of digging to do. As you can see the John Deere 4020 and post hole digger came in handy. But, there was still some hand digging to do in order to get the posts deep enough. We are pretty much done with the perimeter posts, but there are a couple brace posts that need to go in yet. Today we are going to be focusing on putting in the posts along the woods. This will be a three wire fence so our bracing won't need to be as stout, but Mr. Duncan also pointed out that we could easily add a floating brace in the future if we needed to ... you can read about floating braces on the PowerFlex page at this link.

Finally, as I mentioned we even have the PowerFlex posts up on the first stretch of fence. In this picture you can see Mr. Duncan pounding in a post with a regular steel post driver. If you look really closely in the picture (you can click on it to enlarge it) you can see a blue thing sticking out of the ground just past the wood post in the picture. This is a tool that he used to make a pilot hole and then would pound in the post. He said we could just pound the posts in without the pilot hole, but he liked to do it this way because it helped get them in the ground straight.

Of course, chime in with any questions you have about the process and I'll make sure to take some time to answer (after asking Mr. Duncan of course!). Check back tomorrow for another update!

The Fence Begins...

If you have been following for the past five days or so you know that the fence work is set to begin today and you have also had a chance to read up on the type of fence we are doing and the posts that we are using. Today is the day we begin putting it all together and as luck would have it it is also the day that it has decided to rain and have storm chances! But, I'm going to press on as much as possible and complete all that I we can so that we can get this fence up. Keep checking back each day for pictures of the progress.

In a somewhat related note the shed is going up again (except that we might get rained out today) and I'm guessing they have about one days worth of work left. They are only putting up the roof and the framing so it doesn't take as long ... the steel on the sides will be another project for us...