It is a ringer.

Decided to haul a few bale rings out onto the field Monday. The one ring is really big, too big, 9 feet in diameter and hard to handle. I normally move it with the skidloader. I had just dropped a big round bale down and was carefully moving the bale ring into position. One last adjustment and we should be good... That was until the ring decided to drop backwards instead of forward. It dropped backwards completely encircling the loader. If we were playing horse shoes this would have been a ringer! How in the heck was I going to get this thing off of the loader? Not only had it encircled the loader it was wedged nice and tight against the tires. Maybe I should take it apart? A quick jaunt to the garage and I proceeded to take the thing apart. Of course, all of the bolts would not budge. What was next? Well, I was running out of daylight and decided that F it, I was going to get the adrenaline pumping and lift that thing off! After much effort and cussing, I did it! I had "freed" myself. Now not to do that again!

This is the end

16 degrees this morning. I am hoping for some thawing weather this week. The ruts up in the mud by the barn are horrible. I think that if my children were to walk in them they couldn't see over the top. It is amazing how the ground freezing changes everything. What was once a deep puddle is now a small pond. We are going to try and move a fence this weekend, let's hope the weather holds. Pounding fence posts in the frozen ground is not real fun.

Harvest Day

Tomorrow three more steers are going to be harvested. It has been a good fall. Even with the economy down people are still willing to take care of their health and support their local farmer. It is hard to believe it has already been two years since those steers were born. If we cheated and filled them full of steroids and growth hormones we could get it done in 14 months, but why? I don't want to eat a cow that is on roids, do you? That rare steak might go on a rage and take that knife after you. Not going there.

Harvest Time

What a great two weeks it has been, we harvested 7 steers. After 2 years of good grass and lots of water and minerals they were ready to go. We are not only excited for the return on our investment, but the fact that more families in our local area are getting the chance to experience truly wholesome food. Unlike "factory fresh" beef ours is not a culumination of 150 animals in a grinder. The burger you get is from ONE animal. With 25% of all livestock being lame before it is slaughtered, do you really know what you are eating? Add to this the nitrates that are pumped into the sausage and hot dogs that you and your kids eat and ick. It is just not right that they can keep meat un-refrigated on the store shelves for months. I guess if we all eat enough of it they will not have to use formaldahyde on me when I die.