Viper     Stop by our farm around milking, and you’ll see a long line of cattle walking out to pasture or back to the barn. The new cowpath Guy finished this spring is three quarters of a mile long, traveling over a rolling landscape. That means we walk at least one-and-a-half miles per day. After a summer of walking every day, to and from pasture, we have muscled up.

Back in May, Guy planted five acres of oats as part of a project. The theory was that he would harvest the grain for feed and use the straw for bedding. Initially, the oats appeared to be forming a bountiful crop, but then the rains came in June and July. By mid-August, 75 percent of the crops lay on the ground, a condition called “lodging.” As a result, ragweed began to take over the field.

A bit discouraged, Guy learned he could not harvest his oats because of the heavy concentration of ragweed. It would never allow the grain to dry out and would plug the combine machine. Instead, Guy mowed the entire field, dried it, and baled it for bedding.

Guy spoke with a county agent about the situation and learned that he may have chosen the wrong variety to plant. He had planted a forage crop versus a grain crop. A grain crop would have had a stronger, shorter stem to help prevent lodging.

We have a lot of new heifer calves around the farm. Over 75 percent of the calves born this summer were heifers. The remaining 25 percent that were bulls were sent to a friend’s farm. A friend of Guy’s started a high-end grass-fed veal farm for organic bull calves. He sells the beef at farmers’ markets and upscale restaurants. The bulls are raised on pasture with a nurse cow.

I’m milking 50 pounds a day. After milking, when we get ready to leave the barn, I head for the doorway and block everyone else from exiting the barn. I won’t move until someone escorts me out of the barn.

Work on your Barnyard Vo“cow”bulary.