The Bovine Bugle

RAIN MEANS PART OF THE DAY "OFF" ON THE FARM

Today promised to be a rainy day so Karen and I thought we would take a few hours and do some shopping. That's one of the advantages of running a dairy farm. You can take some time off in the middle of the day if you want to. Of course, I did work from 4:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. getting morning chores done before we left, and then from 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. getting afternoon chores done once we got back. Daily chores on the farm consists of milking and feeding the cows, cleaning the milking equipment, feeding the calves and heifers, cleaning the free stall and heifer barns, and stacking the compost material. Once the grazing season starts, the amount of time spent feeding the animals and cleaning the barns is greatly reduced. We are as happy as the cows are when the grass starts growing!!

The grain truck came and delivered our bulk order while we were gone. Morrison Custom Feeds is in Barnet, VT, about 2 1/2 hours from here. We have grain delivered every two weeks. Depending on the time of year and how many cows we are milking, we will order from 7 to 10 tons of bulk grain per load. The grain is blown through pipes into bins located on the second floor of the barn. The grain is then augered down into mangers for the cows to eat while they are being milked. We also get poultry grain, calf grain, trace mineral salt, and kelp meal from Morrison's. During the winter we usually feed a ration with a 14% protein level. In the summer we drop that level down to 12% because the lush green grass is very high in protein. This saves us at least $20 per ton.

--Jonathan, Howmars Farm
Franklin, Vermont