May 03, 2004

Syruping Season Clean-up

My son, Ben, and I continued cleaning up the sugaring equipment today. The storage tank still had about 50 gallons of sap in it which we drained out. The pans are 12 feet in length and a width of 4 feet, requiring 15 gallons of hot water with a strong acid soap to help loosen the residue left from boiling in 5500 gallons of maple sap.

While my Mom and Dad milked and my son Ben did heifer chores, I put round bales inside the freestall barn. I bring the 1200 pound round bales into the barn using the loader tractor with the bale grabber attachment. The barn is set up so that I can drive in behind the feeding area and place 4 round bales. The hay fed with pitchforks. We bring 4 new bales into this area every 4 to 5 days. In total, we feed about 3 round bales everyday, about 700 every winter to the milking herd and older heifers and steers.

--Jonathan, Howmars Farm
Franklin, Vermont


Posted by Blogger Chris at May 3, 2004 10:55 AM
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