Jonathan Gates reports from Howmars Farm in Franklin, Vermont. Howmars is a certified organic dairy farm, one of many Organic Valley/CROPP Cooperative farmer members who supply the milk that goes into making Stonyfield's yogurts and smoothies. The entire family pitches in on this third-generation farm. Jonathan and his father, Howard, converted the farm from conventional dairy farming to organic 9 years ago. Meet Jonathan. He farms with his wife Karen, sons Benjamin, Justin, and Noah, and Jonathan's parents, Howard and Mary.
Three times the lady...St. Pat's week brings new calfs
After the rush of getting out the sap buckets over the weekend, the weather turned very cold and the trees and the sugar rig are frozen. We did manage to gather two tubs of sap on Tuesday, but it wasn't quite enough to produce any new maple syrup from the evaporator pans so we'll have to wait until things warm up again. Meanwhile, things in the maternity room are buzzing along.
Last week, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday saw a new arrival born each day! The luck of the Irish must have been with us, because all three calves were heifers (girls). It had been three months since the last calf was born, and almost 4 months since the last heifer calf. We were pretty excited with our good fortune. All the moms and babies came through the births just fine. The first two calves were from first-time moms, or, as we would say, first-calf heifers. The last calf was the third for Dandee, a 5-year old cow.
I am treating the two first-calf heifers with a drench to give them extra energy and niacin. Because they were a little over-conditioned at the time of calving, they would be prone to having ketosis. The 10 ozs. of drench I give them every day for the next 5-7 days will get them over the most stressful period, and keep them eating and functioning normally as their bodies get used to producing milk every day for the next ten months.
--Jonathan (left), Howmars Farm
Franklin, Vermont
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Farmer answers some common health questions about organic dairy farming
I wanted to answer some of the questions that have been coming in from some of the readers of The Bovine Bugle. First, a couple of animal health questions. I want to preface these answers with the fact that I am not a veterinarian so don't take my ramblings as gospel on how to treat your animals. In serious cases, always consult a professional in your area.
Mini wrote and wondered how to tell if your cattle are having a common cold, as opposed to a more serious respiratory disease?
Generally, as long as the animal is eating well and looks bright and energetic, then probably that little cough and slight eye discharge is a minor virus. With something like pneumonia, the animals go off-feed, look dull and rough, have a deeper, raspier cough, and run a temperature. Always temp your animals (that's something I usually forget to do. It's a good indicator of what's going on. If I think something serious is going on, I have the vet visit so that he can give the animal a thorough going over and give a good listen to her lungs.
Jane from Maryland wanted to know if our cows get a hoof fungus similar to thrush in horses. Yes, my cows sometimes get what we call "hoof rot", which is caused by a fungus. Our treatment is applying icthammol, a drawing salve, to the infected area, covering it with cotton batten, and wrapping the hoof with coflex hoof wrap. We leave the wrap on for three days, check the infection, and, if needed, wrap the hoof again. The icthamol container usually says it is used for horses.
Next time I'll answer all the questions about how our cows do in the cold environment of our open style barn.
--Jonathan (left), Howmars Farm
Franklin, Vermont
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Today we started the 2006 sugaring season. The unseasonably warm weather has most of the sugarmakers in the state hustling to get their trees tapped. We decided that we might as well get going, so yesterday I went to Leader Evaporator, a maple sugaring supply outlet, and picked up some things. A new grading set, some tapping bits, and some new "health" spouts to try in the sugarbush were on the shopping list. And I also went just down the road from Leader to New England Container to pick up three cases of syrup cans to pack the syrup in.
This morning, after finishing the morning chores, we loaded the wagon with buckets, covers, spouts, hammers, a chainsaw, the battery-powered drill, and half-a-dozen kids, and headed to the woods. It was good going in the woods due to no snow cover at all. A far cry from the years when we had to use snowshoes to get around the trees while putting in the taps. We managed to put up about 300 buckets through the day before it was time to quit and do the afternoon milking. The sap was running a little from the freshly drilled holes. The kids did great helping out, and we had plenty of sap testers to taste the sweet stuff dripping off the spouts. Steve, Jill, Karen, and the kids, Ben, Justin, Brad, Emily, Maddy, and Noah, made a pretty good crew for the day.
Tomorrow we'll put out another 150 buckets to finish the tapping, then we'll take the sides off the wagon and set the gathering tub on the wagon deck in preparation for gathering the sap. Another couple of hours of work in the sugarhouse will have the sugar rig ready to go, and then we just have to wait for the sap to run!
Look for a "Moo-vie News" video of our team tapping the trees, here in The Bovine Bugle on Monday!
--Jonathan (left), Howmars Farm
Franklin, Vermont
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Mr. Woodpecker thinks it's time to tap the maples--sugaring season begins!
As I backed the loader tractor out of the Horsebarn this morning, I looked up the road and noticed something hanging from one of the maple trees lining the roadside. I drove the tractor under the overhanging branch and saw that it was a good-sized sapsicle. It had been warm enough for the sap in the maples to start running, and the sap had dripped off the branch. The conditions must have been just right to cause the sap drips to freeze and the sapsicle was formed. What was really interesting was what caused the opening in the branch allowing the sap to come out. A woodpecker had made a small hole in the branch, and the sap ran out of this break in the bark. So I guess Woody the Woodpecker tapped the first tree at Howmars Farm.
The weather looks promising for this weekend, and we will probably be tapping the hard maples and hanging our + 450 buckets. Getting around in the woods should be easy due to the lack of snow. No tapping on snowshoes this year. With a good crew, and good battery packs for the 19.2V drill, we should have most of the buckets up in one days time. Then in a couple of hours we'll have the gathering tub on the wagon, the dumping station hooked up that leads to the storage tank, and the sugar rig, or evaporator, put together and ready to make some delicious maple syrup.
It's always an exciting time of year on the farm. In a way, sugaring signals the end of winter and brings the promise of longer, warmer daylight hours and green pastures once again.
--Jonathan (left), Howmars Farm
Franklin, Vermont
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Back in late January, Jonathan shot this video of a Bovine Brunch on a cold day. Here you can see how the heifers enjoy a meal gathering around the "bale rings" which hold the round bale hay fed to the heifers throughout the winter, when grazing is impossible.
The video may feature heifers, but you'll also see one "ham" show up at the end. Eleven-year-old Dena, who is also in Stonyfield's Have-A-Cow program, gets a little curious about what Jonathan is up to and meanders over to nudge his camera-holding arm. Get up close and personal with Dena and the other "ladies" here at the Bovine Brunch. Just press the arrow key in the middle of the still photograph below to run the video.
Today was a busy day for trucks here at Howmars Farm. The fuel truck from McCuin's was coming to put kero in our new fuel tank for the barn, the grain truck was coming from Morrison's with our two-week supply of grain, the milk truck was due to pick up the milk in the bulk tank, and two tractor-trailer loads of round bales were being brought in from Hardwick, VT, a town about 65 miles from Franklin. And at one point, three of the trucks were here at the same time!!
We had the round bales of hay trucked in because our supplier here in town was going to be about 50 bales shy of what we needed to make it to the start of the grazing season. My dad, Howard, keeps track of what Dennis, our feed supplier, makes for hay each summer and then records the number of bales we use during the fall, winter, and early spring. Knowing we were going to be short, I called a person in Hardwick who had advertised his round bales in the Agriview, a publication put out by the Agency of Agriculture in Montpelier, Vermont. His feed was going fast, but we managed to secure two loads, 88 bales, that would take us into the spring.
The seller of the hay, David, lined up a trucker, and today was delivery day. The first trailer load of 44 bales arrived around 11:30 a.m. As soon as the trucker had some of the straps undone, I started taking the bales off the truck. In about half an hour he was unloaded, and headed back to Hardwick for load number two.
The second load came in around 5:15 p.m. We had thought he might not be back until 6, so he had made great time. With sunset happening a little later these days, we managed to have the unloading all done before darkness fell. With the pile of round bales beside the barn suddenly swelling in size, it gave me a secure feeling like you get with a big pile of dry firewood at the start of winter or with a freezer and pantry full of the summer and fall harvest. Now for the real test--how will the cows like the hay? We'll find out tomorrow.
P.S. The pictures were taken by my son, Justin. He did a great job!
--Jonathan (left), Howmars Farm
Franklin, Vermont
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Look for a "Moo-vie News" video from Hay Bale Delivery Day here in the Bovine Bugle next week!
Moo-vie News: Tree chopping for maple sugaring in Vermont
In the homestate of Stonyfield Farm--New Hampshire--today marks the official start of "sugaring season"--the time of year when maple trees are tapped for their sap that will be turned into syrup. The sap starts "running" when days are warm, but nights are still cold--a process that varies considerably by location.
Vermont is also a big maple sugaring state and our farmer, Jonathan Gates, and his family spend a lot of March and April time boiling down the sap they've collected into wonderful sought-after syrup. Jonathan will be sending us news and videos from this year's seasonal activities soon. His labor already began back in January, when he spent some time clearing trees on his land. The trees will be chopped into firewood that will be used in the sap boiling process--next year. Here's Jonathan, with his trusty companion Yukon, taking advantage of a warmer-than-usual January day. Just press on the big arrow in the middle of the screen to play the moo-vie.
--Jonathan (left), Howmars Farm
Franklin, Vermont
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Light bulbs go on: Ways to save electricity in the dairy barn
We've been using some new products, and reusing an old piece of equipment to cut down on electricity use in the barn. With electricity rates slated to rise as much as 14% this year, anything we can do to lower the amount we use will help the total on the electric bill.
The newer fluorecent light bulbs are better in price, come on very quickly, and provide a very bright light. Besides the bulbs for use inside the barn, they are also making floodlights to use in outdoor applications such as our barnyard. These floodlights are great, and I can replace a bulb that would normally use 120 watts with an Ecobulb that will use only 23 watts. Another bonus is that a state agency, Efficiency Vermont, is offering a in-store refund of $2 per bulb when you buy these energy saving bulbs.Each time I visit the store at the St. Albans Cooperative Creamery, I pick up a couple more bulbs to replace more of the incandescent bulbs in the barn.
The old piece of equipment we are reusing is a timer (above)that was installed on the electric hot water in the barn. When we switched to an oil-fired hot water heater, the timer just stayed attached to the wall the past 8 years until I took it down while cleaning the office. I was looking for a way to control the lights behind the feed bunk and in the barnyard, since the wire supplying electricity to those lights is only controlled by the breaker in the breaker panel. When I took down the timer, I guess you could say a "light bulb" went on in my brain, and I knew how I could cut down on electricity used for lighting those areas of the barn. In about an hour I had the lights hooked up to the timer, and it has been working like a charm ever since.
--Jonathan (left), Howmars Farm
Franklin, Vermont
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The little lost calf, not so little or lost anymore
Walking through the barn one morning last week I saw Thelma, the mother of Kathy, the calf that was lost in the woods for two days. [Use the archives, left, to see October 28, 2005 entry: "The Next 'Survivor' Contestant Is..."]I just thought I'd send a picture and let you know how they are doing.
Kathy, the "Survivor", never missed a beat and has had no ill effects from the ordeal. She is now 4 months old, eating hay and grain, and is keeping pace with her herdmates. By the time May rolls around she will be ready to go out on pasture with a bunch of her buddies. One of the organic standards we have to follow is that animals over 6 months of age must be out on pasture during the growing season. This means from May to October all our stock over 6 months must be outside and have access to adequate pasture.
Thelma, the Mom, is doing great, too. Our breeding technician, Bob Cole, artificially inseminated her several weeks ago. At our next monthly clinic with Dr. Steve, I think she will be far enough along to pregnancy check. If she is pregnant, she will be having another calf about the same time as last year, late October. Hopefully her third delivery will not be quite so stressful as the one last year.
--Jonathan (left), Howmars Farm
Franklin, Vermont
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Jonathan Gates reports from Howmars Farm in Franklin, Vermont.
Yes, my cows sometimes get what we call "hoof rot", which is caused by a fungus. Our treatment is applying icthammol, a drawing salve, to the infected area, covering it with cotton batten, and wrapping the hoof with coflex hoof wrap. We leave the wrap on for three days, check the infection, and, if needed, wrap the hoof again. The icthamol container usually says it is used for horses.
