Category Archives: Nature

Rain, sleet or snow

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Farmers and ranchers are responsible for their livestock, their land, their resources, whether it’s raining in the south, or snowing in the north. That fact is true, even during a blizzard.

Our cows are normally red...not snow covered!

This afternoon a very strong storm hit our area. Now, compared to the tsunami that rocked Japan and the destruction felt in other areas afterward, what we were dealing with was small potatoes. But for our cattle, they still relied on us for safety, shelter and food.

That’s why Boss Man spent most of the evening in the barn, or out in the lot, covered in snow, not seeing more than a few feet in front of him, making sure that no new calves were born out in the terrible conditions.

This was the travel map for North Dakota for this evening. Fun!

And I went out this evening, once things had settled down a little bit, to make sure things were still good to go.

I'm on the cutting edge of blizzard fashion, I know.

Although this video isn’t the best, you can still hear the wind whipping through our trees. But rest assured, if the conditions weren’t improving, the cattle wouldn’t be out eating and they wouldn’t have been starting to move around.

They know WAY more than a meteorologist! 🙂

Battle weary

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It’s been one of those days. You know, the type of day where you just can’t wait to crawl into bed, knowing that when you open your eyes, at least it will be a different day?

Tonight, let me focus on the problem we HAVE NOT gotten rid of yet (check here and here for reminders as to what’s been going on)…and that would be deer. That’s right, they’re still here. And for argument’s sake, let’s just say the number is 500.

 

The deer are dying in and on our feed supply for our cattle.

Boss Man is trying to put plans in place so that we’re able to be better prepared for next year. Apparently this year is a loss. We will never get back what the hay was worth that has been destroyed. (Think in the terms of multiple thousands.) There is nothing we can do about that. So we need to move ahead.

 

He spoke with North Dakota Game and Fish today. They are less than receptive to assisting. According to them, we have been uncooperative. By uncooperative, they mean that we were not interested in the only plan that they came up with. This “plan” was to wrap our bales with a plastic wrap, that would supposedly deter the deer from eating our hay.

Every person we have spoken to regarding the plastic wrap has claimed that it does NOT work. Not only are there problems with the wrap coming undone, or stacks falling over, but remember that we’re trying to sell our hay that is salvageable. That means that we would have to wrap and unwrap bales each time we were moving or grinding hay. We would also have to dispose of the wrap as we were using the hay.

Another concern we had with the hay wrap was that once the deer made our yard their winter habitat, without STRONG encouragement, they would still be in our yard, just forced to feed with our cattle. The deer are a danger to our herd, just by being in their feed supply. But the danger would be even greater if they were nose-to-nose and feeding out of the same bunk.

So, by trying to protect our livestock, while still being conscientious of the wildlife, we are now deemed uncooperative. Thank you.

Tonight, Mark decided to be proactive and try to call some of the neighboring landowners, making them aware of what the problem is, and asking if we could all be more receptive to allowing hunters access to prime hunting land.

The first call was to a “neighbor” who happens to own a hunting lodge and guide service. He basically thanked my husband for ruining his evening, told him not to tell him how to run his business and hung up the phone.

Most of the other phone calls went very well. Most people understand what the problem is, and are willing to do what they can to help. Here’s hoping that they remember next fall.

Here’s what I’d like to remind Game and Fish: this isn’t just another hay yard, another complaining farmer, another “problem” that they’d rather not deal with. This is MY hay yard, MY herd and MY sons’ futures. I have four boys that I hope have the opportunity to continue to make this farmstead their home, and continue to live and prosper in North Dakota.

I hope and pray it’s not just a dream.

And by the way, if you’re looking for a place to hunt this coming fall, I can hook you up…bring your family, your friends and your neighbors!

Post of destruction

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I’m not sure that words are necessary…so just watch the slide show.

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I didn’t take the picture of the Game and Fish official who stopped and had picked up a pick-up load of the carcasses. (He did give me permission to take a photo.) These were just the ones left behind, or the ones not picked up yet. It makes me sad, frustrated and wondering.

To quote the Game and Fish website, the department’s mission statement is:

“The mission of the North Dakota Game and Fish Department is to protect, conserve and enhance fish and wildlife populations and their habitat for sustained public consumptive and appreciative use.”

Well, they’re failing.

A new twist

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So, I’ve written quite a bit about our deer problems. But now they’ve taken a whole different turn. Now the deer are dying.

I don’t mean that one or two has met its maker in a peaceful ceremony performed by the deer-healer. No, we’re talking more than a dozen of them, all lying in our feed. I actually believe that there are at least two dozen carcasses, but I’m not interested in actually going out and counting. Here, see for yourself.

So, yeah, it’s a problem. And here’s the kicker…why are they dying? There’s plenty of feed (although, truth be told, deer aren’t meant to eat dairy-quality alfalfa, so that could be part of the problem), they’ve made nice little burrows in our haystacks, which should be providing excellent cover. Do they have diseases? Are they sick?

Next comes, what will happen to our feed? Is our herd at risk?

The master-minds at Game and Fish are supposed to be here in the morning. One of our neighbors called them this evening. It seems that one of the deer decided to die next to his house. Even kicked the house as it was taking its last breaths. I’m very sorry that the deer caused such a commotion, but I’m grateful that our neighbor called Game and Fish to complain. Perhaps if we’re not the only ones calling, they’ll start paying more attention.

Well, I better head to bed. There’ll be a long night of checking cows, since it’s so cold tonight. Plus today was a very stressful, crazy day. I’ll tell you more about it later.

If I remember.

On the calving front

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We have about 40 cows that have calved now, with about 135 or so to go. Since we calve in February and March, in the great warm state of North Dakota, I thought I should explain how all this works.

You see, the state of North Dakota tends to get kinda cold in the winter. And since we prefer our calves to be the living, breathing kind, we try to make sure that each calf is born in the barn. Since that is almost impossible, we at least try to get the calf into the barn as quickly as possible, so that frostbite damage is minimal.

How do we do this?

Boss Man and I take turns checking the cows, constantly. As in every 2 hours. Unless it’s really cold or storming, then we check more often. Yep, that’s right, every 2 hours max. This means that every 2 hours someone is bundling up, heading outside and checking each and every cow behind the house. Right now there’s about 80 that we’re watching. (Cows cycle, just like humans, so we use ultrasound technology to date the development of the calf in the fall, which gives us a pretty good idea as to when they may be born in the spring.)

I’ve been pretty lucky so far, I haven’t had to chase any cows in during my checks, just call Mark a time or two when a calf was born outside. Until tonight. As we speak, a heifer is in the barn, ready to have her calf any minute. I will check on her in a few minutes, and if she hasn’t had her calf, then I will need to wake up my husband and have him use his expertise to help her. Hopefully I will go down to the barn, be greeted with a fresh pair of eyes and all will be well, and my hubby will be able to enjoy another few minutes of sleep.

And then I’ll be able to catch a few winks myself…at least that’s the plan.

New perspective

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We are entering a new ballgame here at the Wagner Farm. One I never expected to have to face, but can’t wait to see the results!

Our youngest son seems to have a condition that doesn’t allow him to breakdown proteins. The solution to this problem, at this time, is to limit his protein intake. Quite an interesting situation for a cattle family, to say the least. But, in the true sense of making lemonade out of lemons, I look forward to the road we’re going down. I can’t wait to see what I can learn!

Don’t get me wrong, my family will not become vegans, and I have no intention of changing our way of life, but everything will be done from a whole new perspective.

Now, I have always been one to understand that there are people in this world who make choices based on true science, medical advice and thorough research. I respect and admire those people and understand completely why they make the choices that they make.

On the other hand, there is an even larger group of people that prey on fear, sling mud and use emotion and distorted information to support their cause, and feel free to spread their misinformation around the cyberworld. Those are the people that I hope to refute.

We raise cattle…and we do a good job, if I do say so myself. We also raise corn, soybeans, wheat and alfalfa/grass hay. (And for the moment, we appear to be raising a pretty darn good crop of deer…much to our dismay.) Having a child that cannot consume these products, or at least only in extremely limited quantities, changes my perspective quite a bit…and that’s a good thing.

I find no fault with someone who makes a decision to elminate a product that I raise out of their diet for the benefit and well-being of their health, or in this case, a child’s health. When that decision is made based on the argument that I’m not caring enough for my animals…that’s where we part ways.

Care to join me on this new adventure? It’s gonna be a wild ride!

What’s the big deal?

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I realize now, that with all my complaining about the large number of deer here, that some people are wondering what I’m complaining about. I mean, they are beautiful, and tasty, creatures.

Well, here’s a quick rundown:

1) As I’ve said before, deer poop. And they pee. All over our hay and feed. Cows don’t like it, and I have to admit, it’s starting to smell funny over there. Yuck! What a mess!

2) Deer can carry disease, and quite a bit of it, especially in the numbers that they are travelling here. These diseases are transferable to our cattle…which is bad, really bad. Remember way back when? When I talked about our herd? Well, we’ve worked really, really hard to make sure that our herd is healthy and disease-free, mainly for the benefit of those that enjoy the beef we produce. We would hate to risk that, all because we weren’t given any other options by those that are supposed to be helping us. And, just to remind you, calving starts in just a couple weeks. Which means we’ll have some little calves that are even more susceptible to disease than our cows are…not a good situation at all.

3) Again, I’ve mentioned before that with the large number of deer come predators. Predators make cows uneasy. Cows that are calving that are uneasy makes for dangerous conditions. Not just for the cows and calves, but for anyone that works with the cows. We need to be as careful as we can, so that everyone can make it through calving season without being injured…including the cattle.

4) Danger to family. OK, now this is something I’ve been working on, and pray that I’ve taught my boys well enough not to have to worry TOO much about it, but I still do. As you can see in this photo, the deer are eating at the hay bales that are easiest to get to…the ones on the ground. Well, you see, each of those bales weigh a little less than a ton. And they are stacked four high. As the deer eat away at the bottom bale, the whole stack becomes unstable…posing a risk for the whole thing to come toppling down.

As the deer eat away at the bottom bales, the whole stack becomes unstable.

Imagine almost 3 tons falling on you? Now, I’m not just concerned about my boys, but what about a Game & Fish officer coming to check on things, or my husband, trying to straighten things out? Or even the deer themselves. (Although, that would seem to be poetic justice to me!)

5) Last, but certainly not least, the deer are costing us money. Not only are we losing feed, and the costs associated with that, but the deer have very good taste. They are eating the hay that we’ve worked very hard to put up in dairy-quality condition. This means that these deer are costing us every where we turn. I can’t give you a real accurate number right now, but we’re talking multiple thousands of dollars. Could you afford to lose $10,000? How about $20,000? Wouldn’t you feel a little frustrated and concerned about it?

Well, we certainly have a lot to discuss and figure out on our way to Mayo…and here I was concerned that we would have nothing to worry about! 😉

Preparations

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We head to Mayo tomorrow. It’s hopefully time to finally get to some answers. Poor kid has been through the ringer, and all before he turns 2. I’d complain about the fairness of it all, but we all know that fairness doesn’t play into these things.

Anyway, while all this is going on, we’re still at the mercy of winter, still have cattle to care for and still have chores that need to be done. Which means we start planning now, preparing for the worst, hoping for the best, making sure that everything is in place, so that if (I should say when) it snows while we’re gone, it’s not a lot of extra work for whomever is helping us out.

So Boss Man is off, getting things ready. I’m packing bags for all of us, arranging staying places for the other three kids, arranging back ups, in case someone is sick, and the back ups for the back ups, just because we roll that way! Planning out time of departure, time of arrival, places to stay in Rochester, what mode of transportation to take, etc., etc. Like planning a great vacation, minus the fun and vacation!

And just when I thought I had it all planned out, up pops another problem. Our deer situation has gone from kinda crazy, to absolutely unbelievable. It’s hard to even imagine saddling someone else with this issue while we’re gone, so we’re trying to do what we can to help the situation out.

Here’s my latest shots, without any voiceover. I think it speaks for itself:

I’ve contacted the proper authorities (probably even a few that could care less), shot footage and sent e-mails. I’m not sure what will happen from here on out, but I know we’re working on it.

I will try to keep everyone posted on how things are going. And we’ll hopefully be home before we know it. I’m also wishing that maybe we’ll be a few hundred deer shorter than where we are now!

Points of clarification

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So, apparently I finally rattled a few cages with my blog and my concern about what could all happen if this deer issue isn’t addressed somehow. But a few questions keep coming up, so I’d like to clarify a few things:

1) Is our land posted? The answer is yes. I know that by admitting that, many will say that alone is our problem, but trust me, it’s not. There is only one person that has ever asked to hunt that we have turned away. In fact, I’ve brought in many hunters…and not just for deer. We open our land to pheasant hunters (out-of-state and in-state), youth hunters (two of my nephews tagged deer out of our land this fall!), etc. Pretty much anything, anyone. We do NOT charge anything to hunt on our land and we wouldn’t post our land either, if it weren’t for the few bad actors that we have. Actually, we shouldn’t even have to post our land, since our cattle were in one area, and the other hunting area is behind our house…but we do anyway. And as long as people are aware of the cows, and aware of the house and children, then I have no problem at all with them hunting and taking whatever game they legally can.

2) The problem is not just the deer…although they are making a mess as well. The problem is also that there is another significant creature that follow the deer. That is the coyote. The coyote is a predator, and our cows don’t take too kindly to having coyotes nearby. Now, add in a cow that’s just had a calf, the fresh blood and afterbirth smell lingering in the air, a cow nervous about making sure her calf is safe and a farmer trying to get the calf into a barn before it freezes to death. That, right there, is a recipe for disaster. Our cows are gentle and are accustomed to us walking through them throughout calving season. But once a cow has a calf, it’s like a switch is flipped.

A good cow has a good mothering instinct. A good mother protects her offspring with whatever means are necessary. If a cow senses that its calf is in danger, it will do whatever it deems necessary to protect it. That includes throwing a farmer over a fence…or worse yet, a farmwife!

3) Deer poop. Yeah, I know, that’s a shocking revelation, right? Well, they also pee. Cows don’t like either…especially on their food. So, this means that everything that gets deer poop or deer pee in it is basically useless. And really, who can blame them? I have a hard time eating off the same spoon as my kids, I couldn’t imagine anything else! (Just kidding, by the way.)

So, that should cover some of the questions that were asked (but please, feel free to ask more if you have them!)…let’s hope they get us somewhere!

Ever increasing problem

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We have a “small” problem on our farm. I call it a small problem, because the animals themselves aren’t all that large, but the number in which they are here…that’s where the issue lies.

Last year it started as a nuisance. I warned Boss Man that I thought the deer around our house seemed to be getting closer and closer, and seemed to bring their extended families with them. At first, he kind of brushed off my concerns, saying that they had never really bothered the hay before and that they would probably move on shortly.

They didn’t.

In fact, they seemed to rather enjoy themselves, and made themselves right at home. As you can see here: (Warning, this is the first video I had ever shot, so please excuse the nausea-inducing zooming and movement…I’ve learned…well, at least a little.)

This year is a whole new ballgame. We have already enrolled the help of our state Game and Fish, who have come up with some interesting tactics. (For instance, a really neat gun-looking, bottle-rocket-on-steroids type thing!)

To explain it from my husband’s point of view, I’ll just give you the run-down of a conversation we had:

“It’s a double-edged sword. If they eat my hay, they won’t starve. They’ll be stronger and healthier, but then they’ll also survive winter and there will be more next year.

“If they don’t eat my hay, they’ll starve. But they’ll be weak and more susceptible to disease, exposing my herd to who-knows-what.”

And this is what we’re talking about for this year:

So, you see, we’re in a tough spot. If we don’t feed the deer, they will get sick and die. But may expose our cows to all sorts of unwanted stuff.

If we feed the deer, they won’t leave, and could still get sick and die. And we will still have exposure to whatever it is they are carrying.

We have already spent money on buying panels to place all around our feed, such as the silage that we cut and the freshly-ground hay. Game and Fish suggest that we space our hay stacks closer together, but our insurance insists that our hay stays further apart. I personally don’t believe that where our hay is located would make much difference to this large number of animals.

The amount of money that has been lost through the hay and feed that has been destroyed is almost nauseating. But the danger to the health of our herd is what has us the most concerned. We are doing all we can to protect our livestock, but it would be nice if there was a better system in place to assist producers that come across these issues.

Trust me, this is something that Boss Man and I will be working on.