Tag Archives: nature

Farm update – corn planting

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I realized that my posts lately have been heavy on family and emotions, and light on farm and facts! So here goes a great Friday post!

Check out this video on our no-till corn planting (only 45 seconds, won’t kill ya to watch it!):

And now here are some pics of that same corn…growing!

All our little corn plants, growing in a row!

 

 

Planted a little later than liked, but looking good! Happy corn makes for happy cows makes for happy Boss Man!

 

 

Yes, the corn appears to be a little on the weedy side right now, but thanks to the never-ending rain, there’s not much that can be done about it at this time. It’s raining as we speak…and I took some cool pics, but you’ll have to wait for my Wordless Wednesday post on those! 🙂 Now you have a reason to come back…

See you soon!

Preparing for fall

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It’s raining…again. And although we have a few acres planted, my husband isn’t in the best of moods. He would like to have had more in the ground, but guess what? That’s the nature of the business. So while we’re down, this is what I’ll be doing:

https://secure.apps.state.nd.us/gnf/onlineservices/lic/public/online/lot/lotterypurchase.htm

That’s the link to applying for your deer license, if you’re going to hunt in North Dakota. And I would like everyone to click on it and apply.

Game and Fish has REDUCED the number of licenses this year by almost 7,000 across the state. That’s right, I said reduced. As in subtracted. As in they believe the numbers are getting too low. As in give-me-a-break.

In my perfect world scenario, every single license would be purchased, and every single one would be filled. (They usually expect about half of them to be filled.) If Game and Fish are technically going to “contract” out this many deer, than let’s take them out. And remember, even if you don’t care much for venison, you can always DONATE the meat! (Or donate money so that meat can be donated!)

Game and Fish claim that the last three winters were rough, causing great losses. I agree that the winters were rough, but the management of resources and habitat was severely lacking. And their solutions to the problem were to basically do nothing for the animal, just try to avert the problem from the land owner. Apparently doing nothing is easiery than even attempting anything else suggested.

And this is what you end up with:

The deer died in and on our feed supply for our cattle.

 
And if you know of some young hunters, who are looking for a successful first hunt, send them our way. My husband would LOVE to see some young hunters come and hunt on our land. He’s even talking about setting up soem deer stands, just for the “apprentice” hunters to get a chance at having a successful season.
I’m filling out my application on the wet, rainy day…and I hope you are too. I hope to see you this fall, with my blaze orange on!

Deer, oh dear

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I’m not sure if you heard, but we had a slight deer problem this winter. Well, slight is an understatement…it was a MAJOR deer problem. If you look back through my posts, you will find pictures, videos, eloquently-written, almost poetic-like blogs, etc. (well, I’m pouring it on a bit thick about that one, sorry 😉 )

I figured I would wrap up the winter deer posts with this update:

This is a pile of deer carcasses that were collected from our hay yard. Approximately 60-80 deer in this group.

Yeah, we had a problem. And some deer died. I’ve been asked many times, “Why?” The answer isn’t so simple. Game and Fish statistics say that most of the dead should be does and fawns that couldn’t handle the winter conditions. But from personally witnessing and inspecting many of the dead animals, (well, from a distance anyway) I can tell you that there were a LOT of nice-sized bucks in that pile.

So, again, why did they die? They had protection. They had plenty of protection. They had feed. Very nice, dairy-quality alfalfa. Which would have been worth between $10,000-$20,000 in the hay market. Ouch. That hurts. My guess is that the deer couldn’t handle the feed. It was truly too rich, and they basically died from really bad stomach aches. Kinda like dying from too much caviar. (Can that happen???) You see, deer are built to browse, they eat things like leaves and berries and your brand new trees that you plant! 😉

But the fact of the matter is, they died. And beside this pile of deer, remember that Game and Fish had already come and picked up a pick-up load of carcasses? So that’s more than 100 deer that died on our farm.

A closer shot of the pile that Mark buried.

What frustrates me almost more than the lack of action by Game and Fish is the waste of meat. Can you imagine the food pantries that could be stocked with this much meat? But I have an idea for this year…and it’s a way that we can curb our deer problem, encourage hunting, AND stock the food pantries!

Stay tuned for an announcement tomorrow! I can’t wait!!!

The difference a week makes

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So, last week Friday, we had a blizzard that hit. It even left buses stranded that were trying to get kids home from school.

This week, the snow is melting…and fast! I’m always grateful for the spring melts, even when it causes a mess. It’ll dry up soon enough, and then summer can begin!

This river behind our house is normally the kind that you can easily walk across.

Although another snow storm is supposed to hit in the morning, we know we’re on the downhill slide with things. And for that I feel blessed! Woohoo!

Much like when you pull the plug on a bathtub, all this water has to go somewhere!

Our bathtub is just a bit bigger than some!

I think spring fever is officially setting in!

Silence

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Another 45 have died. I know because I counted them. Add in the two dozen or more from before, and that seems to be a pretty significant number. (And apparently the coyotes can’t keep up.) According to Game and Fish literature, it’s expected that about 10 percent of a population will perish through the winter, especially in high-stressed areas. If this is an accurate percentage, then we definitely had more than 500 deer in our yard.

We were working on a bill that would have allowed unfilled deer licenses to be used in areas that are facing extreme amounts of deer pressure. These tags were ones that the Game and Fish Department had already sold and profitted from, I’m assuming with the intentions that they would be filled. If the Game and Fish Department deemed an area a “problem,” then December through March 15, the tags could have been filled.

A perfect solution? Of course not. Another tool in the tool box? Certainly. Apparently continuing on with the status quo isn’t working.

One of the legislators that I contacted regarding the issue was kind enough to reply. He told us that they are sending the bill to a “special committee” to come up with another idea, perhaps with food plots and feeding areas. They don’t want to see the deer shot. My question is why? These are tags that were already paid for and calculated by Game and Fish as being acceptable to lower deer numbers.

Somewhere, somehow, we need to start thinking outside the box and trying something new.

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!

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.

Let the fun begin

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In honor of calving season starting in just a few short days (hopefully not sooner!), I’m going to share with you the first video I ever “made.” As in edited, etc.

There is no music, voiceover, etc. to the video, just the absolute silence of the moment. Much the same as every birth in the barn…at least, when things go as planned.

I will warn you, this video shows an actual live birth, minus the blood (since it was dark and color didn’t show up well). But for those of you who have never been on a farm, or in a real barn, or seen a calf shake its wet head for the first time…here you are! Enjoy!

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! 😉