2009

2/28
It was a quiet Christmas for us. Nina could not stand waiting for some of her presents so I had to break down and let her have one. It rained on Christmas day and then turned to snow Sat. We've had almost 3" of precip for the month and that is high for us.

2/18
We've had more rain than snow so far and mud is the game. Nina has been decorating the house as usual with Christmas ornaments and we look forward to time with family and friends. It turned off colder Wednesday and I think we will have a white Christmas according to the forecasters.
                                                   

12/7
The month came in with cold and rain. The Hoosier Beef Congress was this weekend and we made a trip to Indy and spent the day visiting and looking at cattle. It's a busy show/sale with a lot going on at the same time. Believe it or not that is our 1st time because the weather seems to always be very bad at that time. I've been sick with the flu and not wanting to do much.
Nina is officially now without a job after 20 years with Dr. Conard. He has retired mostly due to the economy and this is going to be a whole new world for her and me. I'm sure those afternoon naps will come to a halt and with being shut in more with the winter weather she is going to get cabin fever real quick!
 

Dec '09

11/20
We had a really nice time at Louisville even though our show results were unfavorable. All I'll say is that the judge was less than desirable. We met several folks interested in our cattle, had some really positive discussions with Ron Bolze our association Exec Director, and other board members.
On our way down we stopped at the Cracker Barrel to eat breakfast. Not long after we had placed our order the power went off and we were in total darkness except for the big fireplace. The gals lit all the lamps and brought out our biscuits & gravy and we ate with a real romantic atmosphere!

                   

We got home Weds evening with enough daylight to get the feeding done and get unpacked.
Today I had a job I dislike - culling. I guess we must lead by example but I still hate it. Some of these gals were old and we have a nice group of replacements and it was the right choice. We develop close relationships with our cattle and it's hard to let any of them go for any reason. We have been fortunate and sold most of our calves and are retaining a nice bunch of heifers but the markets are making things tough on everyone.

11/13
A busy week with working with calves, getting ready to go to Louisville, and delivering some calves. I went to the vets today to get health papers and palp some recip cows. Was not a good day for some of the older ones and next week will be a bad day for them. We have so much mud you need the tall boots and I just hate it!
11/8
I agreed to to do a handy man job for Nina's boss, as if I don't have enough on my plate, and that has turned out to be a week long project. I already lost all last week with the flu and now 7-8 hours a day working there and come home and try to get my chores done! I worked about 2 hours clipping cattle Friday evening and then all day Saturday. The calves are eating me out of house & home but are really growing. Apparently they didn't get the memo about the economy!

11/2
Well it's "back in the saddle again" with a lot to do and little time to get it done! With the show at Louisville we got busy and worked Grid & Mary and tried to catch up on chores over the weekend. In moving some round bales we discovered that our chickens had several stashes of eggs so it was like an Easter egg hunt!
The farmers are feverishly hitting the fields trying to secure their crops before the next big rain.

Nov'09

10/30
I've had the flu all week and haven't felt like or gotten anything done. I did manage to get a couple cows set up for ET but kept a pretty low profile all week and stayed away from everyone.  I did spend some much needed time rebuilding and updating this web site but another month shot to hell!

10/24
The flush went very well except for Emmy as I feared. It rained again Thursday & Friday and on our trip to Kentucky it was a difficult start. Not only was it dark as we left early but it was raining, at times foggy, and when we went through Indianapolis a traffic jam that was bumper to bumper for about an hour. As we neared Louisville we went into country that I had never been before and it was beautiful with all the rolling countryside and fall colors.
We met up with the Walson's and delivered Elliott then proceeded to Brandenburg, Ky and met Dr. Scott Blair DVM and delivered the embryos for him and the Walson's. We had a great time and on the way home the sun had came out and it was beautiful. We got home in the dark , fed, and crashed!
                            

10/18
We had rain Thursday & Friday again and a good frost this morning. I'm not ready for winter!
Tomorrow we flush 3 cows and end of the week we deliver Elliott and some embryos to the Walson's near Kentucky. Hopefully Emmy will do well as she had quite an ordeal this week. She is one of our best donor cows but she is also on social security and needs a little tlc at times. With the rain it's pretty slick and muddy around here and seems she was coming down the hill to the creek, slipped , and fell right into the muck and got stuck! When we found her she was belly deep and pretty tired. After 2 hours , a tractor , tow straps, and a lot of hard work we finally got her out but I fear that it may have taken it's toll on the breeding.

10/9
We've had rain on & off all week and it's really raining today. The area suffered in the spring with heavy rains and the crops went out very late and now I suppose it's going to be a miserable fall.
There are times when we all get the temper of our steel tested and this year has been one. I'm am so outraged and frustrated with our politicians with their stupid decisions and elitist attitudes! The economy is in the toilet, markets are horrible, and it's a struggle every day! Now the breed associations directors are showing their half wit side as well. There is going to be a "house cleaning" before this is done and they are going to find out who they work for!
                                              

Oct'09
10/4
The month's weather changed to rainy and cool. You might know that Friday & Saturday it was also windy when I had to give shots to calves and set up cows to flush. The harvesting of crops was just getting started as everything is behind.
Today was Tom's funeral and it turned off nice. Tom was quite a character in his life but well respected in the livestock industry and their business Shoup's Country Meats. In his younger days he was quite a horseman and always held his love for horses and mules. Sis & their daughters gave him quite a "send off" !

9/30
Sad news today as my brother in law died after a two month battle. My sister Carol has been through a lot over the last several weeks  but she is strong and has a great support staff in her family.
9/28
After a stressful month of preparation along with dealing with everyday chores and the family medical issues we finally got to the World Beef Expo and have returned tired but extremely satisfied. With out a doubt this was the nicest show we have ever attended. Setting aside the awards this show was extremely well managed - all by volunteers. Job well done people!
I actually talked with so many people about the breed and our cattle I lost my voice the 2nd day! We had one couple drive all the way from the southwestern corner of Illinois come to the show just to see the Braunvieh cattle and we had an interview with a regional Ag newspaper to interview us about the breed and us. All the major breeds and several exotic breeds were represented. In addition to the breed shows there were Jr. & Jr. Showmanship show, a prospect show & sale, a trade show & demonstrations. To compliment the show there were live bands, a beer garden complete with big screen TVs of Big Ten Football, a carnival, food stands for every taste, and true Wisconsin hospitality. The highlight of the show was gala event with the Supreme Drive which took place Sat evening to a darkened coliseum with each breed represented entering the arena in a spotlight, while two wide screen monitors highlighted both the exhibitor and the breed with the jam packed crowd applauding and cheering the participants. Three divisions were judged for Grand Champion Bull, Cow/calf, and heifer with premium monies of $1000 for each division.

                 
We were privileged enough to win several classes but most pleased to win Grand Champion Braunvieh FB Bull and got to experience the Supreme Drive and also won Premium Exhibitor and Premium Breeder. Better than any award, the friends and relationships we encountered with everyone top the list. Thanks to the many who helped us , especially Tim & Sarah Lipke, Dutch Kennedy & his grandsons, and Cord Yager & his brothers.

9/12
Sorry for the lack of bloging but it's been stressful around here. My brother in law has been practically on his death bed for weeks and my mother has had some rare eyesight dilemma and is now all but completely blind. Add to that we a about as droughty as I've seen it and feeding hay. Two fall calving cows have had beautiful calves. We have all the feet trimming done and the cattle are as about as ready that I can get them.

8/11
It's another hot & humid day and I'm still working on the house. It's so hot I'm taking a little AC time in the house. Yesterday I painted on the garage and did some trim work. It seems as though I've been in crisis management mode only lately with the cattle and I'll be glad to wrap this project up.

 Here are a few pics ...
                        

Speaking of crisis - the neighbors where we keep cattle that brought in a dozer asked me if I would bring the tractor and disc over and work up the torn up areas to seed. When I arrived Ally met me at the road all upset. Seems Ron had tried to push over a big tree that would not fall with the dozer and to make a long story short it fell onto the dozer! Thank God for roll cages!! We cut  and cut to remove as much as we could then I used the tractor and loader to push the tree and backed the dozer out ASAP. Other than a few dings & dents, a mangled exhaust pipe, and some hurt pride everything turned out OK. Pretty scary for a while!
I received an interesting report about crossbreeding which made me think about how some might perceive our "sales pitch" about Braunvieh. Although we love and appreciate our Braunvieh we know that most producers are about producing commercial cattle for slaughter the most economical and efficient manner - most likely crossbreeding. We and others have found that adding Braunvieh influence to herds captures the best of sought out traits to produce higher grading and efficient cattle.  Our goal on our end is produce the best bulls and heifers to add in to those herds to add those traits. We would definitely like to see more FB/PB Braunvieh cattle in production but as I've said before commercial production is what makes the cattle business go round and if you are one of those burnt by the Angus breed and are looking for proven change put one of these Braunvieh bulls on your herd and you will see positive results.

8/2
It's so hot and dry there is little to none pasture left and we are supplementing hay once again. It seems so strange that we were so wet in the spring and now this. We got 1.3 inches of rain all last month and now if any moisture comes in it stays to south of us. Indy area got about 16 inches of rain and the southern part of the state is literally flooded!
Preston finally came buy today and took his heifer home so that's one less mouth to feed and we put some hay on the ground down the road and will bale Monday. Our landlord at the east pasture wants to bring in a bulldozer this week and tear out some trees and fencerow so those cows will have to come home.

August '09
7/25
It's still hot and dry and it's not helping our breeding . The flush we attempted Wednesday  was a bust but we did manage to put embryos we had in the tank into 6 recips. It's hot, cloudy and muggy today and we got a little light rain overnight. We put out lick tubs today and sorted off a couple fall caving cows into a lot.
I've been sending out cards and e-mails to a lot of folks to stimulate interest in the Beef Expo. I just can't for the life of me figure how it's further from some point out west to here than it is from here to there! Some of the "elite" out west have little respect for producers east of the Mississippi. Perception is everything. Have you ever noticed that if someone buys a horse and says "it's a ranch horse from "XYZ Ranch" - immediately eyes widen and folks say "ohhh a ranch horse. Same with cattle. If it says "Land & Cattle" or "Ranch" they have to be better than anyone with "Farm" and I'm seeing a change in eastern cattle outfits to names with ... Cattle Co". I've sure had some interesting conversations with various people and can't wait to meet them at the show.

7/19
What a week!! We sided and painted all week but have ran out of materials. It has made a drastic change in the appearance as well as repairing the damage the raccoons have caused. This year we have been inundated with raccoons! They have chewed their way into the house and gotten into our feed! There everywhere. So far I've killed over 30! Although I can't blame all the need on the raccoons - the aging has weathered all things including me!
Today we weighed and gave shots to calves, did a little painting and took the afternoon off and grilled some steaks. I guess it's our turn for some health issues. My mom has been having problems with going blind - it turns out she has some type of infection in the cranial arteries causing the retina to go bad. It started in one eye and now has progressed into the other. Also my brother -in-law had a breathing attach at the fair and had to be lifelined to the hospital at Indy. It's looking good and may take time to recover, if at all. I know sis and her family are worn out.

A few shots of our work in progress ...
           

7/12
Our second stage of setting up the recips at Crawfordsville went well today and we took Elliott to breed two Braunvieh cows and brought home an Angus dam to breed to Focus. It's always a good time when we visit Dutch and his herd will do a good job raising the ET babies.
                 

Monday I have to go to Indy to get our siding and it's going to be a busy week.
Theena & Kattie both calved this week - both bull calves. Can't seem to get a heifer to save my soul but both very nice Dragon calves.

7/5
It's really been hot & humid with some light rains off & on but it's still really dry in the pastures where the sun & wind get to them. We started setting up recip cows today and getting ready for a flush. We have two cows ready to calve and hoping the temps moderate. I know the cattle that we are going to show are enjoying the fans.

July '09    
Flash! We and other Braunvieh members will be attending the World Beef Expo @ Milwalkee in Sept

6/23
Thank goodness it looks as though Joan's surgery has gone well and she is on the road to recovery. It's very hot & humid - a little early for the year. We still get a occasional shower but too much wind and we are drying out tooo fast. We will be laying in some hay this week but very little has not been rained on. We are running way above normal for the year in rainfall.
I have been working with the powers to be to get more breed promotion in this region and possibly we will have a new show to attend. I dislike showing but it's a necessary evil to promote your product. It takes a lot of time & money but what doesn't these days! Many businesses have closed up and it's really difficult to get feed anymore so I have purchased a grinder/mixer, some storage tanks and we make much of our feed now. By the time this bunch of nuckelheads in Washington get done with us there won't be any economy!

6/15
Still raining occasionally with one hot and the next cool. Ms Emmy calved a nice bull calf, had the bulls checking out the AI'd cows and yesterday we picked up a new 2yr old Braunvieh heifer - Ms Bristol. I'm scheduled to put in embryos tomorrow and hoping all goes well.
We have learned of some bad news for one of our best friends, Joan Thorne. Seems she may have colon cancer but it may be curable. All the bad weather, cattle issues, ect seem pale to what life sometimes throws at us. Joan - get well dear friend.

6/2
Wow! Bad storms last night with rain, hail, wind and tornados in the area! We got over 3 inches of rain and here we go again with standing water everywhere. This weather is CRAZY!! Our knee high grass is being tromped into the mud - best hope it doesn't turn hot & dry!

June '09

5/30
We've had a nice stretch of sunny, but hat & humid weather last week but more rain this week. We had another heifer and I got a couple recip cows set up. It sure would be nice to get some hay put up but we just can't seem to get a good window. We've had well over 6 inches of rain for the month and I've never seen so many frustrated farmers.

5/23
Even though the rain keeps coming we are getting some sunny and hot days. still very little field work being done and the pastures are very wet. We sold a couple bulls last week, Grace had a very good looking young man, daughter Ashley has graduated college courses, and I'm finishing the fence work. YES!

5/10
Fence work and rain seem to be the norm. This is not looking good - no field work has begun and everything is soaked. The economy is in shambles and lots of job lay-offs everywhere. What's next?
The calving and breeding seems to be going well and if the sun ever dries things out maybe cattle can go on pasture.

May '09
5/1
What a month we have just had! Lots of rain - well over 6 inches, snow, cold and even freezing temps only to turn to in the 80's, and winds for several days around 50 mph! If it ever turns to better conditions we will have lots of grass but I'm sure tired of feeding hay. Had a visit from Joe Knabloch (sp ??) this week and got to show off some of the cattle even with all the mud.
We got a few more cattle bred, set up two more this morning, and are awaiting our next set of calves to be born. Nina can hardly wait for Gracie's to pop out - she wont spoil it much!!

4/20
It still raining this morning and it was just plain miserable yesterday and this morning with the rain & wind. You know we sometimes need to praise our customers who brave the elements to look at our cattle and yesterday was on of those days! Annie Krosnicki, her mother & friend Ruthy "A" from Michigan were the first to arrive and we had a great time discussing Braunvieh and how best to get her started into the breed.
                
Shortly there after Joedy & Michiel Walston & family arrived to look at some bulls. Quite a crowd! We had some great conversations and huddled in the barn to get out of the rain and wind as much as possible. I think they enjoyed the antics of the heifers and calves, especially with "Kat" showing off her licking skills to anyone's jacket that would stand still! You all traveled far to come see us and thanks to all of you!!

4/19
Yesterday was just beautiful with lots of sun and very warm even though we are still very wet. We moved the bulls back out to the runs and they just loved laying on some dry grass and sleeping in the sun. We set some heifers and got them bred this week and all ready excited for "calves to come". We have three sets of folks coming today to look at cattle and unfortunately it's raining again this morning and maybe for the next 2 days.

4/13
The weather has still been ugly - frost & freezing temps, wind & rain! We have had so much rain it doesn't take much to make standing water and flooding everywhere. The cold has shut the grass down from growing. It's bad enough to daily chores but it really makes it difficult to show animals to customers.
We've been setting up and breeding a few cows and catching up on some repairs. Thanks to brother in law Joe for doing some much needed welding. I think when this rain stops we will need a bailing crew to mow this yard.

April '09
4/3   Another stormy night with lots of lightning, wind, and rain. Fortunately the bad storms missed us. We got some more seeding done yesterday and the grass is really growing.
We've had a lot of interest in our cattle this week and I hope I'm keeping up with the questions and answers. Once again EPDs, particularly BW is on everyone's mind which tells me that calving issues have been a problem for a lot of folks. Guess that a lot of these "superstar catalog bulls" looked a lot better in the catalog! Ah a teachable moment -
There are so many variables in BW - gestation length, genetics of the bull & dam, how the dam gets fed (particularly in the last trimester), sex of the calf, age of the dam, presentation at birth, and head/shoulder size. It's not always just birthweight. If your having calving issues the first place to start looking is at your cows and then your feeding and mineral program. If you ignore these and the price of a bull is your only criteria for selection then you won't solve your problems. EPDs are only as good as the value of the data and when matched to common variables IMHO. It's good to narrow down selection but then go look at the animals, ask questions, look at the herd they came from and the owner's program.
Guess I'm on a roll this morning! ha  I was on a site this morning and someone was asking how to produce a show heifer. Part of the reply was breed her first  and get her hog fat as she most likely won't breed after she's fat, show her and sell her because she won't milk well and will be hard to rebreed. You want to buy her for a big price to put in you herd?? And my all time favorite is someone who says black cattle taste better. I swear one of these days I'm going to serve that person a plate of black  and then tan hide with a little ketchup and ask them which tasted better! I'm off my soapbox - have a good day.

3/22
We've had a streak of good weather and been busy as a one-armed- wallpaper hanger! Seed sewn, fertilizer spread (don't even talk to me about the cost!), more calves delivered, and even cleaned the yard and tilled the garden. I have my new bull lots completed and moved them out. We have had a lot of wind and are actually a little short on rain to make things burst out in green even if it means mud!
Having a little fun with Watchman       Grid in his lot
There are days around here when even I am impressed with our cattle. We were walking around with the cows & calves, looked over and Angel was nursing 4 calves! Talk about great dams!!
                     Then every so often stupidity strikes!   

3/13   The first of the week there were several storms in the area and even some tornados. Thursday was vet day for annual checks on the bulls and some other cattle work. Things looked great and even feces checks for parasites came out clean.
I'm still working on fencing and will be for some time but it's coming together. We have been getting several requests for bulls & heifers and feel bad that I have had to put customers off for the time being until I can get some of this work completed and better weather conditions. It's prideful but I hate to show animals that are standing in knee deep mud.
We have been buying hay from Stan Pelling, a neighbor, and last Sat we purchased some square bales of hay and straw he wanted to sell. He, his wife, and daughter showed up and even helped us put it into the mow! Thanks guys!!

March '09
3/7  A week of sunny but cold at times. I've worked on fencing all week, sewed some seed and feel like I'm making some headway. Angel calved a terrific bull calf out of Bando 1961 and Kayla calved a very nice bull calf out of Icon. Both doing great and we are having long days and short nights although the camera system in the barns is keeping me inside watching the cows rather than being out in the cold at night for hours.

2/25  A busy period. The weather has settled down and on the 18th our Wix of McCumber dam calved a beautiful set of twin heifers out of In Focus. That's a start on spring!
I cleaned out some of the barn and put out the last of our stored hay and Sunday had Dustin bring in a semi load of oat hay.
One of our spring projects was to put in new fencing and have been putting together the supplies. I had contracted a nice young man, Tanner Schwartz of JM Fencing to drive posts for me and yesterday it was fit and we drove around 100 posts. Man, is that great! He did a wonderful job and I couldn't believe how fast it is. We have a few more to go but it is getting pretty sloppy and will have to wait.

2/15  Remember me mentioning spring? Well it did warm up but with it came mud, 40-50 mph winds, lots of rain and with frozen ground - flooding! I mean big time flooding!! There are days when west Texas or Arizona sound good!

Feb '09
2/7   We spent the day Sunday working cattle, drew blood samples for AM testing on the Angus,  and then watched the Superbowl but it just wasn't the same without the Colts! Tuesday had to vote and help knock down some idiot board members trying to go around the state rules and spend our tax dollars on unneeded projects at the school. Now if we could just knock some heads together at Washington!!
It is somewhat milder today and sunny - maybe spring will really arrive at some point.

1/28  Well January has been January with snow and a lot of cold. This week has been no exception and we lost power last evening and got quite a bit of snow. I had a tax appointment today and had a rough go of it but made it and Nina stayed home due to road conditions. I've spent a lot of time researching the problems in the Angus breed and the greed and cheating of some of the "big boys" is really showing up. Greed, fraud, and deception eventually shows up in government and the cattle business! We like many lost tens of thousands in savings in the past few months and fell pretty low about sacrificing our numbers of animals but are trying to stay optimistic.

1/16  I had a good trip out, met with Russ with no problems and made it to Thorne's that evening. We really want to thank Russ for buying Jaci and hope him success even though it was hard to part with her and her anticipated Icon baby. As usual it was great seeing Abbie & Joan, ate too much, saw some great cattle, but have to admit I really missed not having Nina at my side. The trip home was long and got to the Indiana border before getting into snow and icy conditions.  Since getting home it has been very cold and snowy and today is extremely cold.

1/8  The weather has been somewhat nasty but I see a window of opportunity to make my trip west and deliver Jaci to Russ Smith but the anticipated visit with friends Abbie & Joan Thorne will make it better. I wish Nina could go along but someone has to stay home and keep an eye on things here this time of year.

Jan '09
1/3  As a new year rolls around, each year we all hope for a better one than the previous. This one may be the exception for us all. I have made some new year's resolutions and one is to look more at things in a "half-full" manner but I will say that with out a doubt we are in for some rough times ahead folks! Never in my life have I seen such graft, lying, waste, fraud, and political crap! The last year has been really, I mean really hard on the cattle business and we were no exception. We have cut our herd in half but our barn is filled with hay, feed in the tanks, a really nice set of cattle with nice prospects and can't wait until the grass is green and calves on the ground!!
We spent the month of December along with the usual holiday traditions getting books and taxes ready and making a lot of plans for the new year. We got mother a new mower (which she desperately needed), are making plans for new fencing, and even looking into some alternative energy. It looks as though we have sold one of our good heifers to a customer in Kansas and I will be traveling to Oklahoma to deliver her.
 

                                            The Coffee Shop