Cows on Pasture

My favorite day of the year has arrived! And a whole month earlier than last year. Today we let the Ladies back out onto the pasture! It is always so much fun to watch them return back outside to the lush green grass. After a little bit of fun and kicking up their heels they got right down to business grazing and then taking a snooze in the warm sunshine!
We do everything we can to make their winter care the best that it can be. The reason we pull the Ladies into confinement for the winter to protect our ground. The pacific northwest just gets too wet in winter, and if we allowed the cows to stay outside they would make a complete mucky mess of the pasture. This break throughout the winter not only protects the grass, but also allows it to get a wonderful healthy growing start. This in turn helps to provide feed for our cows.
It's all one big circle that dairy farmers care greatly for; we care for the land so it can in turn help care for our Ladies. It is definitely my favorite view to see those gorgeous brown and whites on the lush green Spring grass!

Freckles leads the herd

Bette takes off running!

Bookie and Ramira butting heads

Notice Jolanda jumping for joy in the background?!?

Muzzle deep the grass is lush! Jesusita and Anna are enjoying!

All settled down for a nap!

Brooklyn soaking up the sunshine!

Seriously my favorite day! And it was so warm here today, the sunshine felt amazing! I hope you had an equally great day! Happy Thursday!

Hello 2015!!

Our first calf, a heifer, arrived this afternoon! A great way to Welcome in 2015!

Happy New Year! 

2014 Year End Review: Farm

After I highlighted my efforts in agvocacy in 2014 I thought it would be fun to take a look at what happened on our farm this year!

The biggest change for 2014 was the number of cows in our herd. For the second time ever and in the last two years we opened our closed herd to bring in animals from two Oregon herds that were selling their Guernseys. We used to say the future was near that we might be the only large number Guernsey herd in Oregon, sadly that day arrived. So with mixed emotions we welcomed 16 head from the Bosch family, Kilchona Farm in Tillamook, at the beginning of April. We have never brought that many animals into the herd at once, but the transition went smoothly and the timing could not have been better being out on pasture. Then in November the opportunity to bring 8 cows from the Wil-Rene herd, of the Jansen family from Forest Grove, presented itself. The timing was opposite, but we couldn't say no to these great genetics and again the transition went smoothly. 

Bette & Baja two days after their arrived!

 This brings our milking cows number to consistently over 90 cows and at max for our facility. We wouldn't push our facility if we weren't already planning an expansion into a new robotic facility by 2016, with 120 milking cows. 2015 is going to bring a lot of change, crazy busyness and challenge, but we are so excited to meet this new venture and build the future of our farm!

So let's look at what these lovely Ladies achieved in 2014.

We shipped 1,402,447lbs of milk. That is 163,076 gallons!! 

Received a quality award from our coop for producing milk above the standard requirements for the 2013/2014 fiscal year. 

 We welcomed 80 new calves! 41 Bulls and 39 Heifers. And had a record breaking 5 sets of twins, two sets being born on the same day, which has never happened here before! One set of twin heifers, one set of twin bulls and three sets of heifer and bull.
Welcome to: Jazzelle, Jellato, Regina, Rowdy, RockyRoad, Jentle, Sprout, Babs & Bobbie, Raindrop, Diana, Super, Louisa, Blackcap, Chanelle, Blueheat, Bungalow, Jesstine, Brenna, Fancie, Jorja, Venita, Rainy, Snowdust, Moodini, Minuette, Bessy, Jessandra, Jazarah, Jacket, Spaz, Milan, Jellica, Roana and 5 more newborns awaiting names!

Twin heifers for Babette. Bobbi & Babs

Captured this sweet moment of Velma and her 12th calf!

 A few personal cow achievements. Kicked off the year with one of our favorite young cows Abiqua Acres Martini Jen classifying EX-90. We celebrated Abiqua Acres Goliath Velma's sweet 16th birthday. We also had a successful show season, taking strings to the Oregon State Fair and Northwest National Guernsey Show. We took grand champion with Abiqua Acres Challenge Spirit at Oregon and placed in the top half of all our classes at the Northwest.  Bittersweet this Fall as we lost our favorite show cow Abiqua Acres Aaron Meara, she has been greatly missed!

Grand Champion Challenge Spirit

It's been a good year for the dairy industry. Milk prices were at record highs and feed prices stayed reasonable, meaning we saw a tiny profit this year, which will hopefully hold us through the rough outlook for the year ahead. Just like always most days saw us with ups and downs on the dairy farm. This is the life we love and we wouldn't have it any other way than spending it with the lovely brown and white Ladies we love! So Thank You 2014 and bring it on 2015! 

Dairy Farmer Roadtrip "Vacation"

Dairy Farmers are a wonderful breed of people. Each caring for and producing the best quality product they possibly can. I am reminded of this time and time again as I forge more friendships throughout the dairy world.

This latest expansion of my "dairy family" took me to eastern Washington state near the town of Spokane. We sold one of our Ladies, to Spokane Family Farm. They run a herd of Holsteins and Jerseys and process their own milk. We were interested in seeing their processing facility, so made the drive up to deliver them their "prize" Guernsey.

The Hutchins are a great dairy family. That is clearly reflected in their pride and care for their herd and their products. I am so excited and inspired by their success in the short amount of time they have been running Spokane Family Farm. I can't wait to see where their venture takes them. Obviously great places with some Guernsey milk in the tank now! ;-)

Since we were "in the neighborhood", we drove a little further north to visit with the Stauffer's. I had "met" Krista online as she started her agvocacy with her blog The Farmer's Wifee. If you aren't following her there, you should check out her facebook page as well. Being a fellow Darigold producer and Northwesterner we had followed each other for a while. We got to meet up at the Agchat Conference in January and it was great to meet her in person.

Even better to get to visit her at her farm. They run a mixed herd of Jerseys, Holsteins and crosses. Beautiful farm, nestled in the foothills with obviously happy and well cared for cows. It was great to get an inside look at their operation and catch up with each other.

I have to laugh, because it seems to be true for every dairy farmer, if you are going on "vacation" or a trip somewhere, you always look for farms you can stop at along the way. Dairy farmers are always learning and looking for ways to improve our own operations. Seeing other farms and talking with other farmers is a amazing way to not only build friendships, but share and grow knowledge.

Time and time again as I walk away from new farms I am always impressed with the common cause of healthy and happy animals. Dairy farmers truly do love their cows and this lifestyle. Your milk production is in good hand folks!

So who will we visit next!

     

Springing in a Dairy Cow

Every Lady on our farm gets at least 60 days of dry period before calving and starting a new lactation. Dry period means that she is not milked, basically like maternity leave. She gets to relax all day and basically do what she wants, while her body focuses on her baby and preparing for a new lactation. This is custom practice in the dairy industry to allow cows at least 60 days before they calve again. Our Ladies enjoy their dry period on a separate pasture.

Brooklyn, Angel & Blackberry in the dry cow lot

A cows gestation period is the same as humans, 9 months. At least two weeks before their due date we bring them in off the pasture and out of the dry cow group into our Springer Barn. This is a special bedded pack pen, for  the sole purpose of calving. We like to have them in here so we can watch for signs of calving and keep an eye on how they are springing.

Springing, defines a cow that is starting to make the changes that mean calving is close. We don't put a lot of weight on the due date, as a cow can very easily and safely calve within 2  weeks of either direction of her due date. And our herd of Guernseys seems to always be on the later side. We instead closely watch her body, attitude and appetite for changes and then any signs that their might be a problem. A cow that is really Springing will have swelling in her udder, you can tell her milk is coming on. A very loose, floppy and swollen vulva. Their might be a slight change in her manure, to a smoother, lighter side. And clear, mucousy discharge might be present. Also another little fun fact, the term Springer or Springing, meaning a cow is close to calving, came from the ideal calving period being in the spring.A farmer would be wanting to see these changes on his cow in the Spring.

1. Jesusita just came in off the dry cow pasture a week ago. Her due date is August 2nd, obviously she is going to go past that date. This is a typical look for a dry cow. No obvious bagging up, tight unswollen vulva. Everything looks great on this dry cow.

2. Charity is a Springer heifer, meaning her first time calving, so not the best comparison, but it's what I had in the barn right now. You can see her udder is starting to change a bit, showing a little filling. Her vulva is a little soft and swollen. Her due date is August 6th, she is showing signs of being closer to calving, probably still a week or so.

3. Jenelle calved 7 hours after this picture was taken, she was 14 days past her due date. Excuse the udder, there is definitely more swelling here then we like to see and will be working closely with her to get this down. We tend to see a little more udder swelling in the summer months. But this is a good representation, her vulva is obviously loose, floppy and slightly swollen. And her udder is very bagged up, filled and swollen.

Each cow is different, but this is the typical progression for a dairy cow that is springing. I'll try to snap some progression pictures of Jesusita as she springs and gets closer to calving, so you can see the progression of one cow.  

Cow Appreciation Day

National Cow Appreciation Day is today! I know I posted on Facebook about this Friday as some had declared that the day, but I'm hearing again that it's today. And hey who doesn't like appreciating cows, so might as well do it again today!!

Honestly where would we be without dairy? I personally, and not just because I am a dairy farmer love dairy products! Where would we be without milk for our cereal, coffee, for baking? Or delicious products like ice cream, yogurt and cheese? I really can't imagine a world without ice cream, really think about that for a minute! And all that goodness is thanks to the hard working bovine Ladies that call dairy farms their home! These homes where their every need is met and exceeded and every day is Cow Appreciation Day!

Guernseys have been a part of our family for 60 years now! 

While we can all appreciate the goodness that all dairy Ladies give us, I wanted to spend today's post appreciating the special and unique qualities of the brown and white Guernsey Ladies that call our farm home! So here's my favorites of why I appreciate the Guernsey Cow:

 Guernseys milk is appropriately called Golden Guernsey milk due to an exceptionally high content of beta carotene, which gives it a rich golden yellow color. I need to get a picture of the milk sometime when the milk tank is full, Guernsey milk really does have a beautiful golden hue to it! Beta carotene is also a great source of vitamin A, which has been touted to help reduce the risks of certain cancers.

Guernseys milk is also high in butterfat and protein, putting Guernseys as one of the component breeds. On average our herd's milk is at about 4.5% fat and 3.3% protein.

To continue with the special and unique qualities of the milk, Guernseys are known to be the highest percentage producers of A2 milk of any breed. A2 refers to the type of beta-casein protein. All cows produce either A1 or A2 (or a combination)  beta-casein protein in their milk. All cows (going way back to domestication) used to only produce A2 beta-casein milk and the newer A1 beta-casein protein is what is believed to be linked to dairy intolerance issues. This is relatively new information to the consumer and dairy farmer, and most hype has followed the release of Keith Woodford's Devil in the Milk, in 2007. But as a breed Guernseys are almost 90% A2 producers. The A2 discussion is definitely something we are watching for future developments, especially from a marketability standpoint as Australia, New Zealand and the UK are currently selling a2 milk. If this is of interest to you I encourage you to ask questions and explore the topic more!

Combine these three qualities of Guernsey milk and you can see why we enjoy and are proud of being a 100% Guernsey herd!

To really be literal, I appreciate Guernseys being brown and white! I mean come one, who wants to go color blind looking at black and white cows all day when you can enjoy all the shades from fawn and tan to red and mahogany brown. Just look at how pretty they look out there in the green grass!

I also love their beauitful brown eyes and gorgeous eyelashes! Seriously women out there if you want to be jealous of anybodies eyelashes, we should all be jealous of cows!

And their pink noses. Guernseys are known for predominately having pink noses, most other breeds sport black noses. Jellacy here kind of has a combo with some super cute spots!

More then anything I enjoy their disposition. As a whole Guernseys are known for being the most laid back and easily manageable of the cow breeds. Mellow and easy going, I can definitely attest to that, and would even go to say our herd is lazy! Everyone just wants a pet or scratch whenever you go to move them anywhere. Makes the simplest tasks take that much longer to make sure everyone gets their love!

I appreciate Jesusita, because she's my favorite!!  Don't tell the others!

  

So have an extra glass of milk, scoop of ice cream or slice of cheese today and show your appreciation for the dairy cow!