Animals enjoying the heat

Summer is really moving along – and for the most part we certainly cannot complain about the weather. Well, that is funny because I tend to complain about the weather but that is just because of rain. Last week we should have been braver and cut more hay than we did because though we had rain it didn’t amount to much. Early Sunday morning we were hit with a decent storm. Further north there was damage done from downed trees and we were with out power for a fair bit of time. Farmers in the Alberton area missed the rain and said they would appreciate some for their fields and pasture. It is hard to keep us all happy.
COVID has made it difficult for our 4-H clubs as you most likely know. Even though the outdoor restrictions have lifted, and we are allowed more people we have decided to stick to just having our smaller club shows. We are calling them “Covid Club Shows 2020.” We are hosting them August 8 and 9. The top two steers, heifers and showman will compete for the overall awards on what would have been our Emo Fair on August 15. It may not be ideal, but we are happy that we are able to give our members something to look forward to. Thank you to all those who have already purchased a 4-H Steer! We appreciate the amazing support from our community. We are down to the last dozen to sell so don’t wait too long to get in on purchasing some amazing local meat!
I was fortunate to have been invited to an on-line conference know as “She Grows Beef!” Normally this takes place in person but this year it was on-line. I couldn’t attend all sessions but the ones I did were excellent. In person it would have been held in Manitoba and I most likely wouldn’t have been able to get away so there are some pluses to meeting on-line like this.
Maddie and Marlee spent a very hot day bathing and clipping their heifers again. The heifers were very dirty from the rain showers we have been getting. I think with the weather being extra hot over the weekend the animals enjoyed it. I am proud of the girls for having the confidence to do this stuff on their own! Learn to do my doing is working!
We are not so impressed with our hops this year. I have reached out to some other hops growers looking for advice. It could be a combination of things. . . heat, fertility, moisture – you name it. This is another project that is centered around “Learn to do my Doing!” Stay tuned – our virtual tour will hopefully be coming out this week! It might not be as great as in person (especially missing out on the snacks and the visits) but it will be better than nothing at all!
I have gathered some photos of some on-farm crops as well. I will put something together and use my group email list to share! Some of these photos were taking early July so the crop has changed since then!