I moved my cows home now, and we are getting close to calving time. I am shocked to see how quickly they are changing now and showing the official signs of popping out a baby. Though I think the cattle are in a much better place near the bush with plenty of shelter, we have the windbreaks all situated with straw for bedding. If the weather stays like this, they will have no complaints at all. Neither will I. But there is always the worry of a cow that is very heavy in calf now getting too far over on her side and not being able to get back up. That is a worry almost any time of the year but more of a concern now. The yard in uneven but I do my best to try to keep them away from the worst areas but usually the worst spots aren’t the concern – it is a little dip of even 4 to 6 inches that can cause you some grief! You have to remind yourself constantly that you can’t be with them all the time! My official due date is the 16th but usually something sneaks in before that, just to get you going. I worked on getting my calving book ready and made some notes on some the cow breeding dates that I had noted. I did forget to get my tag order in, but I do have enough to get started. Just a quick note to others – if you are looking to purchase Rainy River Raised Tags you can do that through Aaron at Emo Feed. There are many options for you with tags these days, you can add your farm name, management #, RFID #, and of course the great Rainy River Raised logo!
I was in Winnipeg last week attending the Manitoba Beef Producers AGM. They were concerned about attendance being this was first time back in person. Personally, I think the Beef Farmer’s of Ontario host a much better meeting but I could be biased. As always there are a few people that tend to dominate the meeting with some negative comments, but we all have those! I met a few interesting producers and had some good conversations. Most of these guys consider themselves ranchers not farmers. And I found it funny that one old timer who was born and raised in Manitoba told me that everyone in the room with a cowboy hat was an import from Alberta that thought they would come to Manitoba and show them up! As I was driving home I was thinking that I should belong to the Manitoba Beef Producers because it was a much quicker, easier trip that going to Guelph!
This Friday our local 4-H Association is hosting their annual Awards Night. It has been moved up a month so it may catch a few people off guard. Our Leaders attended the Flint House last week for their AGM. A big thank you to the Flint House for accommodating us and serving us a great meal! It is nice that we were able to get out and support one of our long standing steer buyers!
Wishing everyone a great week and I hope you get a chance to get outside and enjoy some of this great weather!
