We had a great Cattle Sale Saturday. We sold 1293 head for $2,392,891.89 and I think most producers were quite pleased with the results. Like everything else, farm inputs are at an all time high, so these increased prices are much needed. I think one of the best things I noted was we had a fair few local buyers purchasing some replacement heifers. That is a great sign that people are starting to rebuild their herd. Our canteen was very popular, and we were happy to see people come and enjoy the great homemade cuisine.
Friday night, May 5 the Rainy River Feeder and Breeder Finance clubs are hosting their AGM beginning at 7:00 p.m. at the Stratton Sales Barn. This is a group that lends money to producers to purchase cattle. Many of the animals that are purchased at our local sales barn have been purchased through this group, so it is a big asset to our District and the neighbouring Districts as they are in included in our club. If you would like to lean more about this, I encourage you to attend Friday night.
This Saturday, May 6 RRFA is hosting the spring Ag Day. They had a full day planned with a bustling trade show. It is a lot of work for the organizers so please take the time out to participate!
As well, the Abattoir AGM is booked for May 17 at 7:00 p.m. at the Chapple Rec Centre. Unfortunately, there are some big decisions that we are going to have to be make at this meeting. We continue to struggle to make ends meet and we are not sure how long we can continue. If the abattoir closes it will affect Rainy River Meats, Sunrise Meats, Emo Feed, 4-H, and everyone that enjoys eating fresh, local meat. This is a community owned building, and we need you to come out and help make future plans.
We have all our lambs now and the goats have been moved into the barn in hopes we should see some kids this week. My mom and spent most of Sunday cleaning our sheep pens as our power was off pretty much all day so even though it was dark in the barn, we were still able to shovel manure. I was feeling a bit rough and cranky as I didn’t get home until 2:30 a.m. from the sale. My mom was planning a nice supper as she often does on a Sunday night, but no hydro made that challenging. We decided to put it on the BBQ but adding water to a glass dish ended that as well. Then to top off the day our favourite hockey team, Boston Bruins lost. Sigh, it was a rough day.
The ground is starting to dry nicely, and we are scrambling here at the Research Station. At home I am just getting started on my income tax and I am trying to not waste the good weather sitting at a computer so I will divide my evening time up on some outside jobs when the weather is good and end the day doing income tax. This is the when I wish I just had a few more hours or an assistant.
