I saw someone post this morning; “It went from July 1st to July 26th in like five minutes!” and I must agree. We went from thinking we have plenty of time to prepare for our open house to we only have two days to make things pretty. I am looking forward to the Soil & Crop Tour — they have a great line-up of places to visit. I am very proud of our Rainy River District producers and excited to see their operations. It is a jam-packed agenda, but it will be worth your time. We learn so much from one another.
My meeting in Grand Bend, Ontario was great, but they have had a very wet year and their crops were certainly showing it. Many flooded out areas and the tile runs very visible. We visited an operation that has sold some females to producers here in the Rainy River District. Our second farm stop was the largest feedlot in Ontario. They finish and sell 16,000 head per year. They source all their cattle from Manitoba, and they ranged in breeds and colours, but were so similar in finish. It was very impressive. I think all cow-calf producers should visit a feedlot to see what the finished product looks like. They have five barns. The two new barns that just opened this spring were 2,300 feet long! It was amazing to stand at one end of the barn and see people at the other end that looked like toothpicks! So even though it is not easy getting away, I have been fortunate to see some cool things by getting involved. I strongly recommend to everyone to take the leap and get involved. Life is way too short, and I would not have the opportunity to do this otherwise.
Last week wasn’t the greatest week to make dry hay with rain falling again. Saturday was a great hay day, but we also had a wedding. I sent Clayton off to the wedding and I baled until it was time for the supper / reception and my mom dropped me off. Congratulations to Colton and Kenzie Craig on a beautiful wedding and venue. Sunday, we finished first cut. Sunday was also three years since my dad passed away and he would have been so proud that the haying was complete. He also would have been saying, “I am not doing it next year,” but he always did. I was anxious all week as the date approached and there seems to be much sadness going around in our community currently, so it threw me into more of a funk. Thankfully we held our 4-H Fun Day on Sunday morning and being around our group of kids and their families made all the difference for me. The animals and kids were so well behaved, and we had a great time!
I finally made the decision on what animals I am taking to the Fair! Now the work has started. So even though we might have haying off our list I need to spend many hours now working with the animals. Reminder the Fall Fair is August 17, 18 and 19. Get involved — it makes it so much more fun! We also have a beautiful steer lined up for Guess the Weight so you can look forward to that again as well.
