I hope everyone has been enjoying the incredible weather we’ve been experiencing. I certainly have been. I love the sunshine, heat and warm summer nights. Of course, the bugs ruin some of that enjoyment. When I was cutting grass the deer flies were biting and they seemed to have a way to bite before they landed. It made me think that the grass must be decent because my grandma used to say, “the grass is good and so are the bugs.”
I was able to let my biggest group out to pasture on Sunday and I am not sure who was happier, me or them. I also let the sheep out to pasture on Sunday, but they were less excited. Saturday was shearing day and their tender skin is very sensitive to the sun. They will adjust and will be out grazing more and more every day. My mom and I tackled deworming and vaccinating them before the sheep shearers arrived. We changed how we did it a bit and it went pretty well. Evan the alpaca does not like us drenching him and he tried to spit at us but we managed to do it quick enough that he wasn’t upset for long.
We are still bottling three lambs but I think we are cutting them back to two bottles a day now. Most people wean them around six weeks of age but we seem to never do that. I still have to get the RFID Bolus in my calves but I think I will wait until I pull my bulls. I keep putting it off but I am not looking forward to it. The other two groups of cattle are very sad that they are still at home but they have to wait for a bit longer. It is hard to believe that the haying season will soon be upon us. I don’t like to say this, but we could really use some rain so we get more growth! But we need to be careful what we wish for!
Thursday morning was an exciting, fun morning for me. I did a virtual beef farm tour with Rustin and Ryker Chartier. We logged in early and did a test and things were working great. Of course once all the classrooms logged in we had some technical difficulties. We had over 1,500 students from 55 different classrooms. It was great. Rustin and Ryker were incredible and we have received so much great feedback! If you would like to view it you can just google AgScape Beef Farm Virtual Field Trip. We didn’t get to answer all the questions because we ran out of time!
I am off to Calgary for a few days for meetings. I am starting to regret saying yes to some of these organizations, but I have to finish what I’ve started! Just a quick reminder that if you are interested in the Dairy Farm Tour coming up on June 27, you should text and let them know if you are attending. The pancake breakfast is from 9 – 11 am. Please text Donald at 807-276-9623 or Marilyn at 807-271-3663 if you plan to attend!!
