Last week was a write-off. Though the rain didn’t add up until the end of the week, we were unable to combine. We tried and we were unsuccessful. A few of us decided to pack up some cattle and take off to the Dryden Fair on Thursday. We started off planning to take two trailers but then changed and just took one load. It was a great time with good people and cattle. I had to be back early Saturday to attend the wedding of Jesse and Dana Tait. My friend that went with me had a wedding in Dryden, so our cattle stayed overnight, and he hauled them home Sunday. We were super proud of Levi Debney who not only took home the Champion Showman but Champion Steer as well. The Dryden club sold 10 steers at it was their best sale in many years! One steer received $11.25 per lb. It was all fun and games until I got home and started thinking about all the jobs to do. These shorter days add a lot of stress! I should have been leaving for Guelph Sunday but thankfully I asked to join my Monday meeting virtually. Otherwise, that would have been most of 3 more days away. My students are finished this week after Tuesday and the chances of us having our cereals finished is slim. I might have to beg some friends to help me. It is a bummer that school is back on Wednesday, or I might have been able to get a student. And never mind the cereals the forages desperately need to be harvested! I always try to hold off cutting the 2nd cut forages until after our Open House but from no more. It seems to end up always getting held up and following at the same time as the cereal harvest. I am fortunate to have someone starting next week that has worked for me in the past so we will be busy, but it will be great since she knows what to do. I am under the gun a bit since The Taits will be moving in real soon to work on our tile drainage as well.
Our 4-H Steers were all graded, and Bradley hosted anyone interested on Monday night to view the carcasses. We ended up with 1 prime, 26 AAA and 3 AA. It is an impressive cooler full of beef. Thanks to our inspector / grader Anna Egli who always does a wonderful job of giving reasons on how and why these grades are given.
We have decided to cancel our September 9th cattle sale. Generally, this sale was known as a “yearling sale” but as James was out and about drumming up cattle for the sale his numbers were not adding up. The buyers like a minimum of 600 head and he had trouble reaching 300. There seems to be less people backgrounding cattle. This means our next sale is September 30th. Please be sure to let James know what you are bringing as this helps the buyers with orders and booking trucks. Trucking is becoming a huge issue across Canada, so the buyers must book in advance and if we don’t know cattle numbers it is hard for them to book truckers.
Best wishes to everyone returning to school. I get sad when my students leave me. They are what make going to work so great every day. If you were lucky like me to have great summer students, they sure leave a big void.
