Happy Earth Day--What we do to help everyday

Happy Earth Day, Canada!

I sometimes don't like the designation of Earth Day, because in my mind, Earth Day should be everyday.  We should always be conscious about our impact on the environment.  Here at the farm, not only are we conscious about our impact, but the environment is how we make our living.  If we mistreat the environment, it is not going to be around for generations.  As 5th generation farmers, we would like the legacy continue.

I thought I'd share with my readers how we strive to be environmentally friendly at the farm.  In the house, we recycle all plastics, paper, cardboard, glass, metal, and beverage containers.  All non-meat scraps are either fed to the chickens or composted.  Our farm has an Environmental Farm Plan.  Outside on the farmyard, all of the oil and filters from the tractors and vehicles are collected and recycled.  Fuel is stored in double-walled fuel tanks.  The net wrap, twine and bale wrapping from the hay and haylage is recycled.  Cattle needles are disposed of as "sharps".  Cattle manure is spread on crop land, and less synthetic fertilizer is needed.  The sloughs on our land provide habitat to waterfowl, and the slough where our cattle are wintered on is fenced out to protect the wetland.

On the crop side of things, we recycle all the herbicide containers and the cardboard boxes they come in.  We practice crop rotation to help prevent disease, control weeds, and manage nutrients.  Every year, all our fields are soil tested.  The soil is analyzed for remaining nutrients, and suggested fertilizer rates for the following years' crop is determined.  The fertilizer is banded (or tilled) into the ground to prevent nutrient loss.  We raise Roundup Ready Canola because it yields well, helps control a wide variety of weeds effectively with very little environmental impact, and using it in our crop rotation helps reduce the possibility of herbicide resistant weeds.

The Earth has been here for an extremely long time.  The time that we spend here is very short, in comparison.  Let's all take care of Mother Earth, treat her with respect, and ensure that our future generations will be able to treasure the things that we have.

Calving in Pictures--Days 12-23

Well, to say that I've been busy is an understatement.  From my last calving post until now, we are 1/3 of the way done calving.  Our first group that calves only has 7 left!  It's possible that they will be done before the other group even starts.

I've broken down the stats of the past 11 days (really? it's only been 11 days since I've blog about calving...time flies when you're having fun indeed!).  Here's when the calves showed up and how many on that day:

March: 26th-1, 28th-3, 29th-1, 31st-1

April: 1st-2, 2nd-4, 5th-2, 7th-4, 8th-1, 9th-2, 10th-1, 11th-1, 12th-2

Yes, we've have 25 calves in 11 days.  Thankfully everyone, cows and babies, have all been healthy.

So, now for your dose of cuteness...Calves in photos!

Calf just born

Even calves blink when they get their photo taken!

Techno-Cowgirl: iCalve app review

Hi, my name is Jill, and I'm an app-aholic!  Yes, I have so many apps on my iPhone that I can't do the latest update without temporarily deleting some.  My apps vary from photography (another hobby of mine), to games to keep the kids occupied if needed, to a great calving/herd management app.  This great app that I'm talking about is called iCalve created by an Alberta cattleman for cattlemen.

Main page of app

I began using it before calving season arrived, and instantly fell in love with it.  First off, I always have my phone on me, so being able to store my cattle records there is valuable.  The data entry is easy, as the dates pop up as "today's date" and the animal types are just a simple swipe to change.  The only challenge I found was entering the same animal for different treatment dates under the Doctor Records, but I just added dashes or spaces in the tag number to "trick" the program.

This winter, I was able to keep track of all our doctor records in one easy spot, which is crucial for Verified Beef Producers.

Doctor record for mass treatment of heifers

This winter we also culled (or sold) a cow, because she was old and not bred (pregnant).  In the iCalve app, there is a place to store this information too.

Cull cow entry

There is also a place to record any dead animals that you might have, along with the reason for dying.  I find this very crucial when we were dealing with a small outbreak of pneumonia in our herd, and tracking who had died from pneumonia.

Death loss entry

Now that calving has arrived, it's easy to input all the data into the app after the calves are born.

Individual calf entry

Summary of calving page

There is also a gestation calendar to figure out when your cows are going to calve after they have been turned in with the bull.  As well as a whole page dedicated to herd data to fill out for the year.

I feel that the iCalve app is well worth the $9.99 I paid for it on iTunes.  In addition to never having a wet, muddy, lost calving book and cow records, all of my data is backed up to Dropbox in an easy to read pdf.  Its great for all the Techo-Cowgirls and Cowboys and simple enough for those who don't consider themselves to be one.

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post, although I had prior approval from the creator of iCalve to write this post.  The views expressed are my own.

Calving in Pictures--Days 7, 10 & 11

Day 7

Unfortunately, cows don't calve every day, or on schedule.  We went almost a week without having a calf, and then on the first day of spring, during a blizzard, 312 decided it was her turn to calve.  I keep a good watch on the cows especially during inclement weather.  On Thurday, I was vigilant on checking the cows every 2 hours.  Wet and windy weather is the worst for newborn calves.  I went out at 2:30 in the afternoon and found 312 looking like she was going to calve really soon.  She ran into the catch pen, and I locked her in there so I could keep a closer eye on her.  She was very nervous, so I left her so she could calm down and have her calf.  I came out an hour later to check her and still no calf, but she was exhibiting signs that she had calved already, strange.  I left her, though, as she was very nervous and wasn't appreciating my presence.  I came back an hour later, and still no calf, so we ran her into the head catch where it's safe and easy to physically check if she has a calf in her that may be malpresented.  Both my husband & I palpated her to see if there was a calf inside and nothing.  We turned her back out, and later that evening we found her calf.  It was where she was all day in the catch pen, but it was dead.  We are still unsure what went wrong, but the signs she exhibited when I found her and when we palpated her all point to another stillborn calf.

Calf snuggled up in the windbreaks and straw during the blizzard

Cows gathered on the bed pack behind the windbreaks during the blizzard

Day 10

I came home from my weekend in Calgary for the Cattlemen's Young Leaders semi-finals, and went out to the cows immediately.  While I was gone, my husband and the kids kept a close eye on the cows, but no one decided to calve.  I drove around and a few exhibited signs of calving: swollen vulva, mucus, and engorged udders, but no calves.  I went out a few hours later and V31 had calved a nice big red bull (boy that has not been neutered) calf.  I was happy as he was up and nursing his mom.

V31 licking her calf and bonding with him

Day 11

Again, my morning checks have been disappointing, as in no calves overnight.  I noticed that S1Q was looking like she was getting close, and I was right.  At my mid-morning check she had birthed a nice black heifer calf.  The calf was very spry, up nursing, and already trying to buck and run.  New calf coordination isn't the greatest, so she was pretty funny to watch!

S1Q baby came up to check me out

Calving in Pictures Day 1 & 2

Day 1

Calving officially arrived on the afternoon of March 14 here at the farm.  Unfortunately, our first cow (R44) had a stillborn calf.  She was an older cow--9 years old, and the days leading up to her calving she had shown signs that there was something "not right" with the calf.  She did not form a large udder (a cows milk usually comes into the udder a few days prior to calving) until after she calved.  We did not throughly investigate the stillborn calf, as the cow was older, which could be a cause, and she would not let us near the calf.  This is normal for the cow to stay with her dead calf and "mourn" for a few days.

Cow mourning calf

Day 2

On Saturday we woke up and checked the cows and one heifer (female cow before she has had her first calf ) numbered Z02 had a nice healthy, alive heifer calf.  This really lifted my spirits.  I know there was not anything I could have done for R44 but my mind always thinks "what if I would of been out here earlier"  I usually check the cows every 2-3 hours during the day, so I took the kids out with me at 10:30 am to show them the new baby.  The kids always get excited during calving season and love seeing the new babies.  There wasn't anyone showing any signs of calving, so we went back in.

 Z02 Heifer with her calf

We carried on with our morning and had lunch.  After lunch I went back out because I wanted to make sure the new little one was up and mom was letting her nurse.  A calf has to have the mothers first milk called colostrum to give the calf antibodies to the environment around it as they receive no antibodies from the placenta.  When first born, the calf's stomach is porous, allowing proteins from the colostrum to be absorbed.  As time goes on after birth, the pores in the stomach wall slowly close up.  For maximum antibody protection the colostrum needs to be consumed within the first 6 hours of birth.  When I went back out, I found another heifer (Z21) that had just had her calf.  The calf was still wet, but her mom was licking her off.  After the calf is born, the cow licks it off, this not only stimulates and warms the new calf.  It also helps the mom bond with her baby, transfer her scent to it, and helps her recognize the features of the new calf that identify it as hers.  I left the new mom and baby alone to bond.  I continued to check every 2-3 hours on our two new pairs.  Everyone was doing well and we did our last check at 9:30 pm when we got home from supper at our local community hall.

Z21 waiting for her calf to catch up to her

Agvocate or Educate? The Great Debate

Advocate: (v) to speak or write in favour of; support or urge by argument; recommend publicly

Educate: (v) give intellectual, moral, and social instruction to (someone, esp. a child), typically at a school or university.

If you follow any agriculture social media you might be familiar with the term "agvocate".  If you haven't heard of the term before, to "agvocate" is to be a advocate for agriculture.  There has been some debate lately whether we as farmers should "agvocate".  I did an interview recently while I was at FarmTech and one of the questions was how do I feel about agvocating.  I initially said that I do it, but it's not for everyone.  As time wore on, I began thinking, do I actually advocate for agriculture, or am I trying to educate people?

My main goal of my blog is to do the latter--provide information (educate) to people about what we do. More and more I'm having a hard time with the word "Agvocate", especially when I think of being an advocate as someone who urges by argument.  We as farmers shouldn't be urging people into information about agriculture by arguing with them.  However, I find on social media this is what seems to take place too often, whether it is intended or not.

We need to be quiet and listen to what the person is saying.  If they are asking questions, answer them.  If myths are being stated, provide the person with data that dispels the myth.  If we don't know the answer to their question, point them in the direction of someone who might.  We need to keep people from "Googling" answers because I feel that is how myths and misinformation gets spread.  These are just a few simple tips that we can use to help educate people about agriculture.

Not everyone is meant to be an agvocate, but we can all educate.

The Felfie Bandwagon--Hop aboard y'all!

What started out as teenage girls taking selfies and posting them on Facebook has morphed into a whole new trend.  Enter the #felfie!  What is a "felfie" you might ask?  It's a farmer taking a selfie. What started as a photo contest with the Irish Farmers Journal for Ireland's greatest farmer selfie, then exploded around the world.

I think all farmers who engage in social media should join the felfie trend.  Why?  It's good for the industry. It shows consumers that farmers care for their food.  It is putting a face to the farm and making the connection to their food more personal.  If you're a farmer and reading this and would like to put your #felfie out there, email it to me and I will post it!

To read other's posts about felfies click here and here

The Furnace vs. the Freezer

Here in Alberta, we are known for our cold temperatures, and expect it to be cold during winter.  The winter of 2013-14 hasn’t been an easy one for temperatures.  From November until the middle of January we saw very cold temperatures and wind chills.  We’ve had a bit of a reprieve for about 15 days here, that has brought us temperatures that are above zero, but when you normally deal with -37C (-34.6F) for lows and your daytime high of -21C (-5.8 F), a few days above zero feels like a Tropical breeze (not really, but it does feel nice)!  When we look on the other side of the globe and hear of people dealing with temperatures above +40C (104F) our deep freeze doesn’t sound too bad!

While reading other farm and ranch blogs, I’ve made friends with Mandy, a fellow cattle farmer from north-west New South Wales, Australia.  Mandy writes an amazing blog called Rocky Springs Rambles, and this week, Mandy and I have gotten together to do a comparison of what each other has to deal with working outside in extreme temperatures.(Numbers in brackets are Fahrenheit for the folks that don’t do metric).

Official temperature: Australia: 42.5 (108.5); Canada -18.2 (-0.76), add the wind chill factor and you get -27 (-16).  Honestly Mandy, I think the only time in my life when I felt the weather THAT hot was went I was in Phoenix, Arizona in June!  I complain when the weather gets above 28 (82.4) here!

Temperature on the top of your hat

-15.3 (4.4)was the temperature at the top of my hat

In Australia: 49.2 (120)

Temperature underneath your hat

-13.8 (7) was the temperature underneath my hat

In Australia: 42 (107)

Water in the cattle troughs

14.5 (58) The troughs (seen here) are heated

In Australia: 33.8 (93)

Sitting with the cattle

Behind the cattle windbreaks: -18.1 (-0.5)

Under a shade tree in Australia: 40.6 (105)

Soil Temperature:

In Canada our soil is buried under 120 cm of snow!  So I’m calling it frozen.

In Australia: 37 (98)

Dog Pool in Australia: 30 (86)

No dog pool in Alberta in January!

Kitchen: Canada 20.8 (69) and that’s with the furnace running!

Australia: 38.1 (100)

Cold water tap in bathroom:

Canada: 16 (60)

Australia: 37.3 (99)

The thought of 40+ (104) degrees in January is nice, for a few minutes.  Sorry, Mandy, I don’t think I could live in the “furnace”.  Just too warm for me!  But I do hope your temperatures moderate a bit & that you all get some much needed rain!

On the move...

I recently added a blog to my website for anyone who has been following me on this blog, in hopes of drawing more of an audience to my website.  To read the new blog click here.  In the meantime I'll still post here until I get everything 100% moved over there.

Cows and The Cold--What we do to Help.

With the somewhat extreme weather that we have been experiencing this fall and winter, a lot of people ask how to the cows deal with this weather?  While it's easy to bring the farm dog in to sleep on the porch in the winter, for us it's difficult and would be quite cost prohibitive to build an indoor area large enough for the cattle to go.

First, I always remind people that cattle have been living outside for thousands of years and have natural defences that helps them survive in the winter.  All summer long the cattle graze on lush, green pastures; gaining weight and putting on a nice layer of fat to help keep them warm throughout the winter.  As the days and nights cool off in the fall, the cattle also begin to develop their winter coat.  Thick, dense hair protects them from the winter elements.

Cow with her winter coat

Cow with her slick summer coat for comparison

Once they are off summer pastures, they are kept on a winter pasture here on our yard.  We have an open front barn they can go in to get out of the wind, as well as several areas of wind breaks set up.  The wind breaks serve as shelter areas for the cattle to go behind and get out of the wind.  To encourage them to "hang out" there, we also place their straw bed-pack on the leeward side (the side where there is no wind).  When it is very cold out, the cattle will naturally huddle together and they stay warm by doing so.

The bed pack with windbreaks

During the cold, the cattle require more feed to eat and we meet their needs by feeding high quality hay to them.  Our hay is sent to a lab and the nutritional content is evaluated.  From this data we can select the right feed for their dietary requirements.  We also will feed the hay near their bed pack so they don't have far to travel and can conserve energy and focus on staying warm.

Tractor and bale grinder

Hay Yard

Cattle also require fresh water all the time.  The cattle have waters that are heated so they don't freeze.  In the winter this can cause some issues as pipes freeze, elements go out of watering devices, etc.  We are always checking the waters making sure that the animals have fresh water at all times.

Steaming waters mean they are working

The cattle are our lively hood, and during the winter we spend lots of time checking on the cattle and caring for them.  By making sure they are warm and happy when the weather is inclement keeps them heathy and ensures our cattle herd is around for years to come!

A happy cow = a happy cowgirl!

How others are Supporting Local

I'm a huge advocate for supporting local whenever possible.  On our farm, we try to raise the majority of our food.  We have a very large garden which allows me to can or freeze it's bounty.  Besides our beef, we also have a few chickens that provide us with fresh eggs or I purchase them from a farmer's market when they aren't laying, and pork and chicken from our local butcher.  Because you can't buy all your food at a farmer's market in Alberta, we do weekly visits to our local grocer as well.  

In Staffordshire, England, some film students at Staffordshire University became huge advocates for supporting local, as well!  Their project was titled "Farmers on Film" and inspired by Sarah Gayton, a baker from Staffordshire Moorlands and Staffordshire Olympic Co-ordinator for the Women in Food & Farming Union.  Before the Olympics came to London in 2012, 120 students' researched farming attitude, tourism and identity for the Farmers on Film project, producing 23 three minute profile films on different farms and food producers in Staffordshire.  Students also aimed to persuade officials to use the films at Olympic venues and as part of an online marketing drive from Visit Britain to promote the region to foreign and domestic tourists.  The videos are linked by QR code onto their corresponding food product, so consumers can scan the code with their smartphones and view the video of the farmer behind the food.

I think this project is something that all local food movements should do!  This would be one way of advertising farmer markets through social media, for example.  The customers could go onto YouTube, click on the corresponding video, and find out more about the farm or farmer they are supporting.  As well as linking a QR code on food packaging with a video of the farm.  

These students have created quite a buzz in the local food movement of Staffordshire, and their films have won lots of recognition, including a bronze medal Podium Award at the Olympics.  In closing, hats off to the Film students at Staffordshire University!  This is a great way to get bring people onto the farm, and showcase farm life to others!

To view the videos click here 
If you are on Twitter please give @farmersonfilm a kind follow as well!