April was dry. There was almost no moisture the entire month. In the middle of April the guys were madly dashing about working summerfallow and I got L J — the four-year-old colt I started last year — going again. On April 19 there was a fire in a yard a few miles north of […] Read more
May moisture welcome after very dry April
Eppich News: Seeding has started, but need moisture to make it grow
Spring mishaps and hardships but still hope
Eppich News: Though for different reasons, problems just seem to work out
On March 23 we had another mishap — a four-day-old heifer calf got stepped on and we lost her. Later that same day we went over to Lee and Erica Redlich’s, neighbours by Landis, to pick up the pig they butchered for us. We had a very nice visit with them and Lee’s father Terry. […] Read more
Thinking outside the bin
Telephone poles and damaged grain bins turned into sturdy calf shelter
Due to the ever-increasing prices of building materials, we try to always keep our eyes and our minds open to anything that can be repurposed. Our small herd of cows is growing and as it grows, we have to keep our facilities growing as well. One thing we encountered this year, thanks to the lingering […] Read more
Calving season improved after a sad start
Eppich News: Extra attention was needed to get cattle through a cold February
February was cold! Temperatures were frigid and the wind was terrible. On Feb. 17 we bedded our corrals and sorted off our heifers to keep them up front where we could keep an eye on them. It was a good thing but for a different reason than we had in mind. On Feb.19 we doctored […] Read more
Made-on-the-farm device for handling wire
Used parts here, sucker rod there, and a bit of welding
Building new fence can be a big job and can require different tools that a rancher or farmer doesn’t always own. For example, new fence requires a system to unroll the wire. Rather than purchase an unroller, we decided to try to make one. My father-in-law, John, built a very simple unroller that we could […] Read more
Spring pasture fenced and ready
February got cold and then got colder
January turned out to be a decent month for a variety of projects. On Jan. 14 the temperature was liveable and the wind was down so we decided it would be a good day to skin an old, crippled cow for our friends Bill and Betty. We were supposed to get to her earlier so […] Read more
Banding worked well for dehorning
Cattle displayed some discomfort but it didn't last long
Cattle with horns can be anything from an irritant to a real problem for producers. They are usually more aggressive than the polled or dehorned animals because they know they have a weapon. They can hurt other cattle by head butting them to get them to move away from feed or water. They can also […] Read more
Tips for fencing on frozen ground
It may take a little longer, but at least the job gets done
With the 2018 harvest dragging out into late fall and a backlog of fall work to do, we weren’t too excited about trying our fencing project in the winter. We had over three miles of fence that needed to be built before spring. Our biggest concern was that the frost would be too deep and […] Read more
Bales are home, fence almost complete
Other than during a short Christmas break, farm projects continued
So far, the winter has been open and the weather has been decent with just a few days here and there with cold temperatures and a terrible wind. On Dec. 9 we finally got a chance to get back to our hay hauling. We hauled hay consistently for about 10 days, getting it all home […] Read more
Some chores are planned, some aren’t
Tending cows, horses, bulls and buying heifers keep days busy
On November 11 we took a day off from fencing and drove up to Maidstone to visit David and Maxine Mitchell and pick out a few bred heifers. This will be our third year buying heifers from River Bridge Herefords and we have been very happy with them. A few days later we brought our […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
