On Sept. 30, Gregory drove John and Barb to Saskatoon because Barb was experiencing severe pain in her side. She’s had trouble with her gall bladder for quite a while, but this time it was too much. She was supposed to have emergency surgery that day but ended up being pushed off until the next […] Read more
Good weather holds through harvest
Eppich News: Wandering cows and calves made rounding them up a challengee
Trips to pasture become adventure time
Eppich News: The weather was good for getting off hay and harvest has commenced
Mid-August was warm with almost no rain. On Aug. 10 Gregory started cutting our hay over at Landis. On the 13th I started baling at Landis while Gregory continued to cut ahead of me. It was drying very nicely and so I was able to bale what he had cut just two days before. On […] Read more
Counting one’s blessings after our baler burns
Eppich News: A baler fire is a reminder to be prepared and understand what to do in an emergency
On Sept. 5, our John Deere 535 baler went up in smoke. It is a big hit for our small operation, but we have much to be thankful for. As farmers we do dangerous things every day. Every day we are just going to go swath the wheat, or we are just going to combine, […] Read more
A visit from the aunties
Eppich News: Hot weather meant more tree watering and some creative air conditioning on the ranch
July stayed hot and dry. Gregory kept working away at the ditch hay and John worked as much summerfallow as he could. I was able to keep the main floor of the house a pleasant temperature as long as I did all the cooking on the barbecue, but the upstairs, where we sleep, would get […] Read more
A wet June turns to a hot July
Eppich News: The ranch foal count ended up at seven, with two fillies and five colts
The beginning of June gave us quite a bit of moisture, much more than we have had in the last few years. It made it a little interesting at times and slowed seeding down, but the pastures greatly appreciated it. On the second, we took the kids to go ride and check the cows. We […] Read more
A rainy May slows down seeding
Eppich News: The rhythm of the ranch rises with cattle to move, foals born and visitors
On April 29 was Joseph’s seventh birthday party. The day before, we had a surprise for him: we loaded up the family, picked up Gregory’s sister, Theresa, and went to the rodeo in North Battleford. It was Joseph’s first rodeo and while his brothers weren’t as interested, he had a lot of fun. The beginning […] Read more
Calving season brings blizzards and twins
Eppich News: Loss, and then surprise, shows the challenges of managing cows
On Feb. 27 we bought a bull from Ulrich Herefords. It was the last bull sale for Peter Ulrich and we wanted to get the chance to have some more Ulrich Hereford bloodlines in our small registered Hereford herd. We were not able to attend the sale due to the weather, so Gregory talked to […] Read more
Two family trips before calving
Eppich News: We take excursions into Idaho and Alberta for family to meet the new baby
Toward the end of January, the weather warmed up substantially — and while the cows were on full feed, they were not due to start calving until the end of February, so we decided to try to go to Idaho to visit family. My family had not seen the kids since October of last year, […] Read more
Eppich family welcomes a baby girl
Cold temperatures a challenge for the ranch and keeping vehicles going
January had a few surprises for us. Our newest addition was due on Jan. 4. Being that he/she was our fourth child and all but our first son came between eight and 10 days early, we were expecting a Christmas baby. On Christmas Day, Barb had a Christmas dinner for us and Gregory’s siblings. After […] Read more
Securing another water source
Eppich News: A stream 13 feet underground was tapped and will water cattle on the northeast side of the home section
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! In December our weather continued to be mild. We had a few cold days with a cold wind but for the most part we were still above normal temperatures. The animals are quite happy with the temperatures. On Dec. 15 we had Dan Mitchell from Kerrobert come out with […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
