January started with a mild temperature that allowed us to do a few more out-of-season projects. Early in the new year, Gregory and John worked on the holding corral at the Landis pasture. Later we used the 4450 tractor and the post hole auger to put in nine more railroad ties for the back corral. […] Read more
Year begins with roller-coaster temperatures
Hopefully weather will hold for late-February start of calving season
Even with a few surprises, 2020 will be good
Eppich News: 2019 wraps up with the farm settling into winter
So far this winter as of early January, we haven’t had too much snow and the cold temperatures only last a short while. However, one constant has been the wind. It can turn a nice day into a miserable one, no matter what the thermometer says. In early December we put our windbreak panels into […] Read more
Putting new life into a used trailer
Eppich News: Beauty is in the eye of the beef hauler
Winter is a good time to stop and reflect on the past year. It is also a good time to start planning for the next year and working on projects that will potentially make things more convenient or safer. One thing many of us have to do every year is to plan how best to […] Read more
Getting hay and cattle home for the winter
Eppich News: Plenty of projects to complete before the snow flies
With haying season finished in early November it was finally time to start some winter projects. Gregory and John worked on cleaning the combines, swathers, and the baler and put them away for winter. They also had to work on the JD 4020, our feeding tractor, and get it ready for feeding and bedding the […] Read more
Harvest and haying are finally finished
Eppich News: Combining and last of the haying were a race against the weather
During the middle of October we were harvesting as much as we could. For the fields that were swathed we usually drove every grain truck and trailer out to the field in the morning, got the machines serviced, and then Gregory, John, and Joseph and I would drive the three combines. On Oct. 16 we […] Read more
Harvest continued through October, but slowly
The hailed-out hay and crop will make fall and winter feed
The end of September brought rain and then snow. Gregory and John managed to get all but two fields swathed before the snow. We had about five inches or more of snow, which Joseph loved. As it slowly started melting over the next few days, he was quite disappointed and was always wanting to go […] Read more
September rain interrupts harvest plans
Eppich News: It was a multitasking month with harvest, hay and cattle
September started with about half an inch of rain Sept. 2. There was service work to be done on the combines before we could start harvest however, so it didn’t hold up work. By Sept. 4 Gregory and John slowly started cutting ditches and swathing crop again. On mid-afternoon Sept. 6 we started combining. There […] Read more
Still plenty to do before harvest
Hail and dry conditions tool their toll
August was a crazy month of summerfallowing, cutting ditches for hay, baling, working on equipment, swathing the crop, and working in the garden. On August 4 my very good friends from the States came to visit: Lacey from Wyoming and Michelle from Tennessee. Michelle is Joseph’s Godmother, but they are both well-loved “aunties.” They had […] Read more
Natural events took their toll on the farm in July
Eppich News: Storms and predators affected crops and livestock
By the end of June, we finally made some time to rebuild a quarter mile of fence on our home native pasture. Half of our cow herd was still at home being supplemented with hay due to the late grass and the crazy spring. On June 28 John had his second cataract surgery done. On July 2 we moved the rest […] Read more
It finally rains — three weeks after seeding
Eppich News: Some great days and sad days were all part of June
We finished seeding our crop May 28th and the next day Gregory was out seeding oats in the sloughs for feed. It has been so dry that we will need everything we can get. Hopefully, we won’t have to cut too much of the crop for feed. While Gregory was still seeding, John was starting […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
