Thursday, October 31, 2013

Traveling Man

The last few months have been busy but some how Rob has managed to fit a few trips into his schedule.  At the end of September he flew out to Kamloops to judge the 75th Provincial  Winter Fair.  This was a great few days seeing kids enjoying their cattle and other 4H projects.

He made quick trip to Illinois and Iowa over the Thanksgiving weekend to see a Hereford (yes Hereford) Sale and visit Crystal and Jon.


Today he is flying to Toronto to judge the Simmental show at the Toronto Royal on Saturday.  He has never been to the Royal before, so is looking forward to being a part of this iconic event.

  The trip will be short though as he has to come right from the airport to Northlands Park to meet us for the 40th Anniversary of Farmfair International and the National Simmental Show and The Pen Bull Show.

It is going to be a busy 10 days, but filled with cattle, friends and agriculture enthusiasts from across the country.  Can't wait.

Monday, October 28, 2013

October here and nearly gone.



The days are getting shorter and these last few weeks and months seem to be flying by way too quickly as well.  Hope fully that is the same for January & February when we are getting a blast of the real cold stuff.

October has been a busy month for us. We were trying to get caught up on a few things after spending time in September celebrating the marriage of our youngest daughter Stacy to Dan Romanyk.
  
They couldn't take their real cows to the wedding site so Stacy incorporated these ones into the wedding. (The guests had to find their cow to know their table number.)

 
We usually sell our cull calves in September but this was pushed back to early October.  We were really happy with our steer calves netting $1085.00 for us.  Now I know that you will hear of other calves bringing more than that this year.  But remember this is the bottom half of our male calf crop.  Included in this were the March calves, twins, ect.
 
The bulls that will sell at Simmental Summit on February 24, 2014 are being fed down at Beechinor Bros., Bentley, AB.  We did keep 5 back at home that we will display at the National Simmental Show during Farmfair International - November 3 -9, 2013.
 
We made a quick trip to Iowa over the Thanksgiving weekend to visit Crystal and Jon.  During our time there we were able to take in a Hereford sale at Perks Ranch, Rockford, Illinois, Doug, Mary, Wade & Brie are great people if you are ever in the area.

 seen the corn get harvested                                                                                                
and enjoyed a traditional Thanksgiving dinner in Crystal and Jon's new home.
 
After returning home it has been full days of getting the feed yard full, working on fall show and sale cattle, picturing cattle for the fall sale catalogs, and trying to get everything in place before winter arrives.
 
We have some exciting breeding pieces (as Rob calls them) and a display of cattle for the National show that we are real proud of. We will be out and about for a lot of November so we hope to see you at one of the cattle events.  
 
 



Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Our Hearts Go Out

This post is not about us directly, but about fellow cattlemen & ranchers in South Dakota.  The devastation that they have faced in the last few days is almost too much to imagine.  For those that don't raise livestock it would be like loosing your family or a business that has been in your family for generations.  Ranching families are made of tough stock but they have big hearts that are aching.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to them, for if we were in their situation they would be doing the same.

Blizzard kills 60,000 cattle in South Dakota as shutdown slows aid 
Disaster aid will be slow to come for South Dakota ranchers who lost as many as 60,000 head of cattle during an historic blizzard over the weekend, industry officials said on Tuesday.
Cattle died of hypothermia or suffocated under snowdrifts after a “perfect storm” brought rain, then record snowfall and strong winds to the portion of the state west of the Missouri River, said Silvia Christen, executive director of the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association.

 “It’s anyone’s guess how drastic this loss will be. The cattle were soaked to the bone. Then the wind and really heavy snow started – it just clung to them and weighed them down,” Christen said.

“Many of them just dropped where they were walking,” she said, adding that at least 5 per cent of the roughly 1.2 million cattle in the western third of South Dakota likely perished.
South Dakota is the sixth largest U.S. cattle producer with about 3.8 million head. The United States has about 89 million head of cattle – its smallest herd in 61 years.

The state’s ranchers could apply for disaster relief under the Livestock Indemnity Program that would pay them a portion of the animal’s market value. But the program is part of the 2008 farm bill extension that expired Oct 1 – the first day of the U.S. government shutdown over a budget impasse.
And with the U.S. Agriculture Department shuttered, livestock producers also are unable to file paperwork detailing their losses with USDA’s Farm Service Agency.

“Those (FSA) offices are furloughed and there are no employees there. They are unable to help us even though they desperately want to,” Christen said.
Snow was melting, exposing herds of dead cattle that had sought shelter in creek bottoms and valleys or along fence lines. The carcasses will eventually be hauled away to rendering facilities, often at the farmer’s expense.

In Rapid City, in the west-central part of the state, 48 centimetres of snow fell smashing a nearly 100-year record for accumulation in October, according to the National Weather Service.
Parts of Colorado and Wyoming also saw heavy snowfall during the storms that also brought more than a dozen of tornadoes to Iowa and Nebraska, injuring at least 15 people, damaging homes, closing schools and knocking down power lines.

For the cattle, the storms came too early in the season for the animals to grow their heavier winter coats. Many of the dead included young calves ready to be marketed as well as cows pregnant with calves that would have been born in the spring.

“A lot of folks are still trying to assess the damage and losses and regroup after the storm,” said Jodie Anderson, executive director of the South Dakota Cattlemen’s Association.
Anderson said livestock farmers should document their losses with pictures and identification tags in the event the government reopens and a farm bill is passed.

Farmer’s Creed

I believe a man’s greatest possession is his dignity and that no calling bestows this more abundantly than farming.
I believe hard work and honest sweat are the building blocks of a person’s character.
I believe that farming, despite its hardships and disappointments, is the most honest and honorable way a man can spend his days on this earth.

I believe farming nurtures the close family ties that make life rich in ways money can’t buy.
I believe my children are learning values that will last a lifetime and can be learned in no other way.
I believe farming provides education for life and that no other occupation teaches so much about birth, growth, and maturity in such a variety of ways.

I believe many of the best things in life are indeed free: the splendor of a sunrise, the rapture of wide open spaces, and the exhilarating sight of your land greening each spring.
I believe that true happiness comes from watching your crops ripen in the field, your children grow tall in the sun, your whole family feels the pride that springs from their shared experience.
I believe that by my toil I am giving more to the world than I am taking from it; an honor that does not come to all men.

I believe my life will be measured ultimately by what I have done for my fellow man, and by this standard I fear no judgement.
I believe when a man grows old and sums up his days, he should be able to stand tall and feel pride in the life he’s lived.
I believe in farming because it makes all this possible.