The only cattle on the place are in the north paddock waiting for the new owner to pick them up. There’s a hay rack with two large bales in the cattle yard and two buckets of ear corn sitting by the gate. It is unclear if this is the new owner using temporary housing or if it is the old owner dispatching the last of his responsibilities. After a season of having multiple batches of cows and calves around the paddocked pasture, it seems strange to be down to the last five cows and four calves.
The first crossing on the new bridge deck happened this week. A large side dump truck hauling fill, came from the west and crossed to the east side. The approaches have now been built up and the sides of the bridge have been constructed—first the forms, then the cement. The weather continues to be warm and that helped the whole project all fall. The warm and dry weather has encouraged a lot of field work and tiling. That includes a neighbor’s new tiling job one mile east of us.
But, the weather is changing. Frosty mornings and cold winds get us into the coming winter season. There was a snow fall of 8 to 10 inches just east of us, but essentially none for us. This shock in the weather came the day after our neighborhood football hero lost an elimination game by one point in overtime. Tough week for a high school freshman. But now, the harvest, grazing, and football are all over for the year. And now, winter weather is here to stay, even though the calendar date is a month away.
November 15, 2010
Calf Age=29 and 12 weeks