{Belated} Happy Independence Day!

We began our 4th of July celebrations by weaning fall bull calves. The heifers were already weaned. We've been using "fenceline" weaning which requires us to wean smaller groups at one time due to facilities - but much happier calves that show much fewer signs of stress and get back to eating. Fall calves looked good and weights are all recorded. The day ended with a BBQ at the neighbors complete with homemade ice cream. Another good reason to hang out with dairy farmers on a holiday in the summer - thanks Katie, Jared & kids! Jeff and I watched the fireworks that lined the skies all around us while the kids slept off an afternoon of fun.

The guys started 2nd cutting this week. The plan is to get 4 cuttings on most of the alfalfa and 3 on the rest and all the grass. I saw some beautiful green hay around Othello this afternoon. Keep those tires rolling!

Trevor is hiding in the alfalfa in our yard. The field at our house still has wheel & handlines and Jeff starts each day with pants wet up to almost his waist. The laundry line tells the rest of the story.

We joke that you'll know we have a group of teenagers when we start to turn circle ground back into wheel & handlines! Train 'em early.

Ah - good reason to eat dinner outside. No need to cry over spilt milk here.

My little & BIG shavers. Trevor's helping dad make his face match his new haircut. And a cut for the little man, too!

Heading for the end of June. . .

First cutting - check

Kinder Camp - check

Regional Jr. Angus Tour - check (THANK YOU Agri-Beef/El Oro & Friehe Farms)

Dirty kids EVERY day (at least once) - check

Summer must be here (as I type the girls think I should get out the wading pool - its not even 70)

Some pictures from the last 2+ weeks.

He had to play by himself! Trev didn't care.

Somehow "Dorothy" escaped most of the dirt throwing.

Lila didn't!

Friehe Farms came and planted our field of "baby bakers". We got caught watching the stream of cool equipment go by like it was a parade.

Hopefully bred, {bred} heifers graze on as bales appear near them. They may well eat this bale this winter. The guys made a couple of rows of big bales along the edge of our grass/alfalfa field. Keeps the little bales cleaner and we get some great hay for the winter.

Fall heifer pairs happily graze.

3 balers make ALOT of bales. With balers logging the hours all over the area, our custom stacker quickly had the work piling up.

Not the scene we want to see when we still had hay down, but a double rainbow can make you smile any day. I should have taken my camera when I went to do chores that night. We have 1 pair here as part of our special care group. I missed a cool picture of her nursing her calf with the more vibrant rainbow behind her.

1st cutting hay finished up on Thursday. Now there is water on everywhere. The guys are talking about how many cuttings they are going to shoot for with our cool spring - wheat looks really good. Wheat definetely likes the cool weather better than alfalfa.

Molly finished Kinder Camp this week. Jeff & I went in for her parent teacher conference today and are realizing she's really going to school! More camps scheduled for the summer and off to school the end of August. My, oh my!

HAY! down

No doubt those of us lucky enough to live in the Pacific Northwest shouldn't be complaining about the weather too much - given what the rest of the USA has been through.

But, we are farmers. Our house is now officially in pray for dry mode. Yes, I grew up a dry-lander and switching to wanting dry weather in parts of {May}, June, July & September was a new concept to me. (August is harvest where I'm from.) But I am all on board now.

Trevor went to bed last night with "you can go with daddy if you go to sleep". Guess what the first thing he was ready to do this morning? How come they remember all that stuff but forget about "pleases and thank yous".

I saw at least two (maybe three) crop dusters in the air this afternoon. No wind and with the cold lots of acres planted days apart on now pretty much at the same maturity. Those pilots are pretty amazing.

Besides hay, we gave pre-weaning shots to all the fall calves. Jeff was excited to be the calf pusher; get kicked and get the complete view of all the calves. Weighing & looking pretty good. Bulls are still out with the spring pairs & as usual around here this time of year everyone has TONS of grass to eat. (I mean that literally!)

With the recent rain we've had came some great sunsets. We've also had great views of the still snow covered mountains west of us.

Last week the kids and I gave a little tour of our "neighborhood" to some other YF&R folks from Illinois. It's fun to drive around and actually look at the crops and think about how blessed we are to have water, be able to grow so many diverse crops & feed so many people & cows!

Welcome June!

GIRLFRIENDS!

Hum, with a title like that where or where could I be going-

Kids are too young for such things, thank god.

Molly got to hang out with great girls ~ 16 years older for a while this weekend. I'd say Molly found her soulmate! If anyone brought their teen aged'ish son to our bull sale Jeff says - I'm sure they saw her! The girls parted with a "see you Girlfriend".

We're boring old married people. Although I must admit I think I'm getting "to the age" that I think/worry about our single friends. Mostly because I wish they could know there's someone at home that is happy to see them, no matter how long or crazy the day. Not that I would ever actually follow through on any such thoughts. Anyway, I digress . . .

Girlfriends, all our bulls are delivered! The last trip took us to Oak Harbor, Washington. Below are some pictures taken from 3 Sisters Beef. I'd take eating belly deep green grass, watching the sailboats, and hanging out with 200 girlfriends. Dang life is hard!

Anyway, check out http://www.3sistersbeef.com/! Awesome family who've been farming on Whidbey Island for over 100 years. They've moved from dairy farmers to a beef cattle operation. They specialize in grass fed beef that they direct market. We delivered our fourth group of Sackmann bulls. Jeff enjoyed seeing cows from our bulls raising calves from our bulls.

On a long list of cool things we saw at 3 Sisters Beef - one of Jeff's favorite was their self-serve system. They sell eggs and some meat on the farm on the honor system. Stop take a carton of eggs and some hot dogs and leave the money in the box. Not only is 3 Sisters trusting enough of their neighbors and customers to try this but people give them the same courtesy. Great lesson in the goodness of people that has worked for a number of years.

We also got to spend some time with my Aunt Teresa & "Lexi's Jeff" (that would be my cousin's husband). We enjoyed her great place complete with views of the sound and lots of stairs for the kids to play on. Blessings to Teresa as she heads off for missionary work soon.

On the OMG parent side - Molly has a very loose tooth! I'm in denial about registering for Kindergarten too by the way!

Hooray for 70!

Yes, finally some warm days! The garden is partially planted & flowers are blooming.

My strawberries & raspberries lived through the winter (unlike some of my bushes) and I'm so excited to have berries in our garden.

Baby corn - yes the neighbors but still up in perfect rows ('gotta love GPS!).

Now we're just waiting for the hay to grow so we can cut it! Right now looks like projected cut date is 2 weeks behind "normal". And if all this rain stays away when the hay is on the ground all will be well.

On the cow front, spring cows have been AI'd, implanted (with embryos) and turned out with bulls. We're planning on working fall calves before the hay hits the ground. Time flies - it doesn't seem like that long ago that they were born!

All our weaner pigs are at their new homes & we'll be breeding some sows next week. Going from 50 pigs to 6 within a week or so seems crazy.

And of course, pics of the kids we chase on a daily basis, because they are cute (at least we think they are!) and I bet you can pick out our lead fashion diva.

Colored bubbles from Great-Grandma for Easter. "Don't worry mom the ad says they come out". Sure enough they do. Way to go Crayola.

Our little farmer - wants to go with "Daddy Jeffy" every morning. We took Molly to a Wizard of Oz play while Trev & Lila stayed with a babysitter. Upon our return Shannon reported she and Trevor had a problem. It seems the brown cows she drew (very recognizable by the way - unlike mom's) were not right. Appartently Trevor "me not like brown cows". Only black cows will do. Oh, the brainwashing has begun!

Lila helping change water. The little ones need hip waders to maybe stay dry in an already grazed (certainly not hard) pasture.

"Dorothy" and Trevor are more interested in the rooster that's moved in at the neighbors than helping change water. Before the rooster was spotted Molly & I could almost keep up with Jeff, umm on second thought he would have been faster by himself, moving pipes. But I guess you've got to start somewhere. And Trev is the end plug carrier. He just follows on along happy as can be.

Spring marches on and we seem to be keeping busy!

Easter Weekend

Go Matt, go!

Easter weekend started with working all the spring pairs. I had great intentions of trying to take pictures. Somehow I wasn't able to actually help with cows and take pictures at the same time. So my few pictures were from the guys sorting out the first handful of cows. But we got all the calves & cows vaccinated. Spring heifers got CIDRs earlier in the week. CIDRs are in the first group of cows and the pairs are out to triticale. They are so happy. Hopefully the weather will cooperate a little and keep the grass growing.

After working & moving cows we headed to Walla Walla to spend Easter with part of my mom's family. The mountains are beautiful, green and everyone's spring flowers are blooming.

The people who sat behind us in church had extra entertainment. We had our usual crew and in front of us was my cousin and his family. They have twin girls that are 11 months older than Molly and Max who is 10 days older than our twins. We could pass off two sets of triplets. Certainly not identical but close enough to do some fooling.

All the kids lined up after a round of Easter egg hunting.

Jeff & Tyler were talking cows & grass. Imagine that a couple of cattlemen that haven't seen each other for awhile talking about cows & grass! They may have snuck some comments about kids in there (not part of the college banter - but we must admit we're all 10+ years older - oww!)

Egg hunting on the porch & Aunt Sheryl trying to teach a herd of 2 year olds how to blow bubbles. Sheryl's hair was complete with bubbles & soap (spit?) all over her glasses. Lila got the award for most accomplished. The boys were trying to laugh and blow bubbles at the same time.

And the kids got prizes for their egg hunting skills. These little boys were most excited about their flatbed trucks and tractors!

Happy Easter to All!
Blessings.

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood . . . . . .

Jeff keeps telling me it's March. Around here it generally doesn't matter what day of the week it is - so if someone tries to tell me a wrong day/date I can be taken in very easily.

These pictures might help explain why Jeff's trying to confuse me.

So, some of the ice had already melted by the time I took a picture - but you get the drift of our weather of late. I went to a MBA (Master's of Beef Advocacy that is) training in Pullman yesterday. I talked to one of our "old" professors. He told me one of his neighbors (large Whitman County farmers) where considering planting rice! We haven't been that wet but certainly unseasonable cold. Looks like hay & pastures are 3 plus weeks behind to date. The fall cows are mad. They think it is time to be on pasture - but for some reason when it freezes at night and might hit 60 during the day the grass doesn't grow too much.

To top off the ice, when Jeff came home late morning to move this water it was snowing. It didn't stick but there was snow falling from the sky! Oh well. Remind me to not whine in August. Maybe if I keep saying it it will come true - "Happy Spring!".

Water's on.

It's windy, cold & time to change water lines! Sounds like the end of March (or first of April this year) at our house. Jeff enjoys multiple showers throughout the day. When the kids and I went by today Jeff was perched on a ladder working on an end gun along the edge of the road. 'Gotta fix stuff where all the neighbors can see.

We still have handlines & wheellines on our place so the fun of daily moves.

There are a few flowers blooming - notice the still leaveless (not sure if they are alive) bushes in the background. The 15 below in November may have done in some of my poor bushes yet again. The tulips are getting ready to bloom also. Love the fly on the flowers - did I ever mention we have lots of flys at our house in the summer. In the morning the East side of the white house is often covered with the little critters - oh well!

The lawn is covered with sticks and until the rain we had last night the lawn was so dirty, Trevor running across the lawn put up a little dust cloud with every step. Bad when you have to wash the lawn first thing in the spring.

Jeff & I took a long weekend to visit the bull studs & Midland Bull Test last weekend. Lots & lots of black bulls. We also visited a ranch south of Billings with directions that began with "what are you driving". Needless to say 4 wheel drive necessary.

We also stopped at the "Land of Magic" Steakhouse in Logan, Montana. If anyone is ever in the area it is a must stop! Awesome CAB steak and multiple courses for a reasonable price.

The kids and I planting some cool season vegetables in the garden. The strawberries and raspberries we planted last spring look good. More than one day that the kids would like to spend more than 15 minutes outside would be greatly appreciated. Can't wait to eat our own berries. The few we had last summer were AWESOME!!

Anyway - May will be lovely - as it usually is! And the locals were quite happy with the rain in Montana. Happy Spring from the Sackmanns!

WOW & THANKS

The 2011 Red, White & Black Bull & Female Sale is in the books!

A HUGE thanks to everyone; the buyers, bidders, JR Ranch, everyone who came to work & to eat! We had a great sale! It was great seeing everyone on a pretty nice day (for March!).

Here are some of the cuter pictures - other pictures will be posted on our website http://www.sackmanncattle.com.

Molly was a super helper - all day - at the sale. She came with dad & I first thing in the morning and played & helped until after the last heifer was sold. Bigger jobs next year!

Nana Robyn went home with Trev & Lila but the rest of the grandparents hung around. As usual they know tons of people - even if they haven't heard a name since college. Or in some cases knew other people's parents from college. GO COUGS - by the way! We'll take the NIT.

The other big helper & his dad (who helped too). Levi helped his mom in the office all day and reported he was ready for a bath that evening. So cute!

Sid & Jeff discuss the days happenings.

What a great day - yes, we are glad its done for another year. The rest of the crew has been planting wheat & thinking about turning on water. Here comes irrigation season. It actually felt like spring here today so I guess it is time.

Busy day!

I was raised with pigs, as were multiple generations of my dad's family. I've heard raising pigs is just in your blood and a habit that can be hard to beat. I fit that category! So we have a very small pig herd. But today half of our sow herd farrowed! For real hog farms three litters in one day is a bad day - but around here its kinda crazy!

So 22 new little pigs are running around, would like more, but two were gilts so I won't complain too much.

The kids were good helpers processing litters this afternoon. Molly is finally big enough to sort-of be ok holding the little monsters. Trev and Lila just want to pet them.

On the cattle side - the Red, White & Black Sale Catalog is off to the presses!! A feat worthy of celebrating. Check out the catalog online http://www.sackmanncattle.com/. Jeff & Jeff have semen testing on the docket for tomorrow. Bulls are mostly clipped - soon it will be time to cook that awesome sale day lunch!

Welcome March - loved this blog format - because that is what it looked like here today!