Autumn Beauty

Loving the autumn beauty on the farm!

Local County Fair

The Farmer and I took the two youngest to the local county fair. Sorry to say it was anything but fun. Too small, too unorganized, too expensive. :(
 

Wouldn't be a county fair without goats, pigs, and horses

Blue Ribbon Winners

Carousel

Funnel Cakes, Corn Dogs, and Cotton Candy

Ferris Wheel

Mud Run (hmm...)

 

 

 

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Must Be Summer, Because We're Putting Up Hay

One of the tell-tale signs of summer is putting up hay.

The Farmer woke up one cool, cloudy morning and decided that he was going to start cutting hay. The weatherman made a prediction of low clouds but no rain, and The Farmer believed him.


Not me...I had often been duped into believing that the weatherman could actually predict the weather here in Missouri, and had finally come to the conclusion that whatever was reported on TV was never what was going to happen.


So being the “supporting” wife, I informed The Farmer that if he insisted on cutting hay on a day when every physical sign pointed to a wet weekend that I would emphatically say, "I told you so”, when he was raking up wet hay.


Fortunately, The Farmer was right (must be farmer intuition). He pressed on, even under the pressure of low lying clouds and an unyielding spouse, and was able to get the first field cut, tethered, raked, and baled before the rain came.  

Cutting grasses while they are young and tender is best because the nutritional value is at its peak. It also makes more tender and tasty hay during the winter months (so I’ve been told).

The ideal time to cut hay is on a clear, warm, summer day, but sometimes that’s not possible, so The Farmer tethers the hay to dry it out faster. A tether machine picks up the hay and scatters it around to allow the hay to aerate. This step isn’t always necessary during really nice weather (just sayin’).

  

After the hay is cured, it is raked into windrows and then baled.

 

 

 

 

We stack our hay and then cover it with a tarp. This is the first field and the first cutting. It really looks like a good year for hay, which is encouraging, because we had to buy a lot of our hay last year because of the drought.

Visit From The Vet

Visit from the Vet

The Farmer and the vet from Crawford County Veterinary Clinic 

We worked the cattle on Saturday, but today we had a visit from the vet. He was here to do a preg check on all the fall breeding cows. As each one went through the chute, the vet would tell us if they were pregnant and give as an approximate point of how far along they are.

We had 16 cows that needed to be preg checked. Unfortunately, two were open (not pregnant) and one of them was #11, the crazy cow that jumped the fence on Saturday. She jumped it again today. So we don't know if she is bred or not.

The Farmer is not happy. :(  And well he shouldn’t be. This cow knows exactly what to do to get out, and she’s not soon to forget it. Our choices are to build a higher fence, give her lead poison, or wait until she’s too old to jump. We can’t afford to build higher and lead is too scarce, so I guess we’ll just have to wait until she gets too old.

Working Cattle

Working cattle is always a learning experience, and this year when we worked our herd we learned a lot!

We learned that it pays to be prepared and organized.

As each cow or calf comes through the alley, we have to be prepared with what we are going to do to them. They are all given a fly tag (to ward off flies), treated for lice, grubs and other unwanted parasites, vaccinated against pink eye, and various other infectious viruses, and then weighed. Our calves also get a shot to prevent respiratory problems and blackleg, which can actually wipe out a whole year of calves. Fortunately this disease is preventable with vaccination. So these shots and tags all have to be kept separated and organized.

We learned that sometimes it takes several hands to do one job.

Although the Farmer is very proficient in what he does, he just can’t be in three places at one time. As the cattle go through the alley way someone has to encourage them along, and someone else has to open the sliding gate and shut it behind each cow or calf, and then the Farmer shuts the head chute at just the right moment.

We learned that a 13 year-old farmer’s daughter is not a big enough threat to keep a 1500 lb. cow from going over the fence.

Usually a cow’s moo is worse than their bite, so we had daughter #5 standing at the top of the gate to ward off any wayward cow that may have gotten a crazy idea of trying an escape while they were in the holding pen. And it worked. Although we had a crazy cow escape (#11), she didn’t go through the gate; she jumped over the fence! Well, she jumped on the fence, it broke, and then she went over. But still the same result. Several years ago we had a similar incident in a sort of make-shift lot that we used to work our cattle in. So when we built our existing lot, we purposefully built it high enough so a cow could not go over (or so we thought until this year). The crazy thing jumped a couple of times and then finally busted through the boards and went right over, like she was a trained horse or something. Whatever…she didn’t get a fly tag so I hope she gets bitten by a great big horse fly!

And the final thing we learned this year is working cattle in the rain is no fun at all!

Although the day started out a little nippy, the sun soon came out and we were plenty warm about a half hour into the process. Unfortunately, the sun was overtaken by some ominous looking rain clouds and it began to pour. It didn’t take long before we were all soaked and covered in mud, which wasn't too bad because it washed away some of the manure that we were all covered in from working the silly cattle in the first place. They are so uncouth.

Son #4 setting up the scales so we can weigh the cattle. Our largest cow weighed 1550 lbs. and our largest fall calf weighed 732 lbs.

Daughter #5 still holding her post after the rain had let up a little.

Notice she's staring down one of the mama cows

If you look closely, you can see Son #1 and the Farmer separating

the spring cows and their babies from the fall calves.

All the cows and calves have been separated and will soon be back on the pasture.

Harvesting Cattle

Farming can be so unstable. No matter what we are doing, the final result is usually out of our hands. Although the Farmer is a very hard worker, everything he does around here depends on the weather, the seasons, or the money :)

Last year we informed our beef customers that we would have meat around April or May, but had to push back the date because the calves weren't gaining quickly enough.

This year we slacked off of weighing them--mostly because it was so wet and we didn't want to have to swim to the scales. But we went out and weighed them this past weekend and they are ready to go!

We have one topping out at 1200 pounds, which is really the max weight of what we like to get them to. Another one weighed 1,180 pounds, so these two can go to the processors today!

Fortunately, the rest of them are just right, weighing 1,035-1,075 pounds. We have an appointment at the processors set for the end of May and these calves should be ready to harvest at that time. I guess I should give an honorable mention to the two calves that are still in the 900 lb. range. We seem to always have a couple of late bloomers. 

So bottom line...we will be taking orders for the next two weeks. If you would like homegrown, naturally raised, grass-fed, grain-finished beef, we've got some available. 

Take a look at the "Buying Beef" tab at the top of the page for more information on ordering beef. Or Click >>Here<<

Enloe Farms Is Going Green

Well we didn't make it for Earth Day, but we're still going GREEN!
We’re trading in our blues and we’re going green. That’s right, for over 50 years the only tractor that’s been on this farm has been a Ford or a New Holland  (the company that bought out Ford).

But now we are going John Deere green!

What do you think of the Farmer's new toy (oh, I mean necessary farming equipment). :)

The Farmer Going Green

Saying Goodbye to a Tradition

Going Green Looks Pretty Good!

Got a great deal from Schweissguth Bros. in Dutzow

But they did too...

>>Click Here to see more pics of the tractor

Old Mother Hubbard

Just like Old Mother Hubbard, I went to my cupboard and found it getting bare. Except the freezer was my cupboard and looking into it this afternoon reminds me that it’s getting close to calf-selling season again. 

At this time of year, our spring calves from the previous year are getting ready to be processed. They’ve gained approximately 800 lbs. since birth on mama’s milk, grass, and grass hay. Because food supply is limited for these calves, they are fed a little bit of grain throughout the winter months. Being time to condition them for processing, we separate our calves into the lot where they are still exposed to fresh green grasses, but their grain intake will increase—no argument that this improves marbling and, in my opinion, the taste of the beef.

However, the great debate over grass-fed beef vs. grain-fed beef always seems to intensify around here when new customers begin to inquire about our beef. There are strong opinions on both sides, but the final call comes down to personal preference.

Our Calves Are Raised Naturally

According to the USDA, naturally raised means that the cattle have been given:

• No growth promotants
• No unnecessary antibiotics
• No animal by-products

Our Beef Is Organic

In accordance with USDA Sec. 2105, Sec. 2107, organically produced livestock must meet these qualifications:

•  Produced without the use of synthetic chemicals
• Not fed plastic pellets, manure, or feed containing urea
• Not given growth promoters and hormones
• Complete traceability (our calves are born and raised here)

The beef we sell to our customers is the beef we feed to our children; therefore, the quality of our beef can be completely trusted. Our cattle are not kept in a crowded feedlot, which is a problem with commercial feedlots, nor are they exposed to harmful chemicals and growth stimulants. Because they are our food supply, too, we take care that our cattle remain healthy in a very humane environment. 

If you would like more information on buying beef from us, go to the FAQ tab at the top of the page.  

Shared Link:

Grass-Fed vsGrain-Fed: What’s the difference 

Dash and Flash Meals for the Farmer

If you know me at all, then you probably know that I’m not a big plan-ahead person. My daughter (#1) enlightened me on the reason recently, by reminding me that I was born on the biggest procrastinating day in US history—April 15 (tax day, in case you live under a rock). At any rate, this gift of procrastination is manifested in just about every area of my life, but the most noticeable area would be in supper preparation.

The Farmer gets home around 4:30 every evening (for the past 35+ years), and being the hard working, over achieving, workaholic that he is, he’s usually starving by the time he hits the door, wraps me in his arms, and tells me what a great wife I am! (hee, hee)

Of course, being the perfect wife, I have supper timed so that he still has just enough time to check cows, move them to another paddock, and feed the bull (which I’m sure he doesn’t give a thought to how much effort I put into this notable achievement).

So, you may be wondering how the queen of procrastination can accomplish such a feat (maybe not, but read on anyway).

First of all I have a freezer full of frozen beef—frozen being a key word here. I keep staples aplenty like potatoes, canned vegetables, flour, and seasonings. And that’s really all I need; oh, and soda.

The procrastinating attribute comes to light when the Farmer calls to let me know he is on his way home from work, which gives me a full 40 minutes to prepare supper. Not too bad, if he calls when he leaves work, but more often than I like, he gets busy on the phone with someone else before he can call me. Often I have received a 20-minute warning, or worse yet, a 10-minute warning! (yeah, well supper isn’t always on the table).

Well, I have become a master of Dash and Flash Meals.

Translated—putting together a delicious meal super fast!

Hamburgers and fries are probably the easiest, because when we get our beef processed I have alot of my hamburger made into patties. So, I scrub a few potatoes, cut them into steak fries, and soak them in vegetable oil that's been brought to a boil (saw this on FoodNetwork). Then I get the hamburger patties out of the freezer, throw them into the microwave for 2 minutes, break them apart, and throw them into the skillet. (I’m about 10 minutes in at this point) When the hamburgers are almost done, I turn the fries on high temp. And magically my hamburgers and fries get finished right before the Farmer comes in for supper.

Spaghetti is another really quick meal. I again start with frozen hamburger, peel off the outside plastic, and throw it into the microwave for 3-4 minutes. It comes out ready to crumble into a skillet. It only takes about 5 minutes to brown at a high temp, so I put my water on to boil during this process. After the hamburger is browned and drained, I add seasonings, tomato sauce and parmesan, and simmer this until the spaghetti noodles are cooked. I usually fix biscuits (canned of course), garlic bread, or just butter bread with this.

Both of these meals can be cooked in about 20 minutes. As I was writing this, I thought of other Dash and Flash dishes that I make.

  1.       Beef and noodles

  2.       Chili (made from left-over pinto beans) 

  3.       Cowboy Supper (made with beef, beans, and bbq sauce) 

  4.       Tacos 

  5.       Chicken Quesadillas 

  6.       Sausage hash 

  7.       Steak and baked potatoes (baked meaning microwaved) 

  8.       Swiss steak burgers 

  9.       Chef’s salad

10.       Frozen pizza J

What about you? Do you have any Dash and Flash meals that you make? Share it with the rest of us and maybe we can exchange recipes.

The Final Tally

The best thing about spring is seeing all the signs of the new life that is beginning to appear at this time of year.

Seeing the grass sprouting up through the cold ground, the new blossoms on the trees, the soft sounds of the wind, the chirping of the birds, the warmth of the sunshine—I could almost burst out into song! (You should be thankful there is no sound) :)

One of the greatest things about living on the farm is being able to see our calves being born. Unfortunately, three of our heifers did not calf this spring so we are down from what we had expected. The birthing season has ended and we only have nine calves.

Although it was not the number we were expecting, we had a successful season. A couple of our calves were born during the frigid weather when winter would not turn loose of spring, and at times we wondered if they were going to make it. Seeing a brand new, wet, cold, shaking baby calf fall to the ground of a snow covered field is at times unsettling. However, the fortitude those babies have are nothing less than miraculous! It doesn’t take them long to nuzzle up to mamma and warm their little bodies.

Often the baby calves huddle together when laying out in the field. I tried to sneak up on them to take a picture, but they were too quick for me. As soon as they saw me coming they started getting up.

Oh well, I'll get a closer picture next time. Once it gets a little hotter,

they won't be so quick to jump up.

Spring Has Sprung

During the winter months, we contain our cattle in one or two of our back paddocks to make it easier to feed hay and to keep all our other fields from being tromped to pieces…you can imagine what a herd of 1200-pound cows would do in a soft, wet field.

Today it seems that the cold, snowy weather of the past few weeks are finally disappearing. Standing outside and looking out over the fields, I can almost see the grass growing. The smells, the sounds, and all the sights that come with a new spring are beginning to appear.

One of the first signs that spring has sprung, in our little world, is being able to open the gates and allowing our cattle to graze on the cool, green grasses of a fresh new paddock. I have to say, the cows seem pretty excited, too. 

It is quite funny to watch them crowd through the gate and run and frolic in the new field. (yeah…frolic!) I will have to post a video some time. :)

Looks like they had a belly-full

...and laying around in the sunshine

Of course, they have to get up to see what I am doing

Fortunately, for now, they are off the hay and onto the pastures. 

Now, like all farmers throughout the ages, we will be praying for rain, sunshine, and a profitable harvest!

Missouri Weather

We went into winter 2012 with just enough hay (fingers crossed) to make it until Spring. Well, as many know, Missouri’s weather is very fickle. In fact, rightly quoted...

"If you don't like the weather in Missouri, hang around until tomorrow and it will be different”. 

True to its nature, March came in like a lion with strong winds and an illusion to warmer weather,
but took an erratic turn when a spattering of sleet was covered by 8” of snow.

We could use a little global warming right about now!

Needless to say, we did not have enough hay. Fortunately, with a quick search on craigslist we found hay for sale at the Koch Farm in Washington. Looks like a great place to live. They have a farm that runs 100+ head of cattle, no more than 5 minutes from McDonald’s, Dairy Queen, and Schnucks! Some people have it all. :) (Ahh...I pleasantly digress)

You can see by the pictures below that we got the hay just in time. 

Saturday, when I took the pictures of the Farmer unloading the hay, it was 50+ degrees. 

Sunday afternoon we had a new baby boy being born in 6" of snow.

Well, for now we have enough hay for about a week... 

So, Old Man Winter, please get out of the way so Spring can be Sprung!