Why I Like Farming - Part 1: Farmlife

So, I'm not sure people really know what a typical farmer does on a typical day.  So, I thought I'd share what I did today, minus the things I do every day, you know, eat, sleep, use the restroom, brush your teeth, etc.

I got up around 7.  Checked the news. Checked the weather.  Drank three large cups of coffee.  Spoke with my dad about farm stuff.  Donned my coveralls, mixed up two quarts of milk replacer then wandered out into the pasture to feed Annabelle.    Walked back to the house to clean out the bottle and was done about 9. 

I then called a tire shop asking about what they charge to balance tires, then I cleaned out the bed of a pickup, loaded the tires, put on a clean sweatshirt that wasn't all ragged, and went to town. 

I dropped off the tires at the tire shop, then I went to the soil conservation service office (federally funded folks to help keep farmers going, secure financing, and help them make better decisions with their assets) for a 10am appointment.

I was there for about an hour as I gave the representative all of our grazing information, cows, calves, bulls, yearlings, our current fencing setup, watering tanks, etc.  I left about 11.  I went to the auto parts store to get a new exhaust gasket for my pickup that I haven't had time to do anything about for like three months. I went to the grocery store for a fourth cup of coffee when the tire shop called so I headed out and picked up the tires and went home.

Upon arrival, I noticed a semi and a cattle trailer on our barnyard that i didn't expect to be there.  Turns out our neighbors were shipping a load of cattle that day.  I wandered over to say hello as they were unloading some calves that belonged to the bellowing mother cows, all of which were destined for auction. 

 As the calves were getting out of the trailer which was quite slippery with green excrement, one of them decided to kick up his heels at the three figures standing next to the trailer he was exiting.  Unfortunately, he only got the figure in the middle with flying green excrement, whom was me. The neighbors were quite polite, they didn't laugh, they just smiled at my now green-speckled face and no longer clean sweatshirt.  I wiped myself off as best I could, not really blaming the calf for his poopy outburst, and eventually wandered back to the house after poking around a bit more.

I unloaded the tires on the way back, started the sprayer to warm up, and went inside to grab some food before heading out to spray. 

I left the house twenty minutes later, grabbed the planting records (so I would know how many acres I needed to load up for), and proceeded to fill the sprayer with 830 gallons of broadleaf herbicide. 

I sprayed 24.5 acres of spring wheat, then sprayed about 28 of 28.5 total acres of spring wheat.  No, I didn't get it all the first try.

The fence row nozzle solenoid I just replaced on the sprayer wouldn't completely shut off, so I ended up being about half an acre short on product.  Awesome.  I went back to the house, put about 15 seconds worth of water and 1.5 pints of herbicide in the huge tank, then went back to the field, extended the booms again, and sprayed for about ten more seconds to finish the field.  Extremely efficient day in the sprayer for this guy.  

Then I got home, ate dinner, and went out to set up a temporary electric fence for my bulls and steers so they wouldn't simply walk through our dilapidated fence into the feisty heiferettes in the neighboring pasture.  I let them into the now electrified pasture and went to the shop.  I put on my now balanced tires and wheels and proceeded to check some other things on my pickup and pick up some tools.

Somewhere in there, I fed Annabelle again and ate dinner myself.  I went inside at 10 pm.  Showered, watched a YouTube video on machining, and went to bed.   

The next day, I did something entirely different.  Except for feeding Annabelle.   And that's one of the reasons why I like farming.    

This is our experimental field of hairy vetch and winter wheat.  We hope to use it as a seed plot for fall cover crops this year!