The weather is still warm. We got some rain on Wednesday.
Monday 6/24
Tuesday 6/25
The way the cows eat the dallisgrass makes it look like it is overgrazed after one bite. Dallisgrass doesn’t grow leaves that go very tall. The seed heads shoot up but the leaves stay low to the ground. When the cows take a bite, they cut it close to the center, which makes it look like it has been overgrazed when it has not.
I’ll see how the dallisgrass recovers. If it doesn’t, then maybe the dallisgrass will make way for grasses that the cows can graze more beneficially.
Wednesday 6/26
We got 3/4″ of rain in the afternoon, all in a few minutes.
This video of the puppies caused a lot of controversy. Lots of people posted “disagreements” about keeping a dog on a rope or keeping them outdoors during a storm. Because of this, I changed my comment policy so that I must approve each comment.
I also got some death threats and threats to report me to the police. I don’t take the death threats seriously and we don’t even have police in the county. The sheriff doesn’t care as I didn’t break any laws.
Thursday 6/27
I am not concerned at all about the bare ground or weeds. Nature has her way, and I intend to take advantage of it. Eventually the weeds will prepare the ground for grass. I am not trying to rush anything or fight with nature over it. Having something is much better than nothing in so many ways.
Thursday I had a visitor to my farm who gave some great advice. He’s thinking of buying some land and doing what I do. I think it’s important that families own and work farms together, for the sake of the kids but also inter-generational wealth. Right now, I think, is an ideal time to get into farming.
Friday 6/28
The Footcure is not working for Gami. Eventually I had to make up a new batch of 10% Copper Sulfate. It seemed to work much better. I can’t eyeball Copper Sulfate. I must use a scale to measure it out accurately.
I received delivery of the new sheep, 52 in total, aged 2-6 months. Unfortunately I planned to breed in July, so none of them are old enough to breed. I’ll get them in March ’25, the next breeding cycle. I left the younger sheep with the older ewes but this might be a mistake. We’ll see.
Saturday 6/29
I gave the sheep a 50 lb salt block and a 33 lb mineral/protein block designed for sheep. The sheep did not finish either in any meaningful way. I ran over the mineral block eventually. I need to find loose minerals for the sheep and an appropriate feeder.
Sunday 6/30
I am now moving the cows at around 12:30 PM and 7:30 PM. I think this will improve their feeding as the afternoon grass has more carbohydrates.