Down on the Farm: Winter’s Peace
Winter Peace to Spring Rush
January, typically, brings snow and cold and nasty weather for us out on the farm. During this time, we make sure the cattle have plenty of access to shelter and water. Once or twice a week, we replenish the calf homes and stalls with fresh bedding to ensure the calves can snuggle down into the bedding to stay warm and dry. When the temperature drops below freezing, we are constantly checking all the waterers on the farm and out in paddocks to make sure they are functioning properly and that the cattle always have access to fresh water.
We do have a few cows that have their babies in the winter months. We have strict protocols in place for when a cow comes into labor or if she has already had her baby. We make sure the mother can get up and take care of her baby not long after the baby is born. We, also, take turns watching over her and will come back throughout the night to make sure things are progressing properly. In the winter, we are extra careful with cows that are getting ready to have babies. We will keep them locked in the dry, freshly bedded barn to make sure they and their babies are kept warm and protected from the elements. Our number one priority is to make sure both mom and baby are safe and healthy. Winter brings dreary, cold weather, but it is also a reminder that good things will come to those that wait.
After a cold, dreary winter, a beautiful, warm spring will arrive, and the craziness will turn from checking water lines to planting crops and moving cattle around. At the start of spring, we will vaccinate the calves and turn most of the yearlings out on pasture for the next four or five months. We will then move some cattle to rented property down the road until they have their babies. Once the cattle move is over, we will turn our attention to crops. We will start the process of figuring out how much corn we need to plant and what parts we need to order to make sure the planter is working at full capacity. Some of the hay we planted, that will be used for bedding, will be ready for harvest toward the end of spring. The machinery needed to harvest the hay will be brought out of its hibernation and fully prepared to go full steam ahead.
Winter can bring lots of challenges to us on the farm, but it can also bring about a time of “calm before the storm”. Once spring starts, the work never stops, and we push until everything is done. From making cow food to making bedding for cows and calves to rest on, we are constantly moving. We appreciate the winter months and the time of peace it invokes. It gives us the opportunity to take a step back and look at what all we have, where we’ve been, and where we need to go. That’s life on the farm.
–Courtney Henderson, Special to the Botetourt Bee
