Mid-day at Pastureland

One of the joys of farm life is that we set our own schedule. After morning chores are done and breakfast dishes are cleaned up, we head out to see what needs attention. There might be calves to check on, fence to move or snow to plow. This morning, there is machinery to fix and hay to cut. Later, we'll decide the grazing rotation for the rest of the month.

The milk truck comes mid-morning, right on schedule. We wave to the driver as we top the hill on our way out to the furthest pasture to see if the grass is ready to cut for hay. Some days the driver brings the kids chocolate milk - a treat, since the cows never seem to give chocolate milk!

Warm weather the past few days and a half inch of rain overnight kick-started the grass. It is so green it almost glows in the morning light, the dew now drying in the sun. It's a nice dense stand. More for the cows to graze, and great for erosion control.

The sun hangs above us as we head to the house for dinner. After we eat, we get up to go back out. A yawn reminds me we've been up since 4:30 a.m. These summer days are long, but very productive. We've gotten started cutting 60 acres of prime pasture for winter hay. If the weather holds as predicted, dry and windy for the next few days, we will have prime feed for the cows in winter.

The kids and dog follow us out after their naps. Some days we think they'd play in the pasture all day if we didn't bring them in for baths and meals once in awhile. They play in the gopher holes and splash in the water tank, and if we're lucky, they'll sing a song or two. They know we'll soon get ready to bring the cows home for evening milking.