Beautiful Days

With the weather beginning to get warmer I'm very hard to keep inside. 

The beautiful days have been perfect for tagging along with the guys while checking cattle. 

Cooper is getting so big and loves helping with everything!

He even thinks he's big enough to help  with the driving!

Don't worry, we let both kids take turns helping!! 

Wyatt can't wait to get out there and show those cows whose boss!

I love my boys and watching them work together!  

Hope you all have had a beautiful weekend so far, Love Amy

Ferdinand

This is Ferdinand

 

I swore we weren't going to name this calf, but then we happened to see the Disney cartoon Ferdinand the Bull and when we went out later that afternoon Cooper said "Mom, he looks like Ferdinand!"  And so he got named!

 

See, there is a similarity!

 

 

Ferdinand, was Cooper's first bottle calf.  We acquired him last fall when his mom had a bit of bad luck.  But that is the way things sometimes go on the farm.

LB and I thought this would be a great opportunity for Baby J.  It gave him a little bit of responsibility.  He had to go with us when it was time for his bottle and he helped with the hay and water. 

 

He did so good.  He loved helping! 

 Cooper gave him his bottle until he got bigger and began butting then he wasn't quiet strong enough to keep from falling down or just completely loosing his grip. 

 

But he continued to help with everything else.  He's making a good little farm boy!

 

Love my life!

Amy

 

 

Fueling The Tractor

Fueling up the tractor is not the easiest job on the farm. 

 Driving a tractor to the local gas station when you run out of gas is not something you do.  Especially when you can only go about 15 to 20 mph on the highway and it would take an average of an hour one way trip to get there!

Most farmers have fuel trailers. They will pull them to the field and fill up before starting their job for the day.

How do you get the fuel from the trailer to the tractor?  Well, you run an electric pump off the battery of the pick up to fill up the tractor.

Our tractor has two 100 gallon diesel tanks.  It will take about 30 minutes to fill the 200 gallons of diesel.

Our pump doesn't have an automatic shutoff so keeping a close eye (so you don't run over) is essential.

Now, the tractor is ready to run!

Just another piece to life on the farm I thought you might find interesting!

Amy

Taking Out Electric Fence

On one of our farms, it was time to replace the electric fence. This particular fence needed to be replaced because it had been broken in a few places and spliced backed together, and it also had some bad wire in a few spots and was tangled with brush.  LB decided it was time to pull the post, roll up the wire and start over.

 

 After pulling all the post, we use our gas powered wire roller to roll the wire onto a spool for the next use.  That keeps the wire nice and untangled so that when we rebuild the fence it makes things a lot easier.

 

On this particular farm, there aren't any cows at the moment, but later this spring we will replace the fence in preparation for some new cows.  We use the fence to separate the wheat from the grass.  The Cows can graze the wheat once it is strong enough and until it begins to flower.  Once it begins to form a head we'll have to take the cows off the wheat so that we'll be able to have a crop.

 

Confused yet?

 

If the cows graze on the wheat too long, it won't let the wheat go to "head" or produce.  And so we take the cows off and that allows the wheat to "head" or go to seed.  Then that's when we cut it!

 

This picture cracks me up!  Baby J was being so patient waiting for his daddy!

 

I didn't get many pictures because the wind was blowing about 100 miles per hour and because I was having to drive the pick-up for LB.  Maybe when we put the fence back I'll be able to get a few!

 

Wind blown and tattered!

Amy

 

 

 

 

Farmin'

I love following Baby J around when I'm at the farm with him.  He's so funny!  He's very curious about everything and he is always wanting to help.

 

Here he is with his three pound hammer helping daddy pound out the bolts.

 

"Don't worry dad I got it!"

(It cracks me up to look close at his face.  He is straining!)

 

"Ok, time for a break.  That hammer is heavy!"

 

Jump! Jump!

 

"Ok dad, I'm back.  Now what do you want me to do?"

All in a day's work!

 

I love my boys!

Amy

 

 

 

 

 

What Happens Next...

I don't think I have ever taken the time to tell y'all what happens after we get the wheat out of the field...

Once the truck is loaded with wheat, we take it to the Elevators.

 

The truck is then driven onto the scales and weighed and then a sample of the wheat is taken.

 

The truck is weighed because wheat is sold by the bushel and each bushel weighs differently according to the grade of the wheat.  That is why a sample is taken.  Each sample taken is tested for moisture, foreign material(weed seeds),  and quality.

 

The wheat is then dumped from the hopper on the bottom of the truck into a pit where it will be augured into one of the elevators.

 

 

Once the wheat is sold to the elevators, they then will transfer the wheat to rail cars that will haul the grain to processing plants, exported, or mills to be made into flour.

 

So, the next time you bake a cake or eat a sandwich, just think....this could be some of the Jones' wheat!!

 

Amy

Supper In The Field

This is what we use to eat supper in the field.

Stainless steel stacking plates.

 

It works quiet nicely. 

Each plate is filled with a generous helping for each person and the stacking and the fact that it's metal keeps it warm.

Extra plates are filled with rolls, desserts, silverware, anything you might need.  I also carry a Pyrex take along bag filled with paper plates, cups, salt and pepper, silverware, wash rags...

 

It's amazing how much you can end up taking with you!

 

Then you sit in the shade of the truck and dig in!  I was too busy eating to get any pictures.

 

Amy

 

 

Wheat Harvest

It's here!

 

Hey good lookin'!

 

Please don't run over me!

 

He didn't run over me, but he did dust me!

 

Baby J loves cutting wheat!  He has cried every night when he had to get off the combine.

 

Happy Cuttin'

Amy

 

 

 

 

Haulin' Hay

Taking Baby J to do farm work, is lots more fun the older he gets!  Every time we picked up a hay bale, he would say:  Up! Up! Up!

 

Here we go...

Up!

Up!

Up!

 

This year, some of the hay we cut was close to where it is to be stored until needed.  So, instead of using a hay trailer, we just moved the bales with our pick-ups.

 

Down!

Down!

Down!

 

Bump!