[dominiquer60]

great observations Mitch,

I don’t know if you got to witness the keynote, David Klein, at last years NEAPFD, but he had three points that he taught young couples in his Ohio community.

First was in order to farm well and keep your children interested it has to be a successful farm of manageable size and diversity.

Second was to set aside some time to relax with the family and enjoy each other every week, for David’s family it is Saturday late afternoon/evening, they get chores done early and have family time.

The third and very important advice that he had for young couples is to be on time for meals, and if you are going to be late let her know. This point may have even involved a firm shake of his finger to stress the importance of this one 🙂

It was great advice and something to consider for all of our farms Amish or not.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

It does give the seller more negotiating power only if there is another warm body willing to pay more than you offer. Just remember if it doesn’t work out at a price that you are willing to pay, then perhaps it was not meant to be. I have had the “there is another buyer” line, I have also been called back after the other buyer doesn’t pan out for what ever reason.

“If don’t come easy than you’d better let it go” I don’t remember who sings that one, but sometimes Nashville offers some good advice too:)

Erika

[dominiquer60]

Geoff,
Of course “You can’t get there from here” really comes into play in Northern New England. There are many different ways to go but figure 115 miles or about 3 hours between Fryeburg and Tunbridge. Fryeburg goes from Oct.3-10, if you can take the time to stop there it is totally worth it, you will not find anything like it in the west. If you go to their website and act fast you may be able to get a camp site, there are something in the area of 3,000 campsites, and it is $24 a night to stay there. It does take a couple days to take in the details if you have never seen such before. Here is the link to camping at Fryeburg http://www.fryeburgfair.com/Camping/Camping.html. Good luck and enjoy your trip to the fullest.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

It has been so dry here that we have been able to cut and bale on the same day, basically we were mowing grass that was dry enough to bale and very easy to shatter with a rake. We can usually do hay in 24 hours when it is 90 or above daytime temps because we use a macerater which make a big difference when we are dodging summer storms with only small windows to make hay in. But the last few times we cut we didn’t need to use this step because it was too dry already. We do not use animal power to hay, but I would like to use my cattle on the rake when we finally do the second cut on the flat, most fields are too hilly for my young team to handle.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

A gentleman at the market used to use horses for his market garden. He had a hitch cart with hydraulic 3pt and brake with a battery. It worked nice for various cultivators, harrows and such, but to plow it is best to have a nice plow as well. The double tree and yoke were extra wide to accommodate a 6 foot center to center bed size, he also used a jockey stick to keep his mares spread apart. They are out there, but this guy had his custom built by a neighbor.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

I’ve got this sweetie of a harrow if it works into the plans. A 1000# pair or single can pull it set lightly, so it can be used by a variety of animal power.
Here is a photo.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

Mitch,

I took 4 weeks of in Septober of 2008 and hit, Tunbridge, Common Grounds, NEAPFD and Fryeburg with 2-3 days at each place. It was so worth the time and I really enjoyed zig zagging across northern New England, just me, my dog and my pickup. All 4 events were great and I got a lot out of each of them. If I could do it again I would, but I don’t see it happening for some time, so I am very glad that I took that opportunity when I did. Long live Fryeburg and all the other Ag fairs or Ag aspects of fairs.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

Robin, Orange county is beautiful, especially the less developed parts. It is a shame that so many dairy farmers across NY are folding, and of course they are mostly small farms, the big ones are “too big to fail.” I was also the only local working cattle exhibit at my fair and it was fun educating folks about my cattle. The last day I let 6 4-H kids have a hand at driving my team, one really took a liking to it and is on the look out for a couple bull calves. That was worth it to me.

In upstate NY just about every county, 50+ has a fair, a few only have youth fairs with kids 18 and under showing, mostly 4-Hers. Most fairs have livestock, vegetables, cooking and arts and craft competitions. Many have draft horse exhibits and shows, few have oxen, and most oxen are a novelty exhibit. We have some huge dairy counties with hundreds of dairy cows and heifers competing in youth and open shows for big honors.

The fair that I have a loyalty to is NY’s only tri-county fair, the Altamont Fair. None of the counties have much agriculture any more and the fairgrounds is larger than most so we have a large footprint to fill with few participants every year. Our cattle barn barely had 100 entries this year but 40 miles away the Washington Co fair had over 100 Brown Swiss alone, but less beef than our fair. Altamont does boast one of the largest poultry shows in the state with over 700 birds, down from 15 years ago when we had 1400. The two men that ran the show before me have passed away and so has half the show with them.

I have always enjoyed my fair as a social time with other farmers and when I was younger it was my only time with farmers and livestock. Educating the public and exposing people to the enjoyment that I get from my work and life is why I keep going back. I also work hard to get youth and their parents involved, with 98 people at my last poultry school, I think I am doing well.

Its nice to read about what fairs are like in the rest of the country/world.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

You are right Carl, you should not feed as a reward, I am sorry that I gave that impression. I feed my team at night when I do my evening chores regardless of when they have worked if at all. Sometimes I work them before the heat of the day, but often I can only sneak a few minutes in before chore time, then they get fed because I roll right in to chores after, but not as a reward.

I often go for days between working them, but I always make a point to interact with them everyday at feeding time. Whether they are loose in a pasture or tied in the barn, I always make them take a step or two back before I feed them. It was the same when I had horses under my care, I was the leader and I made them move back before they ate. Maybe I am wrong but I feel that this has helped maintain our working relationship even when it has been a couple of weeks since we have done any real work. When we do go back to work we generally manage to pick up right where we left off with me as the leader.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

Ed I am a novice also,

I started mine at 6 months old and after months of frustration, my cattle will try anything that I ask of them, in return I try to only ask reasonable tasks of them. I know that myself and many other folks feed grain after they come in from work. It will cause the team to anticipate going back to the barn for their grain, but it is a good thing to have them get used to, earning their supper.

It may make a difference in your steers attitude if you make a change in your routine. If you do decide to switch, give any routine change some time to work before you decide if it will make a difference or not.

Good luck with your cattle, they really are a joy to work with once they get to that point where your working relationship has settled in to a nice spot.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

A brillion cultipacker is a nice tool to own, but you can make due with a couple weighted 55 gallon drums in a pinch.

[dominiquer60]

For cover crops we broadcast, lightly harrow or disc, and then roll. If you can seed a crop right before it rains it will take off fairly quickly. Rolling helps to establish the soil/seed contact that helps the seed have enough moisture to germinate. If you can’t roll hope for a good rain to settle the soil around your seeds, if it is dry, hope you can beg borrow or steal a roller.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

Most of the folks that stay all week have spotted horses or Percherons, and I am terrible at remembering names. I do remember the Decker family receiving a lot of praise in a couple conversations. Watch the NY Percheron Assoc. site for an outspoken man named Tom, he was caught being given a ride on a wagonette driven by a team of black cattle.

[dominiquer60]

Robin-

Dick organized an Ox Pull that ended up just being an exhibition because our pulling ring was resurfaced too close to fair time and it was hard pulling in fresh sand. Thanks for the compliments, I will be at Tunbridge by myself, see you there.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

Rod-
Thanks for the opportunity to buy such a fine yoke, I need to cut the bows down a little to make them safer. You know how things are though, the squeaky wheel gets the grease, and so far I have managed to keep those bows out of my face.

They do go nice together, she has a little height on him, and I am not sure when he is due to calf:), but they are within 10 pounds of each other, ~570# each. I try hard to start them off even so that they go together, it seems to make the work easier than fighting each other by being off stride.

Erika

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