October Farm Update

Hi Friend,

October is quickly coming to a close and the holiday season is upon us.

A majority of our October was spent with our cows. This is always a nice change after a busy year of farming. Cows have been moved to fall pasture, bulls have been sorted, and calves are weaned.

An early morning sunrise before sorting calves. So pretty no filter is needed.

We generally wean in early October. By this time some of the calves have already been weaned by their mothers, and most calves are not far from it. This also gives the mother cows much need “r&r” before nursing their next calf.

Our Weaning Process:

Step 1: Gathering

When weaning, we first bring in the cows and calves from pasture in small groups using horses. We choose to use horses because we can ride into terrain that four wheelers can’t (and believe me, we have some rough terrain). Our cows are used to horses, so it keeps their stress level low. I prefer horses. I grew up from horse-crazy girl into a horse-crazy woman, and there is something romantic about moving cows with horses. It’s reminiscent of the old west.

Kevin’s view from his horse Pepper while bringing a group of cows and calves in to be sorted.

Step 2: Sorting

Once the cows and calves are in our sorting corrals, we slowly separate the calves from their mothers on foot. Keeping groups small helps speed up this process. Less cows to maneuver at one time keeps both our stress levels and the cows’ stress levels low (a main goal whenever working with cows).

Moto Moto, our one ton escapee bull you read about in July, hiding behind tall grass.

Step 3: Hauling

After calves are sorted, we haul them 20 minutes to our feed yard. The cows are turned back out to pasture. By keeping the calves out of sight of their mothers, the calves adjust to being on their own quicker. They eat better and stay healthier because they don’t have the stress of being able to see their mother, but not being able to get to her. The cows also adjust quicker. Think of it as dropping your kid off at college… you both miss each other, but the child transitions quicker into adulthood with the distance.

Step 4: Settling In

We were able to build our feed yard facility from scratch, and it has been a blessing! Our corrals are built to give our calves plenty of room to move. The bunks decrease feed waste and keep the feed clean. We also built our corrals to make sorting less stressful for the calves. Our calves are fed rations created especially for them by a cattle nutritionist to make sure they continue to grow while remaining healthy. Being in corrals also makes it easy for us to keep an eye on them for sickness. We can quickly separate and doctor any sick calves.

Curious calves following Kevin around the feed yard.

We hope you enjoyed learning about little about our weaning process. For local residents, we will have a limited number of full and 1/2 beefs available in the spring for purchase. If you are interested locally-sourced, ranch raised beef, let us know and we can get you on our list.

Also, holiday baking is upon us! Whether you are giving baked goods as gifts or entertaining loved ones at your home, be sure to stock up on soft white wheat berries that will give your baked goods the perfect texture and amazing taste. Buy wheat berries in our online store.

Best,

The Sieverkropps