Not from the farm? Get to know the lingo… Open: What a cow is called when she is not pregnant. Heifer: A first-time pregnant “cow” (after the girls are about a year they call them heifers until after they have their first baby, then they become cows). Dry Off: The two-month period when a cow is 8-9 months bred that she stops getting milked to allow all her nutrients to go to the calf. TMR (Total Mixed Ration): What the cows eat, made up of protein, minerals, hay, corn, distillers grains (everyone has a little different TMR depending on availability of commodities). Weaned: A calf that is taking off milk and put on a roughage diet after the first two months of his/her life. Colostrum: The first milk from a cow after she has her baby. It is very important that the baby gets this in the first couple hours of life.
definitely open to the opportunity.” And if that is the case, she will be very prepared with how hard she works. Sleeping in is no option for Nielson when roughly 900 animals are waiting on her to feed them every morning. Her daily chores begin around 5 a.m. when she feeds 100 calves milk, water and grains, then moves on to breeding cows (averaging around 2-8 cows a day), which Nielson Farms does by artificial insemination. “It’s a lot better for the cows and the reproduction you get,” Nielson explained. When farmers go the other route and use bulls, Nielson said it can cause more injuries. Unfortunately that is something her farm experienced firsthand. The first instance occurred two years ago when a bull got too rough and broke a cow’s leg, leading to them to put the cow down. Then, last year, a bull turned on her father and “had him down to the ground,” breaking ribs and causing “internal issues” from