April in Wisconsin – we’re no fools Page 30 • Dairy Star • Saturday, April 13, 2013
If you farm in Wisconsin (or Minnesota- beautiful green pastures and lawns. for that matter) you know that although it may A true sign on our farm that spring has say spring on your calendar, it might not nec- arrived is the mountains of sand that get piled essarily be that way when you walk outside. behind the barns in anticipation on road bans Two weeks ago I was bundled Ramblings from the Ridge being put on. The piles must to the hilt just to be outside to whisper in a special little boy sort my hoof trimming cows, language to Ira and Dane, and the calendar said it was the ‘climb me, climb me, it’s so rst day of spring. There is still very high at the top.’ I do not snow in the forecast for this hear this special sound when week and the few remaining I walk past them like they do. piles of snow are surrounded The piles are covered in plastic by mud moats to every little to keep the sand dry, not as if boys’ delight. Despite all of that slows down two adventurthis, spring is trying to arrive. ous boys. It truly did look like The birds have been very vocal tons of fun, as they climbed the last few days, a welcome up one side and slid down the By Jacqui Davison other backwards on their belsound as I walk to the barn in Columnist the sunlight at night. There are lies, into a soft padding of sand bits of green grass attemptat the bottom. However, it is not ing to make their presence known around the as fun if you are the mom that has to maneulawn. But, perhaps the most denite sign on a ver all over the pile with duct tape to patch up farm that spring is denitely here is mud. Not little boy foot-holes. Alas, fun while it lasted. just a puddle here or there or a little wet spot Mud puddles speak little boy language as in front of something, mud is everywhere. well on our farm. Dane asks me daily why he One has to look past the lovely brown stuff still has to wear his snow pants to the barn, to remember that soon it will all break way to I just tell him now they are ‘mud-pants.’ Ira
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spent his spring break playing in the mud with Dane, making both of them pretty darn happy. They, of course, have brought their bikes out of the shed, because as I may have mentioned before, bikes are the best thing as far as getting dirty in mud puddles are concerned. I can wash their mud-caked clothes in the morning when we are done with chores, but really there is no point. By seven at night they look exactly the same. Now that the garage doors are open on the freestall barns, the cows are watching like hawks for any gate that might be open, so they can gather all of their friends and make a run for the spongy lawn. Luckily, this has only happened twice (so far) and only a few cows, not an entire group of one hundred plus. It’s rather funny when cows get out; they usually seem to cause a ruckus with all the other animals. It’s almost as if they are tattling on them from inside their pens as they bellow and run crazy within their connes, wishing they could join the escapees. Those sounds are a dead giveaway that something isn’t right nearby. After selling three truckloads of wellfed steers, we moved some more up to the big pen yesterday. Ordinarily we would have wished for a frosty morning when the ground would have supported their heavy hooves, but instead we built a makeshift fence involving calf panels and posts on one side and the tractor and mixer, two trucks, the manure spreader and tractor, and the end loader on the other. It worked like a charm and we ended up with only an eight foot wide chunk of tore up lawn versus the whole lawn looking like a mess. Once again all of the cows went wild with jealousy that the steers got to be outside and not them. On April Fool’s Day morning I was greeted by a lively little pair of heifer twins as I walked in the barn. That is a pretty good start to the month I would say. Our luck had worn off by April fourth. I popped up to the barn just to check on a cow and head for home,
and ended up armpit deep searching for the head on a calf that we could only nd the two front feet. Peter, Stacy and I all tried with all of our might, but the best we could do was touch an ear, not nearly enough to pull a calf’s head around to the correct birth position. Plan B – call the vet. Dad was on his way home and had hoped we would get it out by the time he got here, but not a chance. By nine o’clock the decision was made – a C-section it would be. I put Dane and Ira to sleep on couches in the house and called Tony for help, because the little bit of muscle Stacy and I provided to assist this operation would not be enough. It was some quality family bonding time as always; Stacy and I were the nursemaids, running to ll syringes or buckets up, holding the rope and taking pictures; Peter was surgical gloved up to help hold the uterus; and Tony had plastic sleeves on to push the calf back in, and then help Peter and Dad pull it out and up. Three hours later the calf was out, the tired cow was fully sewn up and we all got to go to bed. As the April showers pound against my windows, I know it will be a muddy day on the farm today, but it will make the owers grow. Dane points out to me every day with such contagious excitement that the daffodils are growing taller and crocuses are opening. I think he has it right, though. We need to focus on the little things growing, like green grass, owers and buds on trees, and just remember that although mud can be a headache and April can be crazy, it’s these little signs of new life, calves and owers, that keep us all going as farmers. Jacqui, her dad, sister, and brother milk 550 cows and run 1,000 acres of crops in the northeastern corner of Vernon County, Wis. Her children - Ira (5) and Dane (3) - farm with her while her husband, Keith, works on a grain farm. She loves to cook, quilt and garden and wishes there were more hours in the day to get it all in. Farming and teaching others about farming are her passions.