It would be nice if their was a way you could figure if something happened,or if theirs a genetic eye weakness with that one. That would probably make it easier to figure if he needs culled or not. Hopefully their is a way and its just me lacking knowledge. I want to see Kentuckians succeed at what your doing.
You see that gray trough he's filling with water that he's standing by on the intro, those are small animal killers when they're about half full because they fall into it and can't get out. Stand a cinder block up in it and save a Hawks life or a Squirrels. Just things I've learned.
Ultimately the consumer is going to decide how high cattle are going to go and cheaper imported beef is a wild card. Has Country of Origin Labeling for beef been settled? Probably does not matter when the consumer barely has enough money to buy any beef imported or not... and I believe those times are coming. As far as your decision it is VERY SIMPLE. If you want to stay in the cattle business long term stop thinking about the possibility of missing a quick buck and keep those heifers. Sell those old cows at weaning while cull cows are high. They eat too much and are much more likely to fall over on your farm.
For what it may or may not be worth, my thoughts on selling a few of your cows would be largely dependent on how much you need the money and what the money received would allow you to do. I suspect it would be a good idea to try to keep your best either way though. Now if selling about half would allow you to expand,or pay off something big that would drop your expenses, then it might be worth considering. And of course if you need to downsize and ain't telling us. At least those are my current thoughts that Probably ain't worth much. And its not like I can legitimately lay claim to being an expert in money or agriculture. I don't think watching a bunch of youtube video's qualifies me as an expert in much of anything. In my defense though I will use the excuse that I'm trying to learn stuff for when God does give me a farm. Maybe watching Y'All,Greg Judy and others will increase my chances of doing something Right when the time comes.
I don't think you can go wrong with those heifers. Keep them or sell them, both are good options. I think I'd keep some and sell some if I were in your shoes.
Mountain lions are pushing into western kentucky. Ive seen trailcam photos from Hart co and Breckenridge co. Going back to 2017. Black bears have made it in that area also.
To me it looks like you may have a couple of cows you will probably consider culling. I'm guessing your grass genetics will improve with time as well. As for wind, here in Northern KY we've been having some strong winds as well. On a side note you said it's a good time to be a seller. I'm guessing that means a bad time to be a buyer. I'm glad Y'All are making money though. I want more people raising cattle,not less. But then in full transparency, I'm thinking like the greedy consumer I might be.
Sounds to me like it might be time to consider a couple of Live Stock Guardian dogs. Hopefully your Mountain Lion is just passing through and not taking up permanent Residence.
Are you familiar with the guardian dogs and the different breeds? A lot of our neighbors locally have donkeys to help protect sheep and cattle from coyotes and other critters. Thankfully we have not lost any animals to predators. But CFO, the wife is very interested in a dog.
@@pennypincherfarms2752 I'm afraid what little bit I think I know comes from reading and video's. Not Personal experience. From what I've read whatever breed you go with try to get from working lines and if worried about Cougars a pair might be better. Oh and if you can talk to someone with some actual knowledge and experience that I don't have. Some folks don't think they need them while others say they couldn't stay in business without them. Some start with Great Pyrenees and escalate up if they feel the need but that's probably not written in stone. Like I said what I THINK I know don't come from actual experience with LGD's.
I just love seeing the rural countryside in a different part of the world. Being from Woodstock New Brunswick Canada 🇨🇦 I also love your accents & could listen to you count cats or chickens & be happy... hahaha
Wouldn't there also be a decent amount of seeds left in the hay also? Maybe its cut too young to have mature seeds I don't know. We can hope a little overseeding happens anyway. Its all good however you look at it the spreading out of rolled hay makes sense to me an older woman raised as a farmer's daughter. Good luck with the calving season for sure <3
Well I know for a fact & have seem examples of how wild animal populations can make drastic changes in a relatively short time. Two major examples would be coyotes & wild turkeys and 2 that aren't quite as common yet would be Turkey Vultures and the Eastern Cougars. Here in Western New Brunswick Canada 🇨🇦 basically within 5 miles of the Maine USA border. In the mid 1970 we had a local sheep farmer claim he was losing sheep & lambs to coyotes. Well he & his wife an Occupational Therapist, 'weren't from around here', as the saying goes in many rural areas, haha. I forget exactly but they came from but they came from the UK maybe via Australia & nearly got laughed out of town for not knowing the difference between a possible rogue dog attack & coyotes . The local farmers knew there hadn't been coyotes here for generations if ever & it even made the small town local newspapers. Well within 10 years people weren't laughing any more & coyotes have drastically reduced our white tailed deer population & virtually wiped out the rabbits among just a few of effected species. Sheep farming didn't really catch on & this might be one of the reasons in this predominantly potato growing & dairy farming rural area. Phil tragically died rather young in his 40s or 50s but lived to see those 'locals' eat their words anyway. Turkeys have been common in Southern Maine for decades and I don't know if they are ever rare in that much warmer area than Northern Maine & Western New Brunswick. I know when my late husband & I were moving about 5 miles closer to the border (as the crow flies anyway) we spotted a hen turkey & a small family of babies in a field obviously in the wild. We asked New neighbors because we had grown up in this county & our families had always been here for 100s of years so we were shocked. Being farmers & hunters for our whole lives we were sort of believed but assured that it was likely just an offspring or maybe an escapee of some farmer's small flock bought at the feed store as spring chicks to grow for their winter's meat maybe the year before or so. Meat Turkeys as we call them aren't always white we knew that already. Well as of 2021 we now have a limited hunting season for wild turkeys if we successfully have our name drawn in a limited lottery type process we pay just to enter. I guess those few escapees of local families sure must have multiplied some fast haha. Personally they have wiped out the tiny but beautiful populations or families of Ringed Necked Pheasants we weren't allowed to hurt but had enjoyed seeing since the 1960-70s. As if coyotes weren't enough of the beautiful birds we fed, the ugly turkeys seem to have virtually finished them off :"( Eastern Cougars are still extremely rare to see & maybe the slight increase in reporting is as much due to the Provincial Depth of Natural Resources finally admitting they do still exist due mostly to testing of the droppings found near places they were seen. Don't know much about turkey Vultures except they are i think still semi rare in most areas, and I hope they stay that way. Can't eat them or don't want to bird watch them & crows, ravens, foxes etc can & do eat anything that they do anyway so we don't need them So sorry this was so long I promise to make posts shorter in the future if at all possible hahaha.
I have looked into buying direct instead of buying all our groceries at the store. But when the prices are in some cases an extra 2 dollars a pound,that can put it beyond reach. And we don't have much storage either. Someday, when the dream comes through for me I plan to raise at least a part of my own food.Although when that happens I'm leaning towards trying to get some heritage breed animals. I like the idea of livestock that don't require a bunch of input.
I've been watching alot of these type video's lately. As a Kentuckian that dreams of one day owning a farm, it's nice to see a Kentuckian doing this type of thing. Also I am of the opinion that this rotational grazing and whats being referred to as Regenerative ag, is probably more of an adaptation of the way our ancient ancestors did it back during the Biblical time rather than a new way. After all, people didn't have all of these chemicals back then yet still managed to grow food. I can't claim to be an expert or nothing, but it seems to me like God put the knowledge out their and we forgot how to look. At least that's my admittedly nonexpert/far from an expert personal opinion on the matter.
I agree to some extent. Flood control starts in the hills. West of you, hill farms are being gobbled up fast by grain farmers and housing. Bare soil all year long. HOWEVER, I am looking at areas that have had ZERO human impact to the watershed in the woods and thickets that have been ripped apart by these winter time flash floods. I am talking about 6 ft deep canyons that used to be small ditches you could drive a tractor across. When the vegetation is dormant and you get 6 inches of rain in a short period of time, it is going to rip the earth apart and flood like mad. Cover crops help but will not do what a thick sod will do. Put a piece of carpet on a piece of plywood. Pour a bucket of water across the bare plywood and pour one across the carpet..... that is the best way I can describe a thick sod base compared to hard pan hillsides of bare dirt with no cover crop on them.
This is only the 2 video of his I've watched. I noticed he seemed kind of wound up. However I plan to watch a few more. In large part cause he's a Kentuckian doing something I find interesting. If watching video's I find interesting will help out another Kentuckian,why not? Even though I live in a different part of Kentucky than he does.
