Transcript
Molly: You're in the shade.
Jay: I'm in the shade, yeah.
Molly: Is it warm already today?
Jay: It is. It's already, uh, I don't know, but it's already 80 degrees or so.
Molly: Wow.
Jay: Supposed to get warm. So yeah, yesterday was over 90. It was pretty hot. Well, welcome today to the farm report. Today we are—looking behind me here—we're driving tractor again. We're prepping the field for soybeans that we'll hopefully start planting them later on today. And I... Oh, yeah, within a couple hours I should be done here, and then starting to do the soybeans, putting them in. So that’s the big project for right now.
Molly: And you'll prep and plant this field before you move to another one?
Jay: Yeah. There's some slight chances of rain in the forecast, not a lot, but just if it rains on the prepped field before we plant it, sometimes we have to till it again because it'll cause the weeds to sprout. And just to avoid any more tillage than we have to, we'd like to just get it all done, planted, and then we'll go and prep the next field. So that's the way we're doing it right now. And that way, yeah that's the best way we have to do it right now. And then if we turn this other way, we'll go back that direction, you can see the green behind me. That's a alfalfa field that we will be, could be cutting hay on it probably any time now really. I'm not a hay person, so I don't exactly know, but I know there's a little bit of bloom starting to show. So usually when they start blooming, I think it's 5 to 10%, that's the ideal protein content for the cows, and so that's when we like to cut it. So I would say this week, probably later this week yet, as long as the rains don't materialize, we will be cutting hay as well. So getting that done or at least started at the same time. So lot of irons in the fire.
Molly: Yeah ...
Jay: We are, couple other people right now are getting a pasture ready to get cows moved out of the corral finally into pastures. So that, that'll be happening within the next couple days, and then hopefully the pigs will get moved out within the next few days too. But those things all take... It's a lot of work, a lot of, a lot of juggling a lot of balls at the same time. So if everything lines up, those are the things that we're working on this week.
Molly: You have to decide which is most urgent today for today and for the long term?
Jay: Yeah. And for right now, I think planting is still definitely the most urgent because the sooner we get the soybeans in, the higher the potential yield. So that's, that is the priority, but when we have extra help if there's people out here. We have a an intern right now, Sophia, and she's working with Glenda, and they are working on the fencing. So yeah, when there's, there's-
Molly: And that's so you can get the cattle out in fields?
Jay: So we can get the cattle out in the field, yep. They're checking fence basically, and then they have to make an alleyway so we can get the cows to walk over there without walking across the freshly planted fields and stuff like that, or eating the corn that's popping through and stuff like that. So yep.
Molly: A lot of details to get lined up.
There are always a lot of details. Yeah. That is, The nature of the beast, I guess,
Molly: Right ...
Jay: On a farm and especially when you're trying to do as many things out here as we're trying to do.
Molly: and you can't just back burner things 'cause you gotta do some animal care every day, and you gotta do some—something to your fields.
Jay: Exactly. Yeah, we had our first calf last week too, so we're getting right in the time of calving season too. So, you know, when that kind of stuff happens, everything else stops, so you just we'll be checking on the cows a couple times a day, a couple extra times. Putting them out on pasture is better. They do they usually do better out there as far as the whole calving process. So that's part of the incentive to like, "Hey, let's get them out of the corral." We also had some rain last week and then the corral's muddy, and so it just... It- that's not great conditions to be having calves, if it's muddy and yucky like that. That's another reason we're working on that. But yeah hopefully next time we talk we'll have a couple more calves on the ground. And yeah, that's kinda, it's kinda a fun time to see that happen.
Molly: Anything else going on we should know about?
Jay: I don't think so. It's just a busy day and we're just keeping going.
Molly: Thanks for hopping off the tractor to check in.
Jay: Yeah. Thank you, Molly.
Molly: Good luck with all the planting. Take care.
Jay: Yep. Have a good day.
Molly: You too. Bye.
