Colonel's Blog, Earthdate 7 Jan 2023...
Hey Ya'll!!
Happy Saturday morning from Free Missouri! Days run together on a farm, it reminds me of a long deployment. Every day is basically the same as the day before and the next day will be the same as this one. On one deployment, I referred to everyday as Tuesday because that is the day I got there. To combat this feeling, Shelley and I remind ourselves of what day it is by saying first thing in the morning, "Good morning, Happy ___day." So, good morning, happy Saturday! There are no major discussion topics from yesterday. We did continue tax prep and did go to Springfield. Today we continue tax prep and attempt to make some butter and maybe even some cheese!
Shipping update: The redo of shipping the container to Florida was a complete success. The pork arrived just as it should, frozen solid. I give us an Above Average, clear the Red X, and proclaim we demo pro'd. The potential negative, as all of the USAF aviators out there know, is that once you have demonstrated proficiency, you are expected to perform at that level always. It is an immediate "hook" or failure, if at any point in the future, you fail to perform up to standards on that event. No pressure, just don't suck.
We awoke this morning to another surprise! 2023 farm baby #2 was born early this morning. Still not from Betty (the jersey), or the beef cow we have been watching! The top pic is the happy, healthy, spunky heifer calf. The bottom pic is the new calf and her mother. These first two calves of the year are also the first calves from our bull and our cows. It's exciting to see our herd growing! Heifer calves have the potential of adding a dozen or more to the herd over the years. Very exciting.
Speaking of #2, sheep manure has significantly more nutrients per ton than cow manure. Per ton, sheep manure has 20 pounds of Nitrogen, 9 pounds of Phosphorus, and 17 pounds of Potash where cow manure has 9 pounds of Nitrogen, 6 pounds of Phosphorus, and 8 pounds of potash. It is not lost on me that per animal, the cow produces many more pounds of manure, thus each cow is actually contributing more to the nutrient build of the regenerative process than each sheep. Nevertheless, sheep manure is great for the process and because sheep use the ingested sulfur for making their wool, their manure does not have the unpleasant odor of cow manure. It is also in small enough pellets that it falls through the blades of grass to the soil where cow manure can often sit on top of the grass smothering it.
Local Farm Report from 6 Jan 2023:
Harvest:
20 Chicken Eggs
8 Duck Eggs
3 Gallons of Milk
Sales:
N/A
Additions to Farm:
1 Red Devon Heifer Calf
Cheers! Rich & Shelley
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