Miserable and mild

Winter in Minnesota is defined by cold and snow, snowsuits and sleds, and, sometimes, misery and strife. The winter of 2010-2011 redefined Minnesota winter, at least for us. The season we're about to end didn't fit our new definition of Minnesota winter. Instead, this past winter found us shaking our heads in disbelief.

Leap Day 2012: Dan finally had snow piles to slide down.

Two weeks later: High temperatures near 70°F.

For us, the winters of 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 will be remembered together, like sweet and sour, naughty and nice, hot and cold. Polar opposites: miserable and mild.

• This winter, we plowed snow in the yard twice. Yep, just two times. Last winter, since our wrapped bales were out in the middle of the field, we had to push snow nearly every day to keep the path to the bales clear. I can't even remember how many times we had to plow the yard — or have our neighbor come blow it out for us.

The cows didn't get to play in the snow much this winter.
Only two snow events — one in November and one in February —
resulted in meaningful snow accumulation.

• Mixing feed took hours last winter because (1) it took so long to get the baleage back from the field and (2) extra time was needed for the bales to grind. This year, we individually wrapped our bales and stacked them by our bags. Plus, when it got cold (or colder, since it never got really cold) we switched the ration from baleage to haylage. Without the snow plowing, bale hauling and grinding time, mixing feed seemed effortless this winter.

Winter 2010-11: Penelope marooned in her hutch.

• Last winter, we had calves and heifers living everywhere — hutches, super-hutches, the corn crib, the old mud lot. Only the lot had automatic water; that meant each of the other groups had to be watered the old fashioned way — with pails and hoses. Each pen had to be bedded by hand because either the skidloader wouldn't fit or, in the case of the mud lot, the skidloader would get stuck. This winter, thanks to this summer's overhaul of our heifer housing, there were no calves in hutches, all of the pens had automatic water, and the now-concrete heifer lot can be bedded using the skidloader and big bales.

• Last winter when the heifers got out, we had to chase them through the three feet of snow that blanketed our yard all winter. This winter when they got out — which happened far less thanks to the heifer lot renovation — there wasn't even enough snow on the ground for them to leave tracks. However, they can run a lot farther without snow to slow them down.

We were all smiles this winter!

After surviving the winter of 2010-2011, I suppose I should feel like we earned an easy winter, but I almost feel like we were spoiled by the winter of 2011-12. Either way, both winters — each memorable — are behind us. We'll have to see what next winter brings before we redefine the season another time.

What will you remember about the winter of 2011-2012?

Up in flames

One month ago, last night, we got one of those middle-of-the-night phone calls that nobody ever wants to get. Glen's mom was on the line, saying that the machine shed at their farm was on fire.

We could see the blaze from our place; Glen's home farm is only a couple miles away. Glen rushed over there, but by the time he arrived, there was nothing anybody could do but watch as the fire departments battled the flames.

Photo by Glen's sister, Vicky Herkenhoff

The shed was a complete loss — along with everything stored in it. 'Everything' includes all of the farm's tractors, the TMR mixer, the skidloader, and a long list of other equipment. Glen's brother summed it up when he said, "Basically, everything with a motor was in that shed."

Photo by Glen Frericks

Since the farm's shop was in a corner of the shed, all of the shop equipment was lost, too. Glen's uncle brought a tractor to the farm the next day, but there wasn't even an extension cord left to plug it in with.

Needless to say, this wasn't how anyone in Glen's family wanted to start the new year. Thankfully, the building and equipment were insured. Some items are irreplaceable — like Glen's grandpa's old tractors. But, all in all, no lives were lost and nobody was injured.

Thanks, FarmerBright!

I'm sure every presenter in the world often wonders if their presentations are making a difference. I know I did.

A little over a year ago, I presented "Creating a Web Site for Your Farm" at the National Milk Producers Federation Young Cooperators annual meeting. The presentation was part of a session about utilizing social media; it focused on using popular blogging tools to create a simple web site and included some information about blogging, in general.

The meeting's evaluation forms indicated that many of the young cooperators found the presentation interesting, but I questioned how many would actually put the information to use. A web site, and especially a blog, requires a commitment of both time and creative energy; most dairy farmers feel like they have enough on their plate already.

Fourteen months later, my question is answered. I followed Ryan Bright, a fellow dairy farmer, on Twitter last week and got this direct message back in response:

"Thanks for the follow! I was a Young Cooperator with you at National Milk in Reno. I started blogging because of your presentation. I still refer to your list of topics." [Translated from Twitter-speak]

Talk about gratification! I put many hours into that presentation and it felt so good to finally know that someone put it to use — and is still using it today!

Thanks, Ryan, for making my day!

If you like reading about dairy farming, check out Ryan's blogs — yes, he has two of them:

siloskies.blogspot.com

udderside.blogspot.com

You can also find Ryan on Twitter at @farmerbright.

If you're a blogging dairy farmer and you'd like the list of blog topics Ryan referred to, send me an email — sadie[at]meltel.net — and I'll happily pass it along.

Buttercreams and Bon-Bons

My column in this issue of the Dairy Star is about making Christmas treats — and memories. [I'll post the link when the online version is published.] [Read the column here.] For now, here are the recipes I wrote about and a few photos to go along with them.

[Can you guess which helper had the red sprinkles?]

Peanut Butter Bon-Bons and Turtle Bon-Bons

Peanut Butter Bon-Bons

This recipe is my less-sweet version of a Buckeyes recipe that we got from our good friends. I dipped the bon-bons like Buckeyes this year for simplicity's sake, but they can be completely covered with chocolate, too.

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
2 cups (16-18 oz jar) creamy peanut butter
2 ½ cups instant dry milk
3 cups powdered sugar
2 cups milk or dark chocolate chips

Mix butter and peanut butter together until smooth. Combine dry milk and powdered sugar. One cup at a time, add dry ingredients to butter/peanut butter. Dough will be very stiff at end. Roll into one inch balls. (I use a small cookie scoop to measure.) Chill balls for several hours, or freeze. Dip balls in melted chocolate. Place on wax paper-lined pan. Decorate with sprinkles immediately after dipping. Chill to set chocolate. Store in fridge. Makes about 8 dozen.

Turtle Bon-Bons

I created this recipe after seeing a similar recipe in one of my mom's cookbooks.

3 cups finely chopped pecans
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup milk or dark chocolate chips

In heavy saucepan, mix first three ingredients. Over medium heat, cook and stir for 8-10 minutes or until mixture forms balls around spoon and pulls away from side of pan. Cool 10 minutes. Shape into one inch balls. Chill. Dip balls in melted chocolate. Place on wax paper-lined pan. Decorate with sprinkles. Chill to set chocolate. Store in fridge. Makes about four dozen.

Buttercreams

This recipe came from Land O'Lakes. I tweaked it a little.

½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 3 oz package cream cheese, softened
1 tsp orange extract*
2 tsp raspberry extract*
couple drops red food coloring*
one drop yellow food coloring*
4 cups powdered sugar**
1 cup real semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup real white chocolate chips (these are getting harder and harder to find)***

Mix butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add extracts and food coloring; continue beating until well mixed. Gradually add powdered sugar. Chill. Roll into one inch balls, then flatten into patties with the bottom of a glass. Place on wax paper-lined pans, cover with plastic wrap and chill again, at least two hours. Dip half of each candy in melted white chocolate. Chill to set chocolate. Dip other half in dark chocolate. Chill to set. Store in fridge. Makes 5 dozen.

*Substitute vanilla, almond, rum, mint, just orange or any other flavor extract. Adjust food coloring to match flavoring.
**These candies are very sweet. Substitute instant dry milk for up to half of the powdered sugar to make them less sweet.
***To tint white chocolate, add a tsp or two of coconut oil or vegetable shortening (not butter, unfortunately) to prevent chocolate from seizing.

Enjoy! Merry Christmas!

Star-plus status for Dimple

A while back, I wrote in one of my columns that when Dimple calved for the 11th time with a heifer calf to start her 12th lactation, she would attain star-plus status in our herd.

Well, she didn't have a heifer calf, but, two nights ago, Dimple delivered calf number 11 out under the oak trees in the pasture. (At least our brown winter has been good for something.)

Oddly, for as much as I write about Dimple, this is the only decent picture I have of
her. (I'll have to do something about that.) This photo was taken the morning we
moved the herd to Stearns County; she was nine years old. She hasn't changed
much in five years.

The only bad thing about Dimple calving on pasture was the extra time and effort it took to get her into the barn. Glen brought her calf into the barn first so it could warm up. Instead of going to the barn herself, Dimple kept running back to where her calf had been. And by running, I mean sprinting. For being 14.5 years old, she can really move!

It took both of us to finally get her into the cow yard and into the barn.

As Dimple stepped into her stall for the first milking of this lactation, I couldn't help but think of how different the situation was when she started her ninth lactation and we almost lost her.

But she's still here and this lactation is off to a great start. She's certainly earned her star-plus status.