I hate being wrong

Tonight was one of those nights when farming and parenting didn't mix. Two hours into chores, Dan and Monika were fussing to go in. So I put my chores on hold and took them in. We ate, played for a little while and then I put them to bed. I was mixing milk replacer when Glen came into the milkhouse and asked if I wanted to go on a date tonight.

"Who's calving?" I deadpanned.

"Faith just had hers and Disney's got feet out about this far," he reported.

"Faith have a heifer? I asked.

"Yep."

"How are we going to fit two calves in the warmer?" I asked, half-joking, half-exasperated. I really don't like winter calves.

So we finished feeding calves together before attending to the new and coming arrivals. We brought Faith in, put Frosty in the warmer and went back out for Disney. Glen got a good look at her progress and said, "We've got a foot and a nose."

"Just my luck."

Thankfully, the heifers we're calving right now are as easygoing as heifers get. Disney stood in the center aisle while Glen found the other foot and brought it forward.

Then it was decision time. Glen wanted to pull the calf right away. My vote was to give her a little time to labor now that everything was lined up and grab a bite to eat. I could tell Glen wrestled with the decision, but ultimately we chased Disney into the entryway and went in for supper. We came back 45 minutes later.

Disney was laying on the straw. It looked like nothing had happened yet. Until we looked to check her progress. Her calf and the placenta were folded up in a heap between her rump and the wall. We moved Disney and Glen tried to resuscitate the calf, but we were too late.

I hate being wrong. We decided that we might not have been able to save the calf had we pulled it, being that it appears the placenta abrupted, but we probably would have had a better chance.

Her name was going to be Tinkerbell. Glen warned me about naming heifer calves before they're born. "You're going to jinx them," he said.

"At this point there's nothing I can do to influence gender," I said in defense. It's been so long since we've had a DOA that I hadn't even considered jinxing the arrival.

Maybe next time I'll agree to pulling the calf right away. And, hopefully, Disney's next calf will be a Tinkerbell.

Easy meals

One of the questions the Dairy Star asks Women in Jeans is about ideas for making life easier for women who farm. One thing that makes my life a lot easier is a quick supper. When chores run late, time for meal preparation is usually short. Here are two of my favorite quick, easy meals.

When I have no time: Deluxe Frozen Pizza and Oven Veggies

Ingredients:

• 1 bag of frozen vegetables (any variety)
• 1 cheap, frozen pizza (make sure it's 100% real cheese; some frozen pizzas use fake cheese; ewww!)
• shredded mozzarella cheese
• oregano or Italian seasoning
• grated or shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven according to pizza directions. Spread frozen vegetables in a single layer in a glass baking dish. Top pizza with a handful or so of mozzarella cheese. Shake on some oregano or Italian seasoning. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Put pan of veggies and pizza in oven together. Bake topped pizza according to directions or until edges start to brown. Stir veggies half-way through baking time. Veggies should be done about the same time as the pizza.


When I have a little time: One Pan Pasta Pleaser

Everyone loves this easy Italian dish.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground beef, thawed
• 1 26 oz. jar marinara (Spaghetti) sauce
• 2 cups whole wheat penne or rotini pasta
• 2 cups water
• shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Brown ground beef in a large non-stick skillet or non-stick 3-quart pot. Drain beef, if desired. Add marinara sauce, pasta and water to beef in pan. Stir well. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer 10 minutes or so until pasta is tender. When pasta is done, remove from heat, sprinkle cheese over dish and cover until cheese melts. This dish is just as good the next day.

It's about to begin

The final chapter of the book I could write about the planning and construction of a manure pit is about to begin. The pit pumpers called this morning to say they'd be here at one o'clock this afternoon. We're hoping the maiden pumping of our pit goes without any glitches, but hope can't always overcome poor planning. Our pit is situated in a far from perfect location and the way the lot and fencing were finished after the pit work was complete will make it very difficult – if not impossible – for the pit pumpers to back a prop into the south end of the pit. And since the manure enters the pit on the south end, that's where we need agitation the most. We're keeping our fingers crossed that the short prop will make it around the corner. If not, fence posts will start flying – and expletives along with them.

I'll explain the nightmare of completing our pit after we see whether the prop makes it or not. If we can agitate without tearing down fences and berms, the end might justify the means.

(At least we got the corn done!)

Gold rush

If corn is akin to gold – which it is this year because everyone needs the extra cash – then this week will go down as a gold rush. Everywhere you drive, there's a combine in the field. Every grain hauler in the county is booked through next week. Farmers are racing to clear their fields so they can finish field work before the earth freezes.

Our sprint for the finish was slowed today with the announcements that Central Grain in Sauk Centre would not be taking non-contract corn until Monday and Prairie Lakes Co-op in Glenwood would only take grain until noon today. We sent one load out this morning, but we've still got three-quarters of all the gravity boxes in the neighborhood sitting in our yard full of corn and 15 acres standing in the field.

We're going through a major case of could've - would've - should'ves right now. We could have waited until December to combine the dry corn, but the combine was here, the corn was ready and we really need the corn straw this year. If we would have contracted some corn earlier this week we'd be able to deliver right now, rather than sitting on all this corn praying for it not to rain. Maybe we should have talked a little more seriously this summer about putting up a bin, instead of waiting for our cash flow situation to improve.

Scratch that – our situation just changed in the five minutes it took for me to step away from the computer and take lunch out of the oven. Our trucker just called to say Glenwood could take another load of our corn, and possibly a third. Now it looks like we'll get done combining today and finish chopping stalks. Hallelujah!

November storm

It feels like we're being tossed about by a classic November storm – except this storm isn't wind and rain, it's the flurry of activity that has occupied our month thus far. For the first time in a long time, we took a real trip – and actually took five days off from chores. And, as all dairy farmers know, each day you plan to be gone requires two days of preparation in advance, so we spent the first ten days of the month getting everything ready for our absence. Into that mix we added a visit with the young man who shadowed us as part of Minnesota Milk's Dairy Connections Program.

All dressed up in Dallas.

Our time away from the farm was like Dorothy's trip to Oz, but our return to the farm brought us right back into the storm. We didn't even have our bags unpacked before the arrangements were being made to combine the high moisture corn (that we really thought would have been done before our trip), chop and bale the corn stalks, and empty the manure pit. We took a short break to celebrate Glen's birthday and then jumped into fall harvest. The combine took seven boxes out last night and we started the bag of high moisture corn this morning. Glen checked the dry corn just to see where it was at; the corn was at 18%, so now the combine will be going straight from the wet corn fields to the dry corn fields. All I can say is it will sure be nice to have all the corn done. Then maybe things will settle down for a couple days before our Thanksgiving storm blows in.