Supremacy Sale 2010

Thank you to Lohner Herefords for puchasing our 2010 Supremacy Sale entry JENRAN 592R MANDY 903W.

"Mandy" is a daughter of Churchill Rancher 592R, and is bred to a Harland son that we raised.

AGRIBTION

There has been so much going on in the last month ! ... but Agribtion is on my mind, as we just got home last night. It was reminiscent of how Agribion used to be .... with cold, snowy weather (which made for a long drive both ways). We only took 5 head to Regina, but on the whole, I felt that they represented our program really well.

While we did not come home with any banners this time, I did come away from it not just feeling good about the quality of our cattle ..... but I felt really grateful to all our friends who helped us out while we were there. I am truely thankful to the follwoing people who made our shows this fall so great: Jamie and John Lutz .... (without Jamie we would never have even been able to take our whole string to Edmonton), and who have been "good friends" and stall mates this fall. Marilyn, Brain, Bennet and Bobbi-Jo Foster .... for coming from Manitoba to help us, and have a visit. I was so proud of the kids for jumping in and helping, and showing in the showmanship on Saturday !. Brad and Scott ... who are so positive and supportive ... (and Brad did and awesome job showing for us !). Steve ... who with Jeff had the cattle looking the best we have ever had them (in my opinion) on show day ( ... and who also hauled our clipping chute home for us !).

and of course ... thanks to Jeff .. who worked so hard to get our cattle to where they needed to be this fall. And for all his encouragement on those days this last year when I wondered if all this work/expense on the "show cattle" would be worth it.

I also wanted to mention how happy I am for the Leachman family ( www.biggullyfarm.com ) for having Grand and then Supreme Champion bull !!!

Now I am off to get some rest ... and hopefully feel a bit better tomorrow ... lot's to be done around here since we have been away so much. Dad got stuck with some really bad weather while we were gone ... I am sure he is happy to have us home.

Will post an update on Farmfair soon ...

Hoping everyone had a safe trip home from Regina ...

Jen

Almost there ...

I simply find it hard to believe that it is already November !! Maybe it is because the weather has finally been so nice, and we can finally get some things done outside. The picture above was taken September 17, and is of our greenfeed. Haven't had much snow since then, but it sure hasn't felt like summer/fall either.

Only one more day at home, then we are off to Farmfair. Still a ton of things to get done, but we managed to get all of the other calves either weaned or sold. I felt a little better when I saw all those guys still combining out there, I am sure that they are thinking of everything they still need to get done too !

We are really happy with how the "show cattle" look this year. About a month ago we decided to take a 6 year old cow our this fall. She is actually doing pretty good, considering she had never seen a halter, hoping she settles in good once we get to Edmonton. We have a few less head going to Agribition ... but I am still wondering how the plan changed for just taking a "few" to taking 7-9. At the end of last year I swore that this year we were going to just "take it easy" ... I guess I have only myself to blame, as I am the one who kept bringing cattle into the "show pasture".

All this thinking about only having one more day at home has made me realize I had better get off this computer and get some things done.

Hope everyone had a good calf sale, and that your harvesting is all done !

Jen

Sneak a Peek

It's that time of year again ... when I am wondering why in the heck we thought we had time to take cattle to Farmfair and Agribition again !!! Don't get me wrong .. I am excited about the cattle we have going this year .... but let's not forget about all the other stuff that needs to get done around here in the next couple of weeks ! We are hoping to get our replacement calves weaned next weekend .. then sell the rest on Novemeber 2nd ... hoping that the market stays strong. It would be so nice for everyone if calf prices improved over the last number of years.

I thought I would give you all a little "peek" at a couple of head we are taking out this fall ... if you want to know what the rest of them looks like ... you'll just have to come see us in Edmonton or Regina .. and have a better look ! LOL !

Jen

Snow ... and a Road Trip ...

The weather here continues to be challenging ... even woke up to snow the other morning. Our greenfeed is looking rather sad, and flat !. I think we'll be able to get it put up ok, hoping that we will get a break from this wet weather and get it done maybe towards the end of the week.

I am off to Hirsche's dispersal sale for a couple of days. Sad to see such progressive breeders have a sale like this. The Horned Hereford breed will be missing one of it's best (if not THE best) promoters of our breed. I guess time will tell what their involvement in the breed will be in the future.

Jeff has been up there getting the sale cattle ready, for about the last month. He has somehow managed to clip every sale animal up there by himself. I am sure he will be ready for a bit of a break once the sale is over, just need to get him home for a few days so we can get our own done !!! LOL !

I am heading up tonight, and am going to stay in High River for both of the sale days. There is so much to be done here .. but I guess there always is ! At some point a person just has to drive away !. I have been through the catalog, narrowed my interests down to about 30 hfr. calves ! LOL ! Hoping to get a couple of hours to look through things in the morning.

Jen

Fall

I have to say that the weather the last couple of days has been really "dreary" ... perfect word for it. Grey, overcast, rainy .... and dang COLD !!!! Hard to get motivated to get much done outside. Managed to clean the coop for the "ladies" so they can go into winter with a nice clean house !

I am kind of sad that summer seems to be over ... ususally I like fall ... but this year it seems like we missed the sunshine totally ! I had shorts on for all of about half an hour this summer .. and the mesquito's were so bad I had to put my jeans back on after about half an hour !! LOL !

At least there is a bit of a break in the clouds this morning. Not sure what we will get up to today ... awfully muddy out there this morning. Thinking I will go pound some posts. We are going to try and add a little area on to our bull field for picturing cattle for our ad this fall. Hopefully it will be a good spot for us ... this running around over acres of land ... trying to get pic's had become a little hard to manage. If there is one thing that tests a relationship more than calving time .. it is "picture day " ... LOL ! Any of you who have done this will know exactly what I am talking about !

All this talk about picturing has made me realize how great it will be to have this little "spot" done for us to use this fall .... best finish my coffee and get my butt out the door or nothing will get done !

Jen

Time to wear flourescent clothing ...

Opening day of the early elk season ! So far so good .. the people we had in today have hunted here for a few years, nice people and I am happy for them that they got their tags filled tonight. We have had about 100+ head of elk on the north end of our place for the better part of the summer. They were camped out on some alfalfa we had down there ... made a darn mess of it to tell the truth. Still ... I love to see them. One day when we were haying down there I went to change some knives on my Moco .. and when I went to stand up from under it I was so surprised to see that herd of elk standing right there beside the machine ! LOL !

I am just hoping that this herd stays north ... back at home here we still have all our greenfeed/silage to put up. Elk (and bears) just love that .. and they can sure cause a lot of damage if they find it. Come to think of it ... so can the damn show cows who seem to think that they should be out there too !!! LOL ! Fixed them today though ... got an electric fence put down by the river where they were coming in.

... about the show cattle ... well .. I'll leave that story for another day ..

Jen

Summer ..

Well .. seems like summer is coming to an end. Somehow it feels like we never even had a summer ! One shouldn't ever complain about moisture .. but it has been a really rainy season these last few months. The grass is still green though .. and it is hard to remember when it last stayed this green for so long. For awhile we were wondering if we were ever going to get our haying done .. but this last week has been good and I am hoping to have it done by the end of the week. Just like most everyone else .. we will have some late greenfeed to put up in a couple of weeks.

Of course we have a few cattle in that we are thinking of showing this fall. The above pic. was taken about 2 weeks ago .. they are still out on native pasture .. so we have to chase them in twice a day so the calves can get a bit of grain. Kind of a pain to do this twice a day .. sometimes I wish they were just yarded ! LOL ! BUT .. I am sure they are happier out on grass.

I was just thinking that it is time to start thinking about our fall ad/picutes too. Somehow I am not ready for it to be fall yet .. and the list of things to get done seems to get longer all the time ... I am sure you know how that goes !

Jen

Building the Ark ...

Well .. only a month since my last post .. that's not so bad !! LOL



It has really been raining here .. the ground is just saturated. I guess one should never complain about moisture .. but a few days of sunshine in between the rain and snow would be nice ! Finally decided that we had to move cows today .. regardless of the weather and really it was quite nice out and the cows we happy to go to a new pasture. No flooding YET ... supposed to warm up and be nicer by the end of the week. At one time I had thought we would be really efficient and brand this weekend .. but it is looking like that will wait for awhile.



I am glad we had most of our calving done by mid May this year ... not much fun for those who are calving in this late snow/rain we have had. In fact .. I liked it so much that we have decided to turn the bulls out with our purebred cows/heifers a whole cycle early this year ... bulls should go out in the next day or two. The following pic kind of sums op our May storms (taken May 5th) .. not a great pic ... to dark and snowy out !!!

Will have to see if I can get some more "weather pics" posted up here ... that is .. if we don't all float away .. LOL !



Jen

CALVING 2010

What stared off as a calving season with perfect weather it looks like we will end it with snowy, wet weather ! LOL . Really we are lucky to not have had as much snow as last year at this time .. but these last few snow storms have been hard on the calves. We treated a couple for some scours yesterday, everyone was still nursing their momma .. so hoping this is NOT a sign of things to come !

We also had some trouble with wolves/coyotes this year. As a result of this, about 2 weeks ago we turned our main cowherd north, out of the cavling pasture. It has made it a bit hard to check everyone in these last snow storms .. but the good side of this is that they all have lot's of clean ground to lay on and everyone there looks healthy.

Last year we used 4 new yearling bulls on the registered cows .. and I am REALLY happy with the calves from all of them. They are a really stylish set of calves this year and all of them we born a super nice size. Hopefully I can get some pics' once this weather straightens up.

Like everyone else ... we have lot's of spring projects to get done. Can't wait for the sun to shine here !

Jen

Too Much Travel I Think ..

Been a busy few weeks .... seems I am always running some where. Was at Calgary Bull sale for a day .. glad I went .. and wishing I had got our bulls in sooner so we could have taken them. Plans are already in the works to make sure we are better organized for next year.

On the weekend we went to Great Falls for a night .. then to Holdens sale in Valier ..nice little break .. but we seemed to be so rushed to get away that I wouldn't exactly call it "restful". Lot's of good bulls at Holdens .. they are such a uniform group .. a person could really add some consistency to their calf crop if they picked up a number of them. We are getting pretty excited to see the calves from the bull we bought there last year .. should have some in a couple of weeks !!

So .. apparently some where in our little "travels" I have picked up a cold ... feeling right crappy today !! LOL ! I guess it is wise to get sick BEFORE one starts calving though .. .. better than when you are in the midst of it !!! And so .. of course I am a bit grumpy tonight .. I always know when I am because Jeff starts hiding in his "cave" ... haha !! .. Maybe I will find the energy to make something yummy for supper and lure him out of there !!

Hope you are having the nice weather we are !!

Jen

Ruby

Well ... I love this dog .. but man is she a handful !!! LOL ! No worries about her not having the "herding" instinct... as she want to "work" everything .. cows, deer, horses, the other dogs, cats ... ME !!! She really is a sweet affectionate thing once you get to know her .. but she is really unsure of "strangers" ... might be a sign that I need to get out more .. either that or have more visiters.

Good news on the horizon though as it looks like I have found someone to give us a bit of a start before we get into calving. The poor thing .. I think she is just frusterated as she want to work so bad and all I let her do at this point is "get in" , "lie down" .. and come back to me.

Really we should all be more like Ruby .. she thinks everyday is an adventure .. and everything she see's is interesting .. now if she could just chase the heck out of something I think she would just think that life is perfect !!!

Hopefully the next pic's I post of her will actually show her listening to me and being a bit helpful !!!

Jen

Chicken Ranching

Well .. got the chicken coop cleaned up this weekend .. and I am ordering chicks this week !! YIPPEE !! I might add that others in this household do not share my enthusiasm ... LOL ! Not sure when I will order them for .. but not at least until May if I can. Dad is happy though .. as he can get them eating some grasshoppers again this summer !!

I am not sure what Ruby will do with them ... herd them for sure .. HURT them ?? well .. possibly. Hoping to actually keep them locked in their yard most of the time anyway .. tired of feeding the coyotes !!

Jeff is away clipping bulls for the neighbor .. bet he is freezing his butt off right now .. damp and foggy here today with a north wind .. BURRRRR .... Really I guess a person should not complain .. better than 6 feet of snow and 40 below !!

Now I am off to get some paper work done .. I have been wasting time here on the computer .. but .. the time has come ..

Jen

A Good Day !

Wow ... we FINALLY got the last of the cows vaccinated today !! I was beginning to think that we would be calving and STILL not have then processed. Beautiful day here .. sun was shining all day .. perfect day to be outside .. and no wind for a change !!

Now we can go to Lethbridge tomorrow and not feel bad about leaving home !! Should be a fun day .. as I am going to a photography workshop .. not sure what Jeff is going to do for 5 hrs while he waits for me ... probably shop for fishing stuff !

Thank goodness for left-overs .. my motivation is low tonight ... and I am hungry after all that fresh air !!

Jen

Are you holding your breath ???

Well I sure hope not ... LOL ! I did say it was another ATTEMPT at blogging ... and yet again I see it has been months since I have got back to this. BUT ... it is a new year .. and we'll see if I can't finally keep this updated.

Things are finally warming up here ... and thank goodness because I am WAY behind on getting things done around here. Cows still need vaccinated ... culls to ship ... bull calves to sort through ... even a few calves that escaped branding to get processed. Hopefully by the first of next week all those things will be checked off my list.

Jeff is in Denver at the stock show ... and I am doing my best not to be jealous !! (ya' right ! !). At least one of us got to go this year ... sounds like he is having a good time so far .... maybe next year we can both go for a holiday !!!

I have been caught up watching "The Dog Whisperer" tonight ... 3 hours of it to be exact ... and now that I look at the clock I see it is way past my bedtime ... what happened to the days when 1am was early ???? LOL !

Jen