TMR

When feeding milking cows you want to get the most milk out of them so you need the best rations and quality ingredients. At Innislake we feed a ration called T.M.R. (total mixed ration). The cows are fed twice a day with a mixture of ingredients that have been arranged by a nutritionist to balance the ration for how ever many cows you are milking. Silage is the main roughage that goes in, the 3 types are a majority of barley silage, and than corn silage and haylage are also added to the mixer wagon. We also add some gaulity 2^nd cut hay along with rolled barley and 40% supplement pellets. Many people believe that dairy cows are very skinny but that’s not true. A dairy cow eats on average 50 pounds of dry matter and compared to a beef cow they eat less than half of the dairy cow so around 20 pounds on average. The difference is that most of the energy from the food intake of a dairy cow cows into milk production were dairy farmers get there money. The energy the beef cow gets goes to producing body fat because this is how beef producers make their money. Even though dairy cows look way smaller they do eat a lot more!   

At the end of summer the pit will be full and 4 bags of silage as well for the winter!

Milk Testing

A milk tester has a very important job when it comes to dairy farming. They make 10 trips a year to the farm and test the milk from every cow and record how much. The tests are sent to a lab were the samples are tested on fat, protein and somatic cell count. Basically the higher the fat and protein in the milk the better the milk is and you can pick out the top cows in the barn. It also is a tool for increasing cash flow because you know if you count is low the ration is off and needs to be changed. For somatic cell count you want it to be low because it measures bacteria in the milk and the higher it is most likely you will run into troubles with that cow.  You can also test for Johnnie’s disease in the milk as well as DNA and many other things.  When it comes to milk testing around Innislake we look at the results and take them into consideration!

Crops

Well there defiantly hasn’t been a shortage of rain around our area but the corn could use some sun! The alfalfa is looking very good and we should be baling end of June start of July with of course the weather permitting. The corn has been sprayed for weeds which it needed but some sun is store if we want some good looking corn so hopefully a hot streak is on the way soon! Barley was seeded last week and it’s already popping up and the rain is doing wonders for it. I hope everyone has there fields seeded and things are looking up!

Innislake Dairy Farm

Innislake Dairy Farm is a 2^nd generation family run dairy farm located west of Olds. We have a total count of 165 animals which 60 are milking. The milking cows now have the option of going out into the pasture to graze between milking’s. Its amazing how they know when its time to head back to the barn but of course there is a few stragglers to go and get home. All of the heifers and dry cows are out on grass and loving every minute of it except maybe one who ended up getting a few quills. The average milk from a cow in our heard is 40 kilos with a 4% fat and 3.3% protein count. The milking’s start at 5:30 am and 5:00 pm. The farm is spread across 500 acres of land.

A Prickly Situation

Well yesterday while doing pasture checks on all the heifers on grass I ran into a prickly situation. On of the heifers had a run in with a porcupine by the slough! She had lots of quills in her front legs and than she must have gone down to sniff it because there were lots around her nose. I went back to the farm and talked to dad and we than took our chute to the pasture with our skids steer. After a few tries we finally got her into the chute. Its funny how they will go and stir trouble with something dangerous but when you want to help them by getting them into the chute they don’t want to play. After settling a little in the chute we started to remove the quills with pliers and it was a long painful process! This is the first time at Innislake we had a situation like this but we got the quills out and gave her a shot of penicillin for safe measures and were keeping a close eye on her.  

Clipping our dog Bear!!

Well today I had a little fun clipping but this time not cows! I clipped our Newfoundland dog Bear. Newfys have lots and lots of hair let me tell you, there hair is also black. Can you imagine walking around with lots of black hair in the summer and stay cool? This is the third year we have clipped him so he’s not as hot all summer. Every time he thinks he’s a new dog and runs a round loving life when his hair is gone! When winter rolls around don’t worry all his hair is back and he stays warm. Check out the pictures!

GuZoo Finally Closed!

I just thought you guys might want to check out this site about the GuZoo that was shut down in Three Hills Alberta. I took some time to read some comments and looked at the pictures of these poor animals. Its people like this that give farming a bad reputation because of the way these animals are treated and that fuels the fire for animal rights activists. Let me know what you think? http://caawps.ca/home/

Manure Hauling, Disking and Seeding!

Well the past two days at Innislake Dairy farm have been fairly hectic! We finally were able to spread some manure on the fields. In dairy farming you have lagoons were you store all the feces and urine from the milking cows. We clean our lagoon out twice a year and spread it on the fields using it as fertilizer for our barley crop. It is very important to fertilize the fields so you can get the best out of your crop, spreading the manure is a cheaper than fertilizing with chemicals but has the same effect. At Innislake we have recently started stock pilling the straw from our corrals and with our first trial we were very happy with and are continuing the process.  Stockpiling was an idea from my grandpa and he is in charge of the operation. We pile it in the corner of a field were it starts to get heated and decrease in size. It is stirred around every month and the decrease in size is cheaper to spread, easier to work into the field and is more efficient as a fertilizer.  After school I have helped with disking the fields after the manure has been spread. This is important to work the manure into the field to enrich the soil for greater crop production. About 4 weeks ago we planted our 30 acres of corn for silage. Last week we spread fertilizer on our pastures that we let the cows and heifers graze on. We also fertilized our 90 acres of alfalfa that is starting to look very nice! Today we started seeding our 160 acres of barley that will be all used for silage. We bag our corn and a bit of the barley silage to keep it in the best condition and let it ferment. The majority of the barley silage is packed into a pit that we feed from all winter long! Well I better get back to work before it rains!

4H on Parade

Well it was another successful 4-H on Parade for the Mountain View 4-H Dairy Club. For those of you who do not know what 4H on Parade is, let me explain. 4-H on Parade is one big 4H show for all the clubs inside the Calgary Region, hosted by the Calgary Stampede. It is not mandatory to attend. There are many different 4-H clubs, like beef, horse, sheep, pigs, dogs and life skills. It is the largest 4-H event in all of Canada and in my eyes a great opportunity to meet new people and get a feel for different agriculture sectors. Our club is the only dairy club that attended; it doubles also as our Achievement day. This year I had a great 4-H on Parade with getting overall Reserve senior judge in the Multi judging competition. Multi judging is based on 6 classes that consist of dairy, sheep, horse, beef steers, beef heifers and a consumer decision making class. You must place the classes of 4 in the right order starting with the top animal and so forth, you must also explain the reasoning for your decision to a judge who gives you a mark out of 50 and your placing are out of 50 as well.  I also was Grand champion senior showman from our club.  Showmanship is based on how you handle your calf in the ring, how well it walks, how the calf and I are turned out. Conformation Classes are based on how the animal looks, kind of a Beauty pageant for people. Out of the 3 animals I brought I received a first place ribbon, a second place ribbon and my project calf was placed seventh out of 19 calves. I can not wait for it next year and now I know what calves are coming to Summer Synergy!

Neurotropic Equine Herpes Virus

Some bad news has hit Alberta relating to the Neurotropic Equine Herpes Virus. There was a cutting show in Ogden, Utah were the virus was believed to be spread to three horses in British Columbia which attended the show. A horse in Alberta was confirmed to have the virus as well but was not at the show. As being a family farm we have about 8 horses and are a little worried about this virus. It is airborne so some precautions to take is avoid trailoring horses for three weeks and put standard biosecurity protocols in place at your farm. I was speaking to our vet yesterday Dr. Gordon Atkins as he was doing herd health. When I asked him about the nEHV-1 he said that once a horse contracts the virus there is no recovery for the horse and it will most likely have to be euthanized. It also can not be transferred to bovine animals so the dairy and beef cows are safe. For everyone who has horses make sure you take all the precautions possible so we will not spread this virus. It could potentially be the BSE crises that tore apart the beef industry so lets not let the nEHV-1 tear apart the horse industry. As being an employee of the Olds Agricultural Society they have cancelled all equine events for an, as yet, unspecified period of time. They are taking all the precautions to keep the virus from spreading.

May Long!

Well folks May Long is here and im sure everyone has some fun planned, I know I do! I hope everyone is safe and has a good time but for farmers theres always the cows to take care of on weekends and holidays. People not involved in agriculture may not know that no matter if it is your birthday, New Years, Christmas or May Long the cows have to be milked and fed. I personally know this because when its my dads weekend to work its not fun for me milking the cows that early in the mornig! So for all the people that get to go out for May Long think of the people that are at home doing chores! I would also like to remind all of you that the Farmers Market at the Olds Ag society is starting up again on May the 9. Its important to shop local and try to stick to the 100 mile radius challenge. There is many local farmers selling meat, B.C. fruits is always there with fresh fruit and the local Huderites have thier stand of a combination of food. There is lots to find there at great prices and your supporting the local economy!

Finally Up!

Hello everyone! I finally got my blog up and running. It may be late but we all know farming doesn’t work around your plans, you have to adapt to it. 
It has been a busy month for me, with the end of school and 4-H on Parade coming up soon. I have been working on halter breaking my Dairy calves and keeping busy with working at the Olds Agriculture Society on weekends. I hope you will follow my blog and please ask questions, I will try and answer to the full extent of my knowledge.