Ask a farmer...

[Ottakee]

It has been my daughter's lifelong dream to be a farmer, from the time she was 3 until now (almost 12).  So we are getting her the experience she needs to make it happen, as best we know how.  We have land for her that my grandmother farmed mid-19th century, but other than that, the skills will be from scratch, like you mentioned above.  What advice would you give my daughter who wants to farm?  What experience would give her the most bang for her buck?

 

Have her work on any local farms or shadow them, etc. as much as she can.  If they have FFA or 4H in your area that would be another good thing for her.

 

Our local career tech center offers a 1/2 day, every school day agriculture program for highschool juniors and seniors.

 

Reading is always good.

[ThisIsTheDay]

Can you talk about government subsidies?  (Not a question to put you on the spot, I really am curious how it all works!)

[Reefgazer]

We did find an apprenticeship for her on the eastern shore of Virginia on an organic farm, but we have to wait until she is 16.  After looking around, I was surprised at how many apprenticeships there are out there!

How awesome for your daughter!  There are a lot of farms that look for helpers during the busy season.  There are also apprenticeships at some organic farms where people can come to stay and learn during the summer.  Maybe getting her into something like that would be helpful, though at that age I'm sure it would have to be a family thing.

 

[school17777]

Why do you inseminate the cows instead of letting it happen naturally?

[Dory]

Why do you inseminate the cows instead of letting it happen naturally?

 

Around here, people AI if they don't want a bull on the place (bulls can be dangerous and harder to handle). Sometimes they AI because they are trying to bring in different genetics from a bull that's too far away to get to. I do it because having a bull is WAY too much hassle for us. My neighbours have a bull but still AI some of their herd to a different bull.

[eternalsummer]

This is a weird question, but could one, if one wanted to, do this successfully:

 

Have a cow.  Get her pregnant in some non-AI way.  Let her have the calf and keep the calf and nurse (? terminology, I dunno) it normally, while taking milk on the side?

 

I'm not asking if it would be profitable, really (although if this would cost something lie $200/gallon for milk, that would be of interest).  Just is it possible?

[MercyA]

This is a weird question, but could one, if one wanted to, do this successfully:

 

Have a cow.  Get her pregnant in some non-AI way.  Let her have the calf and keep the calf and nurse (? terminology, I dunno) it normally, while taking milk on the side?

 

I'm not asking if it would be profitable, really (although if this would cost something lie $200/gallon for milk, that would be of interest).  Just is it possible?

 

Shreve Stockton, who blogs at The Daily Coyote, does this and has plenty of milk for her personal use.  See these posts for details:

Miss Daisy

Bovine Benetton Ad

Sun and Cud

And the Farmily Grows

 

We just finished Little House on the Prairie, and the Ingalls did it, too.  ;)

 

 

[aufan]

This is a weird question, but could one, if one wanted to, do this successfully:

 

Have a cow. Get her pregnant in some non-AI way. Let her have the calf and keep the calf and nurse (? terminology, I dunno) it normally, while taking milk on the side?

 

I'm not asking if it would be profitable, really (although if this would cost something lie $200/gallon for milk, that would be of interest). Just is it possible?

Yes, totally possible. You would need to know someone with a bull if you didn't want to do AI but you can leave the calf with the cow if you want to and just take what you need for the house. Lots of people do it that way. We don't but our cow feeds us (milk,butter,etc), 2 calfs, 2 pigs and a lamb so it is easier for us to take all her milk and give it to who needs it.

[Erin]

Why do you inseminate the cows instead of letting it happen naturally?

 

In addition to keeping a bull, and being able to afford better lines, people will AI to control the calving season better.  

With traditionally bred animals it can take a couple of months (depending on how long you left bulls out), to finish calving.  With AIed animals, you can have as large or small of a calving window as you'd like.  I know a lot of people who AI everything on the same day, calve like crazy for a week and then are done while those of us who have bulls are strung out all spring...

 

Additionally, sometimes younger cows will be AIed to what're called "heifer bulls" meaning they're bulls with smaller birth weight genetics.  Just like all mammals, that first calf is usually the hardest on the cow, so breeding it to be smaller is easier for her.  But, just because you're wanting your heifers to be bred to a bull with low birthweights doesn't mean that's what you want for your entire herd.  

 

Also, as mentioned bulls are more dangerous than cows, but they also eat more.  So, an animal that's only useful for a few weeks of a year is fed more than everything else in the herd.  And for a small operation that just doesn't make much financial sense, so they AI instead (or lease a bull for breeding season).

[La Texican]

I'm trying (for the second time) to grow pumpkins. The first batch, the bees didn't fertilize much of them and only one pumpkin tried to grow. I looked at YouTube, so this time I'm looking for the girl flowers to hand pollinate. The one pumpkin I got last time grew on a vine that was dangling from a tree branch, apparently pumpkins climb trees and fences. I cut the tree branch and put the pumpkin and vine back on the ground. We got one little rain, and the side of the pumpkin touching the ground rotted overnight. Are pumpkins not allowed to touch the wet ground? If I put a board under any of them that grow this time will that save them?

[Amanda's Mommy]

We are raising a beef cow. How do you grain finish and what do you use?

[aufan]

Why do you inseminate the cows instead of letting it happen naturally?

For us we don't have enough cows to warrant a bull. Plus I don't really want one since they can be dangerous. I like being able to walk out in the pasture and my cows and steers calmly come up for scratches. No way would I be able to do that with a bull in there! Another reason is I want my dairy cow bred to a dairy bull. There are none around here and they are more dangerous then beef bulls. So for us it is a no brainer. Plus I get to pick genetics I want passed down from my cow and the bull I pick. And I get to pick when she calves so we can schedule things around that.

[Χά�ων]

I'm trying (for the second time) to grow pumpkins. The first batch, the bees didn't fertilize much of them and only one pumpkin tried to grow. I looked at YouTube, so this time I'm looking for the girl flowers to hand pollinate. The one pumpkin I got last time grew on a vine that was dangling from a tree branch, apparently pumpkins climb trees and fences. I cut the tree branch and put the pumpkin and vine back on the ground. We got one little rain, and the side of the pumpkin touching the ground rotted overnight. Are pumpkins not allowed to touch the wet ground? If I put a board under any of them that grow this time will that save them?

I heavily mulch so none of my squash touch the ground. I would get a bale or two of straw and put that on the ground This year I plan to try growing some on a fence but not all.

[Dory]

This is a weird question, but could one, if one wanted to, do this successfully:

 

Have a cow.  Get her pregnant in some non-AI way.  Let her have the calf and keep the calf and nurse (? terminology, I dunno) it normally, while taking milk on the side?

 

I'm not asking if it would be profitable, really (although if this would cost something lie $200/gallon for milk, that would be of interest).  Just is it possible?

 

Our family milk cow always keeps her calf. When the calf is bigger we will sometimes separate them for part of the day so that we get some, but we don't fully wean them off. We find we get nice big calves that way with less work. Usually, a dairy cow will make too much milk for one calf anyway. The calf will get the runs if he/she takes it all. Our jerseys have always given us enough with their calves on, so long as we make sure the little brats don't overeat.

 

Even with a calf on I had enough milk to make a 2lb round of cheese every week, a half a gallon of yoghurt, as well as our 5 gallons that we drank every week minimum and the butter that we churned from that milk.

[La Texican]

I heavily mulch so none of my squash touch the ground. I would get a bale or two of straw and put that on the ground This year I plan to try growing some on a fence but not all.

I had put a little straw under it (well, tall dried grass clippings). I suppose I just didn't put enough. I'll go find me a bale of hay. Thanks for helping.

[rainbird2]

Thanks for this thread.  We are city folk who decided to buy a hobby farm and raise our kids in the country.  We have been on our 5 acres for the last 4 years and it has been a real learning curve for us.  :)  Don't know if we could handle a real farm with four little kids to raise.  One day, maybe.  :)

 

A few questions:

 

1. Do your kids participate in extracurricular activities?  How do you do this and manage a farm?  What about friends who want to have playdates (city folk who don't have farms)?  I'm not sure how to balance my children's extracurriculars and playdates.  I don't care for playdates, I would rather pick weeds, but I'm an introvert.  :)

 

2.  We are raising chickens for eggs and meat and have been doing well with this.  We are ready to move on to buying two steers for beef.  How would you go about finding steers?  What do we look for?  And what vaccinations do you think are important?

 

Thanks!