Farm Post Friday – 5/6/2016- The Season of Cattle Feeding is Over

Our season of feeding cattle is over.  A couple of weeks ago I shared how we separated out the smaller ones so as to not bring down the average weight overall at the time of sale. Some cattle folk haul their own livestock to the sale barns.  For years our family has used a cattle broker.  He finds and sells the cattle for us.  On Tuesday morning the semi’s weighed in at the local elevator and headed to the farm to be loaded with all but two of the cattle.  This was the scene in the farm-yard for an hour or two.

A good semi truck driver can back into anywhere, right?  Even between a barn and tractor with a field cultivator on it!

I headed over after taking our daughter to school and they were loading the first truck.  The cattle still in the pens was not thrilled with the idea of joining the others!  I did get my boots dirty and helped with the last load due to their onery ways! The cattle will make their way to South Dakota.  The few that were smaller our broker was kind enough to haul to the sale barn in Southeast Kansas to sell for us.

Empty pens. Quiet farmyard.

Then there were two.  We will feed these two until the end of June.  Then they will be taken to the locker where they will be butchered.  Our family eats the same beef that we send from our farm for others to enjoy.  We believe in what we raise and are completely confident in eating it.

We all headed to town so the semi’s could be weighed once again at the local elevator.  The broker completes paperwork and then we go our separate ways after a little “farm talk.”

I’m not going to lie,  this particular area of the farming operation took a hit this year.  A very large hit.  Businesses, like farming and raising livestock is risky, sometimes the end result is not anywhere we want to be, but we will figure it out with grace from God.

I’d like to be more realistic with you in regards to the “hit” but am not quite comfortable with that.  All we know is that the present is changing on a daily basis, the future is not set in stone, but the grace of God is always with us.

Thanks for stopping by!

Julie