the farmers tears

It isn't getting any better for the dairy farmer . Prices are still not good. I was very depressed and wrote this the other night.

He sits at the table and his heart is breaking
The banker came today and said your farm we are taking .

He walks to the barn with tears rolling down his face
Today is the day he feared would take place .

He has tried and tried to hold onto his land
All he ever wanted was a bit of a helping hand .

The cows have left and the farm is up for sale
What else can he do he feels like he has failed.

He has pleaded for a fair price almost all this year
But those pleas have fallen on a deaf ear .

Let's bail out big business when they come crawling
But no help comes for the family farmer when he comes calling .

Unloading Hay

Hay season is here ! So far we have unloaded about 1000 bales . Yesterday 2 of the grandkids were helping. Our grandson was up with Papee stacking the hay . He did a great job. Our grandaughter was on the hay wagon with me and our neighbor tossing the hay off. I think she was more interested in having her Mommy take her picture on the wagon. She did push a few bales to the front of the wagon , though . They both did great !

Farm Aid

Our milk prices have not improved much . I had written a letter to Farm Aid about the problems we are facing. I recieved an email from Joel at Farm Aid . He said they have had so many farmers email and call about how they are also having a terrible time trying to pay their bills. Last week I got another email . Farm Aid wanted dairy farmers to write to the Sec. of Agriculture and tell him what they are going through . So I wrote a letter . You were to send it to Farm Aid and they would forward the letters .

If you go to www.farmaid.blogspot.com , my letter is printed there . Farm Aid printed my letter on their blogspot.

Cows out in the Pasture

The cows are finally out in the pasture. The first time we put them out, they usually go through some fences. Especially the younger cows. But this year we were lucky ~~ Not one cow went through the fence ! Once they get to the pasture the first time , they run all over the field . Just like they were little kids.

My hubbie has been busy in the fields. At least he was and than the corn planter broke down for a couple of days . We had to order the parts and that took awhile. But now it is fixed and he is busy again.

We have a garden plowed and ready to get planted. Our one daughter is going to plant some veggies . And the other night we planted a couple of rows of potatoes. Our grandaughter and grandson helped to plant them and cover them up . I had told them how years ago when their Mommy and Aunt were little we used to plant about 5 long rows of potatoes. It was nice to have all those potatoes . Now we will have some again.

Happy Mother's Day

Hope everyone had a great Mother's Day ! My girls went together and got me diamond stud earrings . I love them and have them in now. I took a walk and got my yard mowed ~ again . And watched 2 of my favorite shows last night. Cold Case and The Unit .

Some of my Crafts

I thought I would put some pictures on here of some of the crafts I have painted and made. Many are on my ebay store or on my booth on The Prim Market . Hope you take a look.

New Calves

Well , it is that time of the year. The cows are having calves . We have had 4 cows freshen ( have a calf ) . Out of those 4 they had 3 bulls and 1 heifer . Since September we have had all bulls and no heifers. And of course heifers are what you want . You sure can't milk a bull ! But when the cows freshen they sometimes have problems. Like milk fever . We had a cow last week with that . It is a calcium defiency . They go down and can't get up. They are too weak. We had the vet here 3 times for that cow. Luckily she got up and has stayed up. But we have to still give her pills . My husband has to climb in the stall with the cow . And get a halter on her and then I help give her the pills ( they measure about 3 " long ) . Then this morning we had to get the vet here again. We had a different cow get mastitis . The quarter where the mastitis is will swell and the milk gets clots . And of course you have to treat the quarter . You have to throw all her milk away . And right now with the milk prices we need every ounce we have . We can't put her milk back in the milk tank til it passes a test . The test shows if there are antibiotics in the milk . There are very strict rules for antibiotic milk .
Also last night the one water cup in our extension barn broke. We got done milking about 8:00 p.m. My husband had to tear the water cup apart to get it fixed. He got done about 9:00p.m. So it was a late night for us. We don't have any more cows due til the end of April . But Lexi , our grandaughter was all excited about finally getting a heifer . She thinks she will name it " Annabelle " . She climbs in the pen and pets it and helps feed it with the big bottle. She is definitely a little dairy farmer .