When it's cold, cold, cold and the wind is howling, farmers and ranchers are still out there doing chores and taking care of their animals. Heather Lang, of Sterling, shared a little bit about what they do differently when the weather turns nasty. In a word? LAYERS! And lots of them!
But for the cattle, here is what Heather shared about her day:
"Mixing the calves' food concoction consists of chopped up hay (for protein), silage and corn (for energy) with a mineral package included in. Why do we grind hay? Does it save us money? Does it mean the cows don't "waste" as much? Actually, we found that grinding hay doesn't really save us money. It does give us a chance to blend high quality hay with some that may not be AS HIGH quality (still good quality, just not top-of-the-line hay).
"Today, I was asked how much more food we go through with these cold spells. At our farm we take a little different approach than some may think to be traditional. We tend to give the cattle the same rations as we would any other day but we also set out 10-15 straw bales that they use to bed down on plus they eat the food still remaining in the straw.
"Some may think we aren't properly caring for our animals as they are out in this cold weather and have frost on them. Some may see this as being 'cruel or not caring.' All our cattle have access to shelter of some sort and half the time they choose not to use it. Our calves are fed in a 15-acre pasture because calves that have room to exercise and spread out tend to be healthier."