From the Barns: Dust in the wind

Three ounces and a cloud of dust! That phrase came to mind as I finished up the “frost” seeding in very dry warm conditions. A similar phrase was often used by football analysts to describe an offense that never passed, but always ran the ball for “three yards and a cloud of dust.” So, as I ran the ATV with Herd seeder over some very hard ground littered with some very hard manure pats, to spread 3 ounces of red clover seed per acre followed by a cloud of dust, that became my theme phrase.

My mood was not that great, as I am now quite skeptical about our chances for success for this year’s seeding. My mood was not helped by the pain in my back and my throttle thumb from the tough ground conditions. To stabilize the seeder and not wear out the mounts, we have fashioned a support from the seeder to the rear ATV hitch. This works really well, except that the solid support arm eliminates the machine’s shock absorbers and leaves me and my back feeling every bump. We are in the process of using the Colorado harrow to break up those manure pats and somewhat smooth the hoof pugs. The tractor ride is a whole lot better than was the ATV.

Our group of 70 in the sacrifice area is over half calved with near-perfect conditions almost every day. We did have a waterline break that required major earth surgery and even a chunk sawed out of the cement platform to reach the problem and replace the segment of line. Is 50 years the average life span of a water line? In the meantime, we did have adequate pond ramp water due to the snow melt to water the cows, even though it required some walking distance and, oh, those cattle trails!

We have nearly completed the dead ash tree cutting project with 200-plus trees down and to burn or logs removed for shipment to a local saw mill for pallet construction. We have 14 piles of debris to burn and small litter on the ground. Wind conditions have not been favorable and the dry reeds canary provides fuel for grass fires we may not be able to control.

March 12 and 13 is the Illinois Grazing Lands Coalition inaugural grazing conference, titled “The Hidden Benefits and Profitability of Illinois Grazing Operations,” with featured speaker Dr. Allen Williams, at the Northfield Inn, Suites and Conference Center in Springfield. For more information and to register, go to www.illinoisgrazingconference.com.

Registration has been extended past the March 1 deadline. The conference is a must-attend event for grazers, farmers, lenders, landowners, Extension and government personnel, agriculture educators, conservationists, processors and others interested in the economics and profitability of land use in the next generation.

It sure is easy to get all worked up and stressed out over conditions caused by weather patterns. We have no control over most of it, so ease back and focus on that stuff we can control. Remember, too, in the big picture we are no more than, “everything is dust in the wind” — great song by Kansas. Stay safe and sane.