|
West Central IL | Lost1 - 2/19/2019 15:47 JoBob - 2/19/2019 15:33 In the same boat as you. My brother announced over a month ago it's time for the cows to go. I quit milking 6-7 years ago and have been doing the crop end of the farm while brother kept milking and we helped each other out as needed. I think everything was getting to him mentally more than physically, especially during the winter. He has already interviewed with a contractor at the Army base next door but said cows would go by May-June. You mentioned keeping back some steers and tax wise that makes sense but man, I really don't want to deal with any animals. Good luck and keep us informed. Joe I don't know how well I'd do with empty yards! It is truly mentally taxing. I made it through some low milk prices and rode the wave and they didn't seem as bad. There was always the we'll get through this and in 6 months it's going to come back so we can regain but I just feel drained with no rebound in sight. I have used some equity to keep rolling but for the first time in my life I'm wondering what the heck I'm doing and what for. If I can farm and get a pay check plus keep my owned acreage to farm myself then it's kind of a win win.
What we did, we kept some of our cows, and then bought some more. Then saved back some heifers until we got our herd size where we wanted. Feed out the other animals for market. A lot less work than dairy, and there's still money in it. Still chop some silage to get them through the winter, we plant some wheat, bale that up for hay, then plant corn or beans after that so we still can get a crop off the hay ground. Took the pastures, and farm what we can, turn the cows loose on the rest in the spring. As far as the dairy barn, makes a really nice office/kitchen in the room the tank was, and we leveled the floor off in the parlor and makes a great place for a small party. Closed in the holding area, which also had a roof for even some more unheated/uncooled space. If we wouldn't have done that, it probable would have been filled with junk. | |
|
Moving on from dairy.
