We separated our fullblood calves on Monday and purebreds on Tuesday. Each group can see and interact with their dam through the fence. So far it has gone quite well. Before moving the calves, we checked the fences and cleared up a few problems. The noise from bawling is considerably less than when we physically kept them from seeing each others. The calves are eating and the cows have also adapted well.

This week we will move the cows to their winter location near the Coverall building. We have our chute set up there and we will preg check them.

Friday night we had a great turnout from our Beef Group. We gave a farm tour the we had a potluck dinner at our house. It was a successful evening.

The soy beans have turned color and dropped most of their leaves. The corn is denting well. We have had almost a month of good dry weather. We had rain overnight but it didn't amount to much. It would be good if it stays dry while we harvest.

Our tillage radishes are growing well. They are planted among rye grass. Hopefully, we'll have lots of organic material to plow down in the spring.

We have a hayfield about seven miles away in the village. It's too far to effectively and economically hay. I've decided to plant beans there next year. I'm waiting to hear from the government if we need to strip crop it. They list it as HEL or highly erodible land so they have say in how we work it.

Well, I've had quite a vacation from the blog but not the farm or family.

We took Jim off to Ames, Iowa to begin his freshman year at Iowa State. While we were there, we visited the Iowa State Fair and Lowline Show. It was our first State Fair outside of New York. It was a great fair. They specialize in food on a stick. We had our first stick pork chop and it was great. Jim went with us since school didn't start until a few days after his arrival.

We then continued on to the Black Hills of South Dakota by way of Nebraska. There is no question that the scale of agriculture is huge in those states. Nebraska is famous for its grasslands and now we know why. We saw fields that had just been baled for third cutting with thousands of round bales waiting to be collected.

South Dakota is a geologists dream. Everything from granite mountains to bad lands to prairies. We visited Mount Rushmore and the carvings are quite impressive. We stopped in the souvenir store and were surprised that the clerk at such an All American attraction was a young lad from Moscow, Russia.

We also visited ongoing mountain carving of Crazy Horse. Here they were proud to explain that this was all being done by donation and without government help of any kind.

We went to Minnesota and visited some friends who are Lowline breeders. We enjoyed touring their ranch. Mary especially enjoyed see a section of native prairie they have maintained. Friends from home have a son who works on a farm near our Minnesota friends. They had flown out to visit and we picked them up for the return trip.

We visited and toured Mackinac Island in Northern Michigan. It is a resort island only accessible by ferry once there transportation is by foot or horse as motor vehicles are not allowed. We came home through Ontario and saw my first roadside bear.

All in all a great trip.

Our cattle and crops have done well in our absence. Our yields look to be above average so we are looking forward to harvest since all bets are off until the crop is delivered to storage.

I have planted a new cover crop on some waste ground that I am trying to rebuild. Forage radishes grow quickly and put down a great big fat root. They then die over winter. The nitrogen they have stored then awaits the next crop and the organic material adds to the soil.

Since our return, we have concreted our barnyard. This will add immeasurably to the cattle's comfort and mine this winter. We also have two more all year watering locations and moved our small shelter into a new pasture. This winter we will be feeding our brood cows and a good sized group of weaned heifers and bulls as well as juvenile and herd bulls. So with Jim off to college, organization will be the key to success.

Jim visited a new dorm mate's ranch over Labor Day. They are in Northwest Iowa in a small town. Interestingly, the name is only known in two places Iowa and Donegal, Ireland. It is just across the lough from our ancestral location in Bellarena, County Derry. It was also a port for trans Atlantic steamers. I know my father came to America on the Cunard line California. I'll have to check from which port. Jim is named after his grandfather so it is interesting that he has been to both Movilles.

Jim sent us some photos and as noted above agriculture is on a lot bigger scale. They have a pasture that is considerably bigger than our whole farm and we have a medium sized farm by New York standards.

This week we will begin to wean our calves. This will led to a lot of bawling for both the cows and calves. We don't start pjust prior to the weekend so as not to concern the weekend visitors. We don't want them thinking there is a problem when they hear the noise.