We have continued on with our fall chores.

We have selected four fullblood lowline heifer calves to go to Minnesota and then on to the NWSS cattle show in Denver in January. A friend has a ranch there and he will fit them and prepare them for the show and sale. We sent one heifer last year and were very pleased. We have them in a separate pen and are working to halter train them.



We have purchased a herd of six beltie cows and a beltie bull from a farmer in the Northern part of the state. These are all exceptional animals that have had the same owner for years. Regretfully he has developed a health condition that required him to sell the cattle. We went and picked up the bull and three of the cows and brought them back to our farm.



We then delivered a lowline bull to north east Vermont. It was a wonderful location on a great day. The scenery was fabulous. The bull went into a pasture with a few steers to get adjusted to his new location. We heard later that he was now in with the cows and breeding them.



By coincidence, there is a belted galloway farm near where we left the bull. We were able to visit and look over the herd. There were about 70 belties together in one large field. It was a very impressive sight as we arrived as the afternoon sun was shining right on them just so. This farm specializes in breeding belties true to their original size. They clearly know what they are doing.



On the way home, we stopped and picked up our other three belties. Two of those are dun colored rather than black. The whole group is now reunited and in with our belties and doing well.



We have about one third of our soybeans harvested. The quality and yield look extremely good. We will be very happy when the rest are done. Then there will be corn to combine.



I have told you on other occasions of my part time job as a county deputy fire coordinator. Last Friday we had a very unusual call. An older barn had collapsed trapping about 100 adult sheep in the basement. Four fire departments responded and went to work. After eight hours of hard work, we had the last sheep out. Unfortunately about 10 had perished. The farmer was also glad that we were able to rescue his miniature horse. The men and women who responded worked hard, got the job done and showed a great deal of respect and care for the animals.



I will be away next week taking the heifers to Minnesota. So this week has been busy trying to get odd jobs taken care of before winter. We were actually able to cut some green hay for the cows today. They appreciated that taste of Summer past.