CALF_News_June_July_2019

28 CALF News • June | July 2019 • www.calfnews.net W hen you have plans and need to be somewhere, what do cattle do? They get out, get sick or do something that requires immediate attention. Easter Sunday I was scheduled to play piano at church, attend our family dinner and potentially do some field work. Our spring herd hadn’t started calving, but were slated to any day. I had about an hour of chores and checking cows to do before church, so I threw on some old clothes and headed to the cows. Upon arriving, I fed them, counted them and then noticed a cow that had recently given birth. After driv- ing around, I finally found the babies, yes twins! Right in the corral. By the time we hauled the cow to the barn and got the babies fed, it was too late for church. We decided to move the other group that was also going to calve off the mud road and to our house. To do that, we moved our fall herd as well.We rolled into our family dinner 30 minutes late, but had a really great afternoon with family. This winter rolled in like Easter Sunday did for me – unexpectedly. It was cold with much more snow than we’ve had in a long time. Like a lot of places, this winter was very, very tough in northeast Kansas. We came out of a drought during the summer and ran right into a premature winter with lots of snow, wind and harsh temperatures. With only 50-66 percent of our normal hay supply and an early, harsh winter, stress levels were high about what we were going to feed. A lot of cattle got shipped due to the lack of feed. We moved right into calving weather with no relief from the frigid tempera- tures. So many don’t expect the negative wind chills and snow for calving season and lost a lot of newborn calves. Field work that never got done last fall was again delayed with a wet spring that didn’t allow farmers to get into their fields. With April trying to clear up for us, there was a short window to get corn in the ground before more rain arrived. I don’t know about on your farm, but stress levels are high on ours. When the weather turned right, corn needed to go in, fertilizer needed to be applied, cover crops sprayed and killed, and cows needed to go on to grass that wasn’t growing yet. It made for long days. We are now getting rain again with colder- than-average temperatures. How do we crawl out of the dark days with the overwhelming amount of work in front of us and a summer that is projected to be warmer and drier than normal again? All while farm income has dropped and this year is expected to be another harsh one for the farm economy. It makes you want to throw up your hands and walk away. A 9-to-5 job looks so inviting at this point. But as farmers and ranchers, we will not do that. It’s a lifestyle. You have been through times worse than these and gotten through. You will get through again. What are some steps you can take to get back on track? First and fore- most, I’m going to always go back to my dreams and goals. When was the last time you imagined your ideal life? Why not take some time to do that now. Is your ideal life the one you’re living? Yes, last summer’s drought sucked, this winter sucked. This spring was really not a lot better. But are you doing what you want to be doing? Are you happy to be taking care of cattle, setting your own schedule (or what the cattle set for you), feel the pride and accomplishments when those calves are loaded on the truck? Do you feel the rush of adrenaline when it’s “go” time? Do you lose sleep wondering how you can improve your operation? Or, are you tired of the cold? Tired of making huge decisions that affect everything from the health of your cattle to the health of your bottom line? Are you tired of getting phone calls that  A Tough Winter By Kelsey Pagel Contributing Editor How to Recover COVER STORY: AFTER THE STORM