Little by Little

Little by little, inch by inch...

It is hard to believe that we are one quarter of the way through 2015.  Time flies when you are having fun. 

This is probably a good time to see how many things we have checked off of our goal list.

• New lighting in the barn 
• Add gate in barn for better ventilation 

A photo posted by Dan Wiley (@4wileyfarm) on Mar 17, 2015 at 7:20am PDT

• Calve 7 healthy calves - We sold one cow so we will only get 6 calves this year.  We have had one calf this year, but unfortunately, we lost him.  Mama got an infection and the baby wasn't nursing.  One day the baby was strong and healthy and the next day it was too late.  It's never easy.  Now we will be down to five.
• Continue work to get cows on a spring calving schedule - This should work as planned.  Rachel is already in with Mitchell and we have purchased semen to A.I. some of our other cows this year.  Just have to wait for the babies to come.
• Repair bunk feeders in the barn 
• Buy another mineral feeder - the plan was to buy this at the Beef Expo...but we didn't.  The company that we bought from last year didn't have the same feeder with them and I didn't like the one they had.  Besides, we had already spent our fair share of money on other things.  Maybe later.

• Attend the Ohio Beef Expo - Had the time of our lives!
  
• Attend the Knox County Fair - This is the next show that we will be participating in.  We had better hurry up and find a feeder calf for Walker because July is just around the corner.
• Attend NAMHA Fall Classic - On the calendar for October
• Go to Louisville - Plans are in the works.  We WILL be at Louisville this year!

• Increase Miniature Herefords show participation in this area - We are still hopeful and working hard towards this goal.  We sold Royal to a family that is planning to show her next year.  One cow at a time.
• Continue to show in the BEST program - The BEST show season is officially over.  We attended all but 2 of the shows this season.  Last weekend, the Wooster show, we just went to help out some of those that have helped us this season.  We are still recovering from the Beef Expo, so it was nice to not have the extra work of bringing animals along.  

• Add lime to the hay field - Daniel is researching a different form of lime from water treatment ponds that may be a more economical option for us.
• Bale more hay - The grass is just starting to turn green, and with all this rain, it should start growing soon.  Daniel is keeping his eye out for a round baler.  It isn't a need, but it would be nice to not have to rely on neighbors to bale our hay.  If we find the right deal....

We still have a long way to go, but at least this is a start.