Planting season

We've kept ourselves busy and socially distanced this Spring planting another field of orchard grass.  I think my dad enjoyed getting back into the tractor seat and helping a little too! 

 

Spring pictures 2020

A few pictures from our farm this Spring.

Christmas calf

On Christmas day, we welcomed a new calf to our farm.  The timing was not lost on us as we spent the evening in the barn creating a cozy manger for them since the thermometer was dropping.

Both are doing well and Holly, the new heifer, is doing well.

Our cows are grass fed, but they do get occasional clover screening pellets as a feed supplement in the winter and as treats.  It really helps when you need to load them in a trailer, a little bribery goes a long way! 

Harriet, born late March 2019 has such a sweet personality.  Here she is sharing her clover pellets with Holly, who at a month old is nibbling at them. 

Weighing time

We have added a great addition to our farm, a livestock scale.  We can now get an accurate weight on our animals instead of relying on a weight tape for weaning, vaccinations, or in the case of the newborn calves (and goats of all ages)... holding them while standing on the bathroom scale!  

RAM Tiffi 1,100#

RAM Lakisha 1,150#

Harriet 550# at 7 months, 2 weeks post weaning

It was a livestock scale kit that included the necessary parts, and the platform was home built.  The trial run was done in the shop to test it out, then moved out to the barn to weigh our bull Henry.  It did take some bribery with clover pellets to get them on it.  Like everything around the farm, it's a work in progress.

Fat Cow Henry 1,800# not quite 4yrs

2019 heifers available - SOLD

Update: Sorry, these ladies are no longer available.  Please contact us if you are interested in heifers Fall 2020.

They are weaned, vaccinated, and ready for a new pasture to call home.

We have two heifers available after weaning this October.  Born in April 2019.  Purebred, unregistered, curious, and fast growing.  Dams are unregistered, sire is registered Fat Cow Henry, #56308.  $1,200 each.  Please contact us for more information.

Find us on the Northwest Highland Cattle Association website or our Facebook page @AsmanHighlandCattle.

Hay season 2019

It has been a busy summer on our farm.  We decided to start baling our own hay this year so that we could control, as much as mother nature allows, the timing of harvest.  A hot dry stretch at the beginning of May allowed us to get the first cutting off much earlier than normal.

Growing orhard grass for our cows for many years, we focused on small paddocks with frequent grazing rotations.  High palatability along with its nutritional attributes make orchard grass an ideal feed for livestock.

Planting another orchard grass field mid May gave us enough hay for our growing Highland fold...and our daughter's expanding goat herd.  Many thanks to our family for their support and loaning of equipment!

We are now selling the extra hay and have met some great people; feeding lots of different types of animals including rabbits, alpacas, goats, sheep, and horses.  Keeping the bales smaller at 65lbs has been great...much easier for some of us, including myself, to manage.

The third cutting on our established field and first cutting from the Spring planted field are now in the barn.  We are hoping to squeeze in one more cutting before the Fall rains start!

Spring 2019

A busy Spring on our farm... they all seem to be!  We welcomed a nice crop of calves.

The steers got an invite to munch away on a nice nearby pasture.

A warm dry start to Spring had the pastures growing nicely, and we were able to get the first cutting of hay off extremely early for this area.

Which also meant irrigation season starting.

And lots of fat happy cows!