8 minute read
Why We Switched To Fall Calving
by THEAGMAG
BY ELLY STREMSTERFER
Change is hard. I am a creature of habit and thrive on routine. I love nothing more than getting my Erin Condren Life Planner and putting in all the expected due dates of our cows, goats and Jack Russells. I look back at the previous year to see when we AI’d our heifers and cattle, when we turned the buck in with the Does and then transfer them into the upcoming year…in pencil. With a big question mark two weeks prior to the turn in date. This gives me a buffer window to have a ‘meeting’ with husband to decide the plans moving forward.
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Just a few weeks ago, Wade and I were sitting down trying to figure out what to do with the goats. We were on the fence to be honest. We were burned out and just plain tired, I think. Our children are still young, but active. Sydney is 10 and going into 5th grade this fall. Jackson is 8 and going into 2nd grade this fall. Last year Sydney started talking about showing Cattle Pigs and Goats this year in her 1st year of 4-H. We told her we could but there will not be any spring/ summer sports as all of time we had available would have to be put toward working with her show critters.
She was ok with that and this spring she has grown into quite a worker, and we don’t think she has regretted making that decision. As a family, we all had been pitching in helping with all the chores, all the washing and blowing, walking, and setting up. That decision on what to do with the goats ultimately rolled right on into another big decision on simplifying our small livestock operation.
Like most couples, Wade and I are opposites. I decide at the time the problem is presented to me. No reason to sit and mull it over for days upon end, which is what he does. It drives me insane, but that is why God put us together, to balance us out, to work together as a team and keep each other
At the Jefferson County Cattlemen’s Banquet.
Pictured is Elly Stremsterfer, and her husband Wade with Trent Loos.
in check. So, the week before fair in big bold letters was “Ask Wade when we are turning the buck in”, showed up in my calendar. He still hadn’t made up his mind…. Imagine that.
We talked about it briefly and selling all the goats came up as an option. From both of us. Even with all the changes the whole world has had over the last fifteen months, the agriculture industry has remained just as busy, if not busier. We typically kid the first two weeks of December and then again in the month of March. We had been calving in the spring as well, but over the last few years moved a few of our cows to fall for one reason or another. But the goats, yeesh.
Some days they are just so much more work. I told him to just sell them, but Wade insisted we needed to think it over for a few days. It was probably ten minutes after he left to go to work, I texted him my decision. I am sure he rolled his eyes. I am now just typing this. “We can’t sell the goats. They have been part of our farm for almost 10 years, from when we started this place with them. The kids learned to show when they were just toddlers on those goats, and it was who we were. They got to stay; how else can we change something to make things less chaotic in the spring?”
He surprisingly quick with the response, “let’s just calve and kid in the fall”. Done. Simple as that. Now, that is not the only deciding factor, as we had been teetering on the fence for a few years. We live in southeast Iowa and the last five years have given us some challenges. When we started on our farm almost ten years ago, our goal and vision was unclear. We wanted to give our kids a life on the farm, and to us that included animals. We had started with a small herd of goats the first year and then added some cattle. We loved having ruminants eating the grass in the spring/summer/fall. Everything else came in routine from what Wade grew up with, Angus cows, calve in late winter/early spring, feed hay from October-April, show the nice heifers and sell feeder calves.
As we continued to move forward, we shifted to what worked for our situation. We don’t have “cold weather” facilities to calve in, so the first shift was to have no calves before March 15. Too many of the commercial angus cows did not breed under our conditions, fescue grass and 45-day window are one heck of an equalizer who can be fertile, so we shifted to only keeping heifers that were crossbred and born from either the AI service or the bull’s first chance. Those steps made a big difference, but one thing remained as it had always, “we calve in spring because we always have”.
March in Iowa equals’ mud. A lot of mud. We would struggle through it every year. We would get the newborn calf and cow in the barn for few days then wish them good luck with dirty udders and wet feet. To top all this off, this year Wade realized that two weeks after we would breed for spring calving we would have heifers at the county fair for 5 days, not the best conditions to keep a heifer settled.
Finally, with Sydney wanting to show three species at the fair in June, both of us taking on more responsibilities at our jobs and for some reason Spring being by far, the craziest of all seasons for us (and we aren’t even row crop farmers) we needed some simplicity to our lives, so we decided to move everything to fall calving starting around September 15.
Looking at it now, there are still more advantages that we had not even thought of. Fewer times to get cattle worked through chute as only having 1 group now. More manageable sized calves for our young kids to learn to show and take care of (which is a huge factor right now in our operation). We utilize rotational grazing on our farm and now will be able to start rotating cattle through the pastures earlier when grass is growing like crazy instead of being “tied” to the grass by the barn incase a cow needs help calving.
Each operation is different, and the possibilities are endless. One of our favorite scriptures that help guide us in our decisions comes from Proverbs 27:23, “Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds.” Do what works best for you, your family and your operation and sometimes, it is ok to decide to go in a completely different direction than the herd. To quote George Bernard Shaw, “Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.”
South Texans’ Property Rights Association (STPRA) Supports Governor Abbott’s Border Initiative
BROOKS COUNTY - The South Texans’ Property Rights Association (STPRA) supports Gov. Greg Abbott’s criticism of the Biden Administration’s failed executive and administrative actions and inactions that have only exacerbated the crisis of illegal immigration and trespassing in our southern border region. The federal government’s failure to fulfill its Constitutional mandate to establish and maintain our sovereign border with a foreign country has necessitated Gov. Abbott’s efforts to honor his constitutional duty of protecting the safety and security of the people of the State of Texas.
While some of the Governor’s proposals need to be vetted and fleshed out in consideration of possible consequences for South Texas stakeholders, the most important aspect of his initiative is that he realizes, unlike those in Washington D.C., that massive efforts are needed to address the untenable situation that Texas landowners are now experiencing on their properties in these United States of America.
“We commend him for taking the time to meet with the South Texas stakeholders individually: local law enforcement, elected officials, and landowners, business owners, and the public at-large, at his recent border summit in Del Rio where he explained his executive actions and additional proposals and listened to their ideas, concerns, and comments,” said Whit Jones, STPRA Board Chair.
STPRA also commends Gov. Abbott for his support of a recently passed state law that will enhance local prosecutors’ abilities to prosecute human traffickers when they engage in reckless and dangerous behaviors. We are heartened and encouraged that Gov. Abbott is working with some notable leaders in both political parties in South Texas that are now coming together to discuss remedies to a crisis they all agree is intolerable and unsustainable.
“We are committed to working with Governor Abbott to help him make his border initiative successful,” said Mr. Jones.
For more information visit the STPRA website: www.stpra.org, or call Susan Kibbe at 361-522- 5194
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