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Friday On The Farm | May's Edition: Planting & Breeding Season

June 30, 2022

Friday On The Farm | May's Edition: Planting & Breeding Season

Welcome to the another ‘Friday On The Farm!’ This is an update from Hannah about things that are happening on our farm and local farms in our area during this time of year.
 
We are highlighting planting season and breeding season in this month's ‘Friday On The Farm.’
 
Planting season can stretch out over a long period of time. Farmers work to plant seeds in the ground to grow mostly corn and soybeans in our area. The weather plays a huge part in this as it is a delicate balance between waiting for the soil to be the right temperature and being thankful for rain and potentially getting too much rain. It's a ‘hurry-up-and-wait’ and 'go-go-go' time of the year! We do not plant any fields, so I don't have much content to share, but YouTube blogger and farmer, Laura Farms, shares great information on topics related to row-crop farming. You can view her videos by clicking here.
 
Breeding season is also happening right now for our cattle! Exciting news… Eric and I just bought our first momma cows that we will breed for the first time this breeding season and they will calve in nine months! I am very excited to have our first cows and even more excited for the baby calves!
 
Breeding season can be at different times of the year, but most producers in Nebraska do it at this time or a little earlier. Breeding season usually includes getting all the cows bred with artificial insemination or a bull.
 
Artificial insemination is when we use frozen semen of bulls with superior genetics to breed the cows. This is done to improve genetics, decrease the chance of animals getting hurt during breeding, and decrease the risk of spreading disease. We picked a bull with great genetics for beef quality and low birth weight to breed with this year. We choose a low birth-weight bull specifically because our newly purchased cattle are first-time calving heifers. If you'd like to see the bull we chose this year, click here.
 
Since artificial insemination has a lower chance of ‘sticking’ we use a live bull to graze with the heifers and breed any that didn't get bred the first time. This is referred to as a ‘clean up’ bull.
 
Cattle have a 9-month gestation time, so we are planning to breed them the beginning of June and we will expect calves the next spring!



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