Wednesday, February 25, 2009

DmB's Humpday Edition: 2/25/09

How about that Presidential Address last night, huh? I fell asleep in my chair about 8:30 (which happens almost every night) so I'm having to look up the high points on the 'net this morning. Are there people out there who can get excited about or buy into what any politician in Washington has to say about the whole economic mess? It's like believing a kid that throws a brick through a stained-glass window when he promises you he can fix it with Elmer's glue and masking tape.

But enough with the political commentary.

We received the preliminary report from our milk weighing yesterday afternoon, which indicated a herd milking average of just over 63 pounds. The thirty first-lactation cows we had grouped together averaged 63 pounds as well, so I think it's been well worth our time to feed them separately. We will mix them back into the main herd today, though, and pull out a group of lower producing cows. We believe we can give the low-enders a third less grain per day without significantly impacting their production. Lower feed cost + minimal sacrifice in milk production = profit, something that's going to be really tough to come by over these next few months considering how poor our milk price is right now.

An aside for those who have "edopted" one of our cows: Missy Moo finished with the second highest total, somewhere around 110 pounds. I should have the full results for each posted on the website after we get the final report sometime next week.

Finally, I'll be going to my county's extension service office this morning to plug into the broadband and connect to a webinar. Dairy Management, Inc., the national outfit that manages our dairy checkoff, is offering the webinar to give dairy farmers ideas about how they can use the internet to tell their stories and communicate with their customers. Provided we get the technical issues taken care of, I'll be an active participant during a segment of it talking about the blog you're reading right now.

Have a great morning, and make sure you get your three servings of milk, cheese, or yogurt in today!

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