On the Farm the idea of unexpected surprises is not a good one. We like for farm operations to be predictable and routine, almost mundane. Dairy cows are creatures of habit, and possible through osmosis, Dairy Farmers are much the same. I mean, we milk cows at 4a.m. and 4p.m. every single day, regardless of holidays, birthdays, or the weather, and have since 1946. You can probably see why someone with a bias toward predictability and dedication would flourish in this world.
So now picture this. Im sitting in my office writing this email like I do every Monday Morning (notice the routine). Not many employees are here because it's early, and there's not a slammed schedule for today (slammed schedule starts tomorrow). So It's me... alone... when I get this call. You have 4 cows in the road headed away from the farm, toward the highway. So I left the email, hopefully to auto-save itself while I tend to this unexpected surprise. I dart out, down the drive, and toward the direction of the rogue bovines. All the while, trying to reach by phone any help that might be available, but to no avail. I spotted the creatures, broadside in the road from one white line to the other. They had not reached the highway, but they were in a curve. I quickly drove past them and set up the truck beyond the curve with flashers on as to alert oncoming traffic. I turned the beasts around, and headed them back home. Because I was still alone, I couldn't direct them as precisely as I normally would. So, we visited all the neighbors and the creek before we finally made it back to the appropriate pasture. I'm happy to report that all parties involved are back home safe and sound. I said we didn't like unexpected surprises, not that we didn't have them.
UPDATE: Moral of the story: electric fences do not work well when turned off : ( This weekend someone, turned the fence off to tend to the pasture raised broiler chickens that are in the same pasture, and forgot to turn the fence back on. #ourfault #notthecowsfault
