Sunshine and Lollipops? Not Always

On the farm, there is always the potential for something to go wrong at any minute. It's a kind of stress you just live with and learn to accept. When lots of animals depend on you, and everything you do is impacted by the weather, you learn to roll with the punches. It's usually best to face the hard news head-on, but it's still hard. I always tell our team not to sugarcoat or hide bad news; I want to know when something is not right so we can face it and develop a plan. Last week, I was in Atlanta with a group of farmers talking with legislators about various ag issues. Generally, going out of town is a good way to cause the wheels to fall off of something. Here at the farm, I had brought 2 pregnant heifers to a pasture near my house so we could keep a close eye on them. They had gotten out of the pasture at the previous property and had "romantic endeavors" with the neighbor's bull from the pasture next door. I would never have bred them to that particular large-framed bull, so we were concerned enough to want to watch them closely. One calved great with no problem, and we were waiting on the second. Remembering that I dont want him to sugarcoat anything, our farm manager, Jonathon, sends me a text... "Cow gave birth and died." That's a rather shocking text to receive when you are talking to a senator, but he wasn't sugarcoating. Anyway, Jonathon and I were able to triage the situation and put the most important steps first. Saving the calf, which was miraculously alive and standing, was the number one priority. Dry the calf, thaw some frozen colostrum, create a dry bedded pen out of the wind, and feed the colostrum as soon as possible. Jonathon did a great job acting fast to save the calf and communicating effectively. Wren and her pup, Coco, are also doing a fine job assuming the chore of bottle-feeding this super healthy calf, whom other staff have named Valentino. I really, really hated to lose that cow. She was a pretty Jersey out of the 2023 calf crop, ear tag number 1. If we can learn something from this that will save the next cow, we will humbly take that lesson. The bottom line, though, is that it's not all sunshine and lollipops. The farm lifestyle is great, but some of the days can punch you in the gut. Looking each challenge square in the face is the only way to survive.