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Although it is mid December and the holiday season is officially upon us, the weather has been anything but seasonal this year. As I write this, it is December 15th and the high today is almost 40 degrees. This has been one of the warmest falls on record in Minnesota.  While the warm weather makes some jobs on the farm easier, it also creates some challenges as well.

 It is true that this unusually warm Minnesota fall weather has made many things on the farm easier: like not having to worry about the waterers freezing up, not having to snowblow paths so we can get out to feed hay, and not having to make sure the tractor is plugged in so it will start.  But, it has created at least one major challenge and that is… MUD. Yes, it is great that the cattle can keep picking away at last summer’s forage to supplement their baleage and hay intake, but trying to keep them from pugging up all the pastures has been challenging. Right now, we have absolutely no frost in the ground at all and with all the rain we recieved this fall the ground is very spongy. Getting the tractor out into the pasture to feed bales has been very tricky as well. So, while our typical freezing cold winters up here seem terrible somtimes, the warmer wet winter weather they receive out East and further south are not without their own problems. I guess it just goes to show that the grass isn’t always greener.

 

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In last month’s Farm Update, I said we would be having the vet out to pregnancy check our cows. The vet was out and I am happy to say that 22 out of a possible 23 cows are bred. We are very pleased with this number especially since 9 of them are first calf heifers that were only with the bull for 42 days. As long as we don’t have any major problems from now until calving season, we will have quite a few more calves next year than we had this year.

2015 was a good year on the farm. We sold out of all our Pastured Pork and all of our Bulk Grass fed beef. We still have a few individual Steaks and Roasts left and are waiting for some more hamburger to come back from the butcher. We expect to have all of that sold before our spring butchering as well, so if you still need some beef to get you through the winter, order it now before it is all gone!

Pettit Pastures would like to wish you a happy holiday season and a great new year!  We are grateful for our customers and appreciate your support!

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