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It's time for me to bid farewell. It seems to me a lot of people take things far too seriously on here. I just got an email from Mr Pharo querying whether I was criticizing his thoughts or program by starting a recent thread involving him. I will discuss/debate or argue things with anybody but...

I found the following story from the Pharo newsletter interesting. It was an explanation of why he changed to calving the heifers with or later than the cows rather than a month earlier. "We were calving in April at the time – starting around April 10th. We calve our heifers and cows at the...

"A great day to be alive" as the song says. Spring is coming, sun is shining so I took a leisurely stroll. Time to think grass again :D Corrals are brown but the countryside is still largely white. Checking out the spring feed stockpile. The cage is from our local forage group who are doing...

Has anyone experience of using annual/Italian ryegrass for fall pasture? I'm considering seeding some for our grass-fattening cattle and wonder how it will stack up in protein /energy versus the meadow brome/legumes we normally use. Will it be too high protein to get a proper finish? Thanks in...

Spent a few hours at the local auction today assessing trade and adding a few cheaper feeders to the herd. Feeders were off a good 3-5 cents in my opinion from recent weeks. There was a small estate sale for a gentleman that passed away recently of around 30 cows, most bred but a proportion...

Today's mail brought another batch of bull sale catalogs full of buxom beauties. A simmental sale in Alberta with a yearling bull that weighed 1622lbs at 365 days :shock: his herdmate was a 1567lb bull out of a first calf heifer that weaned at 873lbs. All low input cattle i'm sure :wink...

Our local auction sold a cull Blonde bull for 75c/lb yesterday - they said it was the dearest cull bull they have sold in ten years. Now if only the other cattle prices would rise to the same extent.

Looking west to the start of the forested foothills - follow the cutline over the horizon and walk for 500 miles and you should finish up a few short miles north of gcreekrch. Special snack for a single, solitary, skinny suspected twin carrier. Looking northwest - another foggy start but...

I don't want Gcreekrch getting so bored he starts wrestling cougars or bears again so I've got a couple of photos to share from my old farms in Scotland. Can you guess what these two round things are and what their purpose was? The round thing is on the middle left here - extra points if you can...

A few pictures of the strange weather we've had this winter. We've had lots of foggy mornings Leaving frosty trees behind One of my mouse control operatives enjoying the rays on a misty morning. My other farm operatives - best of friends. A chunky Solomon daughter. A more balanced model...

Was talking to a good friend in Scotland today, reflecting on the bulls that have bred us the best daughters over the years. The daughters that live into their teens, breed consistently and well. Both our experiences have been that the best bulls in this context have been generally poorer in...

We are about to DNA test some cattle for parentage verification as they were ET calves and will be using the new SNP test for the first time. I am curious whether it would be worth doing the test for RFI (residual feed intake) at the same time. The donor animals we used are my best for gaining...

Further to the comments in Nicky's post re bull development, particularly the comments about Aarons bull on CT I thought I'd post some figures and pictures of one of my bulls. My philosophy is simple - the genetics are predetermined before a bull is born so the way you raise him can either make...

Took a hit at the auction yesterday with an open heifer which I thought I'd illustrate for those of you south of the border who think your prices are bad. She was open last fall and I stupidly opted to try and breed her again to make her a fall calver. :roll: She didn't hold and I missed the...

Cold December days Cold cows eating their fill Still some feed under the blanket. Roll on January - picked over pretty good on the open parts January 2nd time to start feeding - they wouldn't come to a shout so I had to go hunt them out of the bush. They are getting a 60% silage ration...

Was browsing used tractors today and came upon this apparent bargain - a '99 Case MX135 with loader, grapple 4900 hrs - for $20,000 OBO :shock: :shock: What's the catch is it stolen...

I don't have many fresh photos that I haven't posted before so i'll have to start taking some more. Here is what I like about Luing. A fully winterized cow that can handle winter grazing in our climate. ...but still slick off in summer ...and turn in bulls like this. One of 4 heifers (3...

My wife took our 3 year old out to lunch yesterday with Grandpa and some friends. Sitting at the head of the table in the restaurant she was enjoying the attention of the whole crowd as they asked her what she got for Christmas. First she told them she got a doll and when asked what she was...

I run a 94 GMC 3/4 ton with the 5.7 gas engine and have found it reliable but thirsty (17mpg on it's own but down to 10 trailering) Any suggestions or preferences for a better type of 3/4 ton (gas, diesel, model etc) I don't do huge mileage with my truck but I'm thinking this one is getting to...

The end of an era on my place today as I shipped the last of my granny cows. I bought 4 older cows back in 2001 to form the nucleus of my new Luing herd. I selected on looks and was a little surprised when I discovered two were 14 and two 15 when I bought them! With no preferential treatment...