What a Year

I officially finished my first year managing the farm and boy was it a crazy one.  Commodity prices were the worst they had been in over a decade.  Every acre of corn that we planted was hailed at least once, one field was hailed 5 times.  Some of our best looking wheat was hailed as well.  Hooray!  We also had about 300 calves 150 of which came from fist calf heifers. 

On the bright side we had a ample rain to go with the hail.  So much so, that our pastures stayed green into September.  Usually the grass has died off by late July.  This allowed us to save on some protein supplementation and it helped us produce some beautiful calves.  The best part of my year was selling all of those calves for a good price (for the year) and getting complements on their quality from random people I'd never met before. 

 

I bought my first piece of farm equipment last April.  It's a 2015 Chevy Silvarado 2500 HD.  My family drove all the way to Oklahoma City to buy it.  For added difficulty points we brought our (then) 1 year old to the negotiation table.  You've never really lived until you have a toddler screaming in one ear and a salesmen trying to get you to buy a warranty in the other.

 

This year my wife and I were given an award from our county Farm Bureau.  Farm Family of the Year.  We were humbled by the fact that they though we deserved this and grateful to get some encouragement in a rough year.

 

Managing the farm this year at times felt a little like running the gauntlet but like every other year on the farm I've learned a tremendous amount.  Unfortunately, being a Manager of Chaos doesn't allow for a lot of blog writing time so I apologize to those that are still checking up on me.  In 2017 I'd like write more blogs posts and if anything just try to put up some more farm pics. 

-Farmer/Rancher/Manger of Chaos Ryan