Four Seasons of Farming

During the four seasons, fall, winter, spring, and summer, specific task need to be done around the farm, and certain events take place! My favorite time of year on the farm would be spring, this is because there are many new babies on the farm, and always lots of exciting things to do! I am going to take you through the 4 seasons in a manner of how they are on our farm! I hope you enjoy learning about what each season has to offer on our mixed cattle and grain operation.

Fall- During the months of fall, usually late September to late December, our farm is busy with getting things ready for the cold winter months. Harvesting the crops from the field usually starts at the beginning of September and continues till the beginning of October. It is important that it is dry out when harvesting takes place, because hay and most of the crops cannot be stored while they are wet. This makes harvesting stressful for many farmers due to the constant change in weather during the fall. The months of fall are also the last months that the cattle are out on the pasture, once the first snow fall begins, the cattle need to be fed manually from the tractor with hay, silage, and grain. The start of fall is also when the steer calves from that year are taken to the auction market. The reason why we sell them in the fall is because often cattle prices are higher, and the steers have more weight on them, therefore bringing the farm more profit. During the fall, the fences and corrals get set up for winter, and anything that needs to be repaired gets completed. During the middle of September, I have to pick my 4-H calves, so that I have the best selection from the steers and so that all of the other steers can be sold at the auction mart. During the fall, I also help my grandma with collecting all of the produce from the garden as well as digging up the potatoes.

Baby Calf Under Heat Lamp

Winter- Once winter rolls around on the farm, everything settles down on the farm. In Canada, the winter months normally last from the end of December until the end of March. The months of December and January are usually pretty calm, because calving hasn't started yet. My dad and grandpa have to feed the cattle each morning and load the hay feeders throughout the day. Feeding the 4-H calves gets chilly around this time of year, and I often don't feel like waking up early on school days to enter out into the cold, but it's my responsibility and duty. On our farm, calving season usually starts around the very beginning of March. Since we are a commercial cattle farm, we breed our cows later in the year so that we miss the majority of the freezing cold weather. This doesn't mean that blizzards don't occur during calving season though. One of my favorite things to do is walk into the barn on a freezing night, and see all of the new born calves keeping warm under various heat lamps. During the cold of winter, my dad and grandpa make sure that all of the cattle are beaded with lots of dry straw, to ensure that they keep as warm as possible and to avoid disease and sickness. Calf shelters are also set up in our fields, these keep the baby calves warm enough during the cold winter days and nights, and are not large enough for cows to get into, ensuring that the calves have first priority. 

Calf Shelter

Spring- Usually takes place from the end of March till near the end of June. During spring, all of the baby calves are born, and we are also blessed with baby kittens! Spring is the season of new life and new growth. Once the ground is thawed out from the cold of the winter, farmers often plant their crop. In order to do so, they must break up the thick and solid ground with a machine called a cultivator. Farmers use the form of cultivation to make the soil more smooth and easy to work with. This makes planting the crop easier and more efficient. Once the crop is all planted into the ground, fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides are sprayed onto the crops to keep unwanted pests such as insects, and pathogens from interference with the crop production. By the end of spring, all of the calves are born, and the cows are moved back out onto pasture, where they graze on grass and hay. There is always the few late calvers, who often won't calf until the beginning of June. In June, we let our bulls out with the cows, so that they can be be bread for next year. Since it takes a gestation period of 9 months for a cow to produce a calf, we plan our system to calve out in march, so they must be bread in June. Processing the calves for that year usually takes place at the beginning of June, and this includes branding, vaccinations, and castration. During the end of spring, I help my grandma plant her garden, this giving me the job of weeding it throughout the summer. 

Summer- Summer occurs from the end of June till the middle of September. During the summer months, there are constantly things to do around the farm. At the end of August, the calves are weened from their mother's, this means that the calf is no longer reliant on their mother for milk, and is fully capable of eating grass and crop feed. There is always plenty of weeding in the garden to do, and there is never a shortage of cutting grass. The first cut of Hay is usually cut during late July, allowing up to three more cuts of Hay to be taken off the field up until the fall. Many of the crops are able to be harvested off of the field during the summer as well, this keeping my father and grandfather very busy! 


-Jess