The scurs and Weather Eye steered us into the weather doldrums this past week. Will our placid conditions continue or will we be tossed like a ship on the ocean? Starting Wednesday, partly sunny with a good chance of snow by evening. Highs in the mid-30’s with lows in the mid-20’s. Thursday, mostly cloudy with a good chance of snow. Highs in the mid-20’s falling to near 10 for a low by midnight. Mostly sunny Friday with highs around 10 and lows around 5 below. Saturday, partly sunny with highs in the low single digits and lows around 15 below. Mostly sunny on Sunday with highs struggling to make zero and lows around 15 below. Monday, partly sunny with highs in the low single digits above zero and lows around 5 below. Mostly sunny for Tuesday with highs around 5 above and lows near 5 below. The sun will set at 5:30 CST on the 5th as we gain daylight at about two and a half minutes per day. The normal high for February 5th is 25 and the normal low is 6. The scurs plan to stay in bed was foiled. They saw their shadow, but we will have at least 6 more weeks of winter.
Not much visual activity out here in the hinterlands other than corn being hauled to market. By the time this reaches print, most will be hunkered down looking for inside projects. Plans for the upcoming crop are being cemented and equipment can be worked on in heated shops. The mood is more optimistic (or less pessimistic) than it’s been for several years with markets remaining strong presently, giving farmers an opportunity to lock in some decent prices. Of course, for livestock people, particularly those with cattle and sheep, there is often little choice but to be outside whether it’s 20 above or 20 below. The animals must be cared for regardless of the price. Sometimes a little sunshine and warmer temps are all it takes to improve moods out in the lot.
A few more lambs in since last week’s edition, including one in the house that would’ve been lost if not for timely intervention. Sometimes with lambs as with calves I’m told, you get a dummy, one that won’t nurse. Eventually they catch on, but usually not until much fussing and fighting, much to the consternation of the shepherd. This buck lamb happened to be huge for a Cheviot, so it was worth a shot. Mrs. Cheviot had a couple days off and, after struggling with him the first day, the light bulb came on. He came around more quickly than anticipated, but he had several nicknames already. Frequently we name dummies after people we don’t like, so it pays to be nice to us.
The hay supply continues to bear monitoring, although the rate we’re going, we should be in, good shape. As the lambs come in we transition into feeding more small square bales. With enough small squares tucked away late summer, we’re just starting to make a small dent in the stack. We located a supply of oat straw locally earlier in the month, so we’re set in that department. Getting a little cooperation from the weather and timing from the ewes coming in would be nice as we move closer to shearing around mid-February. Ewes dumping lambs out in snowbanks, freezing their ears and tails off, is overrated. So is freezing the ears and tails off the shepherds.
We needed to put a couple more round bales of hay in the lot Saturday ahead of what could’ve been a potential snowstorm. I debated whether or not it was a good idea. It meant risking getting the sheep all snowy when they’d stay out to gnaw on the bales. It also involves taking the blower off the tractor, putting a bale spear on, getting the frozen bale wrap off the bales, hopping on and off the tractor about 10 times to open and close the gate as well as yelling at the sheep trying to get out. Decision time: Go for it. Made the necessary changes and, in a little under two hours, the bales were in the feeders and everything was back where it belonged. Then it decided not to snow. Best of all, after a meal of Morgan’s bacon and eggs, it triggered a nap even Rip Van Winkle would’ve been proud of.
There has been a lot of discussion as of late about electric cars. It’s a little known fact that Studebaker was one of the pioneers in the production of electric vehicles as early as 1902. They worked well in an urban setting where distances travelled were limited. The costs ranged from $950 - $1800 depending on the size of the automobile. However the vehicles were heavy and sluggish with limited value outside of the cities when rural electrification had not yet taken place. Air pollution was already a problem in the cities due to the burning of coal and wood, but an equally great problem was all the horse manure being generated by the millions of horses used for transportation. By around 1912 Studebaker had realized the future of automobiles was with the internal combustion engine.
Fast forward to the present day. There is a huge push to re-establish electric automobiles. Some of the same problems still exist with the lack of charging stations and whether or not the electrical gird will be able to handle it. Cold weather reduces the range of presently available electric vehicles substantially. And tractors remain a question mark as well. Some smaller models are available for light work. However when one asks those working for tractor manufacturers about when larger models will become available, there is usually a shrug followed by an “I don’t know.” I have to respect their honesty. Some like to point to the evolution of transportation as being inevitable. Even when changes were dictated solely by the free market, it didn’t happen overnight. Many people, including my Dad, kept draft horses on the farm up through the 1940’s and into the early 1950’s. They always started in the winter and were great for pulling cars out of the mud.
See you next week…real good then.