Calving season was hectic at Eden Shale this spring, but that is exactly how we like it. We prefer to calve as few days as possible, which both shortens the drudgery of the task and creates a uniform calf crop.

This year we had the entire calf crop on the ground in 57 days. This is our second shortest calving window ever. The chart shows the number of calves born as the season progressed. We had nearly 60% of the calf crop born in the first two weeks!

However, our AI conception rates were not the best last year. I believe most of that trouble is due to the terrible heat during the breeding season last summer. I referenced this in detail in a previous article. Once everything calved, the replacement heifers had an AI conception rate of 56% and the cows AI conception was 52%. We had a total of 50 calves born to AI sires this spring. See chart below.

This winter we started feeding hay on January 14th, and we turned the cows out to grass on April 21st. This gave us a total of 97 hay feeding days, and we are fortunate to be left with 254 bales to carry over for next season.

As seems to be the case everywhere I travel, our grass at Eden Shale is thin and weak this spring. I’m not sure how much first cutting hay we are going to get so the extra hay carried over from last year might be a good thing. Here’s to hoping for more rain and reasonable temperatures…

Along with the normal workload at the farm, we have found time to host several groups for tours and specialized events.

On March 6, we hosted producers from the Buffalo Trace area. There were 25 people in attendance from Mason, Fleming, Bracken and Rowan counties. We toured the farm and highlighted the winter feeding infrastructure and tire water systems.

On March 20, we hosted the Kentucky Junior Cattlemen’s Association’s Cattle Working Contest. That day we had 10 teams come to the farm and compete for a chance to advance to the state contest. It was a fun day. I want to thank all the coaches who prepared and brought teams to Eden Shale to compete.

On April 1, we conducted an ag agent training. We had 30 agents from all over the state attend. The day started with a session on forestry management/controlling invasive species with aerial application of herbicides using a drone. Sky Farm Drones was on-site demonstrating the technology. Steve Higgins with the University of Kentucky then did a session on winter feeding and tire waterers. The afternoon was spent with Chris Teutsch, UK extension forage specialist, and Katie VanValin, UK extension beef specialist, focusing on forage and grazing management.
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Since the first of the year, we have hosted 107 people from 30 counties at the farm. Thank you to all of you who have come out to support Eden Shale Farm and learned about what we do for the cattle industry in Kentucky.