Eden Shale Farm Update - October 2019

October finally ushered in the change in the weather that we had been waiting for. On October 6th Eden Shale received 2 inches of much needed rainfall. Before that we had only received 0.28” since August. We were fortunate that we did not have to start feeding hay during this brief drought. Now the grass has responded to the rain and we are in good shape going into November. 

The calves that we weaned in September are growing good and enjoying the cooler weather. We had very good success with weaning this year and did not have any sickness to treat at all. The calves are turned out on grass and are receiving about 4 lbs of 3-way feed per head (which is well under 1% of their body weight). We will retain all the heifers from this group of calves, and the steers will be marketed through a CPH-45 sale in December. 

The bull barn renovation has continued this past month. The flooring has been completed using 4 different products (one product per pen). This will allow us to compare the different designs under the same conditions. A manure stackpad was also created on the end of the barn using concrete bin blocks. This will allow us to store the manure under roof and contain it until we are able to spread it the following spring/summer when conditions and time allow. 

On October 12th we hosted our annual Open House Field Day. We had a great turnout with 160 producers, from 7 different states in attendance. I want to thank Dr. Steve Higgins for presenting his work at the field day and for everyone who made the trip to Eden Shale to join us.