First Nature Farms is a family farm in the Peace Country. Once a month, First Nature Farms owner Jerry Kitt writes about his experiences on the farm.
Farm News fromJuly
Round and round and round and round. Haying season has returned. Unlike most farmers who drive up and down their fields, starting from one side and cutting everything until they reach the otherside, I prefer driving in circles.The farmers that go up and down the fields are able to cut everything leaving no blade of grass standing. Driving in circles (in a square field) where you start at the perimeter and keep going around until you get to the center, means at every cornera tuft of grass is left standing. The result is a patchy looking field.Some farmers consider those few tufts of grass as a messy field, a sign of a poor job,a farmer who just doesn’t care.
I’ve maintained (for 37 years) that those few tufts of grass represent the last bit of shelter any field birds or insects might have. We’ve taken 99.999% of the field, surely we can leave a little bit? The cool thing is I’m finding more and more rebellious farmerswho are choosing to hay in circles.
Haying is such a big issue. It can mean the difference between happy, healthy, tasty animals or animals which are skinny and sick. The earlier the grass gets cut and the faster it dries determines the quality. Every time it gets rained on the quality goes down. Whatever happens to it, the animals have no choice, they have to eat it. That’s why when my baler broke down I freaked. Major repairs! I found the part I needed in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. “We can send it Purolator, it could be there tomorrow” said the dealer. “OK, send it!” Tomorrow (Friday) came and no part. The hay was dry and ready to go. Rain was in the forecast. There was a long weekend ahead. Tuesday? I couldn’t wait. I ended up finding a used baler and $10,000 later I was baling. Good thing too. That was 2 weeks ago and Purolator still haven’t delivered the part.
Things happen all the time on the farm. One thing I forgot to mention last month was the bear that came into our yard during the night and killed a bunch of chickens. Sixty the dog must have going crazy. Too bad I’m such a sound sleeper, or maybe it’s a good thing.
A one wire electric fence was set up around the chicken house. The bear was never seen again.
Pablo and David, the chickens who come when they’re called (from last month’s news) have been spared the dinner plate. The Western Rustic chickens were moved by the house to join our group of egg laying hens. That was the last I saw them. I kept calling, even tried an Australian accent.
Finally, three days later they came back but now there was a third chicken, another Western Rustic. Not sure what happened there. Maybe one that the bear had scared away a few weeks earlier? Had it survived in the forest for weeks until Pablo and David found her and brought her home?Now the latest twist in the chicken saga is that Pablo, David and ? are not welcome to join the egg laying chickens. The group of hens won’t let them near the chicken coup. And I thought human relationships were complex. Jerry