2015 Year End Review: Farm

I started writing this yesterday, and well today we end 2015 on a very low note. We laid to rest our all time favorite cow today; Abiqua Acres Prestige Jesusita. I don’t really have more words than that right now, she definitely deserves a proper tribute. I’m just glad the sun is shining today, as we are all a little broken hearted here at Abiqua Acres. 2015 has truly been a whirlwind year on the farm. I kind of feel like we’ve been ducks this year. On the surface all looks calm and smooth, but underneath our feet are paddling like crazy! This year has been a transition year for us and we prepare to break ground and build our new robotic facility. It really has been a long thought out process and while this year doesn’t have much to show for all the preparation work that has been done, we are so excited for the future.

Of course while researching and planning was going on behind the scenes the every day has still been happening…..every day! No huge adding of cows this year like last year, but we continue to keep our numbers high in anticipation of the completion of our new facility. But for 5 months we did add cow numbers, as we housed cows for another Guernsey breeder that was between farms. That means we were milking over 100 Guernseys through the summer! We shipped 1,575,758lbs of milk, or over 183,227 gallons of milk. In July we shipped a record breaking amount of milk for the month with 165,995 lbs.  Besides the increased cow numbers the biggest attribution to our increased production has finally been joining the future and investing in a mixer wagon. We are still feeding grain in the parlor, but providing a partial mixed ration at the stanchions has finally provided the whole herd with equal nutrition.

We welcomed 36 bull and 32 heifer calves this year. There’s a full springer barn with Ladies apparently holding out for the new year. Welcome to: Jeepers, Shimmer, Faleen, Memory, Bluebell, Ranae, Iza, Farrah, Mistique, Michelle, Mazareti, Magnificent, Jemini, Freedom, Jaclyn, Ramzi, Beth, Jemstorm, Avalon, Farlie, Florida, Delores, Squiggle, Clarissa, Morina, Lilianna, Spoof, Fairbank and Jemena.

This year was also hard as we said goodbye to our oldest cow Velma. Losing one of the top living lifetime cows in the country is a loss that is truly felt. We are excited to hopefully be seeing her legacy live on as her son Alstar VIP starts to have heifers freshening across the world. Classification in May welcomed Challenge Spirit to the EX 90 club. Two cows moved to VG 88 and 4 to VG 87 which made our average on 59 animals scored 82.4. A big change for us this year as we did not show either at State or the Northwest National. I can’t even remember the last time I didn’t take a string to fair! With everything going on and the new longer commitment of a week for State, we just couldn’t make it work. That doesn’t mean we didn’t bring home purple ribbons though! One very special Lady, Abiqua Acres Prestige Jesusita EX 92 traveled to the 150th Oregon State Fair as the display cow for the Guernsey breed. She brought home Grand Champion and Senior Champion honors, which meant we got to participate in the first  all breed Supreme class held at the fair in many years. It was a fun experience, and I wouldn’t have shared with any other special cow! So much fun to finally have her bring home purple as a 12 year old cow we think exemplifies our breeding philosophy. That makes her loss today, leave an even bigger hole.

Mother nature threw her own challenges at us this year with record low rainfall and drought across Oregon. Temperatures were so warm and dry we honestly could have turned the cows out in January. They officially went out to pasture Feburary 12th, but the grass was gone by the beginning of June. Where we depend on rainfall for irrigation, it was not a good year for grazing. Milk prices for the year also plummeted presenting their own challenges.

Despite all the challenges and losses we felt this year, 2016 is an exciting year for the future. Hopefully I will be documenting our building as soon as the weather allows us to start, so be sure to check back here and follow along with the farm on Facebook. Blessings to you and your family in 2016, may the milk tank be full, the feed plentiful and the Ladies happy. Cheers!