The Last Acre

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The boys finished the corn up today. I missed most of it as my schedule and theirs did not work, but the last acre I got in...with Alyson of course. It was brutal as you had to be part Billy Goat to get the corn off the hill but the view was nice.

As a side note, they got the other farm they were looking at. It had been foreclosed for years, but people from away who tend to farm only with horses were looking at it too, so its good to know its going to be put to good use now. Instead of milking 12 cows at a time, they can milk 24 at a time which means...they will buy more cows and work just as many hours. :) No seriously, that is what they have to do now to stay farming at $1.55 per gallon.

Anyway Alyson had fun and here are the pictures to prove it.

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Well it was along day but I followed the chopper around in my little tractor and cleaned up what they left. I won't have enough corn silage to go the whole winter for my sheep, but I got another months supply or better so that is good.

While I was out there, I picked up a lot of the missed cobs that the chopper knocks off but doesn't get into the knives. I got a couple of bucket fulls (1/3 yard), husked them, and then ran them through my chipper so that I got several 50 pound bags filled with what is essentially cracked corn. Its not exactly grain,but darn good for the sheep.

I even went to the barn and grabbed two bales of hay. I might need another before winter is over, but by then I figure a bale of baleage would be better by then as the sheep will be lactating and will need the extra nutrients.

While I was coming back I took some pictures looking back at my place. Its not very often I get to see my place from this angle at 11 mph! While I was at it, I snapped some pictures of the Alpaca farm near here. He's got a nice place and runs a top notch operation I must say. He has a lot of animals though...makes you wonder about the alpaca future at 19 grand per animal. :dunno:This is Thorndike after all where 30% of the population is BELOW the poverty line.

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Beautiful pictures and beautiful memories.
BTW, as far as those expensive exotics are concerned, outrageous high prices don't stay high for long. Even high flautin' exotic animals kill their own market by having babies. Llamas were a popular investment animal a while back. Rage lasted about two minutes.
 
I agree with you Frank, along with Mini-Donkeys, Llamas, Ostriches and Emu's. They drive the demand up, then get out...pyramid schemes of the livestock world unfortunately.

I think you are starting to see the cracks form now. They are starting to show up at livestock auctions, and not for high dollars either. I even saw a few in the local classifieds.

I just hope this person did not get too deep into it. I am not sure but I think they are retired, came here, bought a place on their savings and hoped to make something with Alpaca's. They seem to keep to themselves (which we always admire) and don't seem to bother too many people so it would be a shame to have them lose everything. Pretty hard to raise wooled animals on wool sales alone though. Even at 22 bucks for a pair of socks, you would have to sell an awful lot of socks a month to make a go of it.
 
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