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Anyone know about ranching?

Things keep popping into my head . There is a decent sized paper that comes out monthly or weekly called " Country Folk " ) they use to have a free subscription ( only 6 issues ) You might check it out lots of info . Now I have to check and see why i don't get mine any longer !:ROFLMAO:
 
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Holstein's were spooky critters. I did not like dealing with them especially in tight places like milking stall even with milking machines.
 
I get whole, raw milk from a local that has a Jersey cow. Lotsa cream in that stuff. Been making home made curds (mozzarella, cream cheese, yogurt, butter, etc). But that source has since dried up, as she is about to calf pretty quick. Then some more will be available.

This ultra pasteurized milk that markets now sling these days cannot make decent mozzarella; non-fat dry milk does a better job of that!
 
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I use to make Ice cream with just cream and a flavoring, pistachio, peach, and black berries were some of the favorites. I liked putting in a little STRONG Kahlua with some broken Heath bars. Set one of the kids down and tell them to crank it until I said stop. The one who did the cranking got to eat all of the ice cream from the agitator. Never had to search for volunteer's they lined up. Just had to be sure a rotation was maintained.
It was also a way to keep a high energy kid out of trouble. We had electricity, but we also had two of our own children and nieces and nephews wanting to take at getting the agitator award.
 
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Electricity was widely available when I was a kid, so I just waited patiently in my safe space until it was ready. I'm not a fan of dairy, and I definitely don't want to be in that business. It is probably foolish to have a very large operation anyways. I'm sure there are much more lucrative investments that could be made. We will probably just end up with 40 to 100 acres just to play on. Kinda depends on how helpful it would be with the tax man.
 
Electricity was widely available when I was a kid, so I just waited patiently in my safe space until it was ready. I'm not a fan of dairy, and I definitely don't want to be in that business. It is probably foolish to have a very large operation anyways. I'm sure there are much more lucrative investments that could be made. We will probably just end up with 40 to 100 acres just to play on. Kinda depends on how helpful it would be with the tax man.
There are advantages in leasing property. If your lease states that you are liable for the fencing and must maintain at your cost you have a instant tax deduction.
We leased out our ranch to locals and really appreciated people that took good care of our property. It is really nice to get a call from the renter asking they could replace a fence, gate, or install a divider fence to enforce field rotation. The big plus was when they built sheds, loading ramps and pens. We would pay for half the cost since they left the improvements behind. We had only 180 acres in a continuous pasture and we had land all around us we bought when the farming crisis started. We always offered to sell back to the original farmers the land we bought at auction for the same price we paid.
Nobody ever took us up on that because they were glad they were done and moved to the city. So if you can get a person to lease you property with the same conditions we gave you will have a good deal.
I got a kick when somebody would ask me how my son was doing and I would reply,
"He bought the farm" the look of shock on their face was priceless!
How? traffic accident, cancer, motorcycle crash.......
 
Robb , you have me on the hunt for raw milk . I had a Jersey @ my small place and milked her daily , nothing like the butter fat content . Problem is around here people are afraid of raw milk and you couldn't give it away ! I drank it for years and I'm still around , nothing like a Jersey's milk when it's been eating good pasture or silage the milk gets a greenish tint to it .:)
 
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Robb , you have me on the hunt for raw milk . I had a Jersey @ my small place and milked her daily , nothing like the butter fat content . Problem is around here people are afraid of raw milk and you couldn't give it away ! I drank it for years and I'm still around , nothing like a Jersey's milk when it's been eating good pasture or silage the milk gets a greenish tint to it .:)
Greenish tint? Ewwwww!
The milk companies would turn that into chocolate milk because of the color.
 
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We always had to be a bit careful in the spring when we'd start chopping rye for silage and then feed a load of freshly chopped rye to the milk cows. It didn't take much and the milk would get quite bitter. Seemed like after the first week the bitterness eased off or we just got used to it. If it had gotten too bad the truck driver could have rejected the tank of milk. He always pulled a pair of samples that were tested for various issues. Being a Grade A dairy was a lot of hair pulling work. I would seriously question the sanity of anyone wanting to do that now.

After nearly 20 years without raw milk, I'm not sure I could go back any more. I've also been drinking1% for so long that even 2% seems rich and whole mik is like drinking oil!
 
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So Right NONB , To much work it seems now for so little $ as I said before , I don't know how you milked but we can milked and then the local Agway dealer set up a double 6 parlor . I thought that was awesome back then auto feeders and all , we thought we in heaven !lol Now they use that Carousel that a local dairy farm has , I watched that operation in awe !:) Glad he started this thread brings back memories some good some ...... !:ROFLMAO:
 
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Dad had the parlor built in 1972 as a double herringbone with three on each side. In 1980 as part of an expansion one was added to each side so we could do eight at a time. Some time later we peaked at around 100 cows but settled into the 70s and 80s for the most part.
 
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