The Moos Room™

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Emily: Welcome, everybody, to The Moo's Room. It is a special episode today, a rare occurrence here. It is myself, Emily, and Bradley today. No Joe. Once again, we are left without supervision on the podcast.
Bradley: That could be dangerous. I am actually in my office today, which is a first for the last six months, maybe.
Emily: I feel like the last several episodes has been Bradley in his car, or Bradley not on it, because the call dropped. It is nice to see you, Brad. It's nice to just have the dream team here today.
Bradley: Exactly. We don't need Joe. We don't need Joe once in a while.
Emily: No, but we do miss you, Joe, but yes, Joe, I believe, should be back next week. The universe will be righted once again today. Brad and I are just going to have a quick conversation. We were talking about this before we started. The springtime to-do list. I figured we can talk a little bit to Bradley about the things that are on the spring to-do list at the dairy there in Morris, and just some wider discussion of things that we should think about in the spring.
Bradley, I'm going to leave it very open for you, and just say, when spring rolls around-- We're recording this-- It's April. What's the first thing on your list that you start thinking about, or to do, whatever it is?
Bradley: Sometimes it seems like spring will never come, and then it just shows up right away. Here in western Minnesota, we still have 2ft of snow on the ground, so it's crazy.
Emily: Oh, we have no snow. I didn't realize you still had that much. Wow.
Bradley: Wow. Oh, man. Yes, we have snow, ice, and everything. It looks like winter wonderland here yet, so it is different in these parts of the state. It seems like spring will never come, but one day, it's going to be here, and it'll come fast. That's why we like to get prepared, or try to get prepared early. One thing that, always, we think about, is pastures, obviously, on our grazing dairy, trying to figure out what seeds we want to plant in our pasture, how to get water, thinking about turning the water on out to cows.
That's probably the one thing that we think about early, and I've already bought a lot of seeds to put in my pasture, for different grasses, so that's a big thing. Preparing for pasture and preparing for summer grazing is probably the big thing that we think about here, and some of the other things come along. It just seems that's the priority right now, is thinking about grazing.
Emily: Right. Well, and you're a pasture-based dairy, so it makes sense that pastures are the top thing you're looking at. I feel like we've had episodes in the past too, where we've gone through that spring pasture prep. Hopefully, Joe will be smart and we'll put that episode in the meeting notes. I know there's one in there somewhere, but I'm--
Bradley: There is one somewhere.
Emily: I'm not going to look it up right now. You mentioned with pastures, thinking about things like getting seed ordered, I'm sure. Well, you're waiting for all the snow to melt before you can plant, but you're thinking about when you can get in and get that done. What about things, Bradley, like fencing? I know it's windy out there, and it's been really windy this winter. I imagine you get some trash, debris, and other things you don't want in there.
I feel like there's probably a little cleanup too, in the spirit of spring cleaning, that happens around the dairy.
Bradley: Yes, there's always spring cleaning, and some of that is some of the trash, either silage bags that have blown different places, or blown into the fence. Some of it is cleaning up garbage that way. There's trees down, still, from the wintertime. The wind blows a lot out here in western Minnesota. If trees fall on a fence, or trees fall on a field, so there's a little bit of spring cleaning from that standpoint. One thing that we might not think about, and I've seen other farms get ready, is getting your equipment ready.
Emily: Ding, ding, ding.
Bradley: Exactly. Making sure everything's greased. You get new knives on things, new wheels, or you name it. What parts need to be done, just to make sure-- We all get caught in that, "Oh man, it's time to go," and we're not ready. There's been a little bit of spring tractor, making sure all the maintenance is done, which is good. We need to do that. It shouldn't just be done in the springtime, but after a lot of that stuff has sat over the winter, it's good to get it started up again, and making sure it all works.
Emily: Yes, and that's just the simple stuff, even. Checking fluids, and if you have filters and stuff to look at, I think we all know when it's go time. It is go time. I feel like we say that a lot when we talk about planting, especially, but yes, I think that equipment maintenance piece is so important, and of course, I think from a safety standpoint, it's going to be a much better environment when you are not in crunch time, not stressed, not 3 hours behind.
Just in your yard, in your shed, tractor off, working on it, getting it ready, checking those things. That's going to be a lot better for everyone involved than here. I am middle of the field. I had a breakdown. I'm going to try to fix it with what I have. I'm stressed. I may be not thinking clearly. I'm leaving the tractor on and I don't need to go into all the dangers in that, but from a safety standpoint too, maintenance is really preventative, and I think of it, as even an accident preventative as well, making sure things are in good order.
Yes, I think that's always part of the cleanup too, is equipment, and maybe even, yes, getting that washed off, cleaned up, make sure that you have any debris or anything from working fields cleared out, anything like that. That's a really good point, Bradley.
Bradley: I think it's a good time just to do spring cleaning everywhere. We're a pasture-based dairy, so it's a little bit different, but if you have barns, make sure everything works. If you have curtains, fans, a lot of our barns have fans that got turned off during the wintertime, so just getting those all cleaned up, and I'm sure there's lots of dust and you name it on those. Just making sure all of those are going again, it takes time, and I know we always try to put that off till the last minute.
We do here, everybody always puts it off till the last minute, and then it doesn't work. Then it's like, when you want it to work, it doesn't, then it just makes things frustrated and can change the attitude for the whole day, or the whole week. Even just trying to start early on some of those things, especially on a dairy. If you can get some of those things done now, before you're in the field, it makes things go just a lot easier.
Out here in western Minnesota, where there's still snow, things are going to happen at a much faster pace, because when the snow melts, we're going to want to go right away. It's good to start on some of those things maybe a little bit earlier than what you might think you should.
Emily: Yes, I would also add to the cleaning one, and it's a bummer Joe isn't here, but I believe him, and I did an episode about this once, too, and that is spring cleaning your vet cabinet, your vet supplies. Checking for things that are expired, tools that you use a lot, giving them a cleaning. This is also a good time for our beef guys, done calving. Get your calving equipment all cleaned up and nicely stored away for next season.
Some of that wrapping up of winter activities and getting that stuff cleaned and put away, and then, yes, the preparation for what's to come as well.
Bradley: You are the mental health expert.
Emily: I am.
Bradley: What do we do in the springtime to help make sure we go into spring cleaning, spring planting, or those aspects, in a good frame of mind?
Emily: A little spring cleaning for the mind, as it were.
Bradley: That's right.
Emily: I love it. That's a great question, Bradley. I believe very, very firmly, and we know it to be true research, et cetera. We're going to have a lot more sunlight, especially here in Minnesota. It has been a gray, dark winter and early spring, so far. The sun is shining here in Rochester today, and I'm doing backflips. I don't get to see it very often, and we're able to get outside more, we're going to get more vitamin D.
We're probably just going to start to feel a little better, generally, with getting more sunlight and seeing the sun more, but thinking about being grateful for that, and thinking, "Hey, springtime now, we're on to the next season. We're going to be doing planting," and really working on positive mindset. We've already beat into the ground that planting is stressful, things happen very quickly, and you got to be on your A game. Preparing for that.
I think that there are a lot of things that we can do in preparation for stressful situations, to help us build our resilience. That, again, can be something simple, like just being grateful that it's spring again, and we've made it to another planting season. Just spending a little more time outside each day, not working, just walking around the farm and noticing things getting green again. I know I've been noticing the birds. They are just screaming outside my window in the morning.
Just notice those little things around in your environment, makes me think back to the conversation we had about meditation and grounding. Thinking about where we are in that moment, soaking in, and savoring those details. Seeing grass at my place, the daylilies are starting to sprout up out of the ground. Noticing that, and noticing that the birds are singing, these things, in my surrounding. The surroundings that are going on, don't ignore them. Allow yourself to enjoy them.
I think we, especially as we grow older, don't allow ourselves that time to enjoy things. I have several little nieces and nephews, and in the summer, they like to stop and they smell every flower in grandma's garden, "Look at this bug, and look at that stick, and look at that leaf on that tree." I think that we could all do more of that, just noticing what's around us and really appreciating it. Spring is just such a great time to renew my love for nature, and my appreciation for it.
Bradley: Yes, I agree. I can't wait to get outside, see the sunshine, and travel a little bit, just in some parts of the US here, if the sun's out, it just makes you feel so much better. I can't wait. The sun is out today, but it's still it's cold outside. I can't wait to get outside and see cows on grass, and just enjoy the spring. I'm looking forward to that. I think it will help all of us with our mental improvement to get to that point. I can't wait.
Emily: Oh, yes. I feel like for both of us, it's also like-- It's getting Sunny, it's getting warmer, that means state fairs coming up, and all those fun summer things, too. My biggest advice is to just have some gratitude and some optimism about what's to come. I'm curious, Bradley, too, in spring, and I know we have done an episode about this as well, but briefly, mud is going to be everywhere. I think we need to think about that for the spring, of course, where you're seeing a lot of mud in the spring.
If you let that persist, it's going to be there in the summer, too. I think, especially on pasture, about things like rotating waters around. If there's a certain area that got really beat down last season, and maybe did turn into a mud pit, just because the high traffic, and all of that. Thinking about how and where you're moving your animals around too, to prevent them from getting too dirty. A lot of guys will lay gravel, pea rock, anything like that, this time of year. Any other quick thoughts from you, Bradley, about managing mud?
Bradley: We've seen mud out here already.
Emily: Oh, yes.
Bradley: It might still be winter, but we did have some thaw in early March, we had mud, and it was a challenge with keeping the cows clean and stuff. It's using more bedding, obviously, it's good to do that, but there's a lot of costs, and we're going through bedding a lot faster than what we normally do. One thing is thinking about where to move your cows. We've been thinking about that. We have, still, cows outdoors, and we know that at some point, they're going to have to be moved.
The idea is trying to think about, "Where can we put them?" If we can move them to a barn, or is there another pasture we can move them to? We have been thinking about that and we've been delayed a little bit. Sometimes it's been good to not have to do that right away, and we can maybe put that off for another couple of weeks. We know that we're going to have to do it, so we know where we're going, where we're going to move some of these animals, and how we're going to move them back and forth.
It's just a matter of when that might come. We've been grateful here, to have a slow thaw. It hasn't created a lot of muddy issues, but it can be a problem. It's not just mud for our cows. The roads are terribly muddy here. Just thaws-- You think about that from a tractor standpoint, equipment safety, and just equipment maintenance and management, and where you can drive. It happens, but we all got to be cognizant of it. We're thinking about mud. We're hoping that it gets delayed.
Emily: That's the spirit, Bradley. It's been very muddy in southeastern Minnesota, for sure. Your day is coming, Bradley, I feel it.
Bradley: It will. [laughs] Winter will end. Winter will end.
Emily: Anything else you think about in spring?
Bradley: It's hard to predict what might happen. Sometimes, we have to make those decisions right away and go with the flow. Based on what we've seen in the past, we always have a plan, but it always is ever-changing. What we may think today might change tomorrow, depending on the weather. You have to be resilient, being able to make those changes right away, and maybe think that things might not go the way that you planned.
I know that's always a tough one to deal with. Even for us, it's like, "Oh, that's what we were going to do, and it was going to be the perfect plan. I guess that's not what's going to happen." Being able to adapt to the change and adapt to the conditions, not get frustrated by them, know that things are going to be okay, and it's going to all work out. It always does. I think that's one thing that we deal with here, especially in our pasture-based herd, is being able to adapt to the change.
Knowing that it's going to happen, and there's sometimes nothing we can do to change the weather, but we move forward and make it work.
Emily Oh, Bradley, that was so inspirational. I want to say-- You mentioned a few key things that are, in fact, factors of resilience like we've been talking about, like we always talk about. That is the two key things you mentioned to me were-- Having a plan, having some idea of what should happen, when and who should do it, et cetera, but also having flexibility. Having that plan, knowing everything in this plan is probably not going to happen in this exact way.
That is a part of resilience. Knowing that, and being honest with yourself, of-- We have the best-laid plans, but we also are dealing with factors that are outside of our control, the weather, and this is the best that we can do, We can plan for a few scenarios and implement that, if need be. It's important to have that flexibility, that organization with flexibility. The key piece is a balance between both, because if you're all organization, you won't be flexible, and if you're all flexibility, it will be chaos.
Having that balance of those things, and then, when stressful situations do come up, you can go, "Yes, this is stressful, we need to make a quick decision. Okay, but we anticipated this, or we have this plan, so we can look at it and see where we can tweak it." That's going to make that whole process a lot easier to deal with, and just super smooth.
Bradley: We adapt quickly. We have to adapt quickly. Our cows will appreciate it someday.
Emily: Yes, because they do not appreciate it if you don't adapt quickly.
Bradley: Exactly.
Emily: Anything else, Bradley, or should we wrap it up?
Bradley: I think we should wrap it up. I've been inspirational enough today.
Emily: You most certainly have. This was just a little springtime pout-pourri, as it were, with myself and Bradley. With that, if you have any questions, comments, or scathing rebuttals about today's episode, you can email those to themoosroom@umn.edu. That's T-H-E-M-O-O-S-R-O-O-M@umn.edu. If you'd like, you can also call and leave us a voicemail at 612-624-3610. Find us on the web at extension.umn.edu, and on Twitter @UMNmoosroom. Goodbye
Bradley: Bye.
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