The "new era"

If you remember this post, you know that Grandpa and his brothers quit milking and sold all their dairy cows last August. They didn't retire completely, however. They're still farming, and recently they've acquired some new livestock to take care of. The young ones arrived this week on Wednesday, so since Courtney was here again yesterday after school, she and I went over to see them and take some pictures.

It was somewhat dark in the barns, so photo-taking wasn't the best. Here you can see a lot of eyes!

This next one's a little better (with a little editing help). These are the new "babies"... 150 holstein bull calves. Yep, black and white... just like the ones that used to be born there. If you look closely, you can see a red and white one in there, too. I guess there are a few of those.

Photos turned out much better when the calves came closer!

After visiting there, we went to what used to be the dairy loafing barn. Because it's cold now, everything is closed up for warmth, so it was pretty dark in there, too. More eyes:

This barn has 172 head of bred angus cows which arrived a few weeks ago. They pretty much all look like this:

There are a couple with some white markings. I managed to get a not-very-clear picture of one of them:

These animals take a lot less care and time than dairy cows! It'll be interesting to see how it goes when they begin having their calves in February.

Courtney wasn't too excited about seeing the cows and calves. She enjoyed the dog more.

That's "Scoobie". She's getting pretty old and slow. This chair in the break room is her preferred spot on cold days.

Lucky dog, huh?

End of an era

I mentioned in an earlier post that Grandpa and his two brothers, who have been farming together for... many years... were going to take the first step in retiring. They've been milking cows nearly all their lives, and they finally decided they've milked long enough. Today was their last day. The cows were sold weeks ago, and they were shipped out yesterday and today. Courtney and I went over to the dairy and watched as the last two semi-trucks were loaded. It was a momentous day, and I think there were a lot of mixed emotions. Sadness... gladness... and the whole gamut in between. And pride of a job well done. Giving up dairying is a major change! I doubt that it's completely sunk in yet that it's really over.

Here are some photos and videos of the process of shipping the cows out. Grandpa's in the first pic... anticipating the next truck. What do you think's going through his mind?

The truck was huge.

It was a beautiful day, and quite comfortable for both humans and traveling cows.

Courtney enjoyed watching it all, as did a couple of sisters-in-law, and even Grandpa's 90-year-old mother came out to watch "the end".

Waiting for the trucker to get everything ready:

Our son, Courtney's daddy. I wonder how he was feeling....

Grandpa again... waiting....

Here's some of the loading process (that's the trucker with the prod):

Sometimes they got to moving around in the trailer so much that it rocked back and forth!

These were the last ones. They didn't always cooperate....

This is the last load, pulling away.

The barn looked empty and forlorn.....

There they go, the last load down the driveway.....

A nose here.....

An eye there......

When it was all said and done, the employees joined us for a meal of pizza and chicken on their last day.

And this was Courtney's and my last view, as we drove out of the yard.

Sadness... gladness.... and the beginning of a new era.  There will still be the land to farm, and who knows.... maybe some new cows in the future?  The kind whose calves get to do the milking?  Many decisions ahead yet. Dairying is over, but not farming.