So far this year, I have had several new things happen around the farm. The biggest item that I had was the completion of a barn, which took several weeks to build and wasn’t without headaches. Initially the barn was supposed to arrive Jan. 9, but because of storms across the country, it was a week late. Then we had snow, which delayed the barn building even more. I started to worry whether it would even be done on time. The stall panels that I ordered the day after Thanksgiving weren’t delivered until Jan. 29, which was almost a month later than we thought they would be in. We bought…

Each January, I take time to look back at the previous year, and set my goals for the coming year. It’s a time of reflection and enthusiasm for me. 2013 brought big changes for the farm, most notably in the form of a move from Fort Collins to Kiowa. The place we purchased had no shelter and no fences, so it took a lot of building just to get the place ready. The move was stressful and in the beginning of February when I had fairly new babies, but it all worked out in the end, and by now the livestock are completely settled and the layout works. This summer…

Farming and ranching has come a long ways in the last decade in terms of technology. GPS driven tractors, water application and feed intake monitoring are just a few examples of some of the technology that is being used every day by today’s farmers and ranchers. Although I don’t use this technology on my farm, there are several other technological advances that I do use. Fall time means breeding season, which then results in pregnancy testing. Since palpation is not an option in determining pregnancy in hogs or goats, other methods are used. On the hogs I use a device called a PregTone II Plus, which is a handheld ultrasound…