Fall On The Farm
The farm is a busy place in the fall. For us as livestock and grass farmers the focus is not on harvest but on the many preparations that we need to do for winter. There is always a certain urgency to get things done as you just don’t know how many days you have left until it freezes or we have snow. This year we were blessed to have a long warm fall before Tuesdays snow. This has allowed for many projects to be completed, and winter preparations made in more comfortable weather.
Some of the projects we have completed this year:
Completing the landscaping around our new hen barn. Several of our old barns where we brood the chicks and raise the birds in the winter were reaching the end of their lifespan. This spurred us on to build a new barn for our laying hens this year. While the building of the structure and the outfitting of the interior was mostly unaffected by the summer rains the landscaping and cleaning up around the construction side was very delayed. This fall we were able to smooth out the many deep ruts around the building, put some more gravel down on the laneway and overall clean up the site.
Creating an additional winter water station for the cattle. A project that had been waiting all summer to do was to connect an additional frost-free waterer to our winter dugout so that we can water the cattle in additional pastures over the winter. Previously we had only two watering stations. While these were enough for the cattle it limited the pastures we could use for our winter feeding. Building the additional waterer involved trenching and connecting the pipes, prepping the pad for concrete, pouring the concrete and then installing the frost free waterer. This had been delayed all summer due to the rain and so it was nice to get this one done before the snow came.
Moving the hens back inside. Our hens have been outside for the spring summer and fall and now that the weather is colder they are again moved back into the warm barns where they can be protected from the cold and unpredictable Alberta winters. Our winter barns have lots of windows to let in the natural light and the hens are given lots of space to move around and express natural behaviours. Our hens are never in cages.
Swathing and Baling Hay. Normally haying is completed in the summer but this year for the first time our fall included swathing, and baling hay. The summer rains made getting into the field to bale hay a challenge and pushed this job into the fall. In the fall we also bale organic straw from our organic neighbors to have on hand for the cattle. Straw is extremely important in order to keep the cattle warm and dry over the winter.
Collecting and Moving Hay and Straw Bales. In the fall we start moving the hay bales and straw bales from the fields to the farmyard. This is something we started in September and will be doing for months as the bales are gathered, put on our flatbed truck, moved to the yard and then stacked here at the farm so they are easily accessible for the winter. There is something satisfying and comforting about seeing the rows of bales grow every day as it is the culmination of a lot of hard work and long hours in the summer (and this year fall)
Repairing and securing the now empty shelters for the winter. We had many shelters that were heavily damaged by the winds we have had in the late summer and a few weeks ago. This late fall has given us extra time to try to make some repairs, secure the shelters and prep them for further repairs in the spring before the birds go out. We know we will not get all the repairs done this fall so the focus is on preventing the winter winds from causing more damage and removing anything loose.
Planning Christmas Turkeys. This year with Christmas on a Friday it means that our normal weekly processing, packaging and delivery routine will be upended and so lots of planning is required. We started working on our Christmas turkey plan in August and have now finalized our turkey plans for Christmas. This is some of the unseen work that takes a lot of time, energy and thought but is not as visible as the majority of our other fall projects.
Putting away our outdoor market equipment for the year. With the summer outdoor markets finished for the year at Thanksgiving we are now cleaning and putting away all of the tents, coolers, freezers, tables and supplies that are used at our outdoor markets. We have several sea containers on the farm so we can store and protect this out of season equipment until it is needed in the late spring.
Your Farmers
Ron and Sheila Hamilton.
- Sunworks Farm
