War Canadian style

Wow

That's all I can say is .... Wow

So if you haven't heard (and this will be posted on BOTH my GGGems & my Gargoyle Gardens (farm) blogs) CANADA is playing POLITICS with our milk farmers.

For no stated reason I can find, they have suddenly decided to cancel ALL orders for US milk used for making cheese.

I ASSUME - and it is just my own assumption here - that it has something to do with President Trump's stance on NAFTA ... since it seems the US is getting the shaft from the Mexican side when it comes to many portions ... but then that might just be my American perspective ... 

Either way - Canada just went "Nope. Not taking your milk anymore"

AGDay, 2017Apr20 broadcast, had this issue as their main story.

Not only are these farmers getting hit by not being able to sell the milk to Canada - but now the SUPPLIER they were selling it to - Grassland Dairy  - has CANCELLED the contracts to collect the milk at all.

IMMEDIATELY.  Yup - the farmers got a very unpersonal form letter ... not even signed by anyone, just a general company name 

The company said they were only given a TWO DAY notice from Canada, so they just wanted to get a notice out.

Canadas statement on all this??

David MacNaughton

The CANADIAN EMBASSADOR to the USA said

"Canada does not except the contention that Canada's dairy policies are the cause of financial loss for dairy farmers in the United States."

Letter to Wisconsin Governor

Canada seems to feel the US farmer is just looking for a scapegoat and Canada fits the bill at this point.  They blame it on the US over production of milk.

The company mentioned above, Grassland Dairy, would send 1 million gallons of ULTRA-FILTERED milk into Canada EVERY day - since they no longer have Canada taking the milk, 75 farmers in the state of Minnesota and Wisconsin have now been released from their contracts… Without warning… Without compensation!  In fact most farmers found out via Facebook before they even got the letter.

"We are working with our patrons to find a home for their milk, but we understand it's a challenge in these markets. The last thing we as a company want is to let farmers go."

Vice President of Business Development

Grassland Dairy

We are talking about farms that have been in the same family for generations – not just one generation, not just two generations… Sometimes up to eight generations!

This is really sad

This is really bad

This makes me very mad

The interesting part is – how can route retaliate against Canada?

I cannot name one important item from Canada that we can boycott!

All I can say is…

Buy more CHEESE!

Maybe if America eats enough cheese we as a nation can start using some of this million pounds of milk that would have gone to Canada, which is now sitting idle in the United States

We are going to be a bound up nation ...

Rainy Days

When I was a kid I LOVED rainy days ... yup, I was a strange kid - but rainy days were a time to pull out the crochet.

My mom would just shake her head because I was starting on Christmas presents in April - like they ever made it to Christmas, they usually became birthday gifts since I couldn't wait to see how people would like them

But that is what rain meant to me -- worked great until about 9th grade, maybe 10th, when we had a MAJOR thunderstorm go through ... in the middle of the night the thunder was so loud it rattled my windows! Now I can't stand loud noises - didn't realize this until hubby took me to see fireworks over the lake, not a fun time was had, the lake is in like a canyon or valley so it echoes quite a bit.

So why am I telling you this?

Now I'm not only an adult but a farmer ... well, farmers wife

Rain is supposed to be a Good Thing, like the song says (although I only drink wine ... or tequila ... maybe some rum in daiquiris or piña coladas ... but that's all really really rare)

BUT ... rain makes the fields too wet for the tractor to work.  In fact it will sink to the axils and then whatever we try to pull it out with will get stuck ... it's a total comedy of errors, let me tell you - I think we had four vehicles stuck down there one year - the lawn mower, the Allis-Chamber, then the Ford tractor, and the the Astro van!  It was so sad ... finally had to call hubbys cousin to come over because his truck had a winch on it - no getting that stuck!

Now we have a permanent divot next to the long corn field where the van tires sunk down - so you have to be very careful when you check the fields or you could break an ankle.

We are supposed to get rain for the next 3 days ... we were going to put corn in at the beginning of May this year - I think we've been planting too late and that's why we have had such troubles but that's a different story ... that's still got a couple weeks yet.

POTATOES however ...

I bought 250 POUNDS of potatoes this year ... Yukon Gold, Norlands, Russets, and All Blues ... I think the Norland reds I got 100# of ... I do NOT want to pay the prices they want for potatoes at the store and more.  My seed potatoes cost less than $100 total, the store wants $1/pound ... I'm ahead, right?

After all, potatoes are supposed to be a 10:1 return ... for every pound you plant, you get 10 pounds back ... they say.

My potatoes will go at the end of the long field where the corn Simply will not grow -   E. V. E. R!!  My mother-in-law says that's where they would plant theirs and it grew great (we bought the property from the in-laws) so it should be okay..

Accept ...

It's at the bottom of a hill - means LOTS of water from run off, plus it's the last place to melt/dry from winter snow ... it is NEVER dry by Tax Day, not to mention May 1st.

Every thing I read says they are supposed to go in a month BEFORE the last frost - here, that's May 15th or so ... so ... Tax Day.

Hubby bought several pieces of equipment for the tractor to put them in ... I've been stressing that he needs to have no less than a foots length between the potatoes he drops in or they will choke each other out ... quite a bit of education over here...

BUT if we have to wait until the end of May like we usually do ... I'm thinking it's gonna cut down on the production.

Last time:

Hubby put them in the on the long side of the Triangle field, put in like 100# ... planted them FOUR INCHES APART!!!  I was sick in bed so I wasn't out there to supervise ... that's okay, the onion shoots went in with about 1 inch between them - if they were lucky - they were suppose to have no less than 4 inches between, they were Candy onions - like the big Vandalias /Vadalias (however you spell it) - huge, sweet, great for salads, French onion soup, cooking, freezing, dehydrating ... I admit, they would be great sellers too ... if we had any ... they are still growing - didn't dig up the tiny things last year so they are sprouting up again, small but ok, not quite as sweet as I'd like.

----

Hmmm, okay it's been 3 days now ... it's still raining and now they say it will rain tomorrow too ...

Those potatoes are never going to get planted :-(

Wild Fires

I just watched Tursdays episode of AgDay ... I DVD them so I can watch when I have the time ... it was a special episode - surprising because they usually save these for holiday weekends - and if you don't think ranchers cry, you are soooo wrong.

They don't cry because they lost darn near everything ... they weren't crying because some didn't have insurance on their cattle ... they didn't even cry because they will be having a very hard time for a while.

They cry because they are overwhelmed with emotion over the help they are receiving from people they didn't even know of.  

There are farmers/ranchers who do not live in the area but they are gathering things like hay and feed for the surviving cattle ... there are people who are donating whatever goods they can to help these people get back on their feet, if even for a little while.

The wild fires stretched from the Texas panhandle all the way up into Colorado as far west as Nevada and, I think, even got into Nebraska, but I could be wrong.

There was one man who told how he he was out of town and told his wife to take the kids to his brothers house .. he drove like the wind and got to the property as fire arrived, driving past a blazing tree.

His family and brothers family are fine.

He didn't mention the cattle so I'm assuming he lost them.

There was a major ranching family who were hit very badly. They had realized the dry condition would make it rough for their livestock to eat so they had spread hay bails all over their range ...

Yes the fire ate all that hay - jumping from pile to pile taking the cattle with them.

Cattle are not smart animals ... unlike horses, they will not leave a barn when it's on fire - they will simply stay there and burn to death.  

I'm not sure if it has been bred out of them or if it's just their gentle way ... either way, it's sad.

There have been several calves who lost their moms ... either by the fire or from having to be put down afterwards because of their wounds.

There are 4-H clubs coming to the rescue ... the kids (and their parents) are taken no the little ones in.  They treat the injuries and bottle feed the calves ... some make it, a few don't ... but it's all a part of life, especially on a ranch or farm.

You can go to the AgDay webpage to watch the full length episode (they are limited to 1/2hr on tv) and see if there is anything you can do, if you wish.