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The farm in January 2024

 The crew who is taking apart the large steel buildings in the new farm have been at it for two days (they really started Friday morning).  The wooden barn is gone, but the ground has not been fixed yet, its too cold and they agreed (with Jennifer and the team that is taking the steel buildings apart) to take care of the land once all the buildings are gone.

The pigs have all arrived on the farm and have started acclimating to their new environment.  The pigs & piglets will stay in training pens for about a month.

The warmer weather is finally back and the temperature in our high tunnels is back around 17c, so we the garden are back in production (when it gets very cold production drops off).  Electricity and plumbing is now available on the new farm yard, and the electricians and the refrigeration team are hard at work.  It looks like the buildings will be ready ahead of schedule.  David called me to say that he found three used forklifts for the new yard, that will be picked up next week,  Equipment wise, he thinks we need maybe two more full-time tractors and maybe one additional bailer to meet our additional requirements.  David believes that the tractors are working a little too hard we are clocking nearly 3,000 hours per annum which is a little too high.  It means that the current fleet will not be sufficient to meet our needs for 2024.  He and Jennifer are preparing a budget, in addition, we may need more ATV/UTVs and maybe more Hilux.  Again the issue is usage.  

Jennifer told me that some of the milk cows are unwell.  The vet took cultures and will get back to her as soon as the results are back, but five cows received some antibiotics.  We are very careful with our herds, their health is very important.  We don't want unhealthy animals and take care of them.  The last few days have been warmer so the cattle have been out in the field.  Jennifer thinks that three cows will be in heat within the next 10 days.  She is planning accordingly, and she acquired the necessary insemination.

Jennifer said that our eldest daughter was in the house for a long weekend with her boyfriend/future husband.  It means we missed our granddaughter, which is always something we hate.  But we loved that our daughter thought of coming home for a long weekend, even if we were not there.  Apparently, our grandaughter (all of 2) was in a trance when she saw the calves.

My wife suggested that it would be a good idea to let Jennifer and David make the decision on the equipment we will need for the farm.  David had a "carte blanche" to buy used equipment when he see"s it especially on Facebook marketplace.  


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