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Ag in the Classroom

a shorthorn heifer calf visits 2nd grade students

 

I pulled the truck and trailer into the parking lot. A Shorthorn cow and heifer calf of mine visited the elementary school in Altona. The visit was for a lesson through Knox County Ag in the Classroom. I had the exciting opportunity to speak with 2nd grade students about beef cattle. So much fun! It is was a joy talking to the students about raising cattle on my family's 3rd generation farm. As always, I loved sharing my love of cattle! The kids liked seeing the two day old calf. And, I love seeing the excitement of the students learning about beef cattle!  

4-H

 

 

This is a photo tribute to my love of 4-H. For 10 years, I was an active member of the Walnut Grove Progressors 4-H club in Knox County. Through the years in 4-H, I enjoyed and valued my experiences. And to this day, I truly cherish those experiences and memories. As a 4-H member, cattle and photography were projects that became lifelong passions. It was in 4-H where my love of photography came into focus. Over the years, my love further developed and into a career in agriculture photography.

Agriculture is what I know, love, and appreciate. Through my photographs, I am able to share my love of agriculture with others. My photos are from a unique perspective...a woman raising cattle. Photography is a love I love sharing. View my collection of agriculture photos at monicastevens.photoshelter.com.

 

The framed photo is of a John Deere 4020 and a John Deere B.

 

so excited to wear my american shorthorn association cap :)

my bull calf, dirt road anthem, born this spring

A Cattleman

a shorthorn cow is licking her newborn heifer calf

A healthy, vigorous calf is what being a cattleman is all about. My family is extremely dedicated to caring for our Shorthorn cattle herds. Since 1943, the care for our cattle has been a tradition. As a third generation cattleman, I am proud of my family's tradition. The care for our cow herds' health and nutrition is shown in our healthy calves. We have been truly blessed this calving season with amazing calves. 

Fall 2012

Due to the extremely hot and dry weather conditions this past summer, we weaned calves a month early. Normally in the middle of September, we decided to wean calves in the middle of August. We chose to wean calves early to save pastures for grazing, maintain body condition, and maintain pregnancies. Despite the heat and lack of forage, I was pleasantly surprised with weaning weights. On average, steers and heifers weighed 40-60 pounds less than previous years. I was relieved and fairly pleased, considering. Since weaning, calves have been healthy and growing very quickly. I am very happy with the quality of calves this year.

 

With the warm, fall weather, we built fence. It is one of my favorite jobs on the farm! We use hedge posts, steel posts, four strands of barbed wire, and electrify one strand of high tensile for pasture fence. More fence is yet to be built. We showed calves to a family looking for a steer to show this summer. And, I was very pleased with the steer calf they chose. I wish them the best of luck! I decided to keep two bull calves to raise as breeding bulls to sell. I have never raised bulls, so it has been a good learning experience. Halter breaking the bulls to lead was very easy. We selected 12 replacement heifers to retain in the herd. I am extremely happy with the quality of heifers. Our veterinarian calfhood vaccinated our replacement heifers. The feeder calves were also revaccinated as part of their health program. We pregnancy checked and vaccinated cows with a pre-calving health program we developed with our veterinarian. I was so nervous about pregnancy checking our cows this fall in fear of low conception rates and the 2013 calving season being stretched out much longer due to the breeding conditions this past summer. If that was the issue, it would take a few years to get cows back on schedule. Ugh. I hoped for the best and was very pleased with herd averages of 98% conception. I am looking forward to calving season!

Another Successful Year

Calves have been weaned and vaccinated with their first round of shots since September 17th. With warm and dry weather we had after weaning, there was no need to run any calves through the chute to treat for coughs, temperatures or runny noses. Weaning weights this fall were average for both steers and heifers at each herd. This was expected with the hot, dry summer we had. It is amazing how quickly the calves are growing. Looks like I will be halter breaking heifers very soon!

Since the crops were harvested, the cows grazed on corn stalks in the fall. What a pretty sight, especially with a gorgeous fall sunset in the background! November 26th and 27th, we pregnancy checked and vaccinated our cattle herds with our pre-calving health program. We were very pleased that our cattle had a conception rate of 98.5% and were due to calves in March and April. Our calves received their second round of vaccinations on December 17th. My dad and I went through the selection process of choosing replacement heifers. Each year we retain 12-14 head of heifers or about 20% of our herd. This year, we chose 12 head of heifers. They received their calfhood vaccination from our vet, Dr Baird. We put in a new numbered tag to identify our heifers. I recorded data to prepare for registering our heifers for pedigrees with the American Shorthorn Association.