[Ag-eq] Salutations/Introduction

Sat Jan 18 15:21:36 UTC 2014

Zach:

Thanks for the update on your farm.

Are Brown Swiss cows a beef or dairy breed?

Wat breed of sheep do you keep, and are they a meat or fiber animal?

I would love any advice you have for feeding my goats.  I have 4 nubians and 1
Toggenberg.  Nubians are a dairy breed; all 4 of mine are dose.  My Toggenberg
is an older whether, so he's pretty much useless!

Nella

Quoting Zach Mason <zmason.northwindsfarm at gmail.com>:

> Hello all
>
> Concerning animal nutrition interests, I'd be happy to answer, or at least
> look for answers to specific questions you might have. My background is
> dairy cattle, but many of the principles can be used in other ruminant
> species. I also took a general animal nutrition course and later helped
> teach it in college. To keep people updated, I thought I'd also drop a line
> or five about things at home.
>
> On Christmas my only and now last Brown Swiss cow gave birth to a beautiful
> and big heifer calf. I'm selling both the cow and calf. So far I have a $300
> down payment on the calf by a neighbor up the road.
>
> After being overstocked for almost a month, we finally shipped a group of
> seven steers for slaughter. That caused a chain reaction, resulting in the
> graduation of 19 heifers to the lower barn, A.K.A. (McMan barn or heifer
> barn), and 12 calves from the calf barn to the pre-pubertal heifer barn,
> A.K.A. (the Weany hut).
>
> Just recently the ram has started to turn. We first got wind of this when he
> came at my brother, but the past two times I've fed the flock he's tried to
> turn on me. Fortunately I'm 5 10, at a several pound advantage, and a lot
> louder than this little Texel yearling ram.
>
> The herd is testing at roughly 51 Lb, 5.1% fat, and 3.4% protein. Not great,
> but not too bad-just not enough to make headway on our debt load. I'm
> working on my parents to try to convince them we need to implement seasonal
> calving, or at least not calve anything out between December through March.
> I'm not making much headway there.
>
> Really nothing exciting is happening here except that the temperature has
> finally warmed up. We had a stretch the first week in January where we saw
> our first, and so far only -40 degrees this year. Since that week it's been
> reasonable temperatures, but the rain turns all the roads and driveways to
> ice. So it's been fun (smirking face) skating around to do chores.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ag-eq [mailto:ag-eq-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Michelle Clark
> Sent: Friday, January 17, 2014 3:57 PM
> To: 'Agricultural and Equestrean Division List'
> Subject: Re: [Ag-eq] Salutations/Introduction
>
> Susan,
>
> I am speaking of the services that all local offices at the state level
> should be providing and want to know if list participants are aware. What I
> am offering is the same. Since I am Section 508, I now am in the loop for
> assuring that accessibility is involved in the websites and  documents we
> put on line.
>
> I was  just curious and glad to know there are some blind farmers out there.
> If I can help, please let me know. In addition, from time to time, I see
> this is a list where I can post some USDA things that may apply.
>
>  Also, I saw a post from Zack. Can you write me off line please?
>
> Michelle
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ag-eq [mailto:ag-eq-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Susan Roe
> Sent: Friday, January 17, 2014 3:01 PM
> To: Agricultural and Equestrean Division List
> Subject: Re: [Ag-eq] Salutations/Introduction
>
> Hi Michelle,
>
> I am Susan from Central Virginia.  I would be interested in what the USDA
> has to offer.  We have spoken to our closest USDA office and they have been
> helpful in the past.
>
> Susan
> dogwoodfarm at verizon.net
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Michelle Clark" <mcikeyc at aol.com>
> To: "'Agricultural and Equestrean Division List'" <ag-eq at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Friday, January 17, 2014 9:55 AM
> Subject: Re: [Ag-eq] Salutations/Introduction
>
>
> > Hello,
> >
> > My name is Michelle Clark and work as the Section 508 Coordinator for one
> > of
> > the agencies at USDA. I have wondered in my short time there how blind and
> > low vision persons in agriculture can take advantage of the programs and
> > most recently the on-line and new applications being put out by USDA. One
> > part of my job is to make sure applications do not get put out that are
> > not
> > accessible.
> >
> > Is there anyone out there who uses any of the programs we have? Would you
> > like an overview of what USDA has to offer? I can help. Please let me
> > know.
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Michelle
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Ag-eq [mailto:ag-eq-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
> > nfoster at extremezone.com
> > Sent: Friday, January 17, 2014 10:02 AM
> > To: Agricultural and Equestrean Division List
> > Subject: Re: [Ag-eq] Salutations/Introduction
> >
> > Hi Zach and welcome to the list.  Sorry I didn't welcome you sooner.
> >
> > I live in Phoenix, Arizona and am a hobby, urban farmer.  I keep some
> > goats,
> > chickens a horse and an ancient mule.  I'm always interested in animal
> > nutrition and would love to see any information you can share on the
> > subject.
> > Perhaps you have some good suggestions for my dairy goats since your
> > background
> > was on a dairy.
> >
> > I would also appreciate any suggestions you have about caring for senior
> > equines.
> >
> > I hope you will tell us more about yourself and your farm experiences.
> >
> > Nella
> >
> >
> >
> > Quoting Zach Mason <zmason.northwindsfarm at gmail.com>:
> >
> >> I have been blind since age four, grew up on a 110 cow family dairy farm,
> >> have a bachelors in animal science from Cornell University, and am
> > pursuing
> >> a career in animal biology research. In my childhood I showed dairy and
> > beef
> >> cattle at county, state and regional competitions in New Hampshire and
> >> New
> >> England. After graduating from Cornell, I assumed the title Assistant
> >> Shepherd and Young Stock Manager at my family's farm for a year. This
> >> year
> > I
> >> completed a fellowship this summer at Purdue University working in a
> >> swine
> >> nutrition lab.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> I look forward to meeting NFB's AG-EQ division at the 2014 convention.
> >> Please also, I invite any members to this division with experience or
> >> interest in livestock agriculture to contact me directly, point me
> >> towards
> >> livestock-related posts, or reply to this posting.
> >>
> >>
> >>
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> >>
> >
> >
> >
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