A Priefert Agventure

I am a HUGE fan of Priefert Ranch Equipment  and I recently had the chance to tour their facilities with a group from the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association at one of their Ranching 101 Gatherings.  I was amazed at the efficiency and the attention to detail that goes into every weld.

You may remember that I bought a Priefert Creep Feeder Panel Kit not long ago.  You can read about that purchase here:  Previous Post.

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I like equipment that makes my job easier, keeps me and my animals safe and will stand the test of time.  Priefert gets that and they aren’t complacent.  They are constantly building and designing a better mouse trap, oops I mean headgate!

I also was impressed with their employee philosophy.  They believe in taking care of their employees and in turn their employees will do a good job for them.  They have a very low turn-over rate that they are very proud of and consider their employees family.

If you are ever in the northeast Texas area near Mount Pleasant I encourage you to drop by and check out the great equipment offered by Priefert.  They even have an outlet store on site where I purchased my Creep Feeder Panel Kit at a rock bottom price. Their products are also stocked at farm equipment dealers across the nation.

 

Beef 706 a Meaty Agventure

In January I traveled with the Texas Beef Leaders to College Station to attend the Beef 706 course put on by Texas A & M University and the Texas Beef Council for cattle producers. It is a two day hands-on educational experience and it is a whole lot of fun.

That's me with my fellow CattleWomen, Tina Loeffler fabricating our Steer. Which by the way, was very exhausting but a lot of fun!

Beef 706 is a Beef Checkoff funded program where you can learn about beef quality and safety issues and how they affect your operation. It is a unique opportunity to not only see, but to experience the quality challenges facing our industry. You learn what factors affect beef’s palatability and receive information to help you utilize your herd’s genetics, feedyard performance, and carcass characteristics. You get to work with other Texas beef producers to fabricate a carcass with the help of a cutting instructor. Of course this was my favorite part of the course.  I encourage all Texas beef producers to participate in the course in the future if you can.  It was a great experience and I really learned some information that I can use back home with our own herd.   There is also a Youth Beef 706 program for young cattle/beef enthusiasts.

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Happy HumP Day

 

I am an equipment buyin’ fool as of late. Earlier in the week I was looking for a way to creep feed some calves.  That’s a set up that allows calves to come in to eat a special ration of feed just for them and it keeps cows and heifers out.  Here’s a link to more information about Creep Feeding if you are interested:  Click Here  Usually creep feeding set ups are adjustable so as the calves grow you can adjust the opening for their increased size.  The can come and go and eat as they please.  I found this Calf Pass Panel kit by Priefert while searching on Craig’s List:

It is really meant to attach to a creep feeder like this:I really didn’t need the feeder part since I wanted to feed the claves by hand to have more control of how much and how often they eat.  I just needed a place for them to go when I feed the cows to get their own feed without the cows nudging them out of the way-so the calf pass kit was perfect for my needs and as more calves are born I can move it to be the pass into bigger pens and lots.

I emailed the seller.  She had one on Craig’s List listed as four years old for $300 and stated that she paid $600.  So I assumed it was the kit and the feeder at that price and I if figured I could resell the feeder or maybe save it for when I might could use it.  I emailed her and asked if she would take $200-she said yes.  Then I did some research (should have done that first).  I found the kit online several places brand new for …$139.  Then we went and looked hers and discovered it didn’t have the feeder, just the kit!  But she still wouldn’t come off her $200 price.  So the next day I went over to Mount Pleasant to the Priefert Plant which is about 20 miles from my house and bought a brand new kit-not a second for…$50!!  Score!  I LOVE a bargain!!!  I LOVE Craig’s List for farm stuff, but you have to do your homework and remember that something is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

Then yesterday I found another bargain:  4 heavy feeders, 3 heavy cattle panels and a 4 ft walk gate all for $200.  The mass exodus from the Cattle Business in my area due to the excessive drought has created a surplus of good used equipment being sold at bargain prices.

Today is supposed to be really warm-74; tomorrow in the 80′s!  So the Chickenman and I will be taking advantage of the nice weather to get our new equipment set up.  I’m going to try to stay off Craig’s List today so I don’t find something else I “need”!

Happy HumP Day!

“South of the Border” Grocery Agventure

One of my favorite things to do when we are in Fort Worth for the Stock Show is to visit a Hispanic Grocery.  I love the variety, the colors and all that stuff that you wonder, “what do you make with that?”.  The Chickenman is always fascinated with the meat case.  I love the produce.  I just wish they offered a tour guide that speaks english so I could ask them about all the colorful products on the shelves.  Here’s a slide show of our Agventure…

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A Haying Agventure

Even putting out hay can be funny…soon as this round bale hit the ground from the back of my truck the bull decided he wanted to “get it”.  He started head butting and rolling the bale 90 to nothing across the pasture all the cows following.  I scrambled back in the truck out of the bed and raced to get the truck in front of the bale to stop it, the Chickenman was trailing behind the cows.  It was a race to the fenceline-he would have surely pushed the fence over with the momentum he had going behind that bale.  But the Dodge stopped him dead in his tracks!  He gave it a few more unsuccessful head butts before he lifted his head up over the top of the bale to see what the malfunction was-the Dodge.  Some how during this haybale hockey game he had busted some of the baling twine and secured himself to the round bale.  Needless to say this did not make him happy and he commenced to jumping and bucking to free himself which didn’t take long.  It would have been a good video and worth a few laughs!  It sure got the horses all excited and they were running laps around the fiasco.  The Chickenman rolled the hayring across the pasture to the bale’s new spot while I held the bull at bay with the Dodge.  On a farm or ranch even what seems to be the simplest task can turn in to an Agventure.  The Chickenman and I are always glad for a good laugh on the farm as long as no one gets hurt.