Belinda Stronach

[cswilson]

Live in the sticks too funny-I'm five minutes away from a heated swimming pool-18 hole golf course-bowling alley-hockey rink-20 minutes away from a huge park with great fishing and swimming-we have paved streets and a rich family in town got a colour tv last year. Some people gots their own mail boxes and them tellerphones that u can visit on-we even got them Komputers-kind of rural heaven I think. Maybe central Alberta is becoming the urban sticks I don't see a better quality of life there just a more benevolant government purse.

[coppertop]

even got the inside biffy too cswilson ???
Sorry, couldn't resist !

I spent the afternoon fighting traffic in Edmonton on the Yellowhead, and it is sure nice to be back to my little home in the sticks !!!! And the further away town stays the better !!!

[cswilson]

We got that when I was 16 it was a pretty major event lol.Like I said I wouldn't trade my part of the world-the 50 miles of bush you drive through getting up here scares off the timid lol.

[coppertop]

I get such a kick out of my 'city friends' always asking when I am going to sell this farm and move into a nice little condo in town or GOD FORBID in Edmonton or Calgary.
Tough for them to understand that living out here, chasing my cows, walking with my dog and enjoying peace and quiet is what I choose. I see all the little pink stucco 55 condo's in town and all the folks that live their heading over to the drop in centre for coffee EVERY morning, and of course they never miss the FARMER"S MARKET on Wednesday. Rest of the time they spend in their little sitting room, bored silly !!! Of course there is the park model in Yuma for the winter...10'x40' of heaven !!!!!! To each their own, but give me the fresh air and open spaces anyday !

[rkaiser]

And thus the name here on agriville "coppertop". Those long walks don't include a cap most of the time I presume.

Had a fellow call me copperdome this summer instead of chrome dome.

[sagewood]

Well, have been away from the discussion for a while, but boy oh boy you folks have had a good one. Interesting reading from all angles (except the American Interest--some of his claptrap does not even dignify a response). Anyway, my thoughts on cows/income/dog walking--yes--I too get great joy from getting out of bed in the a.m. and just looking at the cows, walking through them, checking the pasture--whatever--something to be said for loving the job you do. I have always said that one has to love agriculture to stay in it--otherwise it is just a darn long, hard, dirty job. That being said, in my over 30 years of raising cattle, I have always made profit--sometimes small--but profit none the less. My cattle have for several years been the thing that carried the grain part of the business. When I switched to just hay and cattle and got rid of the grain portion, I had some very, very good years of income. Then of course, the neighbors saw what I was doing and several of them left the grain and switched to hay production along with cattle--my market is somewhat limited these days re the hay..but I still can sell it at least for a break even price and the rest goes into the cattle, who always pay back. Whatever the Americans are doing will always affect us north of the 49th, however, with the outbreak of all their diseases in lettuce and spinach of late, I see a lot of people who want to source their food locally--our Canadian cattle have always done better b/c of the cooler climate and here in Ab. the strength of our short grass (for those of us who have native pasture). We can out grow thos U.S. cattle and for my taste--there is nothing like Alberta beef--I have had enough of the corn-fed stuff to know that I don't care for it. So I will hang in with my cattle through the ups and the downs, until such time as my body tells me that I cannot continue to work load--until that time--it keeps me alive and kicking and I enjoy it--profit or break even...I enjoy talking cattle and listening to others opinions of the industry--keep the faith boys and girls!

[coppertop]

geez, randy, hope you aren't insinuating that my brains are frozen from all my walks in the nice chilly air !!

Was out this morning at 6:00 AM with the spotlight trying to see whether my buddy the @@##$$ Moose was around the yard. I am not a wuss but I am not overly anxious to meet up with a mean dispositioned moose on my morning trek around the place !!

I am sure my new neighbours down the road appreciated the spot light in their window long before they were up....payback for their kids roaring around with quads in the middle of the night !!!

[cowman]

grassfarmer: Just interested in how those 300 big cows sold? I have been busy trying to get some stuff done around here and haven't had time to get into the markets? Seems I have less time the older I get!
Now personally I wouldn't want to go back to that Feb/Jan calving but those 800 lb. calves sure are pretty to see in the fall! The neighbor up the road has his momma cows with bull calves in a roadside pasture and they sure are a sight to see. I think they are about the best bunch I've ever seen in a long time! M4 beefbooster. Big stout bulls like peas in a pod. He starts calving Apr. 1st. I would "guesstimate" the average weight at well over 700 lb.!

[grassfarmer]

They are being offered for sale privately Cowman, in lots of 100 at $1350 per bred cow. All I can say is good luck!

[cowman]

I would say good luck too! You never know though...?
Maybe this guy is just "fishing" and hope some sucker bites?
Call me dumb or something but I still believe there could be a very good market for those kind of calves...and a profit for some enterprizing soul who didn't mind working like that?
My son makes the decisions around this place now...at least regarding the cattle. He was the one who decided we would go to the later calving season/Angus gentics( I still don't like them!)!
Now don't get me wrong...I enjoy not getting up every two hours when it is forty below, but I still think there is a dollar to be made following that system! For many grain based farmers calving early actually is very efficient use of their time!
Bottom line: When you sell that calf at 800 lb for $110 you net $880 beside 600 lb. at $1.20 for $720? I really don't think we fed a whole hell of a lot more to tell you the honest truth? Maybe it was harder on the cows...but I don't think so...they were still fat and sassy come fall!
Now having said all that...I will never go back. But that probably has more to do with being old and lazy than what really puts the most money in my pocket? I'll never forget 1992...when the steers I sold brought me $962 in my pocket right off the cow...November 16th!