Provider: Ryan & Hope
Pjesky
Profession: Farmers/Ranchers
Hometown: Goltry, Oklahoma
Spring 2009
March 2009
March brings the end of winter but some really wild weather events in Oklahoma. We
had one episode of severe weather with wind and hail but not much rain. Late
in the month we had (hopefully) our last snow – about one inch of sleet
and 8 inches of snow with strong winds.
The first part of March is when we move cattle from the wheat we are intending
to harvest. During this time we gather and sort all of our cattle. The
biggest cattle we move onto wheat we intend to graze off and the smaller
cattle get turned out into the grass pastures. This entire process
takes about a week for us to get done. The cattle did really well on
wheat pasture this winter. Our weight gains averaged 3 lbs. per day
which is excellent – 25% better than we usually get. The markets
for our cattle continue to be poor. Cattle are worth about $150 per
head less than they were last summer while the smaller calves we buy to replace
them have not really changed since last summer.
March is also when our sheep have babies. We downsized our flock
last year and now only have 20 ewes. We have purebred Polled Dorsets
and try to produce show quality lambs that will be shown by 4-H and FFA members. It
is definitely the cutest time of year for our farm.
April 2009
April was an extremely strange weather month for us here in Oklahoma. For
most of the month it was unseasonably cold and very windy with the first
three weeks being very dry. We had a late freeze on April 6th that
damaged much of the wheat in the state. Ours doesn’t appear to
have much damage. Toward the end of the month we had one of the worst
flash floods that anyone can remember. The flash flood didn’t
injure anyone and we thankfully didn’t lose any cattle. The water
did wash out a lot of fences. It took us well over a week to patch
up the damage that the water caused and it will take a long time to permanently
fix.
Hope and I were able to take a short trip to Arizona and spent two days
at the Grand Canyon. This visit was double cool because we were in
the company of young professionals from all over the world who were visiting
the U.S. as part of the Eisenhower Fellowships’ 2009 Multi Nation Program. Not
only did we experience the awe inspiring Grand Canyon but we were exposed
to many cultures and viewpoints. A gentleman from the Philippines returned
to Oklahoma returned to Oklahoma with us and Hope showed him around for a
week. They made many stops all over the state where he could explore
several topics that he is interested in.
It has been a good month, the crops look pretty good and the cattle are
gaining weight quickly. Thinks look good heading into summer.
May 2009
The month of May can be one of the busiest times of year. We bought
a load of cattle, they will be the last ones we buy for a while since we
will be concentrating on wheat harvest soon. We also sold cattle that
had been grazing-off wheat each week in May. These are cattle that
we bought last July and August weighing between 400 and 450 pounds now weigh
between 825 and 1000 pounds. Selling cattle involves setting up portable
corrals and then catching the cattle in the corral. We then haul them
to the auction where they are sorted by size and then sold to the highest
bidder. Our cattle did really well this year.
We are busy tilling the ground where the wheat was grazed-off. Late
in the month of May we begin getting ready for wheat harvest. We have
two combines that must be serviced. Servicing the machines involves
changing all the fluids and filters. This costs between $500 and $800
to complete. We also make minor and major repairs as needed to get
them ready to cut wheat.
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