Provider: Ryan & Hope
Pjesky
Profession: Farmers/Ranchers
Hometown: Goltry, Oklahoma
Summer 2007 Diary Entry
June
The month of June in North Central Oklahoma is harvest time. The wheat planted
last September has finally reached maturity and is ready for harvest. The
past twelve months have not been normal; in fact, my Dad has not experienced anything
like this in his sixty three years of life. Beginning in September, we were
coming off one of the hottest, driest summers ever recorded for our area. We
did get some needed moisture that has allowed us to plant our wheat and get it
up. We received enough snow and rain to sustain the wheat through the winter.
In March, wheat breaks out of winter dormancy and starts to grow again. We
received needed rain and our crop looked really great – then over
Easter weekend we received a freeze that ultimately devastated our wheat
crop. During April and May, our freeze-stressed wheat was visited
by leaf fungus and a pest known as army worms. All these stressful
factors came together to really reduce our expected yields. On June
8th, we began to harvest our wheat. The yields were anywhere from
25% to 90% of what we expected. Then our two-year drought ended. The
weather pattern changed, and over the next three weeks we received 12-15
inches of rain – ruining the rest of our wheat crop.
This past year has only served to remind me and all my neighbors that
no matter how hard you work and no matter how correctly you do everything,
the weather is really the final judge of your financial success or failure. I
just thank my lucky stars that we have insurance against crop failures
like we are experiencing.
Ronald Reagan once said “The business of farming makes a craps table
or roulette wheel look like a guaranteed source of income.” How
correct he was.
Harvesting the wheat crop
July
July in Oklahoma was much more normal than June. We have mainly had hotter
weather with a normal amount of rain. During July, we do the bulk of our
primary tillage – which starts the process of getting our land ready for
planting in the fall. On the first pass over the land, we utilize a disk
which chops up the wheat straw and mixes it with dirt; this enables it to begin
breaking down, which builds up and mulches the soil. On the second tillage
pass, we use an implement called a chisel plow which has spikes that rip into the
ground 8 to 10 inches deep. This loosens and opens up the ground
to enable it to soak up moisture.
Tilling the land in preparation for fall planting
July also begins our yearly cycle of cattle buying and selling. In
early July, we purchased 120 new freshly weaned calves. When we buy
new cattle, they need to be branded and they receive vaccinations against
several potential disease threats. The cattle are then turned out
in a pasture where we can feed them and make sure they don’t get
sick. If they do get sick they get antibiotic shots and pills until
they get better.
We also sold 90 big cattle in July. These were cattle we had bought
6 to 9 months ago. This is the primary way we make money. We
buy little cattle and fed them from pastures full of hay, feed, grass,
and wheat until they are twice as big as they were when we bought them.
Let me take you through an average day in July. I usually leave
the house about 7 a.m. My Dad and I check the new calves and feed
them. First, we doctor any sick ones. Then we go around to each of
our farms to check and see that the cattle aren’t out and the water
tanks are full. Around 10:30 a.m., I am aboard the tractor and farming. Our
fields are anywhere from 22 to 160 acres in size. An acre is about
the size of a football field. Driving the tractor is basically like
mowing the lawn. Our tractors are 335 horsepower with four wheel
drive, and the tillage implements are 30 feet wide. We can cover
about 15 acres per hour and usually travel about 5 miles per hour. From
10:30 a.m. until dark, I am sitting on the tractor. Tractor driving
can be boring, but the seat is comfortable, the air conditioner works great,
and it is equipped with a radio and CD player for entertainment. About
9 or 9:30 p.m., I arrive home to a shower, supper, a little television,
and then I go to bed. We do this routine six days a week. This pace
usually goes on for two weeks, and then we have slack time until it rains
again.
August
We are very busy on the farm during the month of August. It is
a time where we do every task associated with farming in Oklahoma. Every
day we take care of cattle early in the morning, and then we drive the
tractors for the rest of the day. During August, it usually is
very hot and dry here; the grass begins to get dry and less tasty for
the cattle. To encourage them to continue eating the grass and
to help their stomachs better digest the tougher dry grass, we feed a
protein supplement every day.
A byproduct of the tough dry grass is foot rot. Foot rot is an infection
that cattle sometimes get when dry grass chafes and cuts between their
hooves, allowing microbes from water and mud (where they stand to keep
cool) to cause infection. When we have cattle with foot rot, we give
antibiotics to help make them better. It is also important during
the hot weather to have plenty of cool fresh water and salt for the cattle
so they stay hydrated and healthy.
Hot weather also causes us to start any work with the cattle such as gathering,
sorting, hauling, or doctoring very early so we can be done before it gets
too hot. The latter half of the month we gathered and sorted our
older cattle and sold those big enough to be marketed. Also during
late August, we apply nitrogen fertilizer to our cropland in preparation
for wheat planting in September.
We had an interesting visit on the first of August. A farmer from
Australia was in our area, so we were able to take him around our land
and to a cattle auction. During his time here we learned a lot about
farming in Australia. They face all the same problems and challenges
we face here in America.
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