Hi everybody!
Spring has finally arrived in Russia. The lilacs are blooming and crops are being planted. We are now milking 1500 cows and they are doing well. We are having calves at this complex now. Right now there are only one or two born a day and sometimes we go a day or two without any births. We are bracing for 7 to 10 calves per day this summer!
We are spending Memorial Day weekend in Moscow for a little rest and relaxation and good food! Of course, they don't celebrate Memorial Day here in Russia, but we still can!
We are returning home to the U.S. on June 5th. We will be stopping in Pennsylvania on the way home for Kevin's nephew's graduation open house and we plan to be back in Michigan on the 8th. We think we will be home for a couple of weeks. We are looking forward to spending time with family and friends!
We hope everyone is doing well! Now that we have the internet at the farm it is easier to keep in touch with our friends and family. We have finally discovered facebook, so if you're there, look us up!
See you soon!
Kevin and Jennifer
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Wind Damage
"Saturdays are usually quiet around the farm." we told our new interpreter... well, that wasn't true this past Saturday! We had really strong winds which knocked out the electricity and damaged two of the barns.
We also had 60 cows stranded on the rotary. After about an hour and a half we learned how to turn it manually. We had to use a truck and tow strap to get it started, and once we had enough momentum going, about 20 people pushed and continued it rotating until we were able to get all the cows off. It was quite a sight! Unfortunately, we were both too busy pushing and weren't able to get a picture!
We were without power for 4.5 hours. Where is that generator we ordered back in December???
We are now milking 1260 cows and we are still waiting for another 800 to have their first calf and join the milking herd.
Today is Russian Orthodox Easter and things are much quieter today, so far!
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Hi all!
We are doing well! We have been very busy this past week. We had 600 pregnant heifers arrive at the farm from Canada this week. We were very busy getting the last barn ready before they arrived. Some of the trucks hauling the cows got lost and we spent all night waiting for them. So, we are tired to say the least!
We are now milking 1030 cows. Our employees are getting more efficient as the days pass and we are all still learning a lot. We have attached a video of the cows being milked. Here is a brief description of what they video shows: Each cow enters the moving rotary. Her udder is dipped with iodine to sanitize. She is then dried off. Then a third person attaches the milking unit. The cow continues to move around the rotary while she is milked and the milking unit detaches automatically when she is finished. She will continue her ride for a total of ten minutes and then she will exit and walk back to her barn where there is feed and a place for her to lay down. Very simple! This occurs three times per day. We are able to milk 360 cows per hour. The other video is from inside the rotary where the cows are looking down at us! You can see where the cows are entering the rotary and then on the left you can see where they exit after going for their ten minute ride. (If you look closely you can see a spray of water that we installed to make the cow reverse and get off the rotary. Some of them like to ride twice if you let them!) If you think it looks strange, imagine what they cow must think!
We are flying back to the U.S. on March 10 for a quick trip to renew our visas.
Hope to see all of you when we are out and about!
We are doing well! We have been very busy this past week. We had 600 pregnant heifers arrive at the farm from Canada this week. We were very busy getting the last barn ready before they arrived. Some of the trucks hauling the cows got lost and we spent all night waiting for them. So, we are tired to say the least!
We are now milking 1030 cows. Our employees are getting more efficient as the days pass and we are all still learning a lot. We have attached a video of the cows being milked. Here is a brief description of what they video shows: Each cow enters the moving rotary. Her udder is dipped with iodine to sanitize. She is then dried off. Then a third person attaches the milking unit. The cow continues to move around the rotary while she is milked and the milking unit detaches automatically when she is finished. She will continue her ride for a total of ten minutes and then she will exit and walk back to her barn where there is feed and a place for her to lay down. Very simple! This occurs three times per day. We are able to milk 360 cows per hour. The other video is from inside the rotary where the cows are looking down at us! You can see where the cows are entering the rotary and then on the left you can see where they exit after going for their ten minute ride. (If you look closely you can see a spray of water that we installed to make the cow reverse and get off the rotary. Some of them like to ride twice if you let them!) If you think it looks strange, imagine what they cow must think!
We are flying back to the U.S. on March 10 for a quick trip to renew our visas.
Hope to see all of you when we are out and about!
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Our new year in Russia
Hi all!
We are finally getting caught up enough to send out an update on our progress!
Things here are going very well for us. We have made it through the lengthy Russian holidays and now everyone is back to work! We had very cold weather here (-11F), but now it is near freezing during the day. This is allowing us to get caught up on problems that occur on any dairy farm in extreme cold. We had frozen alley scrapers, frozen manure pumps, frozen water, no water and even power outages! These problems can be solved, but when two or more occur at the same time it is a challenge to say the least!
Our days are very long and sometimes the days and nights run together! We start our day at 7:30 am for the first milking, lunch is at the farm. We do run home for dinner and return at 8pm for the second milking. We try to be home by 9pm, but sometimes it is midnight. We have a very good staff and everyone is learning day by day. (ourselves included!) Don’t think for a minute that we are complaining! We are having an absolute blast!
We are currently milking 900 cows. We have about 700 more to have calves and join the milking string and another 800 will arrive on the ship in late February. The last barn is nearly completed and this will make room for the new shipment. We are milking two times per day now, but we have made the decision to milk 3 times per day starting next week. It will be interesting to see how everyone handles this next step!
The days are moving quickly for us and we are eagerly awaiting the arrival of spring! We will be flying to the USA on March 10 for a quick trip to take care of some things at home.
We are finally getting caught up enough to send out an update on our progress!
Things here are going very well for us. We have made it through the lengthy Russian holidays and now everyone is back to work! We had very cold weather here (-11F), but now it is near freezing during the day. This is allowing us to get caught up on problems that occur on any dairy farm in extreme cold. We had frozen alley scrapers, frozen manure pumps, frozen water, no water and even power outages! These problems can be solved, but when two or more occur at the same time it is a challenge to say the least!
Our days are very long and sometimes the days and nights run together! We start our day at 7:30 am for the first milking, lunch is at the farm. We do run home for dinner and return at 8pm for the second milking. We try to be home by 9pm, but sometimes it is midnight. We have a very good staff and everyone is learning day by day. (ourselves included!) Don’t think for a minute that we are complaining! We are having an absolute blast!
We are currently milking 900 cows. We have about 700 more to have calves and join the milking string and another 800 will arrive on the ship in late February. The last barn is nearly completed and this will make room for the new shipment. We are milking two times per day now, but we have made the decision to milk 3 times per day starting next week. It will be interesting to see how everyone handles this next step!
The days are moving quickly for us and we are eagerly awaiting the arrival of spring! We will be flying to the USA on March 10 for a quick trip to take care of some things at home.
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