Gerald is fourth generation farmer on the Home place and has raised cows and hogs since
Who me?
childhood alongside his father, then on his own. I was told even as a toddler, he was a farmer. The hogs paid his way through University of Nebraska – Lincoln where he graduated with degrees in Agronomy and Ag-Economics.
Gerald married Kim in 2008, a forester and photographer that did not grow up on a farm. Though I did work one summer on a de-tassling crew with my cousin out of Kearney. A country-girl I am and enjoy living in a county with only one stop light.
Our cows are split into two herds. One resides at the home place and one is on some
leased ground 2.5 miles away, referred to as the Creek. The Creek bunch generally is larger, though at this time the Home herd is larger in numbers – the bull has been busy and happy.
Hot day
Both herds are used to being in temporary enclosures as we move electrified wire on small posts to meet grazing needs in harvested grain fields or just within pasture and prairies. This allows the ground and grasses to rest between visits by the animals. The Home place has 7 ponds/water storage or drainage areas where they water. These water storage areas are also used for irrigation at needed times for the corn and soybeans.
The only visit to the Veterinarian by some calves is to be de-horned and/or banded so they don’t become bulls. Their exposure to chemicals is limited to non-existent – when the flies are bad they may be misted to reduce the nuisance and impact of the flies. Our fields are not sprayed with insecticides. Roundup (or it’s generic equivalent) can be used in the grain fields during the growing season and the cows are not grazing in those fields in the stalks for several months following.
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