Good Week To Have Off

With the moderating temperatures and the firewood sales moving toward spring activities, the requests for bundles has leveled off.

We were given the week off from delivering and it was a welcome break as we were struggling to get our farm tasks like fences and moving the herd done while still procuring enough dry, standing trees to fall in order to make enough wood to bundle. We had been taking the chain saw with us when we went up the road to feed each day and after the animals were taken care of we would thin out a tree or two that had perished over this last winter. The tankful of fuel would be just enough to buck the tree into the 16 inch pieces and fill the bed of the Gator.

From there we would drive the load up the road to the barn that has the Super Splitter set up and work to fill a crib. It takes at least three and sometimes four Gator-loads to fill the crib, and with only one load a day, the week was pretty much taken up with the task. We were struggling to get enough processed to have enough for a delivery and we were thrilled when we heard that we had the week off.

With the pickup being unused for firewood bundle delivery, a phone call from a long time bull buyer came at a very good time. We looked back on our records and this buyer has purchased bulls from us every three to four years since 1995. Our long time customers are very good to us and we are dealing with the second generation from this farm operation.

This buyer happens to be from the very southern tip of Oregon near Brookings on the coast. When they first started purchasing bulls from our farm, it would be a two-day trip for them with the need to stay in a hotel for the night. The last twelve years had changed to Mike hauling the bull down I-5 just south of Eugene, while the buyer drove up I-5. A back-to-back trailer bull swap would take place in a parking lot that had lots of room to swing pickups with long trailers room into position. Over the years they have perfected the swap.

With #59 now out of the bull pen and onto his own herd in Brookings, we only have one registered bull and two commercial (non-registered) bulls left out of the batch of yearlings that had filled the bull pen just a couple of months ago.