Our cows (and Star, by association) are in time out. It’s that time of year, when the grass is literally greener on the non-livestock-owning neighbor’s side of the fence. And the multiple floods we’ve experienced this summer have wreaked havoc on our fencing. Combine that with one particularly naughty heifer that seems to have taught the rest of the cows that you can actually just plow right through this silly electric fence!, and the result is an early morning phone call from said neighbor.
Headache number one is trying to round them back up and put them back where they belong. I was on one side of the creek and Matt was on the other, further downstream. The creek bottom is about chest high with grass and weeds, and in the mornings it’s heavy with dew. Traipsing around down there you end up soaked to the bone.
He was pushing them back towards me. My job was simply to stand there and make sure they didn’t cross back over to neighbor’s side of the creek. But they outsmarted us and crossed over before they got to me. And then they discovered the neighbor’s soybean field.
Headache number two is dealing with the insurance company. Matt called in the claim (which of course is just some 800 number in Omaha) and explained what had happened. The reply? “I don’t think you’re liable.” Ummmm, our cows, our fence, neighbor’s soybean field. Explain to me how we’re not liable. At that point, in as calm a voice as he could muster, Matt tried to make it painfully clear that we need to keep good relations with our neighbor. We’ve rented land from him in the past, and hope to do so again in the future. The lady on the other end of the line relented a bit at that point and agreed to send a crop adjuster. It will be interesting to see where it goes from here.
In the meantime, the cows are in lockdown until the grass gets a little taller again and Matt gets the electric fence spanning the creek reinforced with barbed wire (as it was before the floods.)
3 years ago:
2 years ago:
1 year ago:
You can almost see a little “who me?” smirk in that cow’s face. 🙂
Those cows look like they are saying to themselves – “as soon as she turns her back, we are outta here!” Good luck keeping them contained!Kris
Oh my! Never a dull moment on Sugar Creek Farm! 🙂
I so hope I dont’personaly know the cow that led the escape… I’m thinking she is in someones freezer by now….
Brian – that’s exactly the look on that cow’s face!Kris – also exactly what they’re thinking, I swear!twinville – I guess we’re due, we’ve actually had quite a dull summer livestock-wisepatti – nope, you don’t know this one 🙂 (and you’re right about the other one)