Ararat Farm Newsletter August 2022

South Pole Herford calf wading through thick summer grazing

Hello Everyone,

We are in the middle of summer! It’s crazy that summer is coming to a close already with little snippets of fall even coming through. The last month has been a crazy busy. It’s been a very productive month. Matt, Ararat’s manager, was away to Texas for most of the month of August to fight forest fires. Thankfully everything on the farm ran smoothly while he was gone. We had new additions to the herd which is always very exciting. This year’s Summer Pork took place this month. We really appreciate all of you who ordered Summer Pork this year and gave us the opportunity to provide quality meats for you and your family. Let’s get started on the August’s update.

Summary for the month of August:

New Additions to the herd!
Down to little piggies…
The blessings of rain
Busy Little Farm Hand
Silly Kitty update

Grassfed cattle grazing lush grassy summer fields — The Herd

The herd is doing well. The cows have moved rapidly through the fields grazing through their paddocks very quickly. The salad bar grazing has been good giving them so much to choose from. The rain we got earlier in the month posed a bit of a problem due to flooding the creek. This thankfully didn’t cause damage but caused the cows to have to be moved to a very different field then planned. They moved well and easily are staying fat!

South Pole calf relaxing and soaking up sunshine — New Calves

We were excited to have another spindly legged, spunky calf born this month. The Lord has truly blessed with a good calf year. We have healthy and lively calves this year.

Woodland raised herford pigs foredging — The Pigs

With Summer Pork over we are now down to the little pigs. The big pigs had a stress free one bad day. The little pigs have adjusted well to being on their own and have appreciated not having to share spa time.

Grass Fed South Pole mama cow enjoying afternoon grass — Blessed Rain…

The beginning of this summer started out very dry. Very dry and very hot. We here on Ararat have stayed in drought conditions over the winter. The grass has been slow to grow and the springs have been slow to not flowing at all. With the rains at the end of July and start of August, the fields are finally starting to grow at their normal pace and the spring is flowing again. We understand that all the rain and flooding was devastating to so many and are sorry. We are also thankful for the water recovery for the land and animals.

Hard Worker

Some days are just exhausting and there is just nothing you can do about it. Normal feed time to pigs with Little Farm Hand involves her saying “I sleeping”…

Farm Kittens play peekaboo — Future Hunters…NOT

So, we thought we needed to included the goofy feline frenzy. Annoyingly they do just as the picture implies…lounge around…totally useless. Although they entertain little farm hand daily and are her best friends