GALLIPOLIS, Ohio — Despite all the rain we got earlier this month, one group of farmers is still feeling the ripple of effect of last year’s drought.
The extended dry spell six months ago is forcing cow farmers to adapt, as they welcome the next generation of their animals.
Joe Foster has spent the past five decades farming cattle. He’s lived at his family farm since 1972.
“It’s been real rewarding for me and my family,” said Foster.
Foster knows every sign of a cow getting ready to have her calf.
“The first thing a cow wants to do when she’s starting the calving process is look for a calm, safe place to have her calf and usually that’s away from the herd of cows,” Foster said.
Foster’s breeding typically last 60 days in the spring.
But he said because of last fall’s severe drought, the nutrition level of his cows suffered, which means it’s taking longer for all of them to give birth.
“We extended that out to a 90-day season simply because a live calf at 90 days is a lot better than no calf at all,” Foster said.
Foster has 200 cows, and nearly 20 calves have been born so far this season.
When a cow is getting ready to have her calf, Foster said the cow becomes uncomfortable and starts prancing.
“The first thing I look for is once she shows her water bag, you can tell pretty quick that what you need to see is the hooves, the top of the hooves need to be aimed right, if you can see the top of the hooves everything’s ok usually, if you see the bottom of the hooves when she presents it, the calf is backwards,” Foster said.
And this can cause some challenges for the farmers. If the birthing goes wrong, farmers must bring in vets.
“If you’re calving 200 cows, you’re going to see some situations where everything’s not ideal, you need to be prepared for that every morning when you go out,” Foster said.
To get to the calving season, the breeding season comes first. Foster said he must keep his cows healthy, and nutrition is essential.
“In order to plan for next year’s breeding season, there’s never a time when you can’t be worried about taking care of your cow because for the cow to take care of you, you always gotta have her first and foremost and make sure that you cover her needs,” Foster said.
Foster said there are many uncertainties when farming cattle, but there’s one thing that is for certain.
“Every morning’s like Christmas because you go out there and you might have a new calf, you might have three new calves,” Foster said.