Clay Mounds

Been a busy few weeks on the farm, from silage chopping, manure spreading, ryegrass planting and now preparing for winter. This week we are taking advantage of the dry weather to do some dirt work. We are building dirt mounds in front of our barns where the cows have to walk in the winter to go between the pasture and the feed barns. We are digging in mound of clay dirt that was an old pond dam and repurposing the clay to make these mounds. We shape the mound with our skid loader and then pack the clay down with our silage packing tractors. We did some experimenting with these clay mounds the last few years and they have really held up well and keep the cows out of the mud. We have completed 6 mounds thus far with plans for about 10 more. They should be a real benefit in keeping the cows comfortable this winter! (first picture)

The second picture is the ryegrass/wheat/clover mix starting to come up now we just need a little rain to keep it growing.