auction, piglets, clover and grass

 It's been a busy week or so.  Lots of litters of pigs; I particularly like this color combo, which we get when we cross a hampshire and a berkshire.  Weaner pigs aren't much into mud; they prefer to keep themselves really clean if they have the chance, and these guys are spotless.  Not stripeless, though. 

 The width of the shoulder strip varies; here's a wide and a narrow. 

 Was at an auction last week, and was a little horrified at the prices of cattle.  To my buyers eye they are VERY VERY expensive.   There's usually a spring bump in price, but I'm seeing 300lb calves go for $1.60 to $2.00/lb.  In my book that is way too expensive.  I'm used to seeing them at about a buck a pound.  In the picture above, the auctioneer is the guy in the checked shirt seated in the alcove.  Above his head is a sign with red Numbers that say "580".  that's the weight of the cow being auctioned off; the holstein, to the right of center.  The two guys in white hats are the ringmen; who move the animals through the sale floor.   To the right, and above the auctioneer, there's a second sign.  (click on the picture to expand it).  that lists the last sale; in this case it was a 620lb cow that sold for $580.00.  these are all live weights. 

 Had a business trip to oregon, and on the way noticed huge fields of white.  Took me a minute to figure out that these were seed beds for white clover.  If you click on the picture you can see some blue-green boxes, right in the center at the top of the white.  Those are bee hives, put there to pollinate the clover.  Ever wondered where clover honey comes from?  This part of oregon, apparently. 

It looks a lot like snow.  They also grow a lot of grass seed in this area; miles and miles of tall fescue and other common pasture grasses, managed to produce seed, which is then used all over the country.