REYNOLDS (AP) - Contented calves, nestled next to their mothers, scramble to their feet as visitors walk into the barn.

Curious, several calves press their moist noses against the side of the gate and move forward, dark eyes wide, to get a closer look at the newcomers.

Ray Leddige, their owner, calls to a bull calf standing in the corner, keeping his mother between himself and the humans.

Harold, as Leddige affectionately calls him, though several weeks older than the calves in neighboring pens, is the same size because he was born prematurely, Leddige said.

He saved Harold by immediately putting him in a calf warmer when he was born. The calf warmer, about 24 inches wide by 48 inches long, heats to 80 degrees and has a fan to quickly dry the calves.

The warmer is a "godsend" for cattle producers who begin calving in February, Leddige said.

"We used to carry them (calves) in the house years ago," he said.

Years ago, cattle were a much more common sight on northeast North Dakota and northwest Minnesota farms.

Many farmers have quit producing livestock, preferring instead to concentrate on grain farming that does not tie them down to the farm year-round.

Leddige, who farms near Reynolds, acknowledges raising cattle is a lot of work, especially in late winter, when the calves are born. He calves in February, he said, because he wants to be finished before he gets out in the field for spring's work.