So the rain out here in the wild west has finally stopped, and the dry heat has moved in quickly. Which basically means work is better early in the morning and the rest of the day is like a sauna. This week we have had a lot of different jobs, but it has kept the days interesting and the pace upbeat!
Monday we planned on meeting Terry and Lavonne to herd some cattle. After blowing a truck tire, we finally showed up at their house sweaty, arms full of supplies and apologies. Terry intervened and loaded our horses into the trailers and we were headed to the external ranch in just a few minutes. Once we got there, we unloaded and tacked up the horses, then quickly made our way to the outer ridges of the property. Our goal was to herd the commercial herd down towards a spring because the leased bulls that the manager had purchased to breed with his cows were isolating themselves in the northeast corner with only one heifer. In order to get all the cows bred within a reasonable window, all were moved together, along with their calves, down towards the water. Now this bunch of cows were not the typical Angus group I had usually seen out here. Because they were a commercial herd, most were not purebred. There were several who resembled Red Angus, but Lavonne told me some were probably mixed with Hereford as well.
*Now a quick note: having an individual pedigreed beef cattle herd is nice, but DOES NOT mean that it is more valuable to the marketplace. However, having the genetics available does bring in more money than a regular calf would. It is much cheaper to buy mixed breed cattle and raise them off the land because, for the most part, their BCS, or body condition score is identical to that of a purebred Angus. Commercial operations also strive towards maximizing the beef output. Purebred operations are in the market to sell the genetics of the cow, making a sale much more personal. It is usually the case though that purebred cows and calves will be moved to a cull group and sold into the commercial industry if their BCS or performance is not up to the purebred standard. For more information, Cattle Today has some great articles that are easy to understand!
**Cattle Today**
After herding cows, Terry, the kind man that he is, gladly helped us assess the damage to our tire and attach the spare. The next day, we took the busted tire into Roundup and got it replaced. The A&A, an auto shop right downtown, is basically a hole in the wall stocked full of car parts and tools. They helped us out, after asking us all sorts of personal questions of course, and sent us on our way with a perfect off road tire.
Tuesday and Wednesday were spent doing yard work, walking transects, and cleaning. Wednesday afternoon we met with a weed coordinator from Musselshell County. She gave us some great advice on spraying pesticides, PPE requirements, and pointed out lots of invasive species that we should try to locate on our transects.
Today we felt the heat hitting us full force while cutting down pine trees. The sun burns strong high up on the ridge and we sure got some sun! Sunscreen is definitely a necessity out here, as well as gallons and gallons of water. I feel as though I drank my weight today during the 4-5 hours we worked on trees. After having some problems with the chain saw, we headed back down, stopped to check in with Lavonne, and came back home to do some yard work and forage sample weighing.
Tomorrow Goz and Pat Segars will be arriving with their daughter’s family, and the four interns will be heading into Billings for the strawberry festival. These westerners sure do know how to host early morning farmer’s markets and community activities! Let’s hope we won’t seem too out of place without the typical Minnesota accents!
P.S. The selfie stick has captured many great group photos up the hillside! I highly recommend this fine piece of photog genius to anyone too lazy to schlep a tripod and professional camera up the mountain!
marilynmeetsthewest 