beautiful driveway

Nature lines the ranch driveway with beautiful sunflowers every year.  Unfortunately we will mow them down soon.  Otherwise they hold drifting snow on the road during the winter.

protein intake estimation

Cows do best when they eat grass with adequate energy and protein.  Hopefully the grass has 8% to 14% protein or more.  Typically the softer and less formed a stool is the higher the protein content of the grass ate.  The consistency of this stool would indicate the cow ate a grass diet of  about 12% to 15% protein.  This exceeds the cow's requirements for maintenance, growth and lactation.  Grass of this quality is somewhat unusual for mid August in our region.  Due to above normal precipitation this year quality grass should last into the fall.

pasture monitoring

We monitor the grazing in our pastures by photographing them the day cows enter and then repeating the photo the day the cows leave the pasture.  We attempt to place enough cows in a pasture to eat 50% of the grass in 1 month then move them to a new pasture during the grass growing season.  A pasture grazed in the spring often has enough growth that it can be regrazed in the winter dormant period with little damage.  We reserve some pastures for winter grazing only.  This helps with the sustainability of our pastures without damaging the native grasses.

Saving birds

Cattle can drink water on the ranch from the river and 34 livestock tanks.  The tanks vary in size from 8 to 25 feet in diameter.  Unfortunately, birds will attempt to get a drink from a tank, fall in and drown.  The 5 tire tanks don't seem to be a problem for them to get out of.  However, birds may drown in the metal tanks (often meadowlarks--Nebraska's state bird).  We attempt to reduce the frequency of this happening by creating ways for the birds to get out of the tank.  We place ladders made from expanded metal at the edge of the tank and add an old fence post for the birds to climb.

Scotch Thistle

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Scotch Thistle is now invading overgrazed areas on the ranch (as around water tanks and perennial feed grounds) that have been long invaded by cheat grass.  This thistle can grow to 6 feet or more tall and 4 foot in circumference, which interferes with cattle movement because of its sharp spines.  Each plant can produce 40,000 seeds that can remain alive in the soil for up to 20 years.  It needs to have an herbicide applied when in the rosette stage as Blake is doing here.  Once the stalk shoots up it is too late.  We are spraying the affected areas twice in the spring and once in the fall with herbicide.  It is hard to believe that this ugly plant was brought to the U.S. from Eurasia as an ornamental in the 1800s.

warm calving--not

 May 21 and in the middle of a snow storm.  The past 24 hours has given about 10 inches and the storm has 12 more hours left in it.  The temperature hangs at 33 degrees so most snow melts a it hits the ground so accumulation has only been about 3 inches at the most.  The ranch calves later then the neighbors to avoid winter storms and to have green grass for the cows after parturition.  As you can see the theory is not 100% successful but we still like the program and it's benefits.

expensive business costs

60 miles from an implement dealer and the escalating price for parts plus labor create  expensive repair bills.  The hydraulic pump on the tractor (only 500 hours on the tractor) went out--so we weren't able to use the loader.  The repair bill was $5,000, but $1080 was to come get the tractor and then to return it.  The labor to replace the old one with the new one was $1900.  The trucker and the mechanics must make considerable salaries.  With cattle prices going down ranching is currently the wrong profession.  There has been other expensive repairs on this tractor in the past.

fraternal twins

Yes these are twins (obviously fraternal) 1 is red and 1 is black.  The ranch had a set of them last year the same way.  They were sired by an Akaushi bull (red) and out of an Angus cow black.  An article in the April 2018 National Geographic goes into skin color gradients and was an interesting read for me since I read it the same week that the twins were born last year.

baby sitting duty

Cows need a break from dealing with their babies so if they desire to graze in a different area of the pasture or go to the water tank or maybe just socialize with other cows of the herd they often will leave calves with 1 cow staying to look after them.  It is not unusual to see 1 cow with multiple calves and no other cows in site.  This probably keeps the calves from running off or it may protect them from predators such as coyotes. 

winter misery

The second blizzard in 2 weeks has hit the ranch.  Blake is doing good, but Kate, Arden and Tiger are tired of fighting the snow and need to rest.  Fortunately the cows haven't started calving so the herd is surviving well and are hoping for warmer weather when they are due to deliver in another 10 days.  The main problem being encountered is getting feed to the cattle when plowing through deep snow that has accumulated in drifts.  Also, the Niobrara is in flood stage so a much longer drive is needed to deliver feed to the cows on the other side of the river. After 2 nights at the ranch we hope the highway is open tomorrow so we can return to town.