Thursday, April 11, 2013

calving time--it must be winter

Wohlers Ranch calves in April and May to avoid the  brutal winter weather.  However this year there hadn't been enough snow to cover the ground until April 9.  Then after having about 60 calves delivered out of 350 cows a blizzard hit the panhandle of Nebraska.  We received 18 inches of snow accompanied by 50 mph winds, needles to say Blake and Arden were forced to stay in the house because of the dangerous conditions and were unable to offer assistance to the cow herd.  After 2 days several calves have been found dead and there very likely will be more discovered as the drifts melt down, some drifts in the canyons are 10 foot deep.  The only bright news is the snow did bring moisture so there will be some grass growth ( this still does not break the prolonged drought, but it is a start).  We have had to feed with the tractor backing up the pickup because we have became stuck by high centering in the snow many times.  We have walked many miles in knee deep snow checking on cattle the past two days.