Life On The Ranch:
BRANDING
Summer really kicks off with branding season. This is the time of year when friends and neighbors take turns and help each other brand and work their calves. Branding is both a beloved cowboy tradition, and a necessity to prove ownership and prevent cattle rustling (which yes... still happens today). Our family branded the 15th of June. It was the first hot day of summer, which made it not very fun towards the end, but we had a good crew, and were able to get everything done! Our family still does the traditional rope and drag branding, like perhaps you have seen in the movies. We start by gathering all the cows and calves in a big pen. Once gathered, we sort the cows back into the pasture, and leave the pen full of calves. Once the branding irons are heated up, the ropers will ride their horses into the pen, and attempt to rope both hind feet on a calf and then proceed to drag it out of the pen towards a pair of cowboys ready to wrestle the calf, and hold it on the ground. When the calf is held down, the hot branding iron is applied for a few seconds, the bull calves are castrated to become steers, and the spring shots are given. After everything is done, the calf is turned back to go find his mother, and the cowboys return to the pen to do it again. About mid afternoon, we were all done. The cows and calves were back together, and we were headed home to eat some beef and pie!
HAYING
Having branding done is a milestone of the summer, and for us, the next project is haying. We are usually able to graze our cattle for 8 to 10 months, depending on the year. Once the grass is gone, or once the weather gets too bitter, we will move the cows close to home and start feeding them hay. This year has been a fantastic year for moisture, and both the pastures and the hay ground look lush and green. We are a relatively dry and arid climate, but we put up just under 3 bales per acre on the fields south of the house, which is very good for our area! Haying is a long and tiring season in and of itself, but we are thankful that God has provided us an abundance of feed this year. We will probably be dealing with hay bales well into September.
BREEDING
The breeding season for us began on June 15th. We plan our breeding so that we start getting calves at the very end of April, hopefully avoiding any winter weather that can be stressful and deadly to the calves. Bull turnout is NOT our favorite day of the year. Our dad has always said if he hated cows as much as he hated bulls, he wouldn't be a rancher! Bulls are big, stubborn, and somewhat dangerous. Moving bulls from the bull pasture to the cows consists of convincing the bulls they even want to go anywhere, and then proceeds into breaking up a hundred fights. Testosterone is an amazing thing. We sure don't enjoy working with bulls, but again... we thank God for them! Without them, there would be no new life on the ranch, so we do our best to put up with them. This year, bull moving went very well, and now we look forward to seeing the new babies next spring!
Well, that hits a few of the high spots so far! If you have any questions about any of our ranching practices or philosophies, let us know by sending us an email! we love hearing from you.
Order & Shipping Update:
Pre orders are coming in, but we still have beef boxes available. If you are wanting to get your freezer stocked with some wholesome grass fed beef this fall, go ahead and put down a deposit on a Beef Bundle and we will get that portion of our beef secured in your name. Delivery will happen in early October (which is sneaking right up), so don't wait too long!
