They grow so fast

 Growing fast is part of the plan with cattle, and my husband's (and mine too now I suppose) calves have really put on the pounds this summer, making us both very happy. Here are a few photos from last week, after we moved them to fresh pasture.

Much as it pains me to say this out loud, Simmental/Angus crosses may not be that bad : )

It was a little brisk when this guy arrived in early spring!

 Here's the difference between a high percentage Simmental heifer ( on the left), and a high percentage Angus heifer (on the right). My husband just loves the one on the left, while my dad immediately commented on how much he liked the nice head on the one on the right.

 This is most likely an AI calf. My husband AI's his heifers and some of his cows each year.

As you can see, it turned out to be a great grass year in western S.D.

 

 

 

 Which also means an excellent milk year!

 These cows are mostly our first calf heifers and coming three's, in other words the young mothers. They're going to make a positive impact on the cowherd based on the number raising calves like this one. That's baby on the left and momma on the right. Oh, and one of my Wyoming transplants sporting a pink ear tag.

Here are the mothers, or "The Beef Council" as one lady commented on my Double H Facebook page. Hope you've enjoyed a good grass year in your area as well!

Unforseen Opportunities

Today I was parked in the Fresh Start parking lot in Lusk, in our dodge diesel ranch pickup (picture single cab dodge, with hydrabed, one door a bright red, with the rest of the cab sporting an old, peeling silver) pulling our horse trailer, waiting impatiently for the numerous tourists to clear a path wide enough for me to get to the diesel pump. I had just picked my horse up from the vet, but that's a different story.
A little white Toyota backed up to the pump sporting the diesel nozzle just as the nincompoop in front of me finally gathered up his keys, unlocked his pickup, started it, sang three songs, drank a pop, called his mother, and finally finally left.
I was irritated, and getting annoyed less than ten minutes into my first run-in with the thousands of tourists that cruise through Lusk each summer. My attention was drawn to an obviously gay man/woman ??? who was throwing something away. From there it swerved to the slightly over middle-aged man who was power walking in the shortest man shorts I've ever seen, complete with slits up the side in case you couldn't see enough of his legs, and a skin tight bicycle shirt that showed he needed many more miles of power walking to make a dent in his rotund gut.
Then the occupants of the little white Toyota spilled out, and most headed inside the Fresh Start. But the driver headed my way after starting the fueling process (he didn't have far to go, as I was practically sitting on his bumper)
He asks if I have a horse, and I reply yes. He then asks if it will spook the horse if he looks at it, and I reply no it won't. He heads back to the trailer to peer in at Royal, who is as irritated with our delay as I am.
I decide I may as well speak to this person who I had to wait for before I could fuel up anyway.
I get out, and he asks why we're at the vet. This eventually leads to him asking if people still shoot horses when they're hurt, which leads to me explaining that not being able to harvest terminally injured horses is far more inhumane than putting them out of their misery, and a real problem today.
From there we wandered onto the topic of cattle, and he asked about ours. I tried to explain what we did, and I think I got through to him that the longer you keep cattle, the more money you have the potential to make, but the more risk you assume.
We also discussed ethanol, and I mentioned that feeding cattle was a much more expensive thing, due largely to corn prices skyrocketing, due to ethanol. I told him I didn't believe in making fuel and food compete, or having the government fully subsidize using a food source as fuel. I also mentioned that more energy is used making ethanol than is saved by running cars on it, and that it wouldn't work with all that government money.
He asked about AI'ing, noting he had heard people do that so the bull won't hurt the cow. We cleared up that, and explained that people typically AI to gain access to genetics they couldn't otherwise afford, and noted that a poor AI technician could do more damage to a cow than a bull would.
He asked about our grass fed cattle, and if we got a premium for them, what kind of cattle my family raised, where they were marketed, why we sold our sheep, and a few other questions. We dicussed that there is a lot of technology in agriculture today, and that our horses were working horses.
Then Jared, who grew up in Rapid City, but now lives in California, happily said goodbye, went back to his little white Toyota, and moved it. I fueled up and went home, feeling much better about my wait amongst the tourists.
You never know when and opportunity to educate people agriculture will present itself, or who you will meet in the process.

Life Update

I am still experiencing some technical difficulties, and am unable to upload photos at present. So, in lieu of photos, here is a little update on what I've been up to.
This week started with moving and attempting to brand at my uncles, but being rained out. Following that I drove to Basin Sunday evening to see my guy, and to learn how to AI from his mom. Then it dried out, and I made a last-minute drive from Basin to Newcastle to brand on Tuesday, then drove back to Basin the same day.
I can report that the snowpack in the Bighorns is still very deep, but that the drive from Ten Sleep to Buffalo is still a personal favorite of mine!
Once back to Basin we took CIDR's out of heifers, practiced AI'ing on some reproductive tracts and various other spring tasks.. We also saw the new Pirates of the Carribean movie, went swimming in the hot springs at Thermopolis, and I met his grandma.
On Thursday I drove back to my parents. Friday morning I gathered up, cleaned and organized my photo equipment, and drove to Cheyenne to be a second shooter for a friend of mine who was photographing a wedding. Friday night we attended the rehersal dinner, and Saturday we (she took the vast majority of the photos) worked for just under 12 hours. It was a big day, but a great experience for me, and the perfect chance to get back into taking more technically correct photographs. I really enjoyed the experience!
This morning I drove back to my parents, armed with a venti latte with an extra espresso shot and my ipod. Tomorrow we are shipping pairs to summer pasture, Tuesday we are sorting and moving more cattle. Wednesday we are branding any late-calvers. I think Thursday has a few spare minutes right now : )
Then on Friday I am meeting my guy in Casper for a doctors appointment and some last minute shopping. From there we are going to Denver, and flying to Washington D.C. on Saturday to represent Wyoming at the U.S. Cattlemen's Association's fly-in.
To say I am excied would be an understatment!
Hope you all had a great weekend!

NWSS Pictures

As previously mentioned, I've been in Denver at the National Western Stock Show (NWSS), covering meetings and working on a feature story for the paper.
I learned a lot, and have a lot of topics to share with you on here. The ILC is a great conference, and does an excellent job of informing attendees on national and international issues facing agriculture today. My head is still swimming with quotes, comments, names and ideas I picked up at the one-day event.


I also had my camera along (as always) and grabbed a few photos of the stock show to share. First is this photo, which shows the catwalk over the "yards" at the NWSS. The event is held at the old railroad stockyards, which is how this area of the NWSS got its name. Catwalks were, and still are in some places, a common sight at livestock auctions, railroads, and other places large numbers of livestock were, or are, held. They allow spectators, potential buyers, and owners the opportunity to look at cattle with ease.
Today, this catwalk offers a great view of the NWSS yards, and is a photographer's dream come true for getting a different angle.
As you can see this is a big event. There are thousands of cattle of every breed in attendance from all over the country, and some from other countries as well.


People show cattle at stock shows. This is a different aspect of the industry than my family is involved in. We are commercial cattlemen, or ranchers, and we sell beef. These people are showmen and registered breeders, and their cattle are registered and/or prospect cattle. They're bred to excel at shows, or to sold to registered or commercial cattlemen.
They bring their cattle to these shows to compete against each other. Cattle are separated into "classes" to be judged based on sex, age, breed and a number of other, more detailed reasons.




At shows, judges rank them based on a number of things, including how they look, how well they can walk and their pedigree. That may sound pretty broad and straightforward, but it's actually a very in depth thing that takes into account a lot of different things in each animal. It's a matter of the judge weighing the pros and cons of each animal, then ranking them. The judge's opinion on what pros outweigh others is what makes or breaks it for any animal on any given day.





It's a big deal, and highly competitive. There are also shows for sheep, hogs, goats and other livestock species at stock shows. A trade show, art show, number of sales, and other events and forms of entertainment make them a lot of fun for both the public and the people competing.



Lots of cattle are also put "on display" for the public at stock shows. This allows people to see popular sires they may not have the chance to otherwise. It's a great opportunity to see a bull you may want to use in your herd through Artificial Insemination (A.I.), or to look at cattle from a producer you buy bulls from.
At the top left of this photo, you can see another building. That's where the trade show is located, and more cattle are housed, and shown, in a lower level. That area is called, "The Hill." People will refer to locations based on whether it's on The Hill, or in The Yards.



You can also buy bulls, heifers, cows, calves, shows steers, and about anything else cattle wise at the stock show. There are a number of breed and prospect (young show animal) sales.





This backdrop is actually bright blue and yellow in real life. Pictures taken in front of it are seen throughout the year in major breed catalogs, sale catalogs and other livestock related publications.




A prospect heifer. One thing about show cattle is they are bred, fed, groomed and cared for specifically to win at these shows. Their hair is also cut, which the industry refers to as clipped, in specific ways to enhance the animals appearance. You can see this heifer's head and neck have been clipped.
People also groom these cattle regularly, and have big blowers that work like a hair dryer. They train the animal's hair to lay in certain ways that will also enhance the animals appearance. Before a show they use a lot of hair spray type products to keep hair in a specific place. Then it's all washed out afterward.
Like I mentioned previously, this a is a big deal to these people, and while it's very different than what my family does, they also spend a tremendous amount of time, energy and money on their cattle, usually in an effort to make them the best they can be.





I've always had a soft spot for Herefords. When I showed cattle I had both black and Hereford cattle. I never showed at the level of the NWSS, and have found other areas of cattle production to be more my taste, but I did love it, and the Hereford breed is still a favorite of mine.


People bring what are called "strings" of cattle to these shows. This terms refers to the entire bunch they brought, which can be several dozen in some cases. They will bring bulls, heifers, cows, or a combination of all three.
Some also bring steers, and the most prestigious show to win at a stock show is usually the steer show.





It's a unique world, and fun one to visit, especially when a major show is so close. Other major stock shows are held throughout the year across the U.S., including the NAILE (pronounced Nile) in Louisville, KY, the American Royal in Kansas City, and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, to name a few.