Weaning and shipping

This is our super-busy week of weaning and shipping from our grazing association, located 200 miles north of our ranch. Each year my family and my uncle's family spends several phone conversations nailing down a schedule to get both his and our calves weaned, then two bunches of cows shipped home a few weeks later. As plans are made they are also inevitably changed based on weather, truck and brand inspector availability and all the other things that can come up with little notice. So far, just this morning, we've switched plans for our weaning tomorrow at least once because they got rain at the association, which means we probably won't be able to get trucks to the set of corrals closet to our cows. It's just part of ranching, and this year everyone is beyond happy to work around rain or snow.
One of the things I love about our operation is that it's based on family, and this week really highlights that. We come out of the woodwork of our individual busy schedules and make it all happen every spring and fall, and we do it together. There is no way it would go so smooth without the great help we have in each other. It's a lot of fun, and that's due to the combination of us loving our work and being able to do it together. We're very blessed to live this life, and weeks like this one give us all a chance to get together and remember that.

P.S. I am linking up with Rural Thursdays over at A Rural Journal

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