Winding Straps

 Among Holly's jobs around here are rolling straps as often as possible when the guys bring a load of hay to our place. She enjoys the task, and generally is happy to go along with about anything trucking related. Here she is headed down the stack corral with my brother this evening.

 Here she is a few days ago, with another load. As dad or Kyle unhooks the straps on one side, Holly begins pulling them out on the opposite side.

 

 She has her technique down.

 And works down the entire length of the load.

 Once all the straps are on the ground, out comes the "strap winder." This homemade piece of equipment is part of the charm for Holly.

 She drags each strap out like this, making sure they are kink free.

 The she gathers up the end,

 and gets it started on the winder.

 Sometimes she has to work out a kink or two while winding.

 She continues rolling and making sure the strap is straight.

 Until it's all wound up, like this.

Then she slide it off the winder,

 and stows it in one of the places they ride until the next load of hay is loaded and strapped down.

Then she goes on to the next strap. Usually the trucker is busy unloading the bales at this point, but he was waiting for his driver (aka, the photographer) to run him home to get the tractor.
By the time he has the hay off, Holly will have all his straps wound up and ready for the next trip.

Lusk Ag Expo

Yesterday I was busy manning a station at the Lusk Ag Expo, where the local 3rd grade spent an entire day learning about agriculture. A variety of ag people from our community provided live animal demonstrations, or hosted stations where they taught the students about a specific ag-related topic.
Here are a few highlights from the day:

The kids got to meet "Uggs," a hound owned by a local game warden. Part of his job is predator control on area ranches.

Uggs's owner put on a demonstration where he drug a hide around the fairgrounds, then let his dogs loose to track the "raccoon." The students were able to sit in the grandstands and watch the dogs roam all over the hill you can see in the back of this photo as a they followed the trail to this tree, located right next to the grandstands. The dogs were very interesting to watch, and while they were tracking the owner was explaining various aspects of each dog's personality, and about tracking in general.

 From the hounds, the kids headed to a horse demonstration put on by a great friend of mine I've known since grade school. She is a very talented horse trainer, and brought in the gelding she showed all throughout her 4-H years. She demonstrated various trail activities, and explained how they were also skills desirable in a ranch horse - like being able to open and close a gate while mounted.

Then she answered a lot of questions while "Snipe" stood patiently by. At the end of her session each kid got to pet the horse, which was a highlight for many.

 Up next was my next door neighbor, who is a a renowned stock dog trainer with several sheep and cattle dog trial wins under his belt. He brought his nine year old Border Collie, Shawn, and demonstrated working sheep with a dog.

 He also took the time to explain various commands, then demonstrate them. He can speed up or slow down this dog at any time with a specific whistle command, and was literally having him take the sheep around him in a circle as a talked to the kids.

In between the outside demonstrations were stations where the kids learned about a specific topic. These included making lip balm with honey and beeswax and discussing the role of bees, learning about how wheat is grown and used to make bread, and my station, where we discussed what cows eat and how the rumen works. We also got into how the rumen enables cows to digest and get nutrients from grasses, hays and other feedstuffs that we as humans cannot digest, then convert those feeds into meat or milk, which humans can digest. Furthermore, we talked about what would happen if the rancher didn't feed his cows or make sure they had enough grass (they will starve, die, get sick....), and then what will happen to the rancher? (They will got out of business, have no meat to sell, lose their money, lose their ranch, and my personal favorite answer of the day - they will have no meat to sell and we will have no meat to eat)
I had a blast, and loved the small groups that enabled kids to ask questions, and me to really get the point across of how much ranchers care about their animals, and how important a healthy diet is for livestock, just like it is for kids. It was a great day, and I'm already tossing around ideas in my head for next year.

My First Cow

 My first cow's granddaughter just calved a few minutes ago. This big boy represents the fourth generation of my cowherd, and that makes me happy! Aside from being too big, mother and baby are doing great.

People get started in the cattle business in a variety of ways. For me it was through my family and the 4-H program. When I was eight years old I purchased my first heifer from the family ranch to show in 4-H, and as they say, the rest is history.
I've told this story before, but in case you missed it, there was quite the discussion over which heifer to choose. My dad, uncle and I narrowed it down to two choices. One was an exceptional individual that would have excelled in the show ring. She was big, fancy and an all around great heifer. The second was a small heifer with a big head, kind eyes and not a whole lot going for her from the show heifer angle. She was never going to be exceptional, physically.
My dad and uncle obviously wanted me to have a good start, both in the show ring and with my cowherd. But, my heart was dead set on the little gal, and despite some serious persuasion from my dad and uncle (I can still remember my uncle explaining the lower quarter of the great heifer, and how desirable that trait was, and how they both consented that it was my choice), I made the decision to purchase Sassy.

 Meet Sassy, who made up for any physical traits she was lacking in with her disposition. We bonded, and I loved her and fell in love with showing cattle and having my own cows before the 4-H year was out. Following my first year with her, I went on to show more than 15 heifers and steers in 4-H.

After her stint as my first 4-H project, Sassy went on to be an exceptional cow. Weighing in at maybe 1,000 lbs, she raised over 10 calves for me. Her steers weighed 1,300 lbs. as fats, and I kept almost every heifer calf she produced. She was one of those cows who produced calves that were better than she was.
She survived a nasty March blizzard one spring, where a quarter of her bag was soured. But, God bless her, she wasn't one of the cows that kicked her calf off. As she aged, the thought of selling her was difficult. For a few of her later years we housed her with our calves, who she taught how to eat cake, and which allowed her to eat a higher quality ration.

(Sassy in her later years with my sister riding her. We caught her in the pasture that day for a group of third graders who visited our ranch to learn about ranching. Everyone was thrilled to get to pet a cow.)

Eventually, at about 13 or 14 years old (that is ancient for a cow here), I made the tough decision to sell my first cow. All her teeth were gone, so she couldn't consume enough to stay in optimal condition. Her calves got smaller too, and she was just old. So, after more than a decade, my first cow was sold for slaughter. It wouldn't have been right to keep her out of love for her and let her waste away on our place. I cared too much for her to let her die a slow death like that.
Today her influence is still evident in my herd, as you saw in that first photo. She also helped pay for my college education, first vehicle, and numerous other expenses. I would still argue that I made the right choice that brisk winter day in front my grandparents barn, when the great debate was waged over which way to go for my first cow purchase.