Fixing a water-gap

This will be another long one-with several pictures-just so you know ahead of time.
With rain comes floods where I'm from. With floods comes fence to fix. A water-gap is where water flows under a fence. There typically isn't any running water where I'm from, but it's been a wet spring, so there has been lots of water and lots of fence to fix as a result.

Here's the water-gap upon arrival. This really isn't a true water-gap, but it will work to demonstrate the procedure. Lots of logs and junk hangs up on the fence and breaks the wires and bends the posts. We use steal posts on this one because this happens relatively often and they're easier to work with in this situation.

Everything that's gathered on the fence has to be removed. All the dirt and dead grass can cake into a type of cement if left too long and be a real pain. The pitchfork helps remove the debris. A couple years ago several severe floods caught rabbits and would bury them in this mixture. When your fixing fence and it's hot and humid and you uncover a week-old rabbit it's not pretty. You will, at the very least, gag.
Floods will also take broken wires and wrap them around sagebrush, logs and other misc. items downstream. You get to unwind, untangle and gather it all up because if you don't a cow or horse can cut their leg on it. The cement mixture can build up around the wires until they're several inches in diameter too. Floods are a bit of a nuisance

You throw everything downstream of the fence so it doesn't just wash right back into it during the next flood. Holly helped with smaller sticks. Some of the larger logs have to be drug with a 4-wheeler and chain in some cases.

The pitchfork, in action.

Then we unclip any wires still attached to the posts. This guy is my "little" brother. He's single, tall, hard working and likes guns-just a little sisterly help there. Anyway, back on subject-another thing to point out at this time is I was actually helping and would just grab my camera periodically to snap the process. I also discovered a crack in the bottom of my mud boots on this morning and could be seen hopping through the deeper puddles in an effort to keep my foot dry-it didn't work.

Next we pull the posts so we can reset them in a more upright, useful position. This is easy with the ground so soft, but you can't just walk up and jerk one of these out the ground on any given day.

Each wire is stretched using the stretchers. Forgive the blurriness here, but it was the best photo I had of the stretchers. The fence stretcher grips the wire on two ends and you ratchet them together. The two ends are then tied together using a very specific "knot" and the stretchers are released to remove the tension, then the wire is removed from each end and you go on to the next wire.

After stretching the top wire we set our posts, using it as a guide of where they need to be. If you stretch all 4 or 5 wires before setting your posts it makes this step harder. The thing he is using to pound the posts is called a post pounder (someone really gave that one thought, I know). It is HEAVY. I mentioned being buff at the end of the summer and this has a lot to do with. I'm guessing its weight at around 50 pounds and we pack it around when building fence and some days pound many many posts.
I would recommend you add that into your exercise program for a core and total upper body workout. Packing it up and down hills when the temp is in the 90s would count as a total body workout too.Once the post is lined up and the pounder is on it, you just go up.....

and THUNK, down. Please repeat until post is at desired height (which is a point between my hip bone and rib bones and at about his hip bone). Again, this takes about two THUNKS when the ground is so wet, but when it's dry and hot out you have to put more effort into it. Think lots of sweat and feeling like you really did something at the end of the, fencing will get you there.

Then we stretch the remaining wires and re-clip each wire at a specific height on the post. Kyle took this of me, I had to show you I did something. Emmie and Pearl were on-site as well (probably hoping for a week-old rabbit)

You can see the post has "bumps" that hold the wire at a certain level. Each wire is spaced by a set number of "bumps" This kind of post is called a T-post. If you look straight down on the top of one it is shaped like a T. We also use wood posts and I know based on points on my hip, thigh, knee, calf and ankle where each wire should be stapled onto those posts. The piece of bright silver wire was added when Kyle was stretching and the "knot" (I just don't know what else to call it, but it's not really a knot) can be seen at either end.

And we're done, with the first one. This is an easy one to fix because:
A) It's right next to the country road, most water-gaps are well off the beaten path and take forever to get to
B) We can use T-posts and they're easy to jerk out of the soft ground and reset
C) This is a nice, flat area. Most water-gaps are in the bottom of steep draws or creeks and you have to be creative sometimes to find a solution that will keep livestock from walking right over or under the fence
D)Kyle and I did it together and we work great together. We rarely have to say anything about the job because we've been doing this with each other for 15+ years. Holly helped too, which was great.

On to the next one!

Ranchers and the weather

I am at my parents house tonight. This photo was taken on my way home this evening. Normally there isn't any water in this location.
Weather is a big deal to everyone, but I truly believe there is no one that discusses it to the degree farmers and ranchers do. There are meteorologist who don't think about the weather to the extent agriculturalists do.
Let me put it to you this way- My parents know every person on the weather channel by their first name, and they each have their favorites.
This level of interest is because it impacts every action taken on a farm or ranch. For instance, this spring branding and shipping cattle and plowing fields and planting crops are all being delayed in this part of the country because of amount of rain we've had. When there's rain and mud roads become impassable and working cattle becomes difficult with muddy corrals and wet livestock. More work is created when fences are washed out or fields need to be re-worked.
While the weather may cause most peoples morning drive to take longer or make one wish they had remembered their umbrella, it can bring everything to a grinding halt on a farm and ranch. Then, when it stops everything has to be caught up.
So, when there's nothing to but watch it rain, farmers and ranchers talk about the rain. They talk about the weather regardless of the conditions.
No one dares to curse the rain, because we all know it will stop. The recent drought in this part of the country makes people extra cautious to say anything negative about moisture in almost any form. We know hundred plus degree days are looming in coming months and that we should enjoy these much needed inches of moisture.
But at the same time getting cattle worked and crops in the ground is necessary to our livelihood and has far-reaching consequences. Everything you eat, most of your clothes and countless other items you use, need and enjoy daily come from an agriculture beginning. For example, if cotton isn't planted that has a huge impact on the clothing industry. Yes, there is global trading, but U.S. agriculture is top of the line in almost all products, both in quality and level of production.
So we fuss and stew and discuss the weather almost constantly. But it's still raining, so for now everyone will continue to talk and thank God for the moisture.
If it stops we will work cattle tomorrow-and I will be taking my little camera for the first time, so we'll see how that turns out.

When I grow up...

This conversation with my parents a few days ago was pretty good. It made me think too.
My dad: Well, he's still trying to decide what he wants to be (in reference to my brother)
Me: Yeah, I think I'm going to be a writer, maybe take some pictures on the side.
Dad: Laughs, You know, you might be on to something there. Tells my mom in the background what I said
Mom: Maybe you could even get a job at a newspaper
We all laugh

Writing for a newspaper was never on my list of what I wanted to be when I grew up. Being a photographer in any capacity didn't make the list until college either.
In my younger years I was convinced I would be the next Shania Twain or Leann Rimes-sad but true.
Then I switched to a vet, until I found out vets have to euthanize pets for people. That was the end of that job aspiration.
After that, at about the ripe old age of 10, I started thinking something involving cattle genetics was more my style.
That one stuck. At about 12 I started buying bulls for our operation and selecting our replacement heifers. This led to researching genetics, meeting great seedstock producers and learning a lot about what can be accomplished through genetic selection.
I did take rolls and rolls of cattle pictures throughout my childhood and teen years, but beyond the fact that it was fun I didn't think anything of it.
Then I went to college and realized that most people my age hadn't known for eight years what they wanted to do with their life. Friends switched majors like they changed socks, others selected degrees that would result in a job that would pay well and provide adequate vacation.
I stuck with animal science-and learned some lessons. For instance, it's a whole different world when your job is to teach and you sit behind a desk and get paid every two weeks as compared to when you're out in the real world trying to make cattle pay the bills.
I did learn some important things during my college experience, but overall it wasn't as wonderfully fulfilling educationally as I had hoped.
Halfway through I decided to pursue a double major half-way through and added ag communications. This was a whole new world and I learned a lot about all aspects of communications. It was a bit of a let-down when I found out my double major was actually a double minor-after I graduated- but that's alright. I did learn a lot from my communications classes, and they came in very handy when I got my current job.
College was also when I started working for the Branding Iron Newspaper as a photographer and later as the photo editor. This is also when photography really took off for me. The job led to my first wedding and the start of my business. Today I take wedding and senior pictures and have the opportunity to see several of my photos published in the Roundup and a few other publications from time to time.
And now here I am, writing away for an ag newspaper. It's so fun an interesting to see where God takes my life. It's rarely in a direction I have planned, but that's half the fun. I do love that my job allows me to spend time on my cattle genetics and photography interests and that I get the opportunity to write about topics I enjoy.
It's also very interesting how so many of the seemingly little things I have experienced fit together and aid me in my current position. All those opportunities, conversations, people met, classes taken and places visited have converged into a history that is constantly benefiting me in the present.
I wonder whats next...

Back where I come from

Welcome to the closest thing I have to a hometown-Lance Creek. I actually grew up 25 miles north of this bustling metropolis, but it is the closest town of any kind. There is a gas station, post office, bar, elementary school, church and some oil industry stuff-basically everything necessary for life.

(Photos courtesy of my mom)

To get to the school you actually need to turn and go past the Lance Creek sign about 5 miles. What you can see in the photo is the gas station on the right with the red roof. The building further back on the right is the bar. Between the two and out of site is a post office.
There ya go, you can get a tank of fuel, mail a letter and grab a beer on your way through town (not that we act like we're from the middle of nowhere or anything)
I much prefer being affiliated with Lance Creek than the larger town (population a whopping 2,000 or so) and country seat, Lusk. There is something unique about Lusk, and after spending so much time there I still can't decide if that is a good, or a bad thing.

Now, before you start thinking Lance Creek has nothing to offer, let me make my case.
First, we have celebrities. This billboard is sitting literally on the side of the road where no one can read it without stopping. In addition to Jason Miller, we have his family, which consists of a Justen Miller, Jeff Miller and about 15 other J names.
Second, we have traffic issues. Right across from this sign is where Rex lives, along with several dozen wild turkeys, some geese, chickens, dogs and additional random bits of wildlife and domestic livestock. Once our bus ran right over one of Rex's geese. It came out the back flapping its feathers and little dirtier, but otherwise fine. The turkeys are the greatest hazard, you need good breaks if you're going to speed around Rex's corner, which most people do.
We don't have a lot of cops this far out, so the speeding thing I mentioned is fairly common. When you live over 50 miles from school you have to be innovative. What takes the non-speeder an hour to cover my brother and I could do in just over 40 minutes. So could the neighbor kids, and their parents.
We have entertainment. No-actually we don't- forget that
We do have excitement. There are floods, prairie fires, theft, people driving through that don't know how to speed properly and wreck or have issues at Rex's corner.
Perhaps topping the list is Moses (not that one, this wasn't during a flood) Moses was little off his rocker and killed a farmer in Nebraska and stole his pickup before arriving in Lusk and driving right through town with every cop in the place on high alert.
He ended up out by Lance Creek on a ranch. A father and son caught him that night. They called the cops, invited him into their home and fed him supper while waiting for the police to arrive.
Another guy (we get a lot of odd folks passing through) went missing clear out north of where I was raised. His van was found on the side a desolate road literally in the middle of nowhere. A search was conducted and he wasn't found. The following spring a rancher found him while riding.
We also have wide-open spaces, livestock, wildlife, bar fights, friendly neighbors and a great church. The school consists of a two-room building and while my brother and I attended there was an average of about 8 students total, grades k-8th.
Definitely a small, agriculture oriented community. But for being so small, the meat, wool, horse and oil products produced in northern Niobrara County are used all over the world in a variety of ways.