Because we asked them to.

Does anyone else have to cross roads to get cattle from one pasture to the next?

We don’t have to do it daily, but often enough that we have cattle crossing signs we put up when we cross cattle because we have to move them across a highway.

Yes, a highway.

A busy highway that many semi’s use and tourists use to get to West Yellowstone and Yellowstone National Park.

Usually we duck them across in a couple minutes. The cows are used to it and they shuffled across the highway, barely lifting their heads for the tourists who are taking their picture.

I’m a traffic blocker. My job is to get the flow of traffic to stop. The crew gathers the cattle at the gate. I open the gate and rush into the highway with a truck or side-by-side and flags, stopping cars from hitting our crew and the cows.

Most folks are pretty kind. I know we all have places to be and we are slowing their travel down, so I’m truly grateful when the first vehicle that stops gives a friendly wave and waits.

There are those cars, though. The ones that duck and weave past us and scatter cattle because they just can’t bother to be stopped.

My favorite lately are the semis. If the semi is the first to stop, they are big enough that everyone stops without question. The drivers this summer have waved and been so patient as the riders duck a couple hundred cattle across the highway and into the gate across the road.

Agriculture is full of unknowns and uncertainty–crossing the road is no different. However, we sure are grateful for patient drivers.

We’ve seen a lot of cell phones and cameras this summer as the cattle moved along–so if you saw us, please feel free to share you pictures here. Our hope is that what you saw gave you appreciation for the agricultural industry as a whole. It’s our goal to model good practices and stewardship that help the industry. We are all in this together.

Some summer highlights:

We moved our oldest across the nation for veterinary school. (We are excited for her, but miss her.)

We attended some weddings and celebrations.

The crew moved cattle, ran irrigation, fix/built fence, etc.

We finished AI the first week of July.

We spent time with family–including our middle daughter who is at college.

Summer is full of busyness with seasonal work on the ranch!