Tag: calving

JUNE QUARTERLY ROUNDUP

On By Marci WhitehurstIn My BlogLeave a comment

Drought, Calves, and Family Fun

DROUGHT

Dry grass crunches under toes and hooves. This is normal for the end of August; not so much for the end of April. May brought a little spring snow storm or two, but nothing measureable for moisture. In our neck of the woods–and many others as well–we have been managing drought for the past couple of years. It hasn’t been overwhelming, but it’s been noticeable. Now, it’s beyond noticeable. The west is dry. We had less than 2 inches of snow all winter long.

What do you do when everything is this dry? You plan for severe drought, while being optimistic of future weather. For us, this meant selling off more of the ranch cows to adjust our carrying capacity. Prices are decent right now, so it’s a good time to cull deep. We peeled off a few of the “older” ones, although they weren’t that old. We sold some of the late calvers. A couple cows lost their calves–so they got a ride to the sale as well. It feels good to be pared down to adjust for less water.

However, we rain did surprise us this week, so that is a blessing. Perhaps more will come.

CALVING

Calving season was pretty concise this year. The herd has been AI’d (artificial inseminated, not intelligence!) the last few years and it does bring a tighter calving window. We were done calving by the end of May, which was nice since our target due date was May 1st. It’s always fun to see the babies running around.

Calving season always reminds me that life keeps going. Even when things are tough, natural rhythms, God-given life cycles, still happen. The seasons arrive. Life keeps moving and it’s a gift to be a part of it. Every day we have breath in our lungs is a gift.

FAMILY FUN

This spring has been a whirlwind for our family! Our middle daughter moved to Texas and we were able to make a trip down to see her. We even took a day or two to drive south and see the beach. I love the feeling of sand between my toes and the ocean always reminds me of the vastness of this beautiful earth.

Our son came home over spring break and we were able to spend time with him. (I didn’t take pictures then! Oops!)

Then at the beginning of May, we made a trip to see our daughter’s white coat ceremony. She has one year left of clinical rotations before she is officially a DVM! This is something she’s wanted since she was 8 years old, so it’s a joy to see it coming a little closer to fruition.

UP NEXT…

Summer is always full of irrigation, cattle moves, fencing, and the like–but hopefully we’ll squeeze in some time to kayak the river! Happy almost Summer!

Calving

On By Marci WhitehurstIn My BlogLeave a comment
A new baby with Momma, off by themselves. Cattle often move away from the herd to calve.

We are in the middle of calving season. It’s a little earlier than we have done in the past, but when we moved, the calving date was already set. Fortunately, it was not January!

If you follow me, you know that we prefer spring-time calving because it follows nature’s natural rhythm, plus we live in Montana: January and February are brutal months to be calving. The weather is traumatic for their health, you have to watch them constantly so they don’t freeze–even so, they often lose ears, tails, etc to frostbite. It is not good for the cattle, the owners, or the pocketbook.

I understand that some also farm and have to calve earlier to get ready for farming or to make grazing permits work. Some claim calving earlier guarantees bigger calves–not so. That’s a possibility, but the hazards to their health and ours–(night checks at 20 below zero–yuck!) actually delay gain. We’ve had similar weight calves when calving in April to those who calve months earlier simply because it is easier on the animal.

Anyway, I digress…I have received questions about calving from people outside of the agriculture circle. Their biggest concern boils down to one thing: Are we kind to cattle?

A fair question!

Of course!

We believe cattle ought to live healthy lives that follow their natural cycles. We will not beat them or mistreat them. It is unfortunate that people ask this question because it means that somewhere it has been projected that this is the norm. *Sigh*

We’ve warmed calves in the barn because it was too cold outside after they were born. (We had calves in February from a handful of cattle. Again, not our choice, but it renewed our opinions about spring calving.) We have brought them in the truck to the barn, wrapped in old coats or blankets.

Goofy faces! No one got peed on and this calf is back with Momma in the field.

Yes, cattle are a business. Yes, we have to manage them in a way that is financially responsible. AND-we will try to nurture them in the best way possible.

Calving is a reminder of renewal. The life cycle continues and we get to watch it unfold in the fields.

Happy Spring Everyone!

Nearly Calving…

On By Marci WhitehurstIn My BlogLeave a comment

cardwell ski day, cattle pics 074
Some of the new girls.

It’s almost that time for us–calving season! I know its cliché, but calving season and spring are true reminders of the cycle of life. The snow will stop (although sometimes in Montana we wonder). Trees will become green. Everything that slowed for the harsh temperatures and weather patterns of winter will indeed come to life again in the spring.

As I’ve mentioned before, we downsized when we moved, selling our herd. We’ve had short-term cattle and steers and now we are building back a small herd. We picked up a few “late” calvers from some friends. They begin calving in January, but we prefer to aim for the first of April. Their lates were our on-times.

Most every rancher has their calving preference. Some like after the first of the year because it allows for older calves in the fall, it doesn’t interfere with spring farming, and rebreeding happens before you turn them out to pasture in the summer.

We like April calving because the temperatures are milder and we don’t have indoor facilities. We have very minimal farming on our place and historically our calves gain well by November. This timing works for us, but each producer must do what works best to fit their needs. Where a small group didn’t fit the winter calving bunch on one place, they were a perfect addition to our pasture.

Wouldn’t it be handy if everything in life worked that way? There are avenues were it does: that’s why craigslist and garage sales are successful.

Don’t you ever wonder sometimes though–what does work best? Certainly trial and error are great teachers. If you happen to have heritage on a place, perhaps time has shown you what works best. However, conditions (people included) change over time. It isn’t ever a bad idea to create a business plan for ranching. (More on business plans in ranching next week.) Having a vision of where you are going will help you take steps in the right direction.

We began ranching from scratch and we are thankful for the piece of land we have now. Is it feasible to stock it with a lot of cattle? Absolutely not. It’s going to need a few years of TLC before it reaches maximum production. It is in our best interests to have a small scale operation focused on instilling quality grazing for meat production. Our goal this fall isn’t to sell to a feedlot, but to sell high quality veal to consumers.

We believe in a symbiotic relationship between land and animals. This vision gives us an opportunity to grow and care for both land and animal alike with a family focused production. We’re quite excited about this spring…

Let the calving commence!