The following poem was sent to me yesterday. I enjoyed it so much, I had to share.
Jake, the rancher, went one day
To fix a distant fence.
The wind was cold and gusty
And the clouds rolled gray and dense. Read more…
Honorable Senator Doug La Malfa
Honorable Assemblyman Jim Nielsen
February 17, 2011
I would like to personally thank both of you for your involvement in the matter of the California Department of Fish and Game Incidental Take Permit and the citizens of the Scott and Shasta Valley.
For more than 30 years the farmers and ranchers of the two valleys have been voluntarily improving water efficiency, installing fish screens, replacing push up dams with permanent, fish friendly structures and incorporating bypass flows into their diversion structure designs. All of these actions were done proactively to address potential impacts to salmonids. In addition, landowners along the two rivers have installed fencing to better manage grazing in riparian areas and have voluntarily stabilized banks and planted native vegetation to improve the habitat. Read more…
Hereford cattle have the gene for horns, both bulls and cows. For decades, breeders have used horn nippers in combination with horn weights in order to make the horns curve down, instead of straight out. This is done for several reasons, the primary being for ease of working them in corrals, lead-ups and chutes.
Horn Weights
The second reason is for animal and human safety. When feeding horned cattle, whose horns are growing straight out, it is rather common for eyes of neighboring cattle to get poked and humans to get stabbed. Read more…
Dawn of a New Agriculture
Recently, I have seen a number of comments referring to amazement at the time a number of farmers and ranchers spend off the home place traveling. I felt compelled to put together my thoughts on the matter, as this related directly to me and how I have decided to invest my time both on and off the ranch.
Farmers and ranchers today are faced with a plethora of decisions to make when it comes to how to invest their time. For decades, farmers and ranchers spent nearly every waking hour on the farm or ranch, and maybe, every once in a while, would take a day or two off to go to the county fair or a very short vacation. Times have changed. Read more…
Kyle with 1st lamb of 2011
As some of you are aware, my parents have sheep as well as cattle and have been in Denver the past few days at the NCBA Convention. As with most family farms and ranches, the family that stays home covers the responsibilities of those who are away.
This morning, my 4 year old son Kyle and I drove to the other side of the ranch to check the lambing ewes for my parents, do their morning chores and feed their cows. Upon arriving we quickly noticed a Suffolk ewe in one corner of the pen in labor and a Hampshire ewe in labor in another corner. The Hamp ewe already had one lamb out and its head was up, indicating that she was getting along by herself. However, the Suffolk ewe looked to be in great distress and we could see a head of lamb showing and it was swollen with its tongue hanging out, not a good sign. Read more…
