The Working Ranch Blogosphere

Months of preparation and planning came together this last Saturday. Our local cattlemen's group, the Leavenworth County Beef Improvement Association, held its fifth annual field day at J&N Ranch. The LCBIA renewed an old tradition five years ago. We chose a ranch or farm of a local, county producer, brought in a few speakers/demonstrations, put on a big feed, and, for the last three years, have had some live entertainment. Every year the event becomes a little bigger and draws a few more folks.
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The nights are getting cooler and the heat seems to be easing (knock on wood). Ya'll know what that means, Fall is on it's way. That means more great times to be busy in the cattle industry!
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Well, I made it through Fair week in one piece, as least as I can tell so far. I'm sure I melted off about 10 pounds. Of course, the day after the Fair a cool front moved in. Needless to say I had a beautiful Sunday to recoup, even though I spent the whole afternoon inside watching Die Hard 2. Hey! It was a long week! I'll do what I want on my day off.
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I fought Monday, and Monday won. I was the one who came out with the bloody nose, but all of the cattle were taken care of at the end of the day. Who said a little rain will stop us from finishing our work? That is something to take pride in as a cattleman.
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Ah, yes, it's Fair week! Good because Fairs are always fun, and bad because that means I'll probably have late nights all week long. That and it's really, really, really hot out if you haven't noticed. We got all our hay rolled up, which is always a good thing to get done before Fair week. All we have left now is to get my neverending, couple day (I'll explain this part later) fencing project done, clip some pastures, fix some more fence, have our L.C.B.I.A. field day, move some Fall cows and heifers (oh goody!) this year to calving pastures, calve out the Fall herd, brand the Fall herd, and somewheres in there find time to wean. Yeah, that's the good part about ranching; there's always something to do. You're never bored. That's good, 'cause I grew up in a home where the words "I'm bored" got you a job cultivating soybeans with a roto-tiller.
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Do you ever have those days where things are going haywire and you cannot help but laugh at some of the mistakes you make and things that go wrong? You know, those times where you really hope no one is watching? Yeah that was pretty much my "Monday"
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Working at the feedyard is a little different than life on the ranch. The setting is different, work comes at a different pace, and the people work just a lil differently too.
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I'm gonna borrow a bit from Sara's latest post here. I hope she doesn't mind. Although the bulls we pulled were supposed to be bulls. They're good at being bulls too, especially when it comes to wanting to stay with the ladies. I'm torn when it comes to pulling bulls. I'm partial to it because it means some horseback time. I spend most of my summer in a tractor, so a little saddle time is a nice break. On the other hand, though, there's a part of me that's impartial to it, because, well, they are bulls and they do what they do best: be bulls.
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This week we pulled bulls. Except these weren’t herd bulls, but oops bulls that were supposed to be steers. When these little calves came in, a handful of bulls was easy to miss, but as they’ve grown, they’re hard to ignore. We’ve been having problems with bullers so decided it was time to make the cut. Or in this case, the band...
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Some times there are cattle that require a little more tender loving care than others. Then there are times that I wonder if I am working in feedyard or a growing yard.
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