When You Share Your Kitchen with the Calving Barn

When you share your kitchen with the calving barn,There’re things you’ll have to take in stride.Like your old mixing bowl being demoted to veterinary use, andmud being tracked in from outside.Keep the Clorox wipes within reach of the counter.For Pete's sake! Take the time to think,of cleaning off those calving goobers before you put the …

Calving Transportation…Or Lack Thereof~

The Jeepmobile has become the preferred calving vehicle for the year.  A perfect storm of breakdowns led to this promotion…. or should I say demotion?  The flatbed/feed truck has been at the repair shop for two weeks now and I am not sure if we will see that anytime soon. The side by side, which …

Ag Update~

Good frosty morning from southwest Nebraska!  What a beautiful morning it is. It is the official due date of the cows today.  Although it is just a date to them, they are already on the second page of the calving book.  The heifers are almost down to the single digits.  I counted them this morning …

Damn It~

She could not change the damn tire.  How hard can it really be, come on?  He was busy with things that needed his attention, she was picking up the slack.  She wanted to make his day easier. She could not change the damn tire.  But she chopped the ice.  She tagged the calves.  She brought …

The Calm Before the Storm~

The waning crescent moon looked down over the ethereal sunrise.  Pinks and fuchsias spread almost 180 degrees east to west across the horizon.  I am not sure how anyone could start a day in a foul mood after witnesses something like that.  It was the calm before the storm type of day… warm, quiet, and …

Bomb Cyclone~

This week marks the 4-year anniversary of the bomb cyclone that hit Nebraska in 2019.  At the time, we were thankfully only calving about 50 head of heifers out, so things were manageable for us.  The main herd of 600 wouldn't start for a few more weeks. However, we had several neighbors with 100-300 head …

And We Are Off! ~

Calving is well underway now. I do not know if the colder winter is to blame or a bull throwing some heavier than thought birthweights, but we have been assisting a much higher percentage of heifers than usual.  We used the same bulls as the previous summer and last year we only assisted one heifer, …

March~

(On a cattle ranch in the plains) March is wild and unpredictable,like a green broke horse.an ugly dirty worn- out brown.abrasive, turbulent, rarely nice.winter’s vomit, a mess. March is wind  April showers and May flowers may be a farce, but their origin sure is not. March is a 60-degree day of warm sunfollowed by a …