You can definitely tell what time of year it is because the posts on Cattle Call have been real thin lately.  Most of us are calving and I guess the college kids are gearing up for spring break.  Calving is going well here so far.  With all the blizzards we’ve had here this winter I am calving in the most insane mud I’ve ever seen.

We had this one birth that caused me to reflect back to years ago.  This cow was acting funny most all morning.  My dad decided to get her in and palpate.  What he found led him to call me. I was at the other place feeding cattle and when I answered my phone and he said “I have two heads and two feet.  Come help.”

When I got over there I felt three feet and two heads.  I found a fourth foot after reaching around for a bit and figured out whose appendages went with the first head.  We pulled that one out and when I bent down to get the straps off the first calf, the cow pushed the second out on top of me.

My dad congratulated me on a job well done.  This for some reason made me realize how good my skills have gotten.  I remembered the first time my dad had me pull a calf on my own.  The details are a little fuzzy now, seeing how it was about 17 years ago.  The calf had an abnormal presentation, and dad figured it was dead and would make a good learning experience for me. 

This was the first time I ever had to put my hand inside a cow.  I was nervous, and a little apprehensive.  But dang it, I was a cowboy after all and I couldn’t back out right?  I put the sleeves on and felt around while dad talked me through what I should be doing.  It was a lot of work to get everything aligned just right.  My arms were burning from being so worn out.   After getting the straps on the calf’s feet dad helped me pull the calf out.

I remember feeling so relieved to have that over.  Having my arm inside a cow felt weird.  We were both amazed when the calf started to shake its head and gasp for air.  I felt a special pride every time I looked at that calf, knowing that I helped to save him.

The new twins are doing fine.  All of us here feel some kind of attachment to them.  I took this picture of them on my Blackberry just moments after they were born.

I loaded out a couple pots of cattle this morning.  Pretty routine stuff really, except for one thing.  My dad was telling the drivers that were here today how I fired the last guy that was here because of how he handled the cattle.

My facilities aren’t the best.  When people come visit my operation for the first time they are shocked to see what I have to work with.  One guy made the comment, he wouldn’t attempt to process thirty head in there, let alone the volume of cattle that I do.   People are even more amazed when they discover that I do it by myself.  When my dad built the facilities they were adequate.  He didn’t have as many cows back then and we also had hogs.  I don’t think he saw me building a feedlot and starting a registered herd of cattle.

So the driver that I didn’t like so much didn’t think things were going fast enough so he jumped into the pen and started to hot shot all the cattle.  The cattle freaked out and turned around.  They smashed a gate and ran through a fence.  I had a few words for that guy.  They were not very nice words either.  I’ll never use that driver again.

Now today, after my dad told these guys how I handled that situation, the drivers kinda stood back and let me do my thing.  We didn’t have to use hot shots, or yell.  They assisted me when I needed help.  Everyone was amazed at how the cattle walked on the truck nose to tail.  Low stress handling really works.  I don’t have snake alleys or a tub.  In fact, parts of my facilities are just portable panels.

I was real impressed with the drivers I had today.  They didn’t get the cattle worked up.  Their trailers were clean and in good shape.  I always look at the tires, lights and the gates.  Trucking is a very important link in my operation.  I think a driver that handles cattle quietly and keeps his equipment in good shape carries the mark of a true professional. 

The weather seems to be a reoccurring theme in everyone’s conversations right now.  I just keep waiting for a break in the snow and cold.  Just a few days ago, I got that break in the weather.  After I was finished feeding the cattle, I was enjoying some sunshine and my mind started to wonder.  Being the fifth generation on my family’s farm, I was wondering  how did the old timers survive these kind of harsh conditions?

As I sat there, looking at the piece of land my great grandfather spent his entire life on, I was thinking of all the changes that have taken place since he was my age.  Things like buying his first tractor, rural electricity, and milking the cows by hand each morning.  He lived to be an old man, and since he lived a quarter mile up the road from my parents place, I knew him well.  I was eighteen when he passed.  I remember his stories almost word for word.

Then I came back to the here and now.  I started to reflect on the challenges that are facing me.  While most are just the normal struggles of life, one stood out to me as totally uncalled for.  I live in an age where media biased is accepted.  I’ll quickly recap, what I am referring to.  In 2009 there was a terrible article in “Time” magazine and the movie “Food Inc.”

I felt so flabbergasted when each of these were released.  I was wondering why somebody that had never met me would spread lies about what I do.  Where did these lies about food production originate from and for what purpose?  I’ll probably never know.

I once heard somewhere that the word fear is an acronym.  It stands for False Evidence Appearing Real.  I guess that is about how I would sum the “Time” article and “Food Inc” movie.  I have been one to ask lots of questions.  So I pondered, why didn’t the outlets mention the Beef Quality Assurance program that so many ranchers participate in?  Why didn’t it mention how the beef industry spends millions of dollars of its own money on things like food safety, research and testing?  Why didn’t they point out how farmers and ranchers, like me, are good stewards of the land, and how our goal is to improve it for the next generation?  All I could do was shrug my shoulders and offer myself this simple answer to my own questions.  The truth about what I do wouldn’t fit the FEAR theme.

As I stood there looking off at the horizon, to where my great grandfather’s house once stood, I came to a realization.  His dad had the same goal I do.  To produce safe, wholesome, delicious food for the people around us.  At that point I had to grin and shrug my shoulders again.  Some things haven’t changed that much after all.

I remember what the Marine recruiter told me when he was sitting at my parent’s kitchen table.  He told me it would be hard work.  He said all they would ask of me, is all I had to give.  He assured me it would be worth it.  If you were at the General Session II in San Antonio you know there were a lot of college age folks there.  They didn’t get a great deal of assurance.   I want to set the record straight for you students.

During that session one of the association’s leaders was on stage giving his speech and he had this weird bridge in there that went into macro economics, demand and profitability-or lack thereof.  He went into this whole ditty about how this year will better than last year.  “Cattlemen are the eternal optimists.  We just have to hang on long enough to turn the next corner.”  Then it came.  He said “I’ve turned the corner so many times awaiting profit that I passed myself going around the block”  Was that supposed to be cute?  

I sat wondering what was going through the minds of those college students.  They just heard that there was little to no money in our industry, and that when they apply for a job they will be sold on the concept of being a part of something.  I wondered if they remember the one speaker on the panel that touched on capitalism.  He stated that with it you can fail and still be able to get back on your feet and make a comeback and still be a success.  My guess is those kids remember the “around the block” part.

I want to keep this blog short, so I won’t get into a lot of detail.  Here’s what I want you college folks to understand. More...

After I sold my train wreck calves, I was pretty much out of money.  I was right back where I began, working odd jobs trying to save money.  There was no social life, no drinking beer, no partying.  Since I had empty pens I had lots of time to reflect on what went wrong.

I now had a school of hard knocks, PhD in BVD.  Armed with this knew knowledge I started studying other health issues.  I learned all about coccidiosis, haemophilus, mycoplasma, and any other bugs.  I learned the symptoms, and prevention.

I remember talking to some top vets in Nebraska, and asking questions about vaccines.  They all told me to use modified live products.  They told me that killed vaccines were like shooting sterile water in the calf.  I changed my vaccination program completely.  I also went with a good deworming program.  I never ever let calves come in with out giving vaccines within the first twenty four hours.  They will also receive their second round on time.

My practices have changed a lot over the last couple years.  I have dropped the cowboy mentality and moved more towards low stress handling.  This really helps keep cattle comfortable.  I have put in a bud box.  That has made processing calves so much easier on me and them. 

I started to toy with feeding techniques as well.  I tried different More...

Reading some of the recent blogs on Cattle Call, and hearing the point of view of part time cattlemen, I was taken back to 2006.  This was about the tipping point for me, when I was about to become a full time cattlemen.  Notice I said about.  I remember the events that derailed my plans well.   A lot of what I do today is a result of the lessons I learned.

I was building my small feedlot/back grounding yard.  I had two fifty head pens completed and I was determined to fill them.  I had saved up some cash and could buy cattle without a loan.  I was in my late twenties and very More...