Category Archives: Photographs

The evening before we were to ship our two loads of steers, this genius and his compadres were among them all on the irrigated pasture trying to kill a pig. He circulated so many photos of his hunting prowess, one was emailed to me. They left a gut pile in the creek and a trail of blood all the way to the road where they waited for someone to pick them up where they hid in the neighbor’s corrals.

Poaching is nothing new to us on Dry Creek, there’s always a new crop of youngsters that think that killing a hog makes them a man. Spencer (Rambo) Jensen used to crawl through grass without a gun and touch them before they knew he was there.

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With Clarence on vacation and missing shipping for the first time in twenty years, Zach, Robbin and I were saddled and ready to gather the steers before 6:00 a.m., as they began filing off the irrigated pasture, and the dry feed along the road, as if an invisible rider was getting them up and started towards the corrals. Obviously not needing me horseback, the Kubota and I began scattering a few flakes of hay as most of the bunch walked into the corrals. Robbin and Zach eased the last few in and we were ready to weigh by 6:15 a.m. I ran the sprinklers in the corral Sunday afternoon to keep the dust down, but didn’t get the lane wet. We had plenty of time before we were scheduled to start weighing at 7:00 p.m. Trucks gone by 9:00 a.m., steers net 762# – Beautiful dawn, great day!!

These guys sell 9:00 a.m.: roundupcattle.com

Ten months ago some of these steer calves were just being born, entering this world wet and vulnerable, and attentively licked to standing and nursing for the first time. Perhaps our fanciest steers to date, we come full circle—they have to go.

There’s always apprehension before an auction, especially an Internet auction where the cattle under the gavel are just still pictures, but even with detailed descriptions, it’s not the same as the sale barn. The Internet, however, exposes your cattle to more buyers than you could find locally. Cattle prices have softened since spring, feedlot placements up due to drought in much of the West. Recent media has hyped the impact of the drought on corn and grain prices, cutting margins for feedlot operators, less eager to pay top dollar for cattle. The media, of course, assumes that higher prices for corn will be passed on to the consumer, but it doesn’t generally work that way in agriculture when input prices increase, instead downward price pressure is put on producers. Farmers and ranchers don’t have the luxury of holding their perishable products off the market until the price gets better, when the crop is ready, they have to sell.

In any event, we’re looking forward to a new season, satisfied with our steers. I think the market is still strong enough that we’ll be happy with the price they’ll bring.

more pix

The day isn’t over yet, but this Friday the 13th went awfully well. Trying to beat the forecast 103°, Robbin, Zach and Clarence were in the saddle by 5:30 a.m. to gather our heifers for processing with a second round of vaccinations, plus get their Bangs vaccination that has to be administered by a veterinarian. Stuart Hall, our regular vet, was out of the country, so rather than wait for him to get home, we tried another vet from Lone Oak, Dr. Taylor Davies, at his suggestion. She arrived at 7:00 a.m.

The gather to the corrals was a slam dunk. We had the heifers weighed and waiting by 6:30 a.m., very pleased with their 725 lbs. average. Because the heifers have to be tagged and tattooed as well as vaccinated, each one has to be caught in the chute—manual, not hydraulic. 106 head later, we were done by 8:30 a.m. Clarence and Zach had them back home in their pasture by 9:00 a.m., just as the sun was peeking through the monsoonal clouds leaking over the Sierras. Great day and glad to have that job done!

Followers of the blog recall this pair of crows earlier in the spring, regular visitors in the evening. I am assuming that they’ve raised their brood and enjoying a drink and conversation, as are we. (click pic to enlarge)

Two loads of weaned steers, 775 lbs. average. Angus, Angus-Hereford cross, 15% red.

2 rounds of vaccinations at branding and weaning. Bovishield Gold 5 and 1 Shot Ultra 8. Ocuguard MB-1 at branding. Ivermectin Pour-on at weaning.

No implants or hormones. 20 eyes doctored, identified: 1/2 cc penicillin/1/2 cc steroid under eyelid, otherwise no antibiotics.

On irrigated pasture, 2 lbs./day/head of long stem alfalfa hay for roughage.

Our current plan is sell July 19th, Internet auction, “Heart of the West’ sale, RoundupCattle.com Immediate delivery.

Links to more photos: DCJ 6/24 DCJ 6/22

We took the cows from the Top in Greasy back home this morning after weaning and hauling their calves down the mountain on Monday, or rather they took us, chugging up the hill non-stop behind the Kubota. Having homes, the cows are ready to get back to normal after getting over the loss of their calves. I’m sure the prospects of being independent on a two-month vacation is also appealing.

Saddling at 5:30 a.m. to beat the warmer weather (forecast 94° today), Clarence, Robbin and Zach were coming off the hill by 8:00. Not bad!