Category Archives: Ranch Journal

Most people have seen or heard of the hit TV show “Yellowstone” that airs on the Paramount Network. Admittedly, I have watched the show. It is set in picturesque Montana and packed with drama, lots of action and overly-fictionalized storylines around a ranching family trying to keep together the generational ranch that has been passed down to them.

This show is hard to watch if you are involved in production agriculture for the many incorrect portrayals of ranching practices and the over-the-top daily issues faced by this fictional family. However, it seems to be resonating with the public and is causing an influx of people wishing to move to the Big Sky state. The “Yellowstone effect” is real in Montana, and we have seen population growth and skyrocketing demand for real estate.

It’s no secret that the pandemic changed work dynamics, and the ability for employees to work remotely resulted in people moving away from areas with a high cost of living to more affordable locations around the country. Montana saw a huge demand increase for property. For example, in Bozeman, where the storyline of “Yellowstone” is based, the median price for a single-family home was a mere $500,000 a few short years ago.

https://www.wlj.net/opinion/devin/devins-comment-yellowstone-effect/article_8d1ab426-254b-11ed-9816-c36a6c2c9a13.html

5 Comments

Posted in Ranch Journal

Tagged ag acres, Devin Murnin, food supply, ranching culture, ranchland, water supply, Western Livestock Journal, Yellowstone

SERIOUS BUSINESS

Posted on August 30, 2022 by John | Leave a comment

Occasionally, I feel guilty.

I’ve killed so many

that I may allow

one to escape

my will to kill

before becoming numb

as machinery,

before squeezing

the pellet gun

the .22,

the .223

or the 17 HMR—

…like now as I write:

one breaking from

the dogs’ empty pens

with cheeks full

of puppy chow.

Little bastards,

I’ve fed tens of thousands

to our local wake of buzzards

waiting for the first report

of war in the canyon.

Falling off hillsides in hordes,

battalions of vermin

to strip tomatoes

green from the vine—

every sweet and juicy issue

from my darling Elberta,

our plump grapefruit

and leather-hided pomegranates

that will never spread

as jelly on toasted bread.

Serious business in a drought

to become an oasis

for the flea-infested

and their underpopulated

predators, but I’d like a day off.

First Calf 2022

Posted on August 29, 2022 by John | 1 comment

In the feed grounds this morning (8/29/22), our first calf of the season with its mother (7052), posted here as part of our age and source verification program and to share with those following this blog. Due September 1st, there are several other cows pretty close up, so it’ll have a playmate soon. An Angus calf, no Wagyu this year.

1 Comment

Posted in Photographs, Ranch Journal

Tagged age and source, first calf

How To Beat The Heat

Posted on August 28, 2022 by John | 1 comment

What a delightful afternoon after work (8/19/22). 109 degrees at the ‘Sip and Dip’: Katy Fry, Allie & Shawn Fox with Robbin, Buster and Tessa.

1 Comment

Posted in Photographs, Ranch Journal

Tagged neighbors, rejuvenation, Sip & Dip, youth

Wind Event

Posted on June 22, 2022 by John | 2 comments

Major wind event continues at noon today originating from a cut off low off the coast of Southern California, a pre-monsoonal surge of subtropical moisture bringing lightning and thunderstorms to the Southern Sierra and Central Valley into tomorrow. Little moisture. A.M. wind blew the top of a sycamore across our electrical service line to our pump at the corrals. We’ll have to haul water to our cattle.

Meanwhile we have cows and calves gathered in Greasy awaiting weaning planned for today if a tree hasn’t fallen across a fence up there. We’ll have to take some hay and check the damage tomorrow. We’re not done with the wind gusts.

2 Comments

Posted in Photographs, Ranch Journal

Tagged hauling water, photography, weather, wind

BUMBLEBEES

Posted on June 19, 2022 by John | 5 comments

Judges in California’s Third District Court of Appeal

ruled in late May that the bumblebee can legally fall

within the definition of a fish when it comes to the

definition of endangered species. “Although the term

fish is colloquially and commonly understood to refer

to aquatic species, the term of art employed by the

Legislature in the definition of fish in section 45 is not

so limited,” the trio of judges wrote.

– Western Livestock Journal, June 13, 2022

After work they like their G & Ts,

drawn to tonic and Tangueray,

slice of lime in an iced-down glass—

but some drink too much!

5 Comments

Posted in Photographs, Poems 2022, Ranch Journal

Tagged artichoke, bumblebees, endagered species, photography, poetry

BENEATH THE EAVES

Posted on June 13, 2022 by John | Leave a comment

We’re talking cattle

with a rising moon in June,

making plans for cows and calves—

the gather and sort to town,

where old friends shuffle

across the sale barn’s catwalk,

boot soles sliding, glad

to be moving among the living

when so many are not.

No one cares about our conversations,

the moon eavesdrops when it wants

just to measure our progress.

LAST LOAD TO IDAHO

Posted on May 12, 2022 by John | 2 comments

Say good-bye to your mothers

for the long ride

all you children—

the truck is clean

shavings on the floor.

Driver said it snowed

before he left,

needed chains on Donner

rolling empty here in May.

We shake our heads

about the weather,

damn little rain,

the creek’s gone dry.

With a week of winds

the oaks have come alive,

tree limbs dancing

like separate tongues

trying to lick the sky.

We shipped our last load of Wagyu X calves to Snake River Farms on Tuesday as we continue to gather and wean our Angus calves. Both cows and calves have done well despite the extremely dry spring, in part because of our heavy culling that cut our cow herd by a third after only six inches of rain the year before. With drought across the Western US, cow numbers are down everywhere resulting in a stronger market than we’ve seen in years. With unpredictable weather, higher costs for grain and inflation, we may be raising beef we can’t afford to eat.