Allison - The Idaho Rancher's Wife

A Roundup- Ranches Branding From Montana to Kansas (and some in between)

April 30, 2014 by Allison

We aren’t the only ones busy branding this time of year. And I’m not the only one blogging about it (although with my number of posts over the last few weeks you might think I own the corner on it!). Its always fun for me to see how others ranches do it and the pictures that they put up. And I love reading the histories of branding that they write. Do you check them out?

Its ok if you don’t, because I grabbed a healthy handful of the ones I found lately. You should read them!

Some of these have great photos, others have great descriptions of how they brand. Two are posts from people that don’t normally brand, and its interesting to hear their take on it all!

KansasCattleRanch.blogspot.com — AgricultureProud.com — BeefMatters.org

RandomPocketNotes.com — James-Pratt.com — Myuill.blogspot.com

Many Irons in the Fire

April 29, 2014 by Allison

Having 760 cows means that we have to find places for all of them, which means that we have groups spread out on the range. Some of them are on our own private ground but a good majority of them run with other ranches on the Association rangeland. And that means that when we go branding we have EVERYONE’s cattle to brand!

The upside to this is that we have plenty of help to brand our calves, but that comes with the price of going out every weekend to brand (but that’s a price we are so happy to pay). It takes a LOT of time to get so many calves branded!

The group that we run with has 7 different brands in the fire! With so many different operations running together, we want to make sure that we get it right on branding day. The ropers are limited to the ranch owners or other cowboy they designate. The ropers have to be good at finding a mothered up pairs and recognizing which brand it will need. Talk about pressure!

Not only do we need to make sure we get the right brand on the right calf, but each operation has its own vaccines and marks to do. Each ranch sets up their branding station and is responsible for doing their own ground work. If you want a job done right, I guess you do it yourself, right? Actually there are a lot of the men that have run together for YEARs and YEARS that would do a fine job of doing work on each others cattle. But for the sake of not confusing the help, we don’t do too much crossover.

Since we are trying to get as many done as possible we don’t use the Nord forks. The time a roper would be tied up is time that he could be roping, which is precious. So they drag in their calf, the ground crew pounces and mugs the calf. They slide the rope off to send the roper back to rope and then they get to work.

When you write it out and explain it, it sounds crazy and a lot of work. But after doing it for so long, its amazing how you just know what to do!

Almost as Good as a Photo Shoot

April 28, 2014 by Allison

I love taking pictures on the ranch- that’s why I have this blog. And branding time is one of my FAVORITE times to take pictures. The gathering, roping, riding, and fun times together are just too awesome to not capture. In fact, last weekend I took like 1,400 pictures! Its almost like having my own cowboy photo shoot!

A lot of the pictures were duplicates (which have been deleted…) because I set my camera to burst mode to make sure that I don’t miss a thing. And some don’t turn out, so its not like I have 1,400 picture to share. But I do have a lot! You’ve been warned, there are a lot of photos here… (like more than a hundred…)

Click “Read More” for the rest of the pictures!

Days of Branding: Castrating Bulls to Steers

April 25, 2014 by Allison

Branding day really is a big day for some of these calves, especially the bulls. The poor fellas especially have a big change… I kinda feel bad for them- glad I’m not destined to be a steer.

You might not think it, but castrating is an important part of our operation of producing the best beef possible. How are a pair of cahonees related to a yummy hamburger? I’m glad you asked! I’ll tell you!

Testosterone is produced in the testes (duh, I know… have to start somewhere). And although testosterone helps calves grow fast, this is at the cost of a lot of energy. I don ‘t just mean a lot of energy to help them grow (we are totally for growing) but I mean a lot of energy to first develop testes and then produce the testosterone. In a castrated calf, more energy is put towards more marbling fat- the fat that gives meat its flavor and tenderness.

Besides castrating to make a better product, we also castrate for management sake. With testosterone comes aggression (again, duh… I know…) and aggressive cattle make for more work. On a ranch there is ALWAYS something to be done and anything we can do to ease our load is so worth it. Its also make sure that as the calves develop that they don’t get overly zealous in starting the next generation of calves- we don’t want babies pregnant with babies!

We castrate in two ways. Actually “we” only castrate in one way, then those boys do another… The first is using an elastrator. I mentioned this when we talked about tagging. There is a stretchy ring that we stretch around the testes that will eventually cut them off. This works best for young calves that haven’t developed as much. The other method is surgically cutting them- a little more intense (I’m not a wimp, I promise…).

Castrating is stressful for a calf, and stressful times can cause calves to get sick or lose weight. They will bounce back a lot better when they are younger and pick up on that weight gain faster. There have been studies that found that in the end, a calf that is castrated younger will be heavier when it is harvested versus a calf that was castrated at weaning time. Who knew!

Maybe this is more than what you wanted to know, but its a few fun facts about ranch life and what we do to make the best product we can!

PS- We had to document this first time of castrating- talk about getting in there with two hands! Way to go girl!

Days of Branding: Marking the calves

April 24, 2014 by Allison

Part of our branding routine includes, marking our calves. Running our cattle with so many others means we need easy ways to identify which is ours. We use tags, but sometimes tags fall out. And we use brands, but we can only see them when we are up close. So we have ‘nother other (in the words of The Rancher’s Sidekick) way to identify them.

The first is marking the ears. Calves naturally have a really full ear that can be easily seen. This makes for a great place to mark. Some notch out the ears, some do a split. We trim down the ear making for pointy, less full ears.

I have to tell you something… I’m not a fan of marking the ears. They look like a bat or something… But I do like how easy it is to pick up a pair of binoculars and spot those pointy little ears!

The second marking we make is a waddle. A neck waddle. I’m sure that we call it a waddle because is waddles to-and-fro… To make a waddle, we cut a flap of skin back off of the neck. When it heals what we have left is a wiggling bit of skin hanging from the neck. We only waddle the heifers since we will keep them as replacement heifers down the road while we sell the steers. No reason to waddle a calf that won’t need it!

Once again, NOT a fan of the extra wiggling, unattached waddle… but it makes it SUPER easy to identify our cattle!

Its important that these marks are done right. We don’t want too big of a slice taken from the ears or too big of a cut on the neck. We want as little stress on the calves as possible (because they have ALREADY had stress). So we let The Rancher and Rancher Sr. do it for the most part. Its a good job for them…

Days of Branding: Why we brand

April 24, 2014 by Allison

Branding can be a touchy subject when we talk with some people outside the ranching world. It can seem like a harsh or cruel thing to do. So why do we still brand?

The best answer is because it is required by law. A brand is a rancher’s signature, saying which ranch these cattle belong to. Its nice to know which ranch to call when the cows get out, but its more important to know when its time for those cattle to be harvested.

If a cow were to go in without a brand, there is no way to know who that cow belonged to, where it was, what other animals it was running with, and what region it was in. Its important to know this because we want to be VERY sure that there is nothing wrong with the meat. We don’t want to spread disease or sell contaminated beef. Ya, that’s a good reason to brand…

When cattle are sold, cross state lines, or head to be harvested they must be checked over by a brand inspector. This makes a record or a paper trail of where and when the cattle come and go.

But even if we didn’t HAVE to brand, we still would. I don’t know that there is any method out there that is as effective and efficient at marking our cattle as our own. Yes, it is stressful for the calves. It is probably painful and I really feel bad about that. But until someone finds a method of marking that can’t be altered, we gotta stick to branding. Did you know that cattle rustling is still prevalent today? (and in the state of Idaho it is still punishable by hanging!). Too many of the ways to mark cattle can be changed and someone else can claim them.

So we brand our calves. We do it so we can track our cattle so we can put out the best product possible!

Days of Branding: How we do it

April 22, 2014 by Allison

You really should come spend a day branding with us. You could almost pick any weekend and we would be going out. Most days we brand the association cattle. We have 7 ranches worth of cattle together on the range, which means a lot calves! But more about branding with the association another day.

The day that you want to brand with us is when we do our cattle on the Peterson Place. We have about 350 cows to sort through and brand. We start in the morning gathering the cattle from the north. This year we did it in the rain, and what started out as a refreshing little shower turned into a soaker (be glad I didn’t tell you to come until AFTER the rainy year).

We sort the cows out (but we leave a few… the babies are happier with a momma around) and then start to work. Actually this year, we had to wait a while before we could start- blame the rain!

But eventually we got to work. The ropers rope (obviously) and drag the calves to the “fire” where the ground crew is set up. The calves are caught and held with Nord Forks. Don’t know what they are? (neither did I until I started branding with The Rancher). The are a handy tool that is staked into the ground and has a fork like head catch. It slips on the calf’s neck and catches at the base of the head.

The forks make for an easy way to hold the calves while we mark, castrate, vaccinate, tag, and brand the calves. Its a lot to do, so we need some one to run the shots, guys to do the castrating, others to brand and the top dogs mark and tag. Once we hit our groove we just roll on through them. Before we know it, the calves are branded and the dinner bells is a-ringin’!

And then we start over.

We gather in the bunch from the south. Then sort (and no waiting!), rope, drag… you know how it goes!

Days of Branding

April 21, 2014 by Allison

Branding. So much branding. But that’s normal. Every year at this time we pull out the iron sharpen the knives, start the fire and get to work. The ranch trucks have an eternal burnt hair smell. Its stinky and dirty but we love it.

The boys especially love it because that means LOTS of roping. The long days are totally worth it when the work is more like play!

There is a lot going on when we are out there. And you are going to hear all about it! This week I’m going to show you the how’s, why’s, and what’s of branding on the Eliason ranch.

Steak Kabobs on the Grill

April 20, 2014 by Allison

Its grilling season! OK, I don’t know that there is an official grilling season… but if there were I would declare it open! We actually don’t wait for grilling season to get cooking outside. I’m a big fan of cooking on the grill, partly because that means less dishes to do…

One of my favorites to cook on the grill are Steak Kabobs. The delicious, bite size pieces of meat and veggies are the perfect dinner to change things up! I will tell you that everyone loves these. My baby couldn’t shovel them in fast enough. So fast that I was fishing the too-big-bites out of her mouth to cut them down to non choking size. And my boy was thrilled with the idea of eating off of a stick (no surprises there- he is ALL boy). In fact I might cook more on a stick because then he actually eats!

So let’s get down to cooking these kabobs! (PS, isn’t kabobs just a fun word?!)

Since they are steak kabobs, let’s start with the steak. If cost wasn’t an issue, I would tell you to go get a Filet Mignon. But a nice sirloin or skirt steak will do great. Whatever you get, cut it up into 1” pieces. Try to make them as uniform as possible so that they will all cook the same.

With the steak cut up, cut up some veggies. Peppers and onion are a favorite at our house. And zucchini- The Ranch Princess LOVES zucchini. Some days I do potatoes too. If you do potatoes, I recommend that you cook them up before. They won’t cook on the grill long enough to make them tender. I have even use baked potatoes to slice up! If I was a fan of mushrooms I would put them on… but I’m not. Really you can try anything!

This time we had a treat- pineapple! If you haven’t tasted grilled pineapple, you have to give it a try! Some people think it is weird to have warm pineapple… I promise it is so delicious you won’t even think about it!

Once everything is chopped up, it’s time for some marinating. Grab some oil, honey, soy sauce, and lemon juice. Add in a few shakes of chili powder and garlic powder.

Mix, mix, mix and then pour over the meat and veggies. I threw the veggies in a big Ziploc bag with the marinade- it made easier to shake and keep them coated with the sauce. But you can do whatever you want!

When you’re ready for the cooking (like after 2-3 hours… but the longer the better!) pull out your skewers and get to poking. I put them on the stick and then straight to the grill, but I wish I hadn’t. They cook so fast that some were ready before others were even on. By the time we got to eating them they were cooled. So skewer them all at once, grill them all at once, and then eat them all at once!

Turn your grill to high and stay close once you put them on. Remember that since they are cut small they will cook fast. And you want crunchy veggies, not mushy. Cook them about 7-8 minutes, turn and cook another 5-7 minutes.

You know the next step- EAT and ENJOY!

I have to tell you a funny about these… The Rancher had a Search and Rescue meeting, so he got to take his on the run (a meal on a stick is the ultimate fast food!). Not long after he left I got a text from him- #Kabobs #Dabomb. The fact that The Rancher thinks hashtags are ridiculous just makes it all so much funnier!

Steak Kabobs

2 lbs Steak, sirloin or flank
Bell peppers
Small Onion
Zucchini
Fresh Pineapple

Marinade

1/4 Vegetable Oil

1/3 Cup honey

1/3 Cup Soy Sauce

1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice

1/4 tsp Garlic Powder

1-2 Shakes Chili Powder

Cut the meat and vegetables into 1 inch pieces. (I only listed the veggies that we used, but it isn’t inclusive- try whatever you want!) Mix together the marinade ingredients and pour over the meat and vegetables. Cover and put into the refrigerator for 2-3 hours (the longer they sit, the more flavorful and tender they will be!).

Drain off the marinade and put the meat and vegetable chunks onto the skewers.

Preheat the grill to high heat and lightly oil. Place the kabobs on the grill and cook for 7-8 minutes and then turn. Cook for another 5-7 minutes.

Breaking in New Horses

April 18, 2014 by Allison

Every cowboy has a good string of horses and this spring we have been working on ours. We have two new mares that we have been working with. Both of them have been pretty labor intensive but with time we have seen some great progress.

The sorrel (red) horse with a white blaze is Loca. She is a baby from The Rancher’s mare when he was growing up. If you know Spanish, you know that Loca means crazy. She’s named that for a reason! For a couple of years now, The Rancher has been trying to work with her. She’s about to turn 6 (or maybe 7… I’m not quite sure) and for that many years she has been a wild thing. Too wild to really do anything with. We haven’t really even been able to get a halter on her, let alone try anything with a saddle.

One day The Rancher was working with her and he had a rope around her neck. She went to being crazy (like she doe)s and got the rope caught on the fence. She hit the slack and it tightened up around her neck. Being crazy already, she started working against the rope and before long it was tight enough that she passed out. When she tipped over, the rope broke free and loosened up around her neck. Slowly she got up and walked to The Rancher. It was like she was a completely new horse! And ever since that day, she has been a gem to work with.

The Rancher has been a little weary of her, knowing how she used to be a little crazy. But every time he has worked with her its like she has done it hundreds of times. Now all we need is to get a little experience on her and she is good to go!

Our other new horse is Sugar. We bought her from a family that had a few horses and other animals, but they really didn’t have the time to work with her. When we called to tell them we were on our way (it was a few hours to get there) they said, “Are you good with horses? I don’t think that she has ever been loaded in a trailer…”. Oh boy that was a great start!

Don’t worry, she practically loaded herself! The next day we saddled her up to see what kind of skills she had. After only a few minutes The Rancher said, “Well… she has no manners, no steering, and no gas.” I guess that left only room for progress! And boy have we made some progress- we can actually get into a good lope and move left and right. Its still rough, but with time she is going to be a great little pony!