Ranching 101 - The Idaho Rancher's Wife

Just Bad Luck Days on the Ranch

June 25, 2023 by admin

“If I didn’t have bad luck, I wouldn’t have any luck at all!” There might not be a truer phrase for a rancher to admit to than that. Some days it feels like all the stars have to align for the work to get done without any hitches, hiccups, or holdups. Whether it is Mother Nature the parts man or ornery old boss cow, someone, somewhere is cooking up a disaster to derail even the best laid plans. You can always count on the fact that in the middle of the cattle work, farm work, machinery fixing, fence fixing or anything else on the never end to-do list, something, without fail, will go wrong. And while I don’t have any research data to back me up, I’m pretty sure that the probability and the size of such a disaster goes up exponentially when its a high stakes situation, and goes up even more so when there is zero time for a breakdown and a do-over.

Okay, yes that may be an overdramatization, but you have to admit that there are days when things, not only don’t go right, but seem to go especially bad. It’s those sort of days you might have to concede the victory to fate, turn in early so nothing else can go wrong and laugh at the day to keep from crying. Looking back, we have had our fair share of bad luck days, some we can laugh at now… some that we still need a little more time.

This last winter felt like one stroke of bad luck after another. I mean, to begin with, it had to be bad luck that after years of drought and praying for moisture, it all comes pouring down in one, unending winter. Of course, we never look a gift horse in the mouth, but if I could have been in charge of the timing of said moisture, it certainly wouldn’t have come in a near record breaking winter fashion.

In a season where we really needed all the things to go right, I swear everything would go wrong, especially on the days when we were far from home and help. We put one fire out after another (not literally fires, but that surely would have warmed things up while we were freezing our fingers off). If it wasn’t the tractor door shattering (on a rented tractor, no less) to keep the work from being done, it was the blown hydraulic hose on the back. If it wasn’t the flat tire on the backhoe that kept us from feeding, it was the massive sinkhole that swallowed the newly fixed tractor. Not only did the gator break down but the snowmobile wouldn’t start either. You’ve heard of the hand Midas that turns everything that it touched to gold? We had the exact opposite. We touched it and it died, quit, or broke.

Sometimes it isn’t the hand that is cursed, it’s just the machine that refuses to stay in running condition. Our problem child of a pivot is simply dubbed “the old pivot” although it might be more accurate to call it the-leaky-run-down-dilapidated-old-pivot. As soon as one hole is plugged or fixed, a new pinhole starts gushing. Aside from its leaky bits, there are computer problems and electrical problems. You might say that running an old pivot just signs you up for breakdowns, but I think this pivot runs at a higher level of breakdowns. If we have any luck this year, it’s getting that old thing replaced… hope I didn’t just jinx it!

We might just make our own bad luck for the number of times we say things like “we are all caught up with the shop work” or “all the cows are settled.” It’s like those darn cows know when we breathe a sigh of relief and work to stir things up. If I had a dollar for everytime we think the cows are settled and then get a phone call that says the cows are out, we could pay someone else to keep them in. They are masters at finding the down wires, gates left open or just barging their way through. And with the sort of luck we run, we get those cows back in but can’t find the hole they are crawling through, so they just keep getting out.

Mother Nature especially likes to throw a wrench in our carefully planned out days. Despite knowing the old adage that you bale hay while the sun shines, it always seems we get into the wrong project for the weather. We meticulously check the forecast, make plans to best fit the conditions of the day, only to find the weatherman was wrong once again. It’s spraying weeds or cutting hay because it’s sunny for days on end to only have thunderstorms suddenly come in, day after day. Or planting fields just before the predicted storms never roll through. We move cows or plan to brand, sure it’s supposed to be a nice, sunny day, only to be caught in Idaho’s blustery wind, something we should learn to count on anyway.

Oh the luck of a rancher. It seems the ball never bounces our way. But truth be told, we are far luckier than we deserve with the great industry we have to be a part of. We have the great fortune of working the land, having the satisfaction of working as a family, and doing a work we love. There may be moments, some days more than others, that it feels like we have nothing but bad luck. But I will take these bad luck days on the ranch over any other day. Who needs luck when we live a life so blessed.

A Strong Ranch Kid Immune System, Brought to You by Dirt

November 28, 2022 by Allison

The weather has turned colder and one of the unfortunate downsides of everyone congregating inside is that we pass our germs around much faster. We look for sorts of remedies and quick fixes because being down and out with sickness is no fun. It’s not a quick fix, but ranch life has it’s own way to help keep colds at bay.

Wanna hear about it? Simply put, we just get down and dirty.

In a lot of ways, it’s hard to believe all those folks that say that ranch raised kids have stronger and healthier immune systems than their counterparts that live in the city. Someone might argue that just the opposite should be true, that all that exposure should lead to all sorts of illnesses and infections. But years of first hand evidence, plus a lot of official scientific research can’t be disputed. Kids raised in the country with animals, pollen filled air and a little extra dirt under their nails have been found to have a lower occurrence of asthma, allergies, seasonal colds and many other illnesses.

Like any good mom, I try to keep my kids clean, wash their hands and faces and lease once in a while. But now that I think of it, letting the dirt go a little longer isn’t such a bad thing. In fact, I’m doing them a favor, right?

There’s too many ways to count how ranch kids keep boosting their immune systems so let me just give you a snapshot look at some ways ranch raised kids are working on having those strong immune systems.

There is no one more defenseless and appealing for a dog to steal a lick from than that ranch kid that just isn’t eating his ice cream fast enough. The family pup is only trying to help and keep it from melting too fast or making such a big mess. On top of that, man’s best friend will share a few germs to help him have a good, strong immune system. Just don’t think what that cow dog was last licking on before he went for the sticky cheeks.

Along with the weekly water check, the range salt has to be checked and the kids are always willing to be on that. Not only do they check to see if there are salt blocks out but they check to make sure that they are indeed, still salty. There is only one way to check that and that is by taking a big ol’ lick. Of course there is no thought as to what last licked the salt block or anything else that might have come across it. Nope, just a big, salty lick and a good dose of germs to keep that immune system running at peak performance.

Moms are always concerned that they give their kids enough vitamins, but ranch moms never have to worry so long as the kids keep tasting the mineral supplements they put out for the herd. A lick here and there is a double wamy- vitamin boosts and immunity support.

If there is one thing a ranch kid will never run short of, it is dirt. Ranch kids are some sort of magnet for dirt. The instant they see it, they are all over it, or rather, it is all over them. It’s in their hair, on their cheeks, in their boots, all over their hands… it’s everywhere. And it’s a pretty safe bet that ranch dirt isn’t straight dirt but probably has its fair share of other run things… like poop in it. Nothings better than poopy dirt all over a ranch kid to boost her immune system.

A smart ranch mom will always make sure that there are plenty of snacks packed for any outing. The fun part of having snacks with a ranch kid is that they will usually come with a side of dirt. With so much dirt around, what’s the big deal of having a little with the fruit snacks or crackers. Just brush it off, it will be fine, or helpful for the ol’ immune system if nothing else.

There comes a point in a ranch kid’s life that they can’t help but lick EVERYTHING. IN. SIGHT. It’s like some terrible right of passage. They put their mouths on the gate, on the 4 wheeler, on all the tools… and if they survive it all, they will never get anything more than a sniffle during the cold season for the rest of their lives.

At home they might wash their hands before dinnertime, but out on the range, there isn’t a kitchen sink to get the job done. So dirty hands and peanut butter and jelly sandwich just happen. Dirt, grease, mud, poop and a whole host of other things will be all over their hands but it’s all good. Dad is right, a little dirt builds character or at least builds strong immune systems.

When a kid gets thirsty, there is no stopping him from drinking out of the nearest water hole. If it’s clean enough for the animals, it has to be clean enough for the kids, right? Who cares if it’s an old wheel line pipe or rusty trough? I’m sure the giardia is only temporary and that his immune system will come back stronger than ever.

If kids are a magnet for dirt, it is only multiplied when there is a little water added and that dirt turns to mud. Whether it is a muddy puddle from the night’s rainstorm, the muddy ditch bank or a little mud from the sprinkler, you know it is calling their name and they can’t resist. Sure it’s a big mess, but it’s also some good immune system therapy.

Every ranch has its handfuls of fun critters little ranch boys and girls can’t help but pet. From the dog to the chickens to the horses to the barn cats to the bottle calves, those little ranch hands are all over those many legged friends. Washing hands after such fun is low on the priority list for busy kids that are already onto the next thing. No worries, they are just multitasking- growing strong immune systems as they play all day.

It can be a real laugh when you think all the germs ranch kids come across, day in and day out as they play. We might cringe to think about it all, but those dirty hands and faces are keeping them healthy in the long run. And there’s a lot to be said about a dirty faced, happy and healthy ranch kid.

A Rancher’s Part in Fighting Wildfires

September 23, 2020 by Allison

The Rancher is on our local fire department and a casualty of his love for fire is that I too have learned a lot about fire. This time of year we talk A LOT about fires, where the hot spots are, how fast they are moving, destruction they cause, and all sorts of enlightening insights about firefighting that I never knew. There is always one thing that we come to-

Fire is really complicated and really simple.

The complicated part is… obviously… complicated… and not what I want to get into here.

The simple part is this. Fire needs three things- oxygen, fuel, and an ignition. Obviously, there is no way that in a wildfire we could ever contain or control the fire’s access to oxygen. In some ways we can or can TRY to have control over the source of ignition. We can try to be smart about camping with fires, sparks from shooting or exploding targets, controlled burning and fireworks. But sometimes people aren’t smart or despite their best efforts, things get out of control and fires happen. Even if we could put a stop to all fires started intentionally or unintentionally by people, there will still always be a chance of a natural fire starting. In our area, most wildfires are started by lightning.

We are forced to admit that we can’t completely control the ignition source.

Fortunately it’s a different story when it comes to fuel. Fuel in the path of a wildfire, grasses, brush trees, cannot be COMPLETELY taken out of the picture, but it can be significantly reduced. Actually, it’s the best option when it comes to being able to prevent or control a wildfire.

Now begs the question, if we want to try to limit the fuel in the path of the possible wildfire, how would we go about it? Honestly, I think we already know a handful of good and useful practices that have proven themselves in the past that we really need to take hold of. My first answer is grazing. Graze the fuels, grasses and weeds and brush and whatever else we can, to keep them at a manageable size. Cattle, sheep and goats have proven that their grazing rangelands can decrease potential fire fuels and slow the spread of wildfire. Grasses are the fastest and easiest means for a fire to spread.

Grazing the wild lands and ranges is actually a pretty terrific win-win. The cattle have good feed on the range. It’s true, it’s a great win for our ranchers. But the other winners of this deal are practically EVERYONE else. Because reducing fuels, reduces a chance of fire or at least helps keep fires smaller and easier to put out, and doing that keeps our skies clearer, air cleaner, and wild lands safe and beautiful for EVERYONE and ANYONE to use.

Doesn’t that sound like a win-win? And isn’t that a good thing? Even, a GREAT thing?!

Recently I watched a fire on our own rangeland. On a hot, dry August day with dry lightning in the forecast, it was no surprise that a wildfire started. This area of the range was rocky, spotted with cedar trees, and had been pretty well grazed by our cattle.

As I watched the progress of the fire, I was sort of in awe of its power. The fire was terrible and, honestly, incredible to see how it moved. It was just like watching water from a ditch move across the ground. It never was deterred. It never slowed. It never hesitated. Anywhere there was a path for it to go, it went. The areas with taller, thicker grasses were the places that it burned with greater vigor. But in those places that the grasses were grazed, it slowed, giving the firefighters more time to gain control.

My experience isn’t the only one out there that demonstrates the benefits of grazing when it comes to wildfires. Over the last few years, California has been devastated by rangeland fires. In May of 2019 there was a wildfire near Los Angeles that threatened Ronald Regan Presidential Library. As a means to protect the library, they contracted with a local goat rancher to come in and graze down the area to reduce the fuels. The fire came in raging but slowed to a crawl once they came up on the grazed area. In fact, the firefighters said that slowing the fires was key to giving them enough time to get ahead of the fire and save the library.

There is a lot of push back for grazing. A lot of people feel that grazing is disruptive to the course of nature both because farm and ranch animals don’t belong on wild lands and because it is trying to control nature rather than allowing it to takes it own course and should be left alone. True, grazing can seem somewhat invasive. And that can be considered a real bummer. But we have seen that the fallout of wildfires is more destructive than any grazing herd could ever cause, not only to the land but to communities and families near and far. Something even more terrible comes when we don’t take proactive measures like grazing. Mother Nature’s answer to fires is to let it go. Let it go until it either runs out of fuel (which means that it has burned EVERYTHING in its path up) or it has come upon a natural fire break.

This may have been ok hundreds and hundreds of years ago but this isn’t a suitable option anymore. As cities, businesses, and interests have changed and developed our communities, businesses and homes have spread across the country and many are now in the paths of wild fires. Not stopping fires and not preventing them allows too much devastation. A totally hands off approach to taking care of our wild lands may seem like a good option to keeping nature natural, but we have a greater responsibility to provide a safe place for people to live, work, play and raise their families. In fact NOT getting rid of the fuels that we can seems like we are setting ourselves up for disaster. Is it too bold to say that it seems irresponsible or even reckless to let those kinds of things go without being maintained?

Fire is really complicated and really simple. The simple part is that we have means to reduce the devastating effects that come as a result their unrelenting power. Grazing can play a big part in protecting the beautiful country we are all blessed to live in. While there is so much we CAN’T do to prevent fires, there are some things we can do. Let’s do them.

The Rancher’s Rules of Feeding

March 18, 2019 by Allison

Over the years of getting out and feeding cows in the winter, I have come to learn that The Rancher has some particular ways of feeding hay. Usually this guy is super easy going and just flows with what is happening around him, but once in a while there things that HAVE to be done a certain way- his way. I will admit, his “Rules of Feeding” are good. It doesn’t take long to see the common sense in his thinking (which has to be one of his strongest traits/skills…) and that following his rules will make feeding go a little smoother and faster.

Here are the rules…

The first rule The Rancher follows is actually well before feeding time, during the haying season. You see, making a bale just right is all the difference in having it roll out nice and easy or it falling apart in one clump or not coming apart at all. When you have several bales of hay to roll out each day, those extra minutes it takes to get the bale to unroll can sure add up. The best way to ensure this is to make sure that the hay is baled at just the right time, with just the right amount of moisture.

Rules two (and a half… or we could say three… Ya, they are good enough to be their own rules.) The Rancher tries to keep a stack of hay close to the different fields we feed in. Rather than making one stack of hay in the summer while we are putting up hay, he will haul the hay straight to the winter feed yards to make it ready to go. Of course it is hard to estimate exactly how many bales we will need each year and most of the time we will have to haul more hay down. So to keep from having too many extra trips, The Rancher has another simple feeding rule he lives by. He loads up with bales every morning he goes to feed. And not just one extra, but all the extras he can carry. If the feed truck is going down, so is a bunch of hay. Why not? It saves work down the road, for sure!

Next, when day one comes to start putting the feed down, don’t start right inside the gate. The Rancher grumbles every day he has a rough drive over bumpy, hard, and frozen cow pies. To avoid this he starts feeding the cows as far away from the gate as possible and then works his way to the gate, day by day. Yes, there will be some poop scattered all around the field, but the majority of it will be where the feed is because that is where the cows are spending all their time eating. And pooping. And hopefully, not where he is going to be driving.

See… they make sense. So simple, yet so brilliant.

This next rule The Rancher follows I think is pretty clever and pretty darn observant. On our net wrap, there is a little yellow strip that goes down only one side of the bale. If he picks up the bale with the strip on the left, the bale unrolls just right. Every. Time. mostly… Ya know, like toilet paper.

If you pick up the bale with the strip on the right, you have to roll out the bale driving backwards. The Rancher handles it just fine, but the combination of driving backwards and feeding hay all at the same time just doesn’t work out too good for some of the rest of us. If The Rancher can manage it, he will even stack and line up the bales with that yellow strip all on the same side. So organized. So efficient. So beautiful.

The Rancher has a handful of other tips more than rules when it comes to feeding. Tips like how you should always have a sharp knife ready to go and to first bust off the snow and ice off the bale as best you can. Of course the best tip he lives by is to always bring a buddy along to open the gates and cut off the net wrap so you can stay in the nice warm feed truck!

Try out The Rancher’s “Rules of Feeding”. I would bet they will help you out too! What are your rules of feeding?

Calves on the Ground

February 28, 2018 by Allison

Calving 2018 is well under way here at Eliason Livestock! The few weeks before we start calving, I get all sorts of excited and just long for those cute, cuddly babies to be born. There is just something so exciting about new babies! Everything from their wispy tails to their soft noses to their wobbly legs screams “SNUGGLE ME!”

Of course their mommas are sitting behind them, snorting up a storm saying, “Get back before I eat you alive!”

Its not really like that. Too often at least. And in some regards, we like it when mommas are protective. Its their instincts teaching them how to mother and protect their calves. Them being a little feisty is better than them ignoring their calves completely!

For the longest time, we thought that we would be calving in the most ideal weather. January couldn’t’ have been more perfect- warm (ish… for Idaho at least), no wind, no rain or snow… But good things never last, especially when it comes to weather. Within a week of our first calf hitting the ground, we’ve had storms roll in, temperatures hit the single digits, and the wind blowing like it was going out of style.

So what do we do for the cold?

The Rancher takes a lot of time to prepare the pen that the heifers calve in. The pen itself is on a large hill which is so great for naturally protecting mommas and babies from the wind. On top of that, the guys push the dirt and poop around to make hills for additional wind breaks. Right up against the breaks and in a few other places throughout the pen, they put out straw for a dry warm place to snuggle down into. Then to top it all off, we have a few calf sheds that are a perfect nursery to keep the calves warm and dry.

So long as it is dry, we can do a darn good job at keeping the calves warm. We only really have to worry about them getting cold in the first few hours after birth. Naturally, those babies are wet when they come out. So naturally, they are going to get cold. Of course, their mommas help them get warm as they clean them up. A belly of warm milk goes a long way too, to getting warm from the inside out.

Once in a while, those things just aren’t enough to keep a baby warm. So we go in and scoop that baby up to bring it into the warmer. Its amazing how just a few hours in the warmer can perk a calf right up!

Calving in the winter is hard but we hope for the best and plan for the worst. Instead of waiting for the bad to happen, we try to be prepared and proactive to give our calves the best chance possible. And then we watch and hope and pray that we can make up the difference when it just isn’t enough.

Cows on the Move

January 17, 2018 by Allison

All the cows are home. Well, all the cows that are coming home at home. I’m like a momma hen with all chicks tucked under her wings. Ha! No… I don’t feel the need to have them all close under wing and my watchful eye. They are probably going to get out and make for more work for me. Hey honey, lets get them kicked back out ASAP, ok!

We brought the last of the girls home a week ago. On our anniversary, in fact. What better way could we have spent our anniversary than chasing cows?! They actually moved super well, which was kinda surprising. Remember a few years ago when it was kinda a disaster? I was busy reading stories to The Ranch Princess when The Rancher walked in and said my favorite words, “Are ya busy? Can you come help?” Even if I am busy, YES, of course I am going to help!

My job was simple- wait and turn the cattle onto the road and then follow in the truck and trailer. I was more than willing for that job because it was a very cold very foggy and rainy day.

You may be surprised to see the guys heading out on 4 wheelers when I mentioned that we had the truck and trailer. This is how we cowboys in Holbrook roll.. Haha! Actually, the debate of taking horses or 4 wheelers or motorcycles can get pretty hot between the brothers. All in good fun of course! Right? I guess a lot of that has to do with perspective. The Rancher, whose every day job is to get the work done, is all about efficiency. If there is a lot of cows to move or gather over a lot of ground, he may pull out the motorbike. Then there is the opinion that what’s the point in moving cows if you don’t ride a horse… That’s half of the greatness of ranching- work that REQUIRES you to ride a horse. Which is pretty much the best kind of work. Because it isn’t work. It’s play. Both opinions have valid points…

I’ll admit, that while I love any chance to get on a horse, there are those times that 4wheelers are just more convenient. Especially when that may be the only way that I can come along. A whole other OTHER perspective on this intense debate.

I cornered The Rancher and had him spell it out for me on how he decides if he loads up the horses or the 4wheelers.

The guys like to take horses as often as possible. They can get anywhere a cow goes, especially those rangy places. It means that we can rope and doctor anything we see, rather than having to come back to take care of it later. And of course, it satisfies a cowboy’s soul to sit up in the saddle in harmony with his horse.

So when do we take 4wheelers? We usually pull them out when its a quick push down the road and it would take almost as much time to get the horses in and saddled as it would to move the cows. (ok, it doesn’t really take that long to get the horses out, but you get the idea…) But you can see how it might not be worth getting them ready for just a little jaunt down the road.

It seems that the times The Rancher rides the 4 wheeler or motorbike the most is when there is a lot of territory to cover and not a lot of man power. I see this mostly the days where they are bringing the cows in off the range than just trailing them down the road. Or if he is out checking the herd during calving season.

A few years ago we had a really hard winter. Really hard. Acutally, we have had several hard winters over the last few years. But the year I’m thinking of was hard in the midst of calving. It was so important for us to be able to get around the cattle quickly so that if there were any calves that needed help, mostly helping get warm, we could get to them before it was too late. We didn’t hardly lose a calf to the cold and I think the biggest deal was getting around fast.

Where do you stand on this issue? Because it is super important… I know some guys that at more on the rancher end than the cowboy end and they do 4wheelers only. I know another guy that likes to use horses because they will do less damage to grasses and feed. And I even know another ranch that they don’t use horses or 4wheelers… They walk. As much as they can they like to do it all on foot. They aren’t too horse savvy to use horses but they are also concerned on the impact of 4wheelers.

Do you have an opinion? I want to know what you do at your ranch! Because… I’m a curious creature, and even though we all do the same thing- ranching, we all do it differently. But however you do it, keep doing it. 4Wheelers or horses, it doesn’t really matter. What matters is that we all find our own BEST way to get the work done. Be your best and rock on!

Until next time!
The Rancher’s Wife

Fix up After Fire Season

December 20, 2017 by Allison

As you probably know, things on the cow front are pretty slow right now. Super slow. Which is good. Good because I get to enjoy my husband a little bit more. But also good for The Rancher to get some of the maintenance work done. After the summer we had, Locomotive really needs a lot of maintenance.

Our summer was riddled with thunderstorms rolling through our private and allotted BLM ground. The storms were popping with lightning and too many times that lightning turned to fires that swept across the range. I got pretty good and recognizing when those moments were upon us. The Rancher would get a call and you would hear things like, “Where did it hit?” and “Is there any wind? Which direction is it moving?” and “Who is there?”. Then of course there was the, “We will be down there right away!” At that point I just got some snacks and water and told him to be safe as he headed out the door.

The worst timing was when he got a call on the night of July 3. We had been gone for the weekend to a family reunion. We were tired from too much fun and too many miles sitting. And to top off the terrible timing, my brother and his family were there visiting for the upcoming holiday. So here comes a fire RIGHT on our land and The Rancher HAS to go. By brother and his daughter had been hoping for some awesome ranch action so they pile in with all the cowboys and go along with them. Not quite the action I was hoping to give them but you gotta roll with what ya got. They loved watching them work the fire, even if they got home in the wee hours of the morning. That sorta killed my plans for an early morning 4th of July 5K but it was still a great day!

We can only directly fight the fires if it is on our own land. When that’s the case the boys load up the tractor and disc and head down. We go around the fire itself and make a line to stop it from spreading any further. By discing up the grass that fuels the fire we are able to make a barrier to keep it from moving on and eating up anymore of our feed. But so many of the fires neighbored our land or were moving to our land that it was still prudent that we take the time to go down there and protect our land. Instead of going around the fire itself, they disc around our land. Doing this can totally head off the fire from causing any damage on our land. Its amazing what a rancher in a tractor can do to stop a fire.

Sometimes there can be tension between ranchers and those responsible for putting the fire out on BLM ground. We have the experience and know-how to get the fire out but we aren’t authorized to do it. But we are motivated a little more than others to get moving and get the job done because its our livelihood. Every bit of grass burnt up is feed we lose. We can supplement the feed with hay either in Locomotive or by bringing the cows home. But the greater loss is the time we lose feeding down there or not being able to keep the cows in Locomotive to calve out when we have to bring them home. So you can see how things can be a little tense…

But that stuff is all in the past. Now is the clean up. Those fires ripped right across the range taking out fences in any direction. And of course it ate up all the feed, so there was work to be done planting seed for some spring grass. The Rancher and Cowboy E spent a long week and then some getting things settled and back to the norm for the winter. It was long and hard but its so satisfying to put the effort in to do a good job to put things right again.

I haven’t been down there myself since all the fires have happened so I asked The Rancher to get some snaps of what the land looks like now. It is bare and black, but now we have new fences and new seeds planted and ready for a new season of growth.

From The Idaho Rancher's Wife From The Rancher's Wife

For the Love of Branding

May 8, 2017 by Allison

I have literally thousands of pictures of branding this spring. THOUSANDS! 5 different days of branding and taking so many pictures of busy cowboys (I might have less if they stopped and posed, but I take what I can get…) has made for so many photos to go through and edit.

I’m certainly not running out of photos, but I feel like I am running out of rocking stories to tell you. Its not that cool things didn’t happen, but I’m just afraid that those details of the day might bore you. Especially since we do about the same thing every year- we gather the herd, sort out the cows, brand the calves, eat lunch and start over.

It really is an exciting day that the crew looks forward to every year. I’d say its their drug of choice that they are going through some seriously withdrawals of roping and riding after a long winter. They take off across the range, adrenaline flowing, and they can’t get enough of it. They rope all day long until they are so sore they can’t keep going. Then they wake up and do it again.

The photos are going to keep coming and hopefully the stories come too! But sometimes, the photos speak for themselves. As they say, “A photo is worth a thousand words!”

Its All About a Bunch of Bull

April 1, 2017 by Allison

Bull sale season is coming to a close. It ends just as fast as it comes. I kind of have a love hate relationship with Bull Sale season. I love it when I get a chance to go, but I hate it when I get left behind. And unfortunately, with all of my other OTHER responsibilities, it happens more than I’d like. But I usually try to send a child or two if that’s the case (hahaha… hehehe…). My mother-in-law and I were having a great conversation the other night, talking about all the pros and woes of being a rancher’s wife during Bull Sale Season. I’m sure that we aren’t the only ones that have noticed the ups and downs that come Bull Sale Season. In fact, I’m sure that we have it easy compared the wives of the ranchers PUTTING ON the sale.

I’ve actually had the pleasure of both sides of the sale- the selling and the buying. Growing up I loved the prep work of a sale. Trimming everything, photographing them all, sprucing up the sale barn, staying home from school on sale day… Yep, it was a kids dream. But I’m sure as the wife to a rancher, my mom didn’t think it was quite so awesome. When I imagine her at that time of the year, one word comes to mind- STRESSED!

Even though I am on the buying side of the bull sale now, I still love it. There is such an energy at a cattle auction! The combination of the noisy crowd, the feisty bulls, the auctioneer’s ramble, and the anticipation of when to put in your bid gives the air a little extra zing. You can’t help but love it, right?!

While the debate of whether Bull Sale Season is an actual thing is still being decided, I have unofficially dubbed March, plus or minus a few weeks, as such. If you were to come look at our bull-sale-calendar, you might mistake it for a bingo card for as many days as have been scribbled on. In fact you might even think we were going for Black Out! And while there may be so many to go to, you can be sure that every one will be different and every one will be good.

The obvious upside to having so many days out to a bull sale is that I get a free pass on fixing lunch for those days. While we can always expect the sale to be great, we KNOW the meal will be even greater! In fact, it may be so good and we come home so full, that I might not even have to make dinner (actually that’s never happened, but every time I’m hopeful!). Is it bad to admit that I have even asked for a recipe or two after watching my family down their lunch? I figure its a great compliment!

Once you get to the sale and have a chance to look around, you realize that ranchers can actually dress up and they are a pretty darn good looking crowd. You spend so much time seeing them in shirts torn up from the barbed wire or pants covered in what looks like tractor oil and grease (and maybe even something else you can’t even recognize!), or boots smeared in mud and manure and stinking even worse than they look, that you forget how good looking a rancher can be. And I think they will take any chance to get out of their grubby clothes too! Maybe that’s why we hit up so many sales…. Hmmm….

I’ve decided that there is an art to bidding. You don’t want to jump in too soon, because that just might take the price right out of your budget. But you don’t want to get in the action too late because then you might be out altogether before you even got in. Unless you can manage the sneak attack and steal the show with a last second bid. Then there is the whole other ballgame of bidding online. That one really makes me nervous… What if the connection goes out all of the sudden or what if it takes a second longer to register the bid or what if …. something else could go wrong, I’m sure!
Whatever way you bid, you gotta have a game plan!

Usually we go to a sale with a budget in mind and a number of how many bulls we need to buy. I always figure that once we spend the money or we get all the bulls we need, we will head home. But the truth of the matter is, a bull sale is a rancher’s social hour. Believe it or not, ranchers to like to gab! They all hurry up to buy their bulls and then hustle over to the cookie table to chat away the rest of the sale.

At the heart of every bull sale is their bull magazine. You can ALWAYS know it is Bull Sale Season by the stack of magazines on the desk. I wonder if the mail man gets tired of filling the mail box up with them? We’ve seen a few ranches that REALLY want you to come, so they send 2 or 3 magazines to be sure you get a good look at what they’ve got. It makes things easier for The Rancher when there are more, though. He can leave one on the kitchen table to read while he eats, one on the night stand to have his final look before he goes to sleep, and one in the bathroom where he does his best thinking. For some ranches, they send out the whole sale lineup. They figure then you can come to the sale knowing exactly what you want to go home with. For other ranches it is more like a ranch-and-family-year book. They try pulling at your heart strings a bit with those sweet smiling grandbabies. Then there are the ranches that just send their own type of save-the-date card and figure its gonna save them a lot of work if you just grab the magazine as you walk through the bulls.

But without those magazines, a rancher would be lost keeping everyone and everything straight. Besides the fancy names and photos, they are full of the info any rancher needs to get a good buy. Its those EPDs. If anyone ever thought that rancher wasn’t an educated guy, he should try his hand at EPDs… I’m slowing starting to gather what scores are good birth weights, weaning weights, milking and futures. I have no idea how they figured them, but I believe them.

Well, Bull Sale Season… its been real, its been fun, and no we are done. Its just a little more than a month away until the real fun starts and we see just how good of a buy we made! Until next year… (Maybe the season will be official then and we can have an opening day celebration!)

PS- I think the life of a bull is rough… Seriously, who else has a job of pleasure that only has to work a few months of the year and then is literally put out to pasture for the rest of the year?! And to have pasture like we did last spring… Yum…

Favorite Winter Weather Gear

March 28, 2017 by Allison

If you had to have super-hot weather or super cold weather, which would you choose? I go for the cold. My theory (along with probably thousands of others!) is that you can always add layers in the cold but in the hot, eventually, you can’t take anymore off. Thankfully, I don’t have to choose one of the other and I get to have both the hot and the cold. And I’m even more thankful I get mostly warm….

I’d say that I can (usually) handle whatever kind of cold comes our way if I have enough of the right kind of layers. It probably isn’t gear for Antarctic kind of cold, but since I’m not going there any time soon (or ever), I think I’m set. I’m that kind of girl that so long as I’m not freezing, I can do whatever needs to be done. So we pull out our cold weather gear and get to work.

So without any further interruptions, distractions, or whatever else, here is, from one rancher’s wife to another (or anyone else that is interested to know), my top 5 things that helped us survive the cold of winter.

1. Our Muck Boots… These boots are a serious staple at our house, year round. But they are an absolute necessity during the winter. Let me give you the highlights of this boot: water tight, insulated, great tread, and NO LACES! I love these boots for myself but I really love these for the kids because they can put them on and tucked into their snow pants without momma’s help. And they are great for those long weeks when the snow is melting and we are sloshing through the mud.

2. A good wool hat WITH ear flaps… When I was a kid, I always laughed about the look of a wool cap. All I ever saw was Elmer Fudd. But with my cute Stormy Kromer hat, function has totally met fashion. And although looking good out on the ranch for those cows that are really into that is top priority, more importantly, I now have an awesome hat for a super warm noggin to make it through the cold winter days! The Rancher isn’t so concerned about looking good as he heads out (because looking good comes so naturally to him) but he totally agrees with me that a wool cap is the way to make it through the winter. His only stipulation is that it has to have some good long flaps to pull down over his ears.

3. Our Carhartt… everything! We wear so much Carhartt because it is good stuff. We have coats, jackets, and even wool socks! They definitely win first place. A blue ribbon. A gold star. But seriously, they do an amazing job for keeping the cold at bay. Then they last all season long, and the next and the next! I have been wearing some of my favorite winter weather pieces for years! (Not that I have had the same pair of socks on for years, just that I have been using them for years. You know what I mean, right?) I’m all about a product that can do its job well, not once, but for a good, long haul.

4. Good ol’ long johns… The old time cowboys had it right when they wore their long underwear all winter long. They are like a snugly winter coat. It’s that all our critters need, so it sounds like a good plan to me! I don’t have a favorite brand. I’m simple like that. They just need to fit in my jeans and keep me moving!

5. Insulated leather gloves… Every year we pull out the insulated leather gloves I am always amazed at how well they can keep ya warm. When winter hits I’m ready to put on the heavy-duty, snowman building, all-day-sledding, hill-climbing-snowmobiling, sort of gloves. Then The Rancher grabs his trusty insulated leather gloves and I know we are already good to go. Now if only they make them for teeny tiny hands…

There are lots of other winter favorites like our wild rags, vests, snow pants and many more cluttering my mudroom. But when it really comes down to it, this handful was our everyday-go-to winter gear and so long as we had them, we were good to go. What helped you make it through the winter? Anything that isn’t found in the mud room?