Other Ranchers - The Idaho Rancher's Wife

Integrity in the Middle of Nowhere

October 9, 2014 by Allison

I realized something new this fall. Outside from all of the awesomeness that comes with the riding and gathering on such beautiful fall days there is an incredible bond between the ranching men in this valley. On one particular morning it was evident what kind of men we are privileged to work with.

All of our cows are run with other ranches, several ranches which means that there is plenty of man power when it is time to work them. But one large bunch (all the bunches are large when you run nearly 800 cows!) we have only runs with one other ranch. Most years we have plenty of extra help but this year we felt pretty lucky to not have a disaster with as few guys as we had. Kids grow up and go to school and others really grow up and go on missions. Some get other jobs. Before we know it we are spread far and thin between, but still getting the job done.

When we got to the corrals where we were sorting I noticed that there were a lot more trucks and trailers and cowboys than what we had left. Cool. Some help. But really, I was sure that they were only there to get their few calves that end up in our group. Strays happen because that saying of the grass being greener on the other side is really true! So we sort out the strays. And no one really leaves. We start weaning the big group of cows and everyone jumps in. Even as a big storm came in and soaked everyone that didn’t bring a rain coat (me… plus a few others) they all stuck around.

After a while I decided that their time and effort was really a demonstration of their character. They work until the work is done. They help their neighbor simply because they know they need help. They don’t expect to be paid and would never hold it over our head. And because of their willingness to help we turn around and help them whenever we can. When they say they are coming we know it will happen because these men stay true to their word.

What incredible character, right? I aspire to keep that kind of legacy alive in the ranch we run, in the family I raise and in the person I strive to become.

Hometown Buck-a-Rama

September 26, 2014 by Allison

If I had known all of the crazy things that September would bring I don’t know that I would have believed it. My calendar at the end of the month looks nothing like what I had in mind at the beginning of the month. But that’s ok… In the midst of all the craziness I had some awesome family time, a fun trip to Montana with my sister (she lives in New York… like, the polar opposite of my world. Crazy that two sisters that are best friends could live completely different lives… LOVE IT!!) and a chance to go back to my roots.

The weekend that I was home to Montana just happened to be the weekend that the American Legion was holding an event to raise money for the fair grounds. Funny that until now I hadn’t realized who was responsible for the fairgrounds there. Where is the fair board, you ask? There isn’t one. Our county doesn’t actually hold a county fair. Instead they team up with a couple neighboring counties to put on a Tri-County fair in Deer Lodge. Looky there… Learned something new, didn’t ya!

So no fair board, no money from the county, and therefore in need of some creative fundraising.

The highlight of the day was a rough stock buck-out featuring the bulls of a local rough stock contractors, Rod and Bonnie Conat and Steven Graveley. They may not be PBR material just yet but that very well may be where they are heading. Some of these bulls were young and inexperienced, but they certainly have potential. But that doesn’t mean that there weren’t any old seasoned bulls that knew how to put on a show. I was thoroughly entertained!

I did have one small complaint, and you will see it here in a minute. They had hauled in a bunch of panels to make a much smaller ring to buck in. Smart, right? They won’t have to chase bulls all day to move on to the next one. But they forgot to think of the lady sitting in the stands with two tired kids crawling on her lap while she tried to take pictures. So that means that in between you and the action will be some panels and what not. Just pretend its not there…

Regardless of how the panels may or may not have ruined the ambiance of the pictures, it was still a fun day for a rodeo!

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

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!

5 March Highlights We Missed

April 4, 2014 by Allison

I can’t believe that its April. March just started, how can it be over?! The saddest part about this month flying by so fast is that there was so much I wanted to share that I didn’t. So here are 5 ranch highlights we missed!

1. We got a new silencer chute! This chute is so quiet, so smooth, and so much safer. No one will get conked on the head or hands pinched. We won’t be bruising shoulders on the calves that we are selling. We won’t choke down the cows and they won’t come crawling through. Ya, we are really excited! Its like Christmas for these cowboys!

2. With spring upon us, we are gearing up for planting. I batted my eyes just right and convinced The Rancher to take us with him to by the new seed. Getting seed is pretty uneventful really, (unless you are a little boy and then its awesome!) but it was a great way to have a day on the town. It was still a ranch day on the town, not like a fun-shopping-at-the-mall day on the town. But I think I would rather hit up CAL Ranch than the mall anyway… So on top of getting the seed, we grabbed a few parts, terrorized a few tractor stores and had a shopping spree at the vet clinic. Still not terribly exciting, but I got a cool picture I wanted to share!

3. We bought a new little mare! The Rancher’s Sidekick has started to call my old horse his. I find myself horseless… So we bought me a new one. She ten and hasn’t hardly been ridden… but she is gentle. I don’t think she even knows how to buck. The Rancher commented that she has no gas, no steering and no manners, but other than that its all good. Slowly we are learning things and I’m excited! We’ll see what summer brings!

4. While we were in Leadore for the bull sale, we spent some time at the ranch that my brother runs. Its fun to go back there because that’s where The Rancher and I met. And where we worked when we were first married. We jumped in the new side-by-side and took a spin around the ranch, guided by my nieces (ages 9 and 7…). And by guided I mean they gave us the low down on EVERYTHING on the ranch. Gotta love cute little ranch girls!

5. Our neighbor needed help branding and of course, being the good neighbors we are, we jumped in to help. There weren’t too many calves to do, so at the end of the day I took a chance to rope! I got on The Rancher’s trusty mare and roped myself a few calves. I’m a real cowgirl now! One of the calves I roped was already branded… but it still counts as a catch, right? I have a whole new appreciation for ropers- its so much harder to do than it looks!

There are still hundreds of pictures and stories to go along that I haven’t shared. Maybe we will have a slow day (ya right!) and we can do a throwback day! Until then, this will have to suffice!

Roundup of Other Ranches: A Few Calving Stories Across the Country

March 19, 2014 by Allison

You might think that calving can get a little boring. We do the same thing every day for about two months. Check cows… check cows.. check cows… We see a new baby born, but hopefully they all follow the same process. And that happens every year. Sounds a little monotnous, right?

I’m here to tell you, folks, that it doesn’t get that way! Every morning I call The Rancher (because he usually doesn’t call me or stop by the house after checking cows) and ask about any new babies or if anything exciting is happening. We never get tired of seeing the little babies racing across the pasture or mommas giving a bath (I wonder how many licks it takes to get a calf clean… do you think its as many as it takes to get to the center of a tootsie pop?!).

I especially never get tired of the calving stories. There are always stories of an overprotective momma that wants to eat you for lunch. When you hear about a grown man running for the fence, you know its a good story. Maybe I like to hear them because I can relate or I am just proud of what we (the whole herd of ranchers) do to be beef producers.

I’ve been following long with a few other ranch blogs that have had some great stories and pictures from calving over the years. Being the thoughtful and generous person I am, I thought I would share them with you too! Some are great documentaries of cows birthing, something is pretty hard to capture in its entirety because lets be honest, who really wants to have that interrupted with on watchers and photos? And a few are stories of getting creative when you are dealing with coyotes, cranky mommas, and cold calves!

1. Running of the Panels on JustARanchWife.com
2. Coyotes & Calving on Beef Matters
3. The Balling in the Basement on ConfessionsofaFarmWife.com
4. A baby is born! on KansasCattleRanch.blogspot.com
5. Calving 2010 on ClodhopperFarm.blogspot.com
6. Calving with Gwen Shepperson in Wyoming on TheSouthDakotaCowgirl.com

Roundup of Other Ranches: Calving in Cold Weather

March 5, 2014 by Allison

We have had such a mild winter which is AWESOME for calving. But that hasn’t been the case for everyone.

My old neighbors in Montana have really been having a hard time this last weekend. My dad was saying its the worst calving season they have had in 25 years. A town nearby was dealing with a wind chill of -68 degrees at night. That’s beyond brrr! That’s cold enough to freeze a baby’s nose even before he has been born. Not being able to keep all the babies and mommas out of the cold is like throwing money in the wind.

But my Montana friends aren’t the only ones dealing with the cold. Its a normal part of winter calving. Over the years we have all found things that help on those cold nights. We have our go to hot boxes or shelf ready ear warmers. We’ve learned when we need to bring a calf in or when to leave it with momma.

But don’t just take my word for it. Here are a few other ranchers that have been out fighting the cold.

1. Calving in the Cold on PincherCreekVoice.com

2. Baby Calves Will be Here Soon on KansasCattleRanch.blogspot.com

3. Ranch Snow Day: Calving Heifers on AgricultureProud.com

4. Calving Shed on BeefMatters.org

5. No Maternal Instinct on JustARanchWife.com

6. Warming Baby Calves on TalesOfAKansasFarmMom.blogspot.com

Sorting Out the Opens

November 5, 2013 by Allison

There are a lot of reasons that we preg check the cows… I think I have already told you that. We want to know who is pregnant and who is not. And how far along pregnant they are. And if they are not pregnant we need to get rid of them. We bring them home and then to the auction (or to anyone that wants them…).

This is when the fun starts. Initially the opens are just lumped together so they sort them so each ranch can take them home after all checking is done. These cows are tired of being in the corral and the last thing they want is to be worked more. That means they put up a good fight that is fun to watch. I have to admit that I my picture don’t do justice for the awesome moments we had but I am going to blame that on the cowboys because there are only so many places I can be. So I do what I can with what I got!

The Cenex Man’s Fence

October 19, 2013 by Allison

Oh, my dear friends, I have been slacking. There are pictures that I haven’t put up from some of my ranch adventures!

But I will make it right and show you, don’t worry…

So waaay back when we ventured up to Montana to visit my folks I posted about a trip that we took with my dad, The Cenex Man. The truth is that I only told you part of the story and now I am here to give the rest.

For quite some time he had been working to deliver supplies to a fencing crew that was putting in miles and miles of fence. He loved working with them and wanted The Rancher to have a chance to meet the guys and see their work.

These men (well young men, really) were a very hard working, well experienced crew. They were all from a Mennnite community from the Gold Creek area and had been working since they had finished school when they were fourteen. I was impressed at how well done these boys did. It was all done right and timely. They didn’t take time to mess around or waste time. A lot of this good work was do to a good boss that set high expectations for them.

I love to see good, hard working men that choose to do it right.

Our Ranching Family

October 16, 2013 by Allison

When we find people that have a similar purpose, passion, and experiences we create a sort of brotherhood. We find comfort and friendship with those that can relate to us. In our ranching family we recently have dealt with detrimental losses.

You may have seen in the news about several ranches in South Dakota that have lost more than 80 thousand animals. At the beginning of the month a freak storm came along, a storm of several inches of rain, feet of snow, and winds up to 70 MPH. Had this storm come during the winter, when ranchers might have been better prepared, there still would have had incredible losses.

But it wasn’t at a time when ranchers were prepared. Even the cattle weren’t prepared. These cows hadn’t grown their winter hair. These ranchers hadn’t brought them in where they could have been better protected from the wind and rain. Some still had their calves that were weeks from being sold.

And so thousands and thousands of cows and horses walked aimlessly in the blizzard until they dropped to the ground from exhaustion. Here they were covered and smothered by the snow, causing them to suffocate. The rain caused inches of deep mud to stop them in their tracks, leaving them only to stand as they were buried by snow. For some that survived the actual blizzard and freezing temperatures, they later drowned in the runoff from the rain and melting snow. Many are still dying from effects of the cold and may continue to die from any sickness or infection spread by the dead.

These are real families that spend day after day working to raise cattle just like we were are. Can you imagine if this happened to you or me? I hope that you are because so many ranches won’t be able to bounce back from this loss. Not only did they lose calves that would be this year’s pay check, but they lost the cows that would bring in money for years to come.

Ranchers all over can understand, even if only a fraction, what these families must be going through. A sickness runs through the herd, fires blaze through the summer rangeland, or there is one of those freak storms. From experience I know that there is nothing worse than watching your animals dying as you strive to do everything you possibly can. Every minute you are willing them to live. You almost feel silly praying for cows or horses but praying is about the only thing left to do.

I don’t know if there is anything any of us can do, but I wanted to bring this up just so you can be aware. That you can realize what a loss our ranching family has had. We are already in the midst of an uphill battle to keep our lifestyle. At every turn it seems there is another fight that will bring one more ranch down. But please, help our ranching family keeping fighting.