Country Lifestyles
The Story of a Gate
By Judy Wade | As told by Robert Anderson
The best of things, like a good story, seem to always start out with a horse. Chief had been a working cow horse. Besides being big, handsome, and rocket fast, Chief had attitude. He would give even cooperative cows an extra bite on the rump during his work sorting cattle at the auction barn. Retired and out to pasture at the Anderson’s 100 year old farmstead in north Wichita County, Chief had the innate cowpony skill of spotting any open gate within a mile radius. After several gravel road chase-down episodes, the Andersons knew they needed to invest in a cattle guard for their front gate. Watching Chief’s prancing rump just beyond their hood ornament as they slowly followed him down the road, back to his home pasture and back through their sad gate, they knew this horse would be a challenge.
Smash and Grab
Then another event changed their cattle guard plans; some thieves smashed a truck through their front gate, shattering the pad lock, loaded up the Anderson’s riding lawn mower and took-off with it. The Andersons now felt not only the necessity of a cattle guard, they also needed a security gate.
To install a nice cattle guard/gate combo like their neighbors, they would have to call in a concrete contractor to excavate, form and pour concrete, which would entail being without their front entry for the two-week project.
Next they would have a second party fabricator weld them up a cattle guard and gate, drop it in place, and then a third contractor would have to install the gate operator and trench up their pasture to get power to the gate. This was getting unaffordable, complicated and inconvenient.
Necessity mothers all inventions and especially this one. Invention starts with a question: Why is there not a gate that would be crash proof, that is, if some thief was stupid enough to try crashing through the gate, not only would the gate be strong enough to stop a vehicle, it would capture and hold the offending vehicle? Why not a gate that would protect livestock with a cattle guard, install in one day, be completely solar powered (no wiring), and while we are at it, make it cost 40 percent less than a conventional site-built cattle guard gate?
To read more pick up a copy of the September 2017 NTFR issue. To subscribe call 940-872-5922.
The idea: The Great Texas Gate computer modeling of the gate open. (Courtesy photo)
Computer model of the gate closed. (Courtesy photo)
By: Martha Crump
Most cattle producers can tell you quite a lot about balancing cattle diets for energy, protein, vitamins, and minerals based on the specific needs for their herd and type of operation.
A key factor, and one that is often overlooked, is that how your animals perform is also directly affected by their water intake.
Now many of you may already be thinking “well of course water is necessary, anybody knows that!”
In many years, as September marches into October, we are beginning to experience some return of rainfall. But as many of us know, that is not always the case. Often we are still experiencing hot and dry weather, and water supplies are dwindling.
When we find ourselves experiencing those types of fall conditions, it is critical to not only understand the daily water requirements for cattle, but also the impact that the quality of water can have on herd health and development.
To read more, pick up a copy of the October edition of North Texas Farm & Ranch magazine, available digitally and in print. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By: Annette Bridges
A friend and I were recently talking about our husbands. She made a comment that I felt also perfectly described me and my hubby.
“He slows me and I hurry him. I’m sure that is why we do well together,” she said.
“Precisely!” I thought. Why?
Because when two different worlds collide, it can be magical.
No matter what those two different worlds are- a man and a woman with very different personalities, beliefs, or backgrounds, two partners with contrasting passions, strengths, or talents, or when a country boy marries a city girl.
To read more, pick up a copy of the October edition of North Texas Farm & Ranch magazine, available digitally and in print. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
Watauga, Texas, a suburb of Fort Worth, is known for its rich history as a railroad stop, but over the course of the last year, one teen girl has put it on the map for agriculture as well. Emma Harvey has lived in Tarrant County her entire life. Despite being highly involved in her local 4-H chapter, she still felt there was more she could do. In the spring of 2023, she stepped up to the plate to take over the title of Tarrant County Teen Miss Agriculture USA.
“It all started when I put in an application for the teen title here in Tarrant County,” explained Harvey.
The Miss Agriculture USA program is a national non-profit, age-inclusive pageant program that offers both competition and non-competition titles to women dedicated to the promotion of agriculture.
Read more in the October issue of North Texas Farm & Ranch magazine, available online and in print. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive NTFR in your inbox each week.
Photo by Hannah Claxton.
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