Farm & Ranch
Ag Elsewhere : California
Photo and Description By Lainey Smith
Fall is in the air. For most folks, fall is the time to look forward to apple picking, pumpkin carving, specialty coffee and vivid colors amongst the leaves. As a rancher’s daughter, I look forward to felt hats, wild rags, branding calves and moving pastures.
Despite what the Beach Boys may have sung, California is much more than beaches and bikinis. Fertile valleys, large mountain ranges and thousands of acres of lease land give California ranchers more resources when managing their herds. When I first moved to North Texas, the mountains I was familiar with were noticeably absent. My first thought, “Where do these Texans winter their cows?”
Like my family, many cattlemen in the Central Valley leased ground in the foothills of the Sierra Mountains. Not much feed grows in the Valley in the winter months, and ranchers compete with other crops for lease ground. Starting in October, we brand our calves, preg check, pick replacement heifers, and send our pregnant gals up to the hills for some knee high grazing until it’s time to calve.
At our fall brandings, calves are bigger than at traditional Texas brandings. We head and heel calves weighing between 500 and 800 pounds in a medium sized square pen, utilizing the corners to rope, “shorten up” and guide across the pen so our heeler can rope them close to the fire.
Brandings aren’t just a family affair; the whole neighborhood will show up. Every weekend is spent at a different ranch, gathering a different field and branding in a different pen. I don’t know how it gets any better than cowboying in the fall.
To read more pick up a copy of the October 2018 NTFR issue. To subscribe call 940-872-5922.
By Barry Whitworth, DVM, MPH
With the prolonged drought, most pastures in Oklahoma end up in poor condition. With the lack of available forage, animals may go in search of alternative foods.
If oak trees are in the pastures, acorns may be a favorite meal for some livestock in the fall. This may result in oak poisoning.
Oak leaves, twigs, buds, and acorns may be toxic to some animals when consumed.
To read more, pick up a copy of the November edition of North Texas Farm & Ranch magazine, available digitally and in print. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By: Tony Dean
There are a handful of grasses on North Texas grazing lands ranchers need to know, not because they are highly desirable, but rather because they are not of much value. I call them “decom” plants, which is am acronym for “Don’t Ever Count On Me.” Silver bluestem is a “decom” grass.
Silver bluestem is a perennial which grows in all areas of Texas. It can survive in almost all soil types, and in full sun conditions or in semi shade. It grows up to three feet tall and is easily recognized with the presence of the white fuzzy seed head. Also, one of the identifying characteristics of Silver bluestem is a bend in the stems at each node, causing the plants to take on a rounded shape as they mature.
To read more, pick up a copy of the November edition of North Texas Farm & Ranch magazine, available digitally and in print. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By: Rayford Pullen
Fall is here which means winter is closing in on us and before we officially get into winter, we need to make sure our factories are either producing or will be producing in a few months.
We have been pregnancy testing our cows this fall and if they are not bred or nursing a calf, we are bidding them adios. With annual costs somewhere between $900.00 and $1,000.00 per cow, those cows not producing a live weaned calf are costing us quite a bit.
To read more, pick up a copy of the November edition of North Texas Farm & Ranch magazine, available digitally and in print. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
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