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 Heather Welper
Husband and wife duo, Heather and Calvin Welper, are the Co-Owners and Operators or Two C Livestock, located in Valley View, Texas.
The pair’s operation has a show cattle focus where they raise and sell purebred heifers of all breeds and club calf Hereford steers.
When it comes to show cattle, the Welpers know a thing or two including how to prepare for the cold winter months and the Texas major show season run.
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 Hannah Claxton, Editor
As the sun rises each day, so do the dozens of mouths that Meghan McGovern is responsible for getting fed. Rather than the sounds of a rooster crowing, McGovern hears the bellows and bleats of a variety of exotic deer, the chortle of kangaroos, the grunts of water buffaloes, and the chirps of a lemur.
Nestled against the banks of the Red River, the Double M Ranch and Rescue, with its high game fences and deer sprinkling the landscape,s its in stark contrast to the surrounding ranches.
“Having deer is kind of like eating potato chips- you can never actually have just one,” said McGovern with a laugh.
McGovern has several herds to take care of- fallow deer, axis deer, water buffalo, goats, and bison. In smaller numbers, there’s also a few kangaroos, a lemur, a potbelly pig, a pair of zebras, a watusi, and a few horses.
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 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.
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