Gaining New Technical Skills

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This week we worked on flood irrigating and using a side roll in a pasture named “Little B”. This pasture offers particular difficulty in that the side roll, flood irrigation, and water for the hired man’s house, all operate under the same pump. It is a delicate balancing act making sure each output has just enough water pressure to not affect the others. We also stopped and started the pivot a few times in accordance with the rain we received this week. I did some general maintenance switching valves from one side to the other on each tower of the pivot. Lastly, I began flood irrigating a stretch called “the triangle” that is missed by the pivot, and I will continue to keep an eye on that area for the following week.

Beyond irrigating, we had a couple instances of cattle breaking out of the pasture this week. The cows’ current pasture is separated from another pasture, full of new green alfalfa, by a hot wire fence that the pivot rolls over as it moves. Twice this week, the movement of the pivot over the fence broke the wire, giving the cows access into the alfalfa meadow. This can be dangerous for the cows, as eating too much new alfalfa, too quickly can lead to a condition called bloat. Bloat is a form of indigestion caused by built up gas in the rumen that leads to a pressure on the lungs of the cow, and eventual suffocation. To push the cows out of the meadow, we used a horse, a cattle dog, and side-by-sides herding them back through the broken fence.

I also touched on a few more technical skills this week. I was able to finish a welding project, utilizing a metal grinder and sander, and a metal drill to create a horseshoe coat rack. My skills were further tested as I assisted with greasing tractors, removing a broken ball bearing from a four-wheeler, making new wooden triangles (used for setting irrigation dams), and learning how to drive a Bobcat. The theme of this summer has been about introducing myself to as many skills as possible, ones that make a well-rounded steward, far beyond working cattle.

From this week, I would challenge the concept of people’s disconnection from the source of the food that they eat. Only about 2% of Americans work in or around agriculture and, with the extreme industrialization and consolidation of the food system, this leaves the other 98% of the country. It has been left up to the 98% of the American population to choose if and from where they get resource information about the food they’re consuming. It is extremely easy to be out of touch with what we consume as food sources an when you’re not working hands-on with the animal or plant production. I believe the most powerful tool for reframing the food system, in the United States, is fostering that reconnection between the general public and the farmers/ranchers. Not only to cultivate food, but to cultivate the general public’s knowledge of where their food is sourced and how they can support sustainable agriculture with their purchasing power.

Questions I have this week are: what happens to the organic matter in the soil if an area is over-grazed, at what age are calves weaned, why are weaned calves more profitable, how do you treat pink eye infections in cattle, are there any preventative tools for pink eye, and why do feedlots often not take blind cows?

Moving forward, I plan to use what I’ve learned in the past week to help with projects around the ranch that involve mechanical and technical skills. Though I know very little about these areas, I want to bolster my knowledge in trades such as welding, woodworking, metalworking, etc. as they prove to be useful and necessary to the ranching lifestyle.

Submitted by: Jamie Kaste
Edited by: GrowinG Internship Team