Learning the Land

#bfrdpwy #aginternship #RightRisk

From the moment I began my internship this week, I have been learning and on the go. The work this week consisted of fixing fence and moving cattle. As I am all new to the land that we have been working on, the ranch hand explained along the way of what difference pastures we were crossing. It will be important to understand the land we are working on to make sure the jobs are done that I am tasked with, as well as knowing where to meet others to complete tasks. For example, when we first started, one ranch hand and I were dropped off and told where to find the second ranch hand we would be working with that had the side by side.

As we began working on the fencing, I learned how to splice wire and use a fence stretcher. In working on the fencing, I learned that this about the time each year is when the fences are tended to, following the Wyoming winter. Once we finished the fencing for the first day, the ranch hand pulled out a large map so I could see where we had fenced and get an idea of the land that was around us. One of the pictures here is from the top of one of the hills in the Middle Fork pasture.

This week we had to move yearlings out of the Watt pasture and then into the Weigand Lease. In the morning, I went with David on horseback, we started at one end and the other guys were on the other end of the pasture. While we were riding, he explained the water systems to me and later that night he explained and showed me on the map where all the pipelines were. They also showed me the apps that they had to keep a report on their water tanks.

Later in the week, we went out and looked at more pasture that they had just leased. The main reason we were looking at the pasture was to figure out the layout and see where me and the other ranch hand would be fencing on Friday. This pasture was very big and overwhelming. Most of it we could drive the side by side and fix the fence but there were some parts where I had to walk to check the fence. It was tricky at times.

While we were driving and looking, we were talking about different weeds that we would eventually spray. I learned about the leafy spurge and how it grows everywhere and can be hard to get rid of. I also learned about the black billed magpie. David explained to me how they basically follow the coyotes because they know the coyotes are going to find the food. I also learned that there were some cacti in Wyoming. In one of the pictures is an old homestead back in the hills, which I thought was cool because the houses and barns were still there. The pasture that we looked at is also called the Sam’s pasture because of the homestead that is back there and pictured.

To round out the week, we went to the bull pasture to gather up six bulls to be put in with the yearlings that we moved on Thursday. Nate, the son of the ranch hand, already moved seven bulls in with the yearlings on Friday, but there are 300 yearlings so with the bull to cow ratio we needed to put more in there. We also went to 500 pasture and moved cows out of there into the Sam’s pasture. On the way back to the trailer we just took our time, and the guys explained more stuff to me about the pastures that we were going through and more about the water systems. The horse and cattle that are pictured is from Saturday.

Submitted by: Josie Sackett
Edits by: GrowinG Internship Team