Weed Management & the Wyoming Sheep and Wool Festival

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This week we focused on spraying. I spent most of my time running around on a four-wheeler chasing down thistle and cockleburs and hitting them with a weed killing concoction. This was honestly very helpful with learning the layout of the pastures and understanding where to find weeds. I was able to gain a good feel for spotting small juvenile weeds, that might be covered by larger, taller grasses, and from a longer distance.

Monday, after spraying, I ran with Gwen and Megan to different ranches around the area picking up old CowBos feed tanks to be refilled. Gerry and Gwen are a dealer for CowBos, and make rounds picking up, refilling, and returning the liquid feed tanks. In tagging along, I was able to see some other parts of the county that I otherwise would have never seen otherwise. The majority following day was also spent spraying cockleburs that were starting to come up around the reservoirs. I rode the creeks to each dam, spot-spraying as I went along, and blanket spraying the reservoirs when I found a patch of new cockleburs trying to pop up. A small storm cell started to build overhead, and I decided I ought to head back to the house before it got too nasty.

I started Wednesday off by riding the rest of the creeks and dams throughout the pasture. This took quite some time, and I about had it finished, but another storm started to swell up. Before the storm got too amped up, I had come across a dead cow laying by the creek. By the looks of it, a lightning strike had knocked her down. This time the storm came with a tornado warning, and prompted I kick the four-wheeler into high gear and hit the road. Unfortunately, the four-wheeler decided that it did not want to run anymore and left me on the side of the road. Fortunately, I was far enough from the cell that I was safe and just had to call for a ride.

After the storms passed through, the next morning, I was able to go back to the initial pasture I had done Monday and evaluate my spraying efforts. I was able to see where plants were wilting and not, got to judge my width between passes in patches, and determine if the speed I was spraying was correct. After hitting some spots that were not dying as fast as others, I headed to the big pastures where I had been riding creeks earlier. I was able to finish the creeks and spread out to all the draws that fed the creeks and oil lines.

Early Friday morning, Gwen, her daughter Kahla, and I left for Kemmer for the first annual Wyoming Sheep and Wool Festival put on by the Wyoming Wool Growers Association (WWGA) where Gwen sits on the committee. This was a neat experience as I got to see the benefits and challenges of raising sheep from the speakers they had, as well as speak to different ranchers from across the state and hear them tell their own personal struggles and triumphs. I also sat in on the association’s meeting Sunday morning and saw the importance of and the forward progress as a result of banding together to fight the problems ranchers face, finding representation that will speak for the farmers and ranchers of Wyoming, and overcoming challenges brought on by new laws and regulations affecting the country’s agriculture industry. Along the way, I saw some of Wyoming’s historical sites, including Independence Rock and Devil’s Gate.

Submitted by: Jaxon Ondracek
Edits by: GrowinG Internship Team