Back Rubbers, Windmills and Conventions

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This week was another good one on the Baldwin Ranch. Early in the week I experienced a heavy rain and light hailstorm while out in the pastures putting up back rubbers. Luckily, we took shelter inside the pickup to wait out the severe weather.

Since biting flies are an issue on most ranches, I learned how this could be combated, with a scratching chain of cloth connected to two posts out in the pasture. Basically, it’s a bunch of gunny sacks wrapped up around a metal chain and then soaked in insecticide/chemical to kill flies when the cows rub onto it.

Then the next day we had to take down an old wooden windmill tower that was getting ready to fall over with time or a big wind gust. It was better for us to take it down in a controlled manner, than to let it fall on its own and potentially cause damage to the water tank or even cattle.

This was a process that involved a lot of physics and used some good thinking. We had hooked up a boom truck with a winch cable to the top of the windmill and slowly let out the line to hold it up and let it fall carefully after we disconnected the bottom posts and legs. After it was on the ground, we disassembled the parts that could be reused[,] which included the 4×4 tower legs and the entire windmill head since it was in good condition still.

When working on the solar panel water pump this week, I thought of something that I would consider an issue. It was the floating box that tells the pump when the tank is full and it should turn off the valve. The float shut off in the solar pumps is a concept that needs to be changed or improved, because it must be wired up to the pipe where the water comes out to tell the pump when the tank has filled up.

After attending the stock growers meeting about ranching politics and new legislation being decided on ranch lands, I became more aware and critical to what was going on. Some politicians are making decisions to buy and turn Wyoming ranch lands into federal ground. This is a part of the America the Beautiful initiative, which will prevent most ranchers from having successful operations. I would challenge this because I don’t believe the federal government could manage these grounds in Wyoming effectively, in fact I believe the land is already in good hands from traditional grazing practices.

[With knowledge gained from this week I am] planning more on what to do in case of a bad weather storm and how to be safe. When the ocean is warmer than average more moisture evaporates to the sky and we see more moisture over the year. At the stock grower’s convention, I learned about many groups and councils in place that advocate for ranchers. I think these groups are beneficial for getting voices heard and representing the minority states.

I would be interested in learning more about how each group functions and a good way to accomplish that would be to join in on more meetings and programs. One group I found [I am] particularly interested in was the [Y]oung [P]roducer’s [A]ssembly.