From Low-Stress Handling to High-Stakes Decisions
#bfrdpwy #aginternship #RightRisk
This week, we finally got around to replacing the fence that fell down in the colt’s corral. We dug three holes, each three feet deep so that we could put vertical railroad ties in the ground to anchor the fence posts. We also continued irrigating, moving and balancing water across all the fields that needed to be watered. On Friday, my host and I went to a low-stress stockmanship clinic where we learned the most efficient method to handle and move cattle while keeping them docile and level headed. We also learned about the economic loss of not handling cattle efficiently and how that might impact an entire operation. We are continuing to cut and bale part of the property and that has proved to be difficult considering that the windrower broke.
Over the last week, we have continued to have irregular water on our lease property. We set up 12 dams in order to handle the massive amount of water that is up there, just for the water to disappear later in the evening or the next day. However, then it will come back and we will have water again and need the dams to pick it up. We don’t want the dams to stay up there when there’s no water because the mice will chew holes in the tarp and make them unusable. We also can’t take them all back down to the barn to put away because picking up and re-setting 12 dams a day is simply unsustainable, especially in this heat.
I think either we need a consistent ditch rider who is going to ensure we either have no water or all the water is important. In my opinion, the best option would just be to not lease the land again next year. It is such a pain to keep consistent water and the soil isn’t great, making it a low hay producer. In fact, we hardly even hayed it at all this year.
With the windrower broken, it is only functionally cutting half of what it should be. I’m wondering what broke and when it will be fixed so that the rest of the property can be cut. Our mechanic is supposed to come out and take a look at it when he has time. I was also told that my host had to order a replacement part that may arrive on Tuesday. That would be, at minimum, three more days of being unable to cut that field.
Like last week, I have been doing a lot of the work on the main ranch by myself and I have learned a lot of self initiative and how to manage the property alone. While I was alone, one of the pipes blew off the main line of our biggest field. I had to shut the water supply off, pull the pipe fully out, and then push it back in myself, which is usually a two person job. Today, I decided that one of the fields had gotten enough water so I opened up the ditch in our Red Barn field and sent the water there. Essentially, I have learned to be observant to see what needs to be done and I have developed the initiative to do it.
Submitted by: Kaylee Pearce
Edits by: GrowinG Internship Team
