Hi I’m Mike and today is the one paycheck of the year that the ranch gets, its sale
day on our Wyoming life.
As a farmer myself, the day that calves go to auction is bitter sweet.
Lots of work goes into the care little guys but I know that when they leave we've done a good job
and its gonna keep the farm around for another year
This is the circle of life, we provide for them and they provide for us, in so many different ways
I love watching the baby calves grow and when it time to leave, it can be sad,
but they are a part of a much bigger picture, for us, and the world.
This is our Wyoming life, we invite you to come along with us 3 times per week as we
explore the ranch life and escape the ordinary.
We weren’t raised here on the ranch, we weren’t farm kids, but life can sometimes
throw you a curveball and we went from working corporate jobs in the city, to working livestock
and the land.
My wife Erin takes you into the life of a market gardener, supporting the ranch by growing
thousands of pounds of produce per year, selling it at farmers market.
Fighting hunger and food insecurity by donating it at local food banks, and community services,
such as food pantries and Snap and WIC.
On the ranch, I take you through all the aspects of learning as we go, giving the good and
bad and hopefully learning something about ourselves and life on the way.
Years ago when we came here, we had no idea what we were doing, nor did we know what we
were up against.
Now I’m proud to say that we can share this journey with you, and I am glad that you decided
to come along, please subscribe as we invite you to become a part of the ranch with us.
Every day of the year on the ranch leads up to these couple of days.
And one day that can make or break the whole place.
A day that is some years makes it all worth it and other years can leave you wondering
if its worth it at all.
Today is sale time, this year almost every calf that was born on the ranch will be sold
at auction, they will be sorted off from the cows and loaded on to a truck and auctioned
off to buyers.
That’s the down and dirty, but there is so much more to it then just that.
There is blood, sweat and tears that all go into supporting our family and feeding yours.
Long before the big trucks show up in the driveway, and even long before any new calves
are born on the ranch, it all starts with just a bull and a cow.
Mating season on the ranch takes place from July until September, cows are bred and then
are expected to give birth about 9 months afterwards.
Timing is important, as we want calves to be born in April and May when winter is subsiding
and weather will hopefully be easier on them.
We preg check cows, checking to see who is pregnant and who isn’t, when they aren’t
pregnant, we figure out why and decide what needs to happen to them.
Some will leave the ranch, some will be given a second chance but when it come down to it,
its about having the most and healthiest calves we can from our herd.
Over the winter, all the cows are fed well.
Throughout the winter months their diets will change, based on what stage of development
the calf fetus is in.
Earlier on they will receive more filling diets then, added protein and supplements
as they reach the end of their pregnancy.
Receiving, nutrients such as cobalt, potassium and other trace minerals that they need.
As spring rounds the corner, calves are starting to be born.
Some healthy and some not so healthy.
The calves having trouble are given special treatment to get them up to snuff.
We have the equivalent of enough training to help get them healthy, administering medications,
tube feeding and what ever else may be required to help these little guys and girls back out
with their moms for summer.
Over summer, the cows and calves are left to graze and grow.
Our job them becomes to maintain the herd.
Fix fence, doctor the occasional sick one, and make sure that they are healthy and happy.
We make or buy the hay over the summer that they are going to need to grow new calves
the following year as the cycle repeats and as October nears, we know that soon their
time on the ranch will come to and end.
And that brings us to today.
The ranch is the biggest and most important character in our entire story.
Its bigger than Erin or I, its bigger than any individual cow.
The ranch is what has been here for over a hundred years, doing the same thing we do
everyday.
Technology changes and methods evolve, but when it comes down to it, the only way the
ranch supports itself is through calves.
One paycheck per year, that’s what we work for and as we begin to gather cows and calves
from as far as 3 miles away we start seeing all that years work come into sight.
The entire herd is gathered and pushed toward home where our corrals and loading chutes
are located.
Once they are all in, then its back to look for stragglers, and there is always one or
two.
Those cows and calves that slept through the entire process.
These are the winners of the booby prize, they missed the parade but they still get
one of their own.
Until they are rejoined with their friends.
Right here is where all the action will take place tomorrow, the loading chute.
Tall enough for a semi-trailer to back up to but the calves will have a bit of a climb
to get up here.
One trick we learned a few years ago was that the calves didn’t like climbing the wooden
floor of the chute.
To help them as they come up, we put dirt down on the floor of the ramp and chute.
A more familiar footing for them and making them more comfortable as they load into the
trailer.
The cows are now in for the night, penned up close to home.
The loading chute is ready to go and the only thing to do is wait for tomorrow, when the
trucks arrive, and all that hard work pays off.
The day has come, and its time to finish bringing the cows in to the corrals for sorting,
I’m a big fan of working smarter and not harder.
Hard work is still something you cant avoid around here but if you can do something to
make it a bit easier, then it makes sense.
For cows, food is a huge motivator and by loading up some cake, a nutrional supplement
that the cows love, into the gator we can coax some of them into the corrals.
Although its still early, this will keep a few of them in where they need to be and help
bring in the rest.
Neighbors arrive to help, just as I do for them and we start bringing cows in the rest
of the way.
Moving them slowly and without much pressure, and soon enough all contained in two large
sorting corrals.
Our next goal is to sort the calves off the cows.
We aren’t keeping any replacements from this years calves, and most all of them, aside
from the ones we are finishing ourselves are going.
Most of all of our cows have been through this before, they know the routine and most
sort themselves past me, leaving the calves back in the alley.
Cows move up and around the corrals back out to pasture and the calves are left behind,
to be pushed up into another holding corral.
A smooth and simple process, with the right help and one that would take me all day without
them.
Once done we are left with corrals of calves, all ready to go.
They have water and food while they wait but they don’t wait long as the trucks show
up, right on time.
Loading the truck isnt as simple as just pushing them all, the cattle hauler trailer is divided
into many different compartments of different sizes, and I first get together with our truck
driver and figure out how many go in each one.
After the logistics are done, then its time to load.
Counting out each group, moving them up into the loading pen and then up the ramp and onto
the trailer.
When one truck is full, another moves into its place and the process is repeated, until
the corrals are empty and last calf is loaded on, the doors are closed and its time for
the trucks to hit the road.
Off to the auction, where they are bought from buyers all over the area.
Some years, we follow the calves to auction, this year we stayed behind on the ranch, to
baby sit the cows.
As we let them out into a bigger pasture, they move on with their lives, heading out
to eat, grazing on some nice green grass left over from summer.
Although the cows don’t notice their calves missing now, they soon will, as their milk
will continue to come in.
Soon, it will become uncomfortable for them, as they want to be milked.
I cant help them with that, they will soon dry up, but as they look for someway to relieve
the pressure they do get loud and sleeping becomes something that we have only heard
of in rumors, at least for a couple of days.
Because soon enough, its back to life as normal.
The calves are gone, the cows are no longer eating for two and they can start building
themselves back up.
Having a 500lb calf to support can really drag a cow down and these cows are our breeding
herd, they are the backbone of our operation.
Its with them that the ranch continues each and every year, and its with their calves
that we can afford to do it.
Each calf will bring between 800-1000 dollars at auction.
This year, after paying for hay, expenses that we have accrued over the last year from
everything from equipment repairs, to fence posts, we are lucky to keep about 20% of our
total sale price as operating expenses for this next year, it doesn’t leave much.
Talk to any rancher or farmer, and you have good years and bad.
Boom and bust, whatever you want to call it.
For some its all about the good years, for some they need the boom, but for some of us,
its about being here.
The ranch is a legacy, something that our kids will hopefully want to continue someday.
Over a hundred years of ups and down, some years your hold a flush, some it’s a pair
of twos, but come the next year you are going to ante up and for us, even if we have to
bluff, we are going to succeed.
Today is never easy, you get to know calves, you become attached to all the animals here,
because they are all important.
I’ll never waiver on that, I’ll never say a calf is just a calf, or just a paycheck,
because that’s not how any rancher thinks, or should think.
Its about the future, of our family, our kids, and the future of the ranch.
When we first came here, I would have never thought I could be so attached to something
that back then I saw as trivial as a bunch of dirt.
Now it means a whole lot more.
Calves are our favorite hello on the ranch, but also our hardest goodbye, with their help
our journey will continue, roadblocks will be set up in our way, we will figure out how
to get over or around them and we plan on bringing you along for the ride.
Thanks for coming out to the ranch today, hanging out with us a little bit and keeping
me company.
Tonight, a big glass of whiskey is in store, as a celebration, and a toast to another year,
and a toast to you.
We just hit 50 thousand subscribers, a number that blows me away, and I want to say how
much I truly appreciate, the fact that you want to know where your food comes from and
the families behind it.
Its inspiring to me and keeps me going everyday.
We will be back on Tuesday, with another project list video and we will also announce the winner
of the steston hat that we have been taking entries to giveaway and there is still time
to enter, check the description of the video for the link or go see us on Facebook and
click giveaway on the left side.
Good luck, and until I see you again, have a great week and thanks for joining us in
our Wyoming life.