Monday, July 30, 2012

Some more about water...

At home on the range. As a farmer or rancher, there is one thing you never forget to pray about...water. Whether its falling from the sky, shooting out a pivot, or sitting in a pond, we're always asking God to have some there when we need it and to send it if its not. Lately we've been doing a lot of asking. We've been asking for rain to fall, creeks to keep running, and for the algae to stay away.

As Colin mentioned earlier this month, because of the lack of water we've been hauling water to our cows. We like to have more than one source of water available and lately that's where some ranchers around Kansas have been running into problems.

With the high temperatures and lack of moisture, creeks and ponds are either dried up or a possible breeding ground for blue-green algae. Blue-green algae appears on the surface of stagnant water and resembles a foamy, thick, paint-like slurry. It comes in all colors, but most frequently true to the name in either blue or green shades. If the cows don't drink from the water we haul them, they are at risk of blue-green algae toxicity.

Blue-green algae is not always harmful, but lately we have been finding more and more blue-green algae that is.  Harmful blue-green algae contains toxins that could affect an animal (or a human's) intestinal and respiratory systems either by inhalation or consumption. Complications can range anywhere from mild illness to death.


As the number of lakes and ponds across Kansas with verified toxic blue-green algae rises, it is important to be aware. We frequently check our ponds and try our best to prevent stagnant water. If the water is questionable we fence off the pond to prevent the cattle from consuming possibly harmful algae blooms.

One of Colin and my good friends, Dani, works in diagnostics at the Kansas State vet school and she has been keeping us informed of new blue-green algae cases and the options we have as producers. Currently our pond water looks clear and healthy, but if we see a questionable algae bloom we have the option of sending in a sample to be tested.

In the meantime, we'll be watching our water and praying for rain at home on the range.






Friday, July 27, 2012

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Life on the Lake

At home on the range. For the past week and a half, Colin and I each had our own separate adventures. My family and I headed north to Cedar Rapids Lodge in Tenstrike, MN and Colin headed south to New Orleans, LA with his church's youth group to chaperon their youth gathering.

I'm sure Colin will get around to updating you on his New Orleans adventures...he's got to catch up on some sleep first! But in the mean time, I'll share a bit about Cedar Rapids.

For the past seven years, I've spent the month of July working for Steve and Pat Addler at their resort on Medicine lake in northern Minnesota. My family had always spent a week of the summer at Cedar Rapids and over the years, Steve and Pat became like a set of second parents to me.

Because this was my last summer at home, I decided not to work for the Addlers, and instead just come up as a guest with my family. I missed spending the whole month at the lake, and I really missed seeing all the friends I'd made over the years, but I thoroughly enjoyed spending the week with my family.

Prior to heading up to the lake, we were able to spend quality time with my grandparents and aunts and uncles in Minneapolis. I hadn't seen them in a while and it was so nice to catch up. After seeing my dad's family, we met up with the Cunninghams and Schreibers and headed north!

Our week spent at the lake was filled with sun, sun, and more sun! At times it felt hotter than Kansas, but a quick jump in the lake reminded us that we were far from home.

The fishing was some of the best we had ever had and we spent many nights on the boat catching Crappies, Bluegills, Sunnies, Northerns, and a Walleye or two. For one of the first years ever, we had extra fish at our annual fish fry!

Even Grace and Luke got in on the fishing. Luke was probably the most devoted fisherman of us all, and Grace thoroughly enjoyed holding worms, petting fish, and telling stories.

We also spent lots of quality time in the lodge catching up with old friends and making new ones. Our time at the lake was very enjoyable and we can't wait to return next year. Thanks Addlers for the hard work you put in to make our vacation wonderful!!!! If you'd like more information about Cedar Rapids, here's the website: http://crlodge.com/

On our way back home, we stopped at my Dad's Aunt and Uncle's farm to say hello. Christian and Dad enjoyed taking the 4-wheelers out for a spin, and mom and I had fun hearing lots of stories about family members.

All in all we had a wonderful vacation. None of us are quite ready to be back home, but now that we're all back home on the range, it's time to get into gear and make the most of our last few weeks of summer!

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Where's the Water?

At home on the range. Like most of the Midwest, dry.  The last time it rained was June 16th and it is definitely starting to show.  Not only is the grass turning brown and ponds are starting to dry up; but there is also the risk of grass fires. 

The landscape is turning very brown.

A large pond is completely dried up.
Grass
Lets start with the grass.  As the grass matures, it starts to lose nutritional value and increases in the amount of fiberous material, also known as lignin.  Lignin is the stiff support material that a plant develops as it grows older. The problem with lignin is that it is very "woody" making it difficult for a cow to digest. This causes longer digestion time and less time acquiring nutrients. 


We use a 1,000 gallon nurse tank with a gasoline transfer pump
 to speed up the process of hauling water.
Drinking Water
The lack of moisture is causing a large amount of our ponds to dry up to nothing, causing proactive measures to be taken.  About 5 days a week 1,000 gallons of water are hauled to my parents cattle. Although there is a creek running through the pasture that Alissa and I are renting, it is near drying up and we are now also hauling water to our cows.  Although our cows do not require as much water as my parents it is essential to have water available to the cows on such hot days.

Fires
On June 27 the severity of lack of moisture hit home as between 2,000 and 2,500 acres of land burnt within miles of home.  The extreme heat of around 116 degrees farenheit plus above 30 mph winds caused grass fires to burn and move extremely fast in the direction of much of our pasture land and homestead.

Within the 24 hours of drafting  this post, we received around .8 inches of rain.  The rain truly was a blessing from God, helping the grass hang and crops hang on a little longer and reducing the danger of fires.  Still, it takes numerous rains to refill ponds again.  So for now, a little rain helps a lot, but water must still be hauled at home on the range.



Thursday, July 5, 2012

Vet Work

At home on the range. For the past two weeks I've been extremely lucky and blessed to return to Norton, KS and intern again with the White family at Norton Animal Health Center. Norton's about 25 miles away from Colin's parent's house and home to a whopping three grocery stores!!! That's big time, for a small town in Northwestern Kansas. The people are wonderful and it's smack in the middle of cow calf country. To me, it's about as good as Kansas gets.

While staying with Aaron and Sarah White and their two boys Gideon and Isaiah, I got to see first hand what  it takes to run a mixed practice, rural vet clinic. With about half small animal and half large animal, I was able to get my hands dirty in everything from fertility testing bulls to small animal dentals!

I also had a wonderful time getting to know the rest of the Norton Animal Health Center staff. Jim, Rosemary, Amber, Cari, and Judy were so kind to me and were as welcoming as always! Everyone at the clinic took me under their wing and taught me what they knew! Every bit of it will be helpful someday when I'm out on my own as a veterinarian.



Towards the end of my stay at Norton, Gideon helped me take a few pictures of my favorite parts of the clinic. 



Big surprise, my favorite part of the clinic is the working chute! I was fortunate to spend a lot of time in the barn this year mostly testing bulls, but we saw a few calves and cows too. The covered hydraulic chute and alley ways have certainly spoiled me. 



The fancy digital x-ray and brand spankin' new CBC machine are some of my other favorite clinic toys! 


I was able to spend lots of time observing surgeries too! 

While in Norton, Colin surprised both his family and I and came down to spend the weekends with us. It was so nice to see him and because he loves his cows almost as much as me, we were able to spend lots of quality time with the girls. We hadn't seen them in a while and it seemed like they missed us just as much as we missed them.


So, if you happen to find yourself in Norton, KS and are looking for a vet, or two, be sure to visits the Whites! If you want to know a bit more about their practice, their website is a wonderful resource: http://www.nortonanimalhealthcenter.com/

 It's a hot one! Stay cool on your own home on the range.  


Monday, July 2, 2012

Take a Look at This!

At home on the range. Once again we haven't posted in what seems like forever. I've been busy interning at a vet practice in Norton, KS...but I'll fill you in on that later and Colin has been putting in lots of hot hours at River Creek Farms. While I've got a minute I would like to share a video made by a fellow K-Stater trying to educate others about his family's operation. Colin and I thought he did one heck of a job!!


We hope you enjoy!! We sure did at home on the range