Tools of the Trade

At home on the range we welcomed in spring with snow and seedlings. Around these parts, mother nature has been just kind enough to allow for enough sunshine (and some help of the artificial kind - thank you Thomas Edison) to turn this:

Into this:

We thought we had killed them for a while...then one day they germinated!! Now they are growing like weeds...actually more like tomatoes, peppers, mint, and sage. It's Colin and my first attempt at gardening. So far, so good.  

Just as we were getting comfortable with the sun, Kansas had to remind us once more that we live in such a wonderful and forgiving place. The vernal equinox was ushered in by some very large fluffy flakes that although did not stick around for long, provided Colin and I just enough moisture to muck up our front hall. 

Hopefully the last snow of the year...

On a different note, I mentioned last week that I had just returned home from an animal science conference in Des Moines. Along with attending various meetings, I also helped with the Animal Science Academic Quadrathlon. It's an event where various colleges across the Midwest compete in animal science related events. Our team won!! Go KSU!!! While our team was busy getting all the right answers, I ran the beef station where I presented the students with "tools of the trade" to identify. These were some of the items that made an appearance.

#1

#2

#3

Got any guesses? Don't feel bad...they didn't either. Although they look a little funny out of their element, we uses these three items fairly frequently at home on the range. 

#1) Steam Flaked Corn - we don't use this so much at our place, but this is corn that has been steam treated and made flat. Because the corn is not longer in "corn form," it is a little easier for the cow to digest. If you ever find yourself around a feedlot and see this stuff coming out of the flaker early in the morning...try a little. With a bit of sugar and cream it tastes a lot like corn flakes! 

#2) Ear Tagger - This is the tool we use to insert an identification tag into each cow and calf. We talk a lot about taggers during calving time because we use this to match the cow and her calf with an identical tag. It makes it a lot easier come sorting time to figure out who belongs to who. 

#3) Bolus Gun - This is a tough one. A bolus gun allows us to give the cows medicine in bolus, or pill form. Just like your dog, getting a cow to swallow a big pill is one tough job. A bolus gun allows you to give her medication without getting your fingers pinched in the process. It looks like a big scary syringe, but actually they don't seem to mind them much at all. 

And....how could we forget....It's National Agriculture Week! To celebrate, enjoy "So God Made a Farmer."

Happy Ag Week, Happy Spring, Happy Wednesday from those of us at home on the range.