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. 

An Update and a Plan for the Future

At home on the range we have had yet another incredibly busy few weeks. Colin and I both pictured the months after our wedding as quiet, lazy weeks where we did the dishes right after supper, kept up on laundry, filed the mail right away, and had plenty of time in between. Without the planning for the wedding and classwork, we thought we would have a considerable amount of spare time. We were wrong. Who knew changing a last name could be so challenging and time consuming?!? Judging by the piles (although relatively small and not shockingly disgusting) things haven't quite been as leisurely as we planned. Big surprise.


The snow....now that was a real surprise. Typical to Kansas, the weather has been anything but typical. Manhattan, Wichita, and Phillipsburg all experienced quite the dumping of fluffy white moisture. Lucky for us it will help the crops, cows, and ponds. Unlucky for us it buried everything!

A short week later, the snow still remained. (Fortunately as I am writing this the only snow that remains is the big pile in the park....thank heavens for 60 degree weather!) Colin's family got a bit more snow than Manhattan did and a bit less than what Wichita got, but this was what was left after a balmy 50 degree day. We can't really complain.

In between dumpings of snow, the Kirchhoff and Stites family welcomed this bundle of joy! We are so blessed to have a second niece and a new member of the family!

She has one very proud uncle and aunt. I have a feeling she'll get her fair share of cow noises from the fellow below. We have a thing with authentic animal noises around here....

Speaking of cow noises, winter weather and the end of February welcomed many, many calves. Unlike typical years, most of our calves (Colin's parent's included) were born in a span of just a few weeks. This makes things pretty hectic. Between checking cows throughout the day and then tagging, weighing, and checking on newborn calves, Colin's family has been extremely busy. Now for the onslaught of calf pictures. Judging by the size of my latest photo file...we could probably provide you a calf picture a day for the rest of our lives, but here are just a few of the highlights. 

We are lucky to have good mothers who know just what to do. Even in bad weather, they make sure to keep their calf dry and warm. This girl had just calved when we made out. Already her calf was up, walking, and ready to nurse. 

Every once in a while we run into some trouble. This calf's mother didn't have any milk. Only a few days old, he had already figured out that his two legged friends bring food. I didn't have a bottle along with me, but he certainly wasn't going to pass up some affection. 

And then we have this gal. She will be a great new mama in a few weeks, but now she is more interested in what may or may not be in the back of the mule. Once her calf is on the ground, I have a feeling she will be less interested in the pitch fork and more interested in heading up the hill to meet her fellow herd mates in the calf lot. 

What a cute little man. Looks like trouble. 

We can hardly keep up with all these calves. Normally the calf lot is not quite this populated this early. We are so blessed to have so many healthy babies. 

Such a serious young thing. While the cows are eating, they "place" their calves somewhere in the lot. The calves know not to wander away until their mother comes to find them. 

Calves and all, we have had one hectic month. Not only have we been spending time taking care of our herd, but we have been continuing to further our beef education. This past weekend I attended an animal science conference in Des Moines with my major professor and learned many new and exciting things about the industry. Colin and I are excited to put these new ideas to work...part of these ideas deal with telling our story. What better way than to share it here. No more month hiatuses... here's to progress at home on the range!