Work Conditions

The last few weeks included some long days of cattle round ups, sorting and hauling. This life on a farm doesn't include a regular paycheck, and that can sometimes be disconcerting, especially when commodity prices are low and agricultural policy is uncertain with a new president.

Every day, my Facebook feed and farm magazines talk about consumers who believe we farmers are doing them harm with modern production practices and new seed technologies.

But in the midst of all that, I need to open my eyes to the blessings I do have. We certainly have a beautiful backdrop for work. I am blessed to see God's creation as it comes alive each spring - even if the smell of those blooming trees may sometimes be masked with the aroma of manure mixed with mud. 

Such was the day we rounded up cattle at Peace Creek. For this round-up, we borrowed a 4-wheeler from a neighbor and used our two 4-wheelers, too.

Even getting a group of reluctant mothers and babies to cross the creek gave me an opportunity to enjoy a morning where I could hear the birds singing and enjoy the white clouds against a vivid blue spring sky.

We finally got them to cross the water and we worked them toward the road, where we would drive them to the corrals to sort the mamas and babies.

I didn't take any photos of the time on the road, where we also detoured into tempting green wheat and alfalfa fields. Trying to drive a 4-wheeler and take photos at the same time as chasing cattle led to the demise of a camera this winter, so I stuck it in my pocket. It stayed there while we sorted mamas from babies.

 

 

Then I couldn't resist snapping a photo or two (or more) of the cute little faces.

Their mothers weren't thrilled to be separated from their offspring. We don't need to watch protests on the evening news. They happen in our cattle lots! They don't realize that we are actually protecting their babies.

We haul the babies separately from the moms so that the babies don't get trampled in the cattle trailers.

 

The Ninnescah Pasture looks like a pretty ideal "vacation" spot to me. It seems like a picturesque place to spend the summer.

The babies were ready to jump from the trailer to begin a new adventure.

However, they had to wait in the holding pens until all the mothers were there so they could reunite.

I couldn't resist my annual photo of these three trees as we left the pasture for another load of mamas. I may not get a paycheck, but the fringe benefits are pretty great.

Morning Drive Time

The big-town radio stations talk about morning drive time. They'll play a mix of music to get commuters from suburbia to their downtown office jobs. It's where the stations sell their best advertising space, since it's when the drivers are held captive by bumper-to-bumper traffic. Or so I've been told.

I don't know about that kind of morning drive time. I do know about another kind of drive time. It was what Randy, Jim and I accomplished one morning last week as we "drove" mama cows and their babies from the Peace Creek pasture to the corrals a half mile away.

 

It was time for another round of well-baby checks. Just like we took our own children to the doctor for vaccinations and care, the baby calves have their own appointment to keep them healthy and growing.

I stayed back in a corral while Randy checked the pasture, and the baby calves curiously checked out the lady on the 4-wheeler.

This was taken another year, when my job was the pickup driver. 
I was too busy driving the 4-wheeler to get many photos this year!

Our version of a "traffic jam" came when the cows wanted to detour for a snack on the lush green wheat fields. Since the 4-wheeler accelerator is on the righthand side and my camera also requires a righthand click, it's no wonder there aren't many photos of the process. I was too busy trying to chase mamas and babies and get them moving on their way toward the corrals.

Once there, we separated the mamas from the babies so we could "work" the baby calves.

The "doctor's" waiting room was full of patients.

This little guy wanted to check out his compatriots on the other side of the fence. I doubt he wanted to go through the chute again though. Only one set of shots per customer, please!

For the return trip, we loaded the babies into a trailer. We hoped the cows would do what good mamas do - follow their babies.

After some forays into the wheat and an alfalfa field, we eventually got them moving toward the Peace Creek pasture.

Once they got over the bridge, they could see the pickup down in the corral.

Then the morning drive time tune shifted to "Anticipation" as the guys prepared to open the trailer. "Anticipation. Anticipation is making me wait."

 

Every time we return babies to their mamas, I mentally sing "Reunited, and it feels so good." Really.

The search was on for the right baby.

A snack is always good after a doctor's appointment.