Celebrating Rainfall and Fishing

The Ninnescah River looked a little like the wash cycle in a clothes washing machine with lots of little bubbles frothing to the surface. 

But nobody had gotten careless with the detergent. Instead, the frothiness was caused by the pressure of water rushing through a dam there. 

It had been years since we'd seen that much water and flow at the Ninnescah River pasture where some of our cows and calves spend their summer vacations.

 

There was even water working its way from water holes north of the river and spilling into it. 

 

 

Randy and I had taken the Gator to the pasture for fishing Friday afternoon (May 30). During the past month, we've received between 5 and 6 inches of rain. As we approached the dam, both of us commented on how the rainfall should help the Cheney Watershed, which has suffered from persistent drought in the past few years. 

From https://www.cheneylakewatershed.org

The Cheney Lake Watershed (North Fork Ninnescah River) covers 633,000 acres within five counties in south central Kansas including portions of Reno, Stafford, Pratt, Kingman, and Kiowa counties. More than 99 percent of the watershed is used for agricultural purposes. Also included is the Cheney Reservoir, an important source of drinking water and recreation for the City of Wichita and surrounding communities. More than 70 percent of Wichita's water is taken from the reservoir. 

Since last summer, weather forecasters on the Wichita television stations have reported on the low water levels at Cheney Lake. Ross Jansen, KWCH-TV's chief meteorologist, shared this map:

Here's what the graphic had to say: Where does the rain need to fall in order to fill up Cheney Lake? Other than the obvious (right over the lake), here's a map to show the watershed.

Looking at the water just before it reaches the dam - no "foam" on this side.

According to news reports, our May rains did have an impact on Cheney Lake, which was up more than 17 inches since the morning of Saturday, May 24, and up 7.68 inches since Wednesday, May 28, at 7 a.m. That’s  more than 3.2 billion gallons of water, according to KWCH. 

The lake now sits at 6.60 feet below normal. However, Wichita remains under Stage 2 drought restrictions, which it implemented August 2024. The yearly average water level at Cheney Reservoir must be at least 70 percent for the drought restrictions to be lifted.

But, it is good news for Cheney Reservoir and the city of Wichita. And it's a boon for all the farmers and ranchers who rely on the Ninnescah for their livelihoods.  

 

Thankfully, we don't rely on fishing to put meat on the table, though we do rely on the Ninnescah to provide water and rich vegetation for our mamas and baby calves. 

 

We wondered if the water was moving too quickly for Randy to even get a bite.  

However, success! 

 

He caught a 4-pound catfish. He had another catfish on the line (he says), but it got away. 

 

I can neither affirm or deny this fish tale. I had cataract and glaucoma stent surgery on my left eye May 19, so I'm not seeing particularly well at the moment. Thank goodness for iphone cameras to capture the moment easily. It was enough for a tasty fried fish supper at The County Line. 

 

Candid Camera: Calf Version

 

Working baby calves is a bit different for me these days. While other people do the work, I stand around and point my camera at cute baby faces. That works for me. Retirement certainly cuts down on the bruised shins, the manure-smeared jeans and sore muscles. 

I admit it: I'm a sucker for baby faces, especially the faces with unusual markings. No. 33 kept catching my eye. But he was not the only one. 

One of these calves is not like the others. (There were other light-colored calves in the bunch. They just weren't in this photo.)

We have turned the daily feeding and care of our cow-calf herd to Tye and Todd Miller, though we still own the cattle. They run our cows with their own herd. When babies are born, our calves get the yellow ear tags and the Millers' get the blue ones. 

During calf-working day, it used to be Randy giving the shots. Now, it's Tye and Todd, along with Norva Lee who keeps the syringes filled and the pour-on applied.

Randy and Tye's friend, Aaron, helped get the calves up the lane, ready for their "doctor's appointments."

 

Todd asked if I missed the work. He offered to let me join in. However, it looked like they had it handled.

Peekaboo!

 

 And that gave me free reign on checking out the cute babies ...

 

... And the cute helpers.

 

Oh Baby Face!

Baby face

You've got the cutest little baby face.

 

 

There ain't nobody can ever take your place

Baby face

My poor heart's jumping
You started something 

 

 

Baby face, I'm up in heaven 

when I'm in your fond embrace.

 

I didn't need a shove, 'cause I just fell in love
With your pretty baby face.

 

It's that time of the year. And we don't envy the job that Tye and Todd are going to have to accomplish in the next few days of sub-zero wind chills. It's calving season for our cow herd. The Polar Express is a rude "welcome to the world" for any babies born in the next few days. 

While we aren't involved in the day-to-day operations any longer, we do still own cows and calves. But we definitely remember the days of 'round-the-clock checks on mamas in the maternity ward. And we salute Tye and Todd - as well as other livestock stewards - who will be braving winter weather to care for their animals.

 

As I've mentioned before, Tye and Todd have liberal visitation policies when it comes to our visits to see the new babies. A bunch of them are already on the ground. Some arrived during the last storm and didn't seem particularly bothered by napping on snow-covered ground.  

Back in our active farming/ranching days, we always spread out straw. The Millers do, too. But that doesn't mean the mamas or babies take advantage of it.

 

 But some do!

 

 

The mamas also provide a ready "warm milk bar." That's sure to warm babies up quickly!

 

 

It's self-serve, all-you-can-eat.

 

Visiting the cattle also provides a ready genetics lesson. Some babies look an awful lot like their mothers. 

 

Others must resemble their dads. 

 But they are all pretty darn cute.

Shoutout to all those producers who'll be braving the extreme cold during the next few days. Be careful out there!

Every Month is Beef Month in Kansas

 

Maybe a cattle drive would be a fitting tribute to Kansas Beef Month. Never mind that the cattle drive actually happened at the end of April and not in May, which Gov. Laura Kelly has declared is officially Kansas Beef Month. Most any month is Beef Month in Kansas.

Kansas has nearly 44.8 million acres of agricultural ground. However, not all this land is suitable for growing crops. Some 22,000 Kansas farmers/ranchers use the 14 million acres of pasture and rangeland unsuitable for crops for cattle grazing and delivering high-quality protein to consumers through the meat case at grocery stores or sold directly to consumers.

According to the Kansas Department of Agriculture economic model, the beef industry has a direct output of more than $11 billion to the state’s economy, with the ranching and cattle feeding sectors employing nearly 20,000 Kansans and the meatpacking and prepared meat manufacturing industries employing 46,000. Additionally, Kansas ranks third nationally with 6.2 million cattle and calves on ranches and in feedyards. The most recent data shows the state also ranks third in total red meat production, with beef representing more than 6 billion pounds.

Our neighbor, Gary, had plenty of help on horseback as he moved cattle from a circle where they had been grazing on stalks back home to work them. He had told Randy that the "parade" would be passing by our house, so we were watching. Actually, we were listening to begin with. The cattle started their journey about a mile from our house. We could hear them bawling as they ambled closer toward us.

I'm sure it didn't seem like a quick process to those people actually involved, but the old-fashioned cattle drive passed by our house quickly. Our part in the cattle drive was mainly watching - though we did use a "Hey, hey, hey!" from our active cattle working days to keep the cattle moving down the road and out of our front lawn.

A trailer followed behind to transport any baby calves who couldn't keep up.  

That wasn't our only cattle activities this spring. While we retired from active farming in August 2022, we still own our mama cows. We provide the pasture, and Tye and his dad, Todd, do the daily care for the cows and calves for a percentage of the calves born each year. 

Randy helped the Millers gather cattle a couple of days and also helped work them. I guess when you're the retired one, you can sit down on the job on occasion.

Randy really did have jobs ...

including working the squeeze chute (which was more high-tech than ours was) ...

 ...and giving shots ...

 ... and applying the pour-on.

Though I was there mostly to take photos (at Randy's request), I did help write down eartag numbers. Nothing like doing something for old-time's sake, right?

That left Norva Lee free to keep the cows moving down the lane and getting other groups from the adjoining corrals.

And the number list helped Tye know which mama cow was coming up next. The Millers were artifically-inseminating the cows with help from John Fisher, an Artificial Breeding Services (ABI) AI technician. 

Todd had gone through the herd and determined which of five bulls they wanted to use for each cow. Tye would get the straw containing the appropriate semen ready for Todd or John to use in the AI process. 

The semen straws are stored in these liquid nitrogen canisters until it's time for use. Then, Tye would check ear tag numbers on the list and get the straws lined up accordingly.  

He put the appropriate straw into a warming unit, so it would be ready for inserting. 

 

 John's trailer has stalls for two cows at a time. So both Todd and John could be doing the AI process simultaneously.

Once the process was complete, the cow departed the AI shed and rejoined its corral mates. 

***

We didn't have to stick around 'til the cows came home this time - so to speak. We headed to the Wild West (aka Dodge City) for a dinner theater at the restored depot. 

 This was my belated anniversary present from Randy.

It didn't include beef on the menu. Instead, it was "airline chicken" to go with the play's military aircraft and pilot theme. That's chicken with a wing sticking up. (I only know that from Food Network.)

The play was pretty heavy, but we had a good time at the Depot Theater. 

I told Randy maybe we should go for a comedy or musical the next time.