The Ninnescah

  

We live in the shadow of many people who came before us. Our families both settled in Kansas in the late 1860s, not long after the 34th state joined the Union. Our great-grandparents, our grandparents and our parents all made a way that we continue to follow. I suppose I could say they "paved" a way, but in our part of the world, our everyday roads are more commonly dirt. 

But the shadow extends far beyond blood ties. Through the years, other families have given us the opportunity and privilege to care for their cropland and pastureland. Early in November, we were at one of those special places - the Ninnescah pasture owned by the Johnson family. Randy and his dad began renting the pasture in 1977, right after Randy's junior year in college. (Our house was originally owned by the Johnsons, too. We moved into it when I was eight months pregnant with Jill and bought it several years later. We are still grateful for that, too!)

This November was our final round-up there as active farmers/ranchers. We will retain ownership of our mama cows, but we've worked out an agreement with, Tye, a young neighbor who is farming with his parents. We will continue to provide our cows and the pasture, but he'll do the work of caring for the cows and then calving them out for a share of the calf crop. (As I wrote about the Big Pasture round-up, I won't be surprised if Randy ends up helping with future round-ups, if asked. Old habits die hard.)

The Ninnescah Pasture is a beautiful place ...

 

2019

... winter ...

May 2019

  ... spring ...

Ninnescah Pasture - June 22, 2020

  ... summer ...

... or fall.

Don't tell the boss, but it has never seemed like work to ride a 4-wheeler in a pretty setting. Well ... I take that back. A couple of summers ago, it was definitely work as we struggled to keep about five pairs in the pasture. We took way more 4-wheeler rides that summer than we wanted, and it was most decidedly not fun.

The Ninnescah River runs through the property. It's ideal for cattle.

Well, it's ideal unless they are playing hide-and-seek among the trees clear across the pasture when you're trying to get them to leave their summer vacation spot for a trip back to the farmstead.

On that November Saturday morning as we moved cattle, it was also a sanctuary for bird hunters (though we probably disturbed the peaceful vibe).

Eventually, we got the bulls, the cows and their calves moved into the corral. 

I could go on and on about the beauty of the pasture. And as we are facing the end of an era, there's that temptation. 

But there is a rest of the story. One of our trailers had a problem when the shackles broke. (... Whatever shackles are! I was driving at the time, but Randy says it wasn't my fault - whew!) So we ended up making a lot more trips, using just one of our trailers, along with Tye's trailer. We won't miss having to deal with the breakdowns and the myriad of other challenges that are the day-to-day minutia behind a successful operation. (The same day, we got a call from an oil field driver who happened to see one of our bred cows drop dead at a different pasture. It was a young cow in its prime, so we think it may have choked on a hedge apple, but we don't really know. I will edit myself and not share a photo of that.)

Instead, we'll look forward to summertime fishing trips to the Ninnescah, rather than chasing a few ornery escapees.