Weather

It seems like farmers and ranchers are always talking about the weather, markets, and other things that are not within their control. What do you do? You can't really stress about it. You can't change it. You might as well make small talk. We recieved 5 inches of heavy snow last night. Good for the grass; bad for the calves. Looks like we are supposed to see a few more inches off and on all week. We did get a taste of spring the end of last week and the first part of this week. Just a teaser though. Not enough to really get anything but cheatgrass to going. My mother offered to help me plant my garden when she comes to visit in the next couple of weeks. I told her... We can plant it in April, then again in May but probably should wait til June if we really want things to grow. Might be in California but it is still 5000 feet elevation, with a chance of frost/snow any day of the year!

Are you sure you should be doing that?

This is my day to complain~ But a little background first. I am within days of having my second child, like 3 days from the due date. I have been working/helping/involved in ranch work my entire life. I am over 21 and way, way, way over 100 lbs at the moment. So, I laugh when people ask me, are you sure you should be riding horses/branding calves/ giving shots/ feeding etc. It is dangerous. My husband would say not allowing me to do these things is more dangerous. :) The life I chose to live is one that is full of danger but isn't any more so than many of my more urban counterparts. It does involve large unpredictable animals but it doesn't involve a large unpredictable human population. There are drugs but with few exceptions, the needles are more dangerous than the actual medicine. Feeding is no more stress if done correctly than sitting at a desk all day long, it might be less if you balance the benefits of strength training in there. The air has some particulate matter but most of it is organic not smog based. So, the dangers are relative if you ask me.

Hot Iron Branding

I have been remiss about posting lately. I have been partcipating in an age old tradition of hot iron branding calves. It is just as necessary now as it was 100 years ago. A form of identification, that is permanent. Very much unlike, ear tags, tatoos, and freeze irons, a hot iron brand is difficult to alter. The hot iron brand has been a source of much debate, lately. Many believe it is unnecessary but those people do not make their livlihood off of the livestock that can easily be stolen off of thousands of acres with few people. It is especially pertinent with cattle prices being high and the economy being in the dumps. Just last month I recieved an e-mail about several hundred head of calves being stolen off of private range. The take the young calves before they can be branded and sell them. In addition to the actually branding portion, young animals are given their vaccination and castrated, among other things. It is also a social event, teaching the young the traditions and a gathering after a long winter.

Industrial Beef Producers?

Beef Cow-Calf production in the U.S. - The USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) has released a report which states " beef cow-calf production in the United States occurs in every state with about 35% of the 2.2 million farms having a beef cow inventory, in 2007. Most of these were small, part-time operations with about a third of farms that raise beef animal having a beef cow inventory of less than 10 cows, mor than half had fewer than 20 cows, and nearly 80% had fewer than 50 cows.

Many small operations are 'rural residence farms' that specialize in beef cow-calf production with their income from off-farm sources exeeds that from the farm.

Beef cattle production is considered by consumers to be the 2nd largest "factory farming" species/industry. Doesn't sound like there are many of those types of farms and ranches out there.

Farmer's Return

I heard an interesting report~ The farmer gets about 20% for every dollar spent at the grocery store on his/her produce. Who gets the rest? Some is spent on regulations, trucking, store overhead, marketing, and... The list goes on. The really interesting thing is this is down from the 1994 levels where a farmer recieved about 25% of every dollar. High input costs have dramatically decreased the profitability margin of farming. Then you add on to it the increase in regulations, fertilizer costs, land costs and niche marketing issues. Doesn't seem like a very profitable way to go... So where is this big business agriculture that is just in it for the money? I dunno!

EPA

The environmental protection agency (EPA) was questioned about lawsuits last week. It seems in the last decade or so more regulations have been made because of mitigation of lawsuits from so called environmental groups than through legislation. It is unfortunate this has been the case without the scientific background and research to back up said regulations. Sen. Cordoza from California questioned the head of EPA~ Suggesting that EPA has been actually soliciting for lawsuits so they may place more restrictions on American farmers and ranchers. The head of EPA stated that would be unprofessional~ not confirming or denying the claim. Senator Cordoza went on to suggest maybe mitigating lawsuits was not the way to go if we were going to continue having a viable farming industry. Maybe the EPA should take the time and resources to look into the actual reasoning behind litigation before giving in. An interesting tactic from a Democratic Senator, suggesting maybe science should lead regulations not emotion?

Ceasar Chavez Day

Tomorrow is Ceasar Chavez Day in California. He is either hailed or hated by many people. Ceasar Chavez was against the mechanization of agriculture because it put many migrant workers out. It was an interesting time in history with tomatoe picking by machine at the forefront.

It is amazing to look how far we have come in many aspects of agriculture in just the last 50 years. In cattle production, carcass fat has decreased from 35% to 27% and beef production per head has increased 80%.

I don't know if it is for the better. We now have subdivisions, ranchettes, and labels. You can go to the grocery store and decide if you want free-range, organic, natural, or traditional eggs. The choices are immense but so is the impact.