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It’s complicated…as it should be

I'm learning to appreciate diversity and complexity more.  Nature seems to favor these over simplicity and monotony.  It frustrates us as humans because we have a much harder time managing all that complexity.  Maybe we don't have to manage it.  Maybe we can just be part of it.  I listened to several speakers at the Grassfed Exchange in North Dakota a few weeks ago, and in a nutshell, what I learned was that it takes more skill to work with nature's complexity, but the skill is rewarded by healthier and thus more productive natural resources.  It fits with something I remember Dr. Tom Noffsinger (cattle handling expert) say in another venue about the need for humans to greatly improve our powers of observation if we are to be successful in relating to nature.  We like to compartmentalize different components of a system and max out each components production or value, sometimes at the cost of other components in the system.  The interactions between these components are very important for the overall health of the system.  Push things out of balance and there are consequences.  One example I can think of is chemical application on rangeland.   I think there is a place for it, please don't misunderstand.  But I cringe when I read a herbicide brochure describing anything that isn't grass or alfalfa as a weed, and worse yet, taking away from the "productivity" of a pasture.  Wrong answer.  Removing invasive noxious weeds, ok (although I'd rather use biological control methods).  But taking out everything that isn't grass?  That diversity is there for a reason, and it's rather conceited to think we understand all the implications of messing with that balance.  There is not a plant we have that I haven't seen a cow eat at some point (except leafy spurge).  The more I learn about plant interactions, below-ground biology, and cattle diets, the more repulsed I am by our (my) want for simplicity for management's sake. 

Set aside 20 minutes and check out this thought-provoking video.  Mike Rowe, host of the TV show Dirty Jobs, is a hero for those of us who work with our hands.  In this video, he speaks of his experience castrating sheep and how American culture has forgotten the importance of manual labor.  It's well worth your time to watch.  Trust me, there are much dumber ways to spend 20 minutes on the internet.  It is such a good video that it might warrant its own follow-up journal post some snowy day this winter.

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Nothing of any particular importance

I'll be up-front, there is nothing really very important in this blog post.  Just a smattering of thoughts on a Monday night.

Kelly, our intern, finished up here about three weeks ago.  She was a good hand – willing and capable to try something new, self-motivated to get done what needed to be done, and asked questions when she needed to.  She's going places, people.  Especially if the rest of her generation is stuck watching the VMA's and using their student loan funds to buy the iPhone 5S.  I'd wish her good luck, but she makes her own luck.  Thanks for the help, Kelly.

It has been a dry summer.  We had below-normal temps so it sort of muted the effect of the lack of rain.  When it finally heated up in late August, it took about 12 hours for the crops to start showing stress.  We have had about 1.5" of rain the past two days, which was very welcome.  It would have been even more welcome about two weeks ago, but the row crops (corn and soybeans) should still do OK.  The wheat crop was excellent.  I had one field of spring wheat that yielded 75 bushels per acre.  I can take no credit, for it was God and the Hubers that did the work.

I'm on Twitter now.  More into "following" than being "followed" though.  I did it to get more up-to-the-minute information on the commodity markets.  I follow several market analysts, news outlets, and fellow farmers and ranchers.  I actually like it quite a bit better than Facebook…it feels more business-like.  Facebook seems to lean more towards the "social" in social network, demonstrated by the absolute dominance of stay-at-home-moms who participate in it.  I don't want to take anything away from that aspect…the right tool for the right job, that's all.  Twitter appears to be more flexible regarding what sort of information your feed contains.  If you want to see who I follow (I don't really tweet anything, so don't follow me for that) my handle is @rockhillsranch.  Our website is still the best place to stay up-to-date on ranch happenings.

We gave the fall vaccinations to the calves last week.  It went very smoothly.  The calves are doing great – healthy and gaining weight.  I'm more excited about this calf crop than in past years, because I am getting to see the results of some specific breeding choices I made last year.  Some calves were sired by more maternal sires, and others by more terminal sires.  The maternal ones will be sorted and some kept for breeding stock; the terminal cattle will all be destined for the food chain.  We're planning to own some of each all the way to slaughter in order to compare and contrast these breeding decisions.  Genetic progress through selection is excruciatingly slow. It takes years to truly evaluate genetic direction, particularly in the maternal realm.  And that is where I am most interested in making improvements.

The pheasant population is down this year.  I'm not a game biologist but I would guess the late spring didn't help much.  Statewide, I think the counts are down something like 64%.  The past ten years have been excellent, so I guess it was time for a correction (for all you technical market analyst types, I'm hoping this level of support holds.  This market is way oversold.  Looking for a restest of the previous high next year.)  So it will be a little bit tougher to fill limits come October.  I also had my ego crippled by the utter chaos that is the food plots.  I tried something new and the weeds won.  Pheasants like weeds, thankfully.  It just isn't the crop I was hoping to raise.  I have seen a lot of songbirds enjoying the sunflowers that were part of the mix, so that's a good sign I guess.

I'm always trying to think of interesting things to write about here.  If you have any questions about how or what we do on the ranch, I'd be happy to answer them in a post.  Or maybe you'd like our "official company policy" (aka my opinion) on some hot environmental, animal welfare, property rights, land use, or food saftey topic.  Drop me an email at rockhillsranch@gmail.com and I'll come up with something.

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Lessons Learned South Dakota Style, continued

Here are some more things I learned while living in South Dakota.  

I realized the abundance of wildlife that rangelands produce.  It is so different for me to be out in a pasture on the fourwheeler and see a flock of pheasants fly up, or see rabbits and deer.  I’ve seen a coyote and a badger.  When I ride a fourwheeler through my parents’ farm at home I am lucky to see a deer nibbling in an alfalfa field.  It just really hit me that all of this rangeland does so much good for the wildlife in comparison to farmed fields, and it should be protected not only for those animals but for the soil and water benefits it provides. 

Because I didn’t see a lot of wildlife at home I never realized how much habitat a hay field produces, especially for pheasants.  I was reminded of this every time I cut hay this summer and ran over a pheasant nest full of eggs.  It was like pulling a calf that doesn’t make it.  There was nothing I could do, but I felt bad anyway.  It just reminded me of nature’s life cycle and how humans have altered it so much.  Yet it is in our nature to alter the world we live in to survive, and without altering it we would not be anywhere near where we are today.  It almost seems like we have given ourselves a higher status than we deserve since we can decide the fate of animals and the land. 

When I came here I had hoped to learn to ride.  Turns out Mittens and Elmer had different ideas.  The first time I rode Elmer Lyle saddled him up for me, gave a few instructions, and turned me loose.  We only went around the yard, and it seemed to go ok.  After that I didn’t have time to ride for a while, and by the next time I did, Elmer had been taken to Luke’s and Mittens and Nelly the driving horse were brought over here.  When I wanted to ride Mittens Lyle had me saddle her with his supervision and off I went.  Well, that was what I hoped would happen.  Mittens decided she wanted to stay with Nelly and she kept trying to turn around.  We made it out to the nearest pasture and I figured once she couldn’t see Nelly she’d be more cooperative.  I underestimate horses apparently.  She not only wanted to go back to the yard, but she would take off running in that direction every chance she got.  This happened the next time I took her out as well.  Lyle told me to show her who was boss and to give her a kick when she was naughty.  Since I wasn’t raised with or around horses, I was afraid that if I gave her a little kick that she would go off running.  So I didn’t.  Moral of the story is that Mittens got the best of me this summer and I still haven’t learned to ride properly.

If I learned that South Dakota horses aren’t all that good to me, it is the opposite when it comes to the people here.  I have met nice people everywhere I have lived, but this is the smallest town I have lived near, and maybe that is the reason for everyone’s kindness. 

I have gotten lessons in gardening, baking, cooking, and canning while living with the Permans.  The women of this family are training me well to feed a future husband.  I learned that you shouldn’t plant potatoes in the same place two years in a row.  I learned to make homemade bread, caramel rolls, and kuchen.  Living out here has taught me to make use of what you have and that making homemade meals is really appreciated among family and guests alike. 

I have also gotten it in my head that I want to learn to be better with tools, be able to do some woodworking, have chickens and some cows, make as much of my own food as I can, and have an assortment of animals running around.  I am contemplating the benefits of staying home to raise your own kids versus sending them to a daycare.  I have been told my whole life to get a good job, but now I wonder if it wouldn’t be so bad to stay home for a few years to raise kids.  It would seem like those first years of a child’s life would be more important that some career.  That is how I grew up, how my boyfriend grew up, and how both my parents grew up.  And we all turned out pretty darn good.  There must be something there to attest to that.  It’s just one of many things that I have second-guessed by being here.

I also second-guessed my plans for after I graduate college.  I figured I would find a full time job with the NRCS right away, or maybe even try out some temporary jobs for a year or so.  I had no intentions whatsoever of going to grad school.  Last year I was so sick of college that I wanted to be done with it as soon as I could.  But the more I learned from working here and from the people I met this summer, the more grad school and doing research is interesting me.  I have no idea where I will go or the specifics of what I will study, but now at least I am thinking about it, and am pretty sure I want to spend another two years of my life in school.

Lastly, I learned that it is most definitely worth it to buy a $600 plane ticket or drive most of a day to see someone you love, even if you are a poor college student.  My boyfriend is 1200 miles and 20 hours of driving away and will be that way until Christmas.  My parents are 10 hours away, and my sisters are scattered.  Skype and phone calls can only do so much.  Perhaps being so far from everyone I love has made me appreciate the times I have with them so much more.