The Leftovers…

Most of the cow breeding herd and young calves in Nebraska garnish the bulk of their winter nourishment grazing the leftovers of crop fields.  The roughage and corn that remain in the field after harvest (the leftovers) provide an important source of winter feed for cattle.

A group of 8 month old calves grazing the corn and alfalfa field north of the feed yard last fall…

During corn, soybean, and wheat harvest, some of the forage of the plants along with a small amount of grain is left in the field.  This feed can either be baled for future feed use, or can be grazed by cattle.  On our farm, most is baled for future feed use at the feed yard, but we do use about 100 acres for fall cattle grazing and winter horse grazing.

Wheat straw that is baled and waiting to be transported from the field to the feed yard…

When the tulips bravely show their heads and the alfalfa begins to green, it is time to take down the portable winter fences that were needed to keep the cattle and horses in the correct fields while grazing.  These fences must be taken down before my favorite farmer and his crew can begin spring farm work.

The temporary winter fence on the field by my house…

One of the fields that is used for grazing is just west of our house.  Archie helps me to fence the field so that my horses can get their winter feed from the leftovers.  My horses love to have a large space to graze all winter and it saves me feed resources to have them spend November to April grazing the stubble that is left in the field.

Out grazing on a beautiful winter morning…

Ensuring that the leftover feed is used by our livestock plays an important role in the sustainability of our farm.  The goal is to minimize waste, and the cattle are very helpful at accomplishing this.

The majority of what I feed my cattle is not the primary harvest crop.  Corn stalks and wheat stubble are baled after harvest and provide the main source of forage or roughage in the feed yard casserole.  Additionally, a significantly large part of that casserole is Wet Distillers Grains which is what is left of the corn after ethanol has been extracted.

The great recyclers!

Cattle are great recyclers—whether they are grazing a corn stalk field after harvest or eating those leftovers once they have been transported to the feed yard.

The beauty of spring…

When the tulips begin to bloom in my front yard, my horses lose their winter grazing pasture.  As Dandy whinnies from the gate, my favorite teenager and I take out the fence posts so that Archie can roll up the wire and Matt can begin to farm.

Taking out the fence posts last weekend…

Helping me to take down fence is one of Ashley Grace’s favorite chores because I let her practice her driving skills on the alfalfa field while I take out the fence.  Together we make a great team!

Making memories while doing chores…

As spring descends on Nebraska, I am thankful for both the resilience of our land and the winter feed that it has provided for our animals.  Our cattle and horses are big fans of leftovers!

Winter Chores…

“Mama always prays for a nice, pretty, brown Christmas”.  These were the words of my middle daughter when she was about 4 years old.  She was solemnly telling a friend that her Mama did not like it to snow on Christmas.

It is hard to believe that she used to be this little!

In Nebraska during the winter, there is a choice of two colors outdoors: brown and white.  While the white can be very aesthetically pleasing, snow brings extra work.  While the brown color is not as pretty, it makes chores a lot easier to do!

Six years later, she spends many sunrises with me helping to exercise calves at the feed yard…

During my years in New Hampshire at Dartmouth College, I loved the snow.  As a native Floridian, it fascinated me.  When I moved to Nebraska, my perception changed. Snow no longer represented simple beauty, it’s presence brought added work!

My winter “outfit”…

Being the boss lady, it is my responsibility to ensure that our cattle receive good care every single day.  In particular, the feed yard is busy during the fall and winter months when animals are moved off of grass pastures as the natural growing season comes to an end.  As the days get shorter and the temperatures get colder, good animal care takes more work.  Providing fresh feed and water, along with good living conditions for the cattle, is a priority for me.

Our goal is exceptional care—every single day…

Last week I was asked by a reader to talk about “winter chores”.  Here is a quick run-down on what my crew and I do each day during the winter as we don our coveralls and layers of clothes in order to care for our cattle.

Cattle huddled up and waiting for the feed truck on a cold winter morning…

Reading bunks and feeding cattle:  My foreman (Doug) and I both read bunks about 6:00am every morning in order to determine how many pounds of feed each animal will receive on our farm that day.  Feed trucks are running by 6:30 and breakfast is delivered by 9:00am.  My daughters call our afternoon feeding linner (a cross between lunch and dinner), and it is delivered between 2:00pm and 4:00pm.

The Breakfast Wagon!

Exercising calves:  I exercise and acclimate newly arrived cattle at the feed yard for the first 4-7 days in order to help them become accustomed to living in a new setting.  I do this in the morning before the cattle receive breakfast—during the winter it is usually dark outside! The following video shows the beginning of an exercising session where I ask the cattle to leave the home pen and enter the alleyway.

Processing/vaccinating newly arrived cattle:  Newly arrived cattle are vaccinated, ear tagged, and sometimes given a growth promoting implant within the first few days of arrival at the feed yard.  My crew and I do this in the middle of the day to try and take advantage of the “warmest hours”.

Jared, cleaning a pen using the tractor and box scraper…

Scraping pens: At our feed yard, Jared is in charge of cleaning or scraping pens in order to keep the home pens clean and provide good living conditions for the cattle.  The manure that is scraped off of the surfaced is used for fertilizer on our farm ground.  During the winter months, each pen is scraped 1X per month or more frequently depending on weather conditions.  With 24 pens, that means that he is scraping a pen almost every day.

When it’s reasonably warm outside we use the horse to “ride pens”–when it is cold many times we walk through the cattle checking health instead…

Riding pens or checking cattle: My cowboy or I check the health of all of our animals every day.  Depending on how cold it is, we either ride a horse or walk through the cattle on foot to check individual cattle health.  If an animal is sick, it will be pulled out of the home pen for further evaluation and most likely treated with an antibiotic.  Somewhere between 2- 5% of our cattle require antibiotic treatment for an illness.  We have a consulting veterinarian who helps us to ensure good cattle health and responsible antibiotic use.

These red angus steers are a few days from shipping to the packing plant. I look pretty small next to them!

Shipping cattle: We ship cattle to the packing plant approximately once every two weeks.  My crew and I load the cattle onto semi-trucks to travel to the packing plant.

A semi-truck used to transport cattle…

Receiving cattle: We get new cattle into the feed yard periodically as other cattle are shipped to the packing plant.  The new cattle come from neighboring ranches in Nebraska where they were born and spent the first 8-18 months of their lives.  I am my own cattle buyer so I travel to the home ranch to help load the cattle onto stock trailers or semi-trucks to bring them to the feed yard.

Newly arrived cattle on “stock trailers”…

My crew and I (there are four of us total) each spend an average of 50-60 hours a week during the winter providing care to our animals.  We all love what we do and strive for excellence every day.

Only as high as I reach can I grow, only as far as I seek can I go, only as deep as I look can I see, only as much as I dream can I be.

Karen Ravn