September 27
Last Wednesday Andrea got her pickup hooked to the trailer at the loading dock, ready to go to auction, and we put hay in the trailer to create better footing for the cattle. That evening I put the steer calves and two open yearling heifers in the calving pen where they’d be easy to access the next morning, fed them good hay, and filled their water tubs. It started raining in the night; they were cold and miserable and didn’t eat or drink much.
I did chores early that next morning. Charlie helped us load the cattle and went with Andrea to haul them to Butte. It was a slow trip with wind and bad roads, but the cattle looked good when they unloaded. The weather was even colder over there, but the pens were bedded with straw.
Read Also
Beef demand drives cattle and beef markets higher
Prices for beef cattle continue to be strong across the beef value chain, although feedlot profitability could be challenging by the end of 2025, analyst Jerry Klassen says.
It was a big sale the next day (almost 2,000 head) with buyers from all over — even from Canada — and prices were good. The steers brought $3.24 per pound and the two yearling heifers brought $2.32 per pound. That’s our highest price ever.
Andrea left the truck and trailer backed up to the loading chute again when they got home, and we shovelled out the wet hay. The rain and snow blew into the trailer, but the hay helped keep the rubber mats from being slippery. Charlie fixed the thermostat on Andrea’s pickup.
The neighbours rounded up most of their cattle off the range that weekend. We kept our driveway gate shut for several days to make sure none came into our place. They made their biggest drive on Saturday — it quit raining by then.
Andrea and Carolyn went up to the 320 on four-wheelers to make sure the riders didn’t push any cattle through our fences. Fortunately, our fences stayed intact and they got their cattle past our place and on down into the low range where they sorted them.
That afternoon we put new bedding hay in the trailer and Charlie came out to stay the night. He, Andrea and Nick joined us for supper. Early Sunday morning we loaded the four cull cows and Andrea and Charlie headed to Butte again. The weather was better this time — cold, but no rain or snow. The cows sold well on the regular sale on Tuesday. The big red cow (the one that tried to kill us this spring when she calved during a blizzard and we had to sled her calf into the barn) weighed 1,425 and brought $1.12 per pound. Lilligator (the three-year-old that’s just as mean and ornery) weighed 1,150 and brought $1.27 per pound. Those two cows we didn’t put with a bull this summer because we planned to sell them. The two younger cows that were open (first-calvers) were a little smaller and brought $1.35 per pound.
The weather warmed up for a few days, so Andrea and I made a fast ride yesterday to check the range and see how many cows got missed on the big roundup. We didn’t see any on the low range and middle range (just two rattlesnakes and one bull elk that jumped up out of the sagebrush and spooked our horses).
We rode today on the high range — a longer ride to see how many cattle might be left there. We went up through the 320 and saw several cattle above us on the mountain toward Withington Creek. When Andrea checked with binoculars, she could tell that one of those four animals was a bull. As we rode out that gate and started up the hill to check those cattle to see whose they were, we saw a neighbour riding around the hill above us. When we started out around the mountain, we met him coming back with three of those animals, but no bull.
He went on down the hill with the three cattle and picked up a couple more to take around the mountain and into his 160-acre pasture to take down to the road. We checked Baker Creek — no cows or tracks — then back out over the mountain toward Withington Creek and found the bull he’d left. It was another neighbour’s bull left out there with no other cattle, which will make it difficult to get him home. We’ll call and tell them where he is.
October 10
The memorial celebration of life for Ammarie will be this Saturday, on the date she would have been six months old. We are all helping Dani prepare for this occasion, and many family members and friends are preparing the food.
Friday we moved the heifer calves to the pen next to Shiloh and Sprout, where there is lush regrowth of grass. They grazed that for a couple of days, then we put them in the big field below the lane. Regrowth from that hayfield and pasture should last until it snows under.
We moved the cows to heifer hill for a few days to eat that regrowth, but will move them to a new pasture this afternoon to join the seven pregnant heifers in the big back lower field. When that’s gone, we’ll move them to the field and hillside by Andrea’s house. With luck, we’ll have enough pasture until winter sets in.
Saturday Charlie came out and changed the oil and the air filter in our old feed truck, and got the window (that fell out of its track and down into the door) functional again. He stayed for supper; Andrea, Christopher and Nick joined us and we had a nice visit. It’s great to have our two grandsons nearby and able to get together! Nick came on Sunday and adjusted two of our corral gates that were sagging. The younger generation is great to have around.
