Rancher’s Diary & Production Tips

Andrea
gives
grandson
Christopher
a ride on a
quiet old
horse
named Ed.

Opportunity arrived to help a neighbour

Health issues seemed to dominate September, as the first frost of the season arrives

By Heather Smith Thomas October 12, 2022

September 9 Weather continues very hot. The creek is low but Andrea is managing to keep watering some of our fields with just a trickle from a couple of our ditches. She brought Christopher Sunday afternoon and we gave him another ride on Ed. This time he rode past the end of our driveway and […] Read more

Cattleman’s Corner, Cow-Calf, Rancher’s Diary

Cold weather or not, fencing continued

Rancher's Diary: Extra attention including tube feeding couldn’t save premature calf

By Heather Smith Thomas April 20, 2018

February 22 A week ago it snowed and was windy and cold. Jim finished packing his truck and drove to California where he has a couple of months worth of work fixing fences and remodelling some buildings for a friend. We moved the yearling bulls from the orchard to the little back pen, and created […] Read more

From snow and ice to almost muddy conditions, work continued on building a new fence that separates pasture from hayfield.

Cattleman’s Corner, Livestock, Rancher’s Diary

Winter brings a mixed bag of weather

Rancher's Diary: Ice, snow and even rainy conditions make chores challenging

By Heather Smith Thomas March 9, 2018

January 28 We’ve had cold nights this past week. I’m glad we’re no longer calving in January. I finished revisions and updates for the new edition of my book Storey’s Guide to Training Horses. The thick ice on our lane and Andrea’s driveway is slippery and treacherous, making it tricky to get up and down […] Read more

Our neighbour Sy Miller with his jackhammer post pounder, setting posts for our new horse pen.

Cattleman’s Corner, Rancher’s Diary

Rancher’s Diary: Wildlife put pressure on cattle feed

On the home front, health issues to deal with

By Heather Smith Thomas March 29, 2017

January 25 With such cold weather in December and January we’ve gone through a lot of firewood. If it ever warms up, we can let the fire go out at night to save wood. Tuesday was Emily’s ninth birthday. We all had dinner at Andrea’s house. The elk are still coming into our field, pawing […] Read more

Columnist Heather Thomas and her husband Lynn of Salmon, Idaho were joined by their family in March to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.

Cattleman’s Corner, Rancher’s Diary

Spring coming as water begins to run

It's a good time of year to do some fencing and clean up around the corrals

By Heather Smith Thomas April 8, 2016

February 23 Last Tuesday Michael, Nick and Robbie started replacing the old, falling-down fence along our lane. Michael used the backhoe to dig out chokecherry trees and old fence posts. Lynn went to town for a doctor appointment to have his hip checked; the doctor wants him to have an MRI to try to figure […] Read more

Cattleman’s Corner, Livestock, Rancher’s Diary

A few tips for grafting calves

By Heather Smith Thomas March 31, 2014

Occasionally a cow loses a calf at birth or a calf loses its mother, and you need to “graft” the orphan or a substitute calf onto another cow. Or, a cow might have twins and can’t raise both and you want to put the extra calf onto a cow that lost her own. Sometimes it’s […] Read more

Cow and calf in a pen in a bonding process.

Cattleman’s Corner, Columns, Rancher’s Diary

Bonding tips for reluctant mothers

By Heather Smith Thomas February 28, 2014

Sometimes a heifer is confused or indifferent toward her newborn calf. She may continue to lie there and doesn’t get up to lick the calf, and when she does she seems surprised to see this strange new wiggling creature behind her. She may walk away, ignoring it, or kick the calf when it gets up […] Read more

Young woman walking a horse in a pasture.

Cattleman’s Corner, Rancher’s Diary

Hungry elk cause havoc with horses

Rancher's Diary

By Heather Smith Thomas February 5, 2014

NOVEMBER 22 Saturday Lynn took Charlie and Dani up to ride Carolyn’s horses. Andrea, Sam and I rode up the creek to meet them. Carolyn, and Heather went for a ride over the low range. It got windy, so our party cut it short and made it home to our place, but the others had […] Read more

Columns, Rancher’s Diary

Upside down treatment appears to work

By Heather Smith Thomas April 3, 2012

FEBRUARY 24 After more computer problems, our friend Steve Dahl decided my old computer was hopeless and he refurbished a newer computer for me. I’m still getting used to it (because it does things a bit different than my old one) and catching up on article deadlines. The good thing about the computer problem is […] Read more

Alberta crop conditions improve: report

U.S. grains: Corn sets contract lows on expectations for big US crop

U.S. livestock: Cattle strength continues

GFM Network News

Alberta crop conditions improve: report

U.S. grains: Corn sets contract lows on expectations for big US crop

U.S. livestock: Cattle strength continues

Rancher’s Diary

Opportunity arrived to help a neighbour

Cold weather or not, fencing continued

Winter brings a mixed bag of weather

Rancher’s Diary: Wildlife put pressure on cattle feed

Spring coming as water begins to run

A few tips for grafting calves

Bonding tips for reluctant mothers

Hungry elk cause havoc with horses

Upside down treatment appears to work

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