Snow flurries today turned into a real steady, fine snow. I posted a pic on Facebook today of those yearling beeves grazing away”¦somehow they know that a storm is coming and the grass will soon be covered. They don’t stress about it like us humans. They just look at each other, matter-of-factly, and all put their heads down and start stripping grass off like there is no tomorrow. And there might not be much exposed grass tomorrow, considering the weather forecast. The nice thing about our valley, though, is that in a few days the snow will melt off and the beeves will be easily grazing again. If the snow stays around a little longer, they’ll simply start nosing through the snow. Our mother cows, who are less picky and more knowing than the young stock we finish as beef, will contentedly graze through a foot of snow.
But they are not tuned into the Weather Channel. So much for dumb bovines. They just know stuff. It’s no wonder Gary Larsen immortalized cows in The Far Side.
They really are made for this country. They survive blizzards, desert heat, wolf attacks, and lightning storms, to name a few. We had a mountain lion attack this year, and several in the past. They are resourceful, attentive, and resilient. In spite of all these adversities of wild country, they thrive on our ranch and live strong. We allow them to choose what they eat, and because of that, their health and thriftiness is legendary. Numerous trade magazines we receive picture cattle in feedlots or on farmed fields and market various preventative medications one can use to keep their cattle healthy. We use none of them, and disease in our beeves is very rare.
I believe that the robust health of our animals is why so many of our customers state that they likewise thrive on our beef. It’s got to do with nutrient density inherent in beeves grazing naturally in a semi-wild setting that has never seen the dead soils or forages of row-crop agriculture.
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