Organic Beef Matters
News from Alderspring Ranch, with an occasional rant about American agriculture
I startle awake from a dream very unlike my reality. I'm bolt upright, eyes wide open, because the lead rope I had in my hand is gone, and the horse on the other end was my only conveyance off of this rockpile. My mare, Ginger, has light-fingered her rope from my relaxed sleeping grip. I didn't mean …
Continue Reading about The Beeves Hit the High Ranges Running!
In the high country of the Rocky Mountain west, newcomers often marvel at the sweeping vistas of broad valleys bounded by unbroken ranges of mountains, streaked with snow, even in summer. It easily can be assumed to be an untracked waste, as one can drive on some highways for miles and see few …
Continue Reading about Living the Legacy of Bison and Mastadon
Driven by cowboys and cowgirls on foot, 25 head of horses came stampeding into the round pen yesterday, bucking and whinnying in a cloud of corral dust. After a winter turned out on Alderspring's big pastures, we brought them in to start getting ready for the work that the summer will bring. Most of …
Continue Reading about What Heidi’s Grandfather Has In Common with Alderspring Beeves
It's been one of those quite crazy weeks on the ranch. The ranch work went as planned. Thankfully, we've seen quite a bit of sun and the snow is nearly gone. That coveted moisture went into the ground without making it a muddy mess. Our fields are fairly intact after the melt"¦often the sharp hooves …
Snow still blankets the ranch, but it is weakening under the strength of a late winter sun. I was outdoors nearly all day today, and as I write this I feel the heat on my face of an almost sunburn. The high altitude sun can be fairly unrelenting that way, but the beeves actually seem to lean into …
In minutes, they come running in. It can be quite a stampede of cattle and horses coming fast. Our herd is small enough that you get an eye for many individuals. Although most of them are black hided, there is a great deal of individuality in beeves. When feeding hay, it is the same ones that come …
