Partly cloudy and warm, turning cool by evening. Bulls escaped due to a short in the temporary wire. Fortunately they stayed close until I got the fence straightened out. Older cows moved to next and last split (7). This was a tough day. Near the end of calving, if things are going well, our daily checks can become less frequent and thorough. Then when you least expect it, disaster strikes. A late calving heifer is missed, and she and her calf die. After not having doctored anything the whole season, two calves get scours and cannot be brought back. Part of the reason I keep this journal is for those who follow us in management can benefit from our experience and mistakes. On the ranch there is always many tasks and projects, and most are done to further the conditions for the cattle. Yet, always the most important and first daily task-particularly while calves are young, and a few cows remain to calve-is checking the livestock, their water and mineral, and the condition of their pasture. With so much life on the ranch, death cannot be avoided. Never the less, keeping loss to 1 or 2 for the cows and less than 4 percent for the calves, requires a steady consistent mindful effort. And ending on a more cheerful and sweet note, Hedoma hispidum (rough pennyroyal) is a very small very fragrant flower in the mint family, found on shallow sites, whose sweet scent far exceeds its size.
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Warmer with more threatening storms, and while no rain has fallen the cooler evening temperatures are welcome. Moved both bull groups and the older cows to next splits. On the ridge road on South Griffith, the first crop of mourning doves is beginning to flock. Calylophus serrulatus (plains yellow primrose) with its delicate and bright yellow blossoms is approaching full bloom across the ranch. More fresh strawberries and bib lettuce from the garden to help fill our meals.
More hot-cool unsettled weather. Serious hail damage to the south of us, yet no benefits or damage here. Continue to move cows daily in South Griffith 3.
Day starts cool and clear, then hot and muggy, followed by a brief thunderstorm providing more visuals than moisture. I moved the young cows to last split in North New Griffith 2a. Andrea Pipp from the Montana Natural Heritage Program paid us a visit. Andrea is a field botanist and also skilled in lichens and fungi. She will try and secure some resources to invite some lichenologists to do a survey of the ranch for the Field Guide. I also moved the cows to next split.
Partly cloudy and pleasant today. Very little moisture this first half of June, which is on average the wettest month of the year. Moved the cows again to next split in South Griffith 3. While checking the young cows, I saw a loggerhead shrike take a vesper sparrow down in mid-air, and then carry it off some distance. I am trying to keep moves to two days or less. I find if I stay disciplined and follow my protocols for moves using temporary fence things go pretty smoothly. If I cut corners, problems and more work arise. The drill is basically as follows: (1) divide each temporary split with a steel post in the center. This keeps the fence tight and makes for an easy way to move cows to next split without temporary wire getting tangled. (2) Always keep fence hot and check for dead spots. (3) After moving cows, then put up next split fence for next move as a back-stop in case the cows break out. (4) Move mineral tubs to current split. (5) When moving cows to next split-or when they move themselves-it is a good time to look closely at the cattle for any problems or health issues. (6) And of course, never forget to check water.
Cool (50’s) and cloudy all day. Moved the cows to next split. Moved the young cows to next split. Also, moved the bulls to next split. The bulls are in an old crested wheat stands that continues to diversify with more plants under short duration-long recovery grazing. In a small area, I counted 38 species of plants. A golden eagle flew out of the pines where the bulls are. Another new prairie dog hole along the pipeline in same area.
Nice lightning show last night with maybe a tenth of moisture. Morning overcast and cool, and staying cool and pleasant all day. Moved young cows to next split. Scythed two small patches of spurge at water center in North Griffith 4. More nest sightings. I flushed a mallard in the sedges in North Griffith 5 and a vesper sparrow in South Griffith 3.
Below is a summary of flowering plants in the last couple weeks: 1. Melilotus officionales (yellow sweetclover) 2. Achillea millefilium (yarrow) 3. Astragulus drummondi (drummond’s milkvetch) 4. Hymenopappus polycephalus (Hymenopappus) 5. Coryphantha vivipara (purple pincushion) 6. Crepis acuminate (hawk’s beard) 7. Euphorbia robusta (small spurge) 8. Gaillardia aristata (blanket flower) 9. Gaura coccinea (scarlet gaura) 10. Linum incisum (yellow flax) 11. Paronychia sessiflora (whitlow wort) 12. Pentstemon albidus (white penstemon) 13. Plantago patagonica (indianwheat) 14. Polygala alba (white milkwort) 15. Psoralea esculenta (Indian breadroot) 16. Senicio integerrimus (sagebrush groundsel) 17. Stipa comata (needle and thread) 18. Yucca glauca (yucca) Clear and warm with some gentle winds all day. Clouds came together and shed a nice shower around bedtime. I moved the young cows to a new split after breaking into the trees and breaks. Early quick moves seem more disruptive to the young calves, as cows are more concerned of taking advantage of fresh feed and are slow to ‘mother up’. Also moved the cows to South Griffith 3 for the first split. We are struggling with how best to deal with the ‘March of the Prairie Dogs’. While committed to protecting one large town, we simply cannot support more towns, and the ranch is exploring the most practical and humane means for control. Scythed a small patch of garrison foxtail in North Griffith 1, an invasive aggressive rhizomatous grass that can displace native wetland plants.
Clear and warm with a fleeting threat of evening showers never realized. Grass growth is clearly slowing. Returning home from a talk in Lewistown, I spotted 4 black-tailed hares on the road into the ranch. The hares have been rare the last few years, so their sighting was welcome—they are preferred prey for the Golden Eagles. Scythed down a spurge patch in NE corner of North Griffith 5. May need to spray this fall. The expected June Miller Moth arrival is here following their pupate stage in their life cycle.
Warm and dry weather continues. I traveled to Malta to facilitate the CMR Community Working Group. Whole day devoted to reports on sage grouse. The sage grouse sub-committee’s work plan was approved. Rains have been very spotty throughout eastern Montana often generating local flooding in some areas, while others close by may get nothing. Travis brought 9 bulls in the evening from Wyoming. He has been delayed by local torrential rains-20 inches plus-leading to prolong and damaging floods.
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Bill Milton
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