Overcast and cool all day. Ideal for relying on the corral well, which in hot weather usually cannot sustain watering our growing mob of cows. I am starting to pull off dry cows (no calf) as they come into water.
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Warmer with no rain. Each day I get a few more cows to find the corral water. Mark and Mitch, Big Sky Watershed Core, intern staff for the Coalition and the CMR Community Working Group, helped me monitor a second bird survey site east if house. Off an on all day, I keep cows moving toward corrals, and out of NG6.
Some light rains, moderate temperatures, and a tornado watch on the 27th. Cows remain in new county road paddock and get located on creek water at east corner of paddock. Cattle guard just beyond the creek crossing has filled with dirt, and cattle walked across into another huge field of clover in NG6. I had to clear them out several times, and after two days, have most pairs located on the corral tank in paddock SNG6. We will stay for a few more days to try to knock down clover south, west, and north of the house. Clover is actually hard to walk through, and I fear, when dry, may become a serious fire hazard.
Woke to clear skies. It took two tries to get cows into corrals, yet once captured all the rest when well, with support from a great crew. A light rain followed the meal post branding. Pretty amazing we actually get this major ranch event completed. Calve numbers near 430-highest ever.
Summer Solstice. Cloudy and cool with light rain again. I moved cows toward corrals out of SG4. A few made it to the corral water, otherwise most spread out between north end of SG4 and new county road paddock.
Cool, cloudy, and two strong shots of rain, slowing trailing to corral. Cows mostly spend day in SG4. Roland and Pat are here at the ranch doing range monitoring. They were rained out as well. For the most part I finished the 6 miles of new fence creating the new county road paddock. This new paddock will serve many purposes: lane to corrals; winter feeding area; access to feed in borrow pit along road; and aesthetically, less barbed wire fence.
Broken clouds cool with light showers. Cows move into SG4 on the way to corrals for branding. Stepped up fencing and corral work by Ryan and me to prepare for branding. Cows remain in expanded SG6. Willow Creek, on the way to town, crossing the county road, never ran this time of year until last year. Is something changing? Once a great hay field for our neighbors, the Pelans, has now become a wildlife rich marsh.
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Bill Milton
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Milton Ranch LLC | Daily Ranch Journal |