Cool breezy mornings turning warm but not hot. The air is smoky, sometimes thick and sometime thin. Daily splits, (4 total) in SBW5. Last split took the SE corner of Pad 6. I plan to re-fence paddock 5 and 6.
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Much cooler air and clearer today. I moved the cows to SBW6-first split. I trailed the last two bulls to the cows. We are at the 27th day for the breeding season-almost half way through the second cycle. Aster falcatus, Sonchus asper, Grindelia squarrosa, Solidago rigida, Eriogonum annum and pauciflorum, and Circium arvense (Canadian thistle) are the main flowering forbs on the prairie right now.
Left for 8 days to visit Washington DC with Moria and the Perez family. Ryan did a good job taking care of things. Mostly hot to very hot while we were gone. We received a strong.1 inch of moisture on 8.11. Both cow groups came together by the end of the week in WL1. Grass spiders (webs in tall old clover stems) are common. Kestrels, Prairie falcons, red tail and swainson’s hawks, and harriers are all feeding-sometimes together-on the abundant small rodents. Visibility is very poor from large fires in western Montana, Idaho, and Washington.
Calm and warm yet cool nights persist. Ryan and I worked the last open cows (3) out of the young group. Tomorrow the young cows will be trailed over to East Lackey to mix with the older group. I met with Travis Krein, with whom we purchase all our bull genetics, to discuss having him develop our heifer replacements. As dry weather continues, the ranch may need to lease additional forage to hold our numbers. Porcupines are back feeding on ripening apples. Cedar waxwings have stayed in the headquarters all summer for first time.
Hot winds today. I moved the cows to EL 4, our largest paddock. Setting up the next moves to slow things down while Dana and I prepare to travel tor Washington DC to meet with the Perez family for a week. Walking through the pines, the calls of chickadees, nuthatches, wood pewees, and chipping sparrows was a pleasant sound transition from grazing the alfalfa-crested wheat fields. Heard the cranes again, and the meadowlarks are slowly starting their fall singing as we move closer to fall equinox.
Mostly warm today. Another thunderstorm blew over but the main storm and rain fell to the south of us. I moved the cows into first split on EL 4. Last split for the young cows in WG 4.
A slight cool front brings a few sprinkles mid-day then turns hot. I moved the young cows to the next split. Cows stayed where they are in EL5a. Dana and I spent good share of day with Ronna Holman of IMA completing our GAP Audit for CNB. Dana built “the book” to keep a clean record of all future health records. I saw a raven with a baby cottontail in its mouth.
Hot. I moved the cows into EL 5a. Moved the young cows to next strip. A dead raven was found in the prairie dog colony-unusual.
Hot but not excessive. I moved the young cows to next split in WG 4 alfalfa strips. Florin came out and fixed a pipeline leak near the reservoir. Flushed 5 herons from the pond. During the evening water check for the cows, I saw both a badger and coyote hunting in the main prairie dog colony. Second badger seen this week, and we are very grateful to have some native predator pressure in the area. To bed with the rhythmic droning trill of the summer field crickets.
Very hot. Returned from Blaine’s. The ranch is about the driest area between here and Wolf Point. It looks and feels like June at Blaine’s. It’s smart to lease grass far enough away from the home place to be in a different moisture pattern. Ryan moved the cows into 2nd split in EL 5. Two more bulls placed with the cows. Ryan is also splitting the 80 acres alfalfa field in WG 4 for the young cows. Ryan put one last yearling bull in with the young cow group.
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Bill Milton
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