It was a big day at our ranch today, not as big as yesterday though. Our annual crop of steers was auctioned off at Chopper K this morning. This is a couple weeks early but we understand the market is looking risky by December so we dove in and got it done. That meant we had to get all our cows home late Tuesday, then yesterday we brought them into the corral.
Wednesday morning, after getting started in the dark to bring the herd from all over the home half we separated the Moms from the babies and also separated the steers from the heifers.
The steers got on a truck right away and headed to the Auction Mart. They sold well today, not as high as previous years, but we were relieved that the market had not tanked given how stormy the whole world feels right now.
The work Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning was certainly made harder by the extreme wind that had all of Saskatchewan in its grip. Where we are located our snowfall was almost non-existent compared to a few hours away from here. That likely is what made it possible to even be out working as the wind gusts approached 100km/hr at times. There was something that made this work easier though too. We have these amazing family members and a brave friend who came when asked, got on their horse and got those cows where we needed them to be. That anyone would voluntarily endure that wind is almost beyond my ability to comprehend. We are blessed by these relationships. Wednesday morning as we sorted the herd I had a really active job and actually worked up enough sweat that I shed a layer by mid morning, Morgan on the other hand, on horse back the entire morning, looks to have windburn on an eye lid, his contact lenses don’t offer the same protection as his old spectacles did.
We went to the auction mart this morning and watched the calves sell.
Its so weird to have something so consequential unfolding before one’s eyes. Just how will things balance out? The moment by moment bidding is determining that and most of the time its hard to understand what the auctioneer is even saying, but I’m getting better at it. We have goals for the cattle we bring to market, it seems we are reaching those goals. Two of the buyers advised Russell today, after ours sold, “don’t change anything about your program, those are beautiful calves.” I’ll tell you, after the journey we travel with those creatures, first setting our eyes on them when they are so little and vulnerable, saving some of them by bringing them in our house and warming and drying them. After working so closely with them in our chute to give them tags, immunizations and more, getting them trucked to pasture for summer, walking them home in the fall, dancing with them in the corral as we get them all separated and market ready and then seeing them enter the ring, well……..its like they are your kids in a small way, and we are proud of them and we are thankful for them.
Ranching is stormy right now. We are in for a tough spell of holding tight and hoping and praying for what we really need. All around us the world seems stormy. We are thankful for good days. We are thankful for today.
One last thing……I have been absent from my blog for so long. I can’t really explain why. I have missed a whole season of ranching and of being Kathy. I think I am trying to figure out how to do this. How to share what is on my mind and heart, how to share the goings on of a ranch, and while sharing keep reasonable privacy. I also get affected by the way that my stuff is received, I want to post things that people like, which is understandable, it’s the way the world turns, but maybe I let it shape me and even silence me too much. I feel like I am at a new stage with this. Maybe a little more ready to let the ranch do the talking and not worry about posting only the best content or things that amount to alot. We shall see. However, I wanted to acknowledge that I have been missing in action.
As Far As The Eye Can See 