A Social Sunday

A story from last Sunday, May 15 (I'm a little behind!)

Rain, rain, rain. That’s the story over the last few days. Thursday, we got 2.5 inches. Saturday, another inch. And today, over half an inch. That’s over 4 inches, but the actual total is certainly even higher, as our rain gauge isn’t accurate, due to the wind. The gauges in town are reading over 5 inches.

This morning, despite the heavy rain and unforgiving “gumbo” (the world’s finest – and stickiest – mud), I ventured out, just after 6:00, to round up all the pairs (about 230), currently in a paddock called Rut. Once all the calves were mothered up and everyone was settled, I moved them to their new pasture, Seal. It was a slow and sloppy process, with all this mud, but I got the job done. Then, I rearranged their fence and headed back to camp for breakfast and my weekly meeting with Brandon.

Later that day, just as I was finishing up construction of more shelves for my shed, I heard a truck backing up to our corrals. It was Brandon’s father-in-law, Nick, from New Haven, Wyoming. He had come to pick up 3 yearling heifers, a Longhorn/Corriente mix, from our neighbor, Gary Donahay. Nick didn’t have his muck boots on, so I walked the heifers out of their muddy corral pins and into his trailer, and he slammed the door shut behind them. Watching me during this process was a group of German women, vacationers from Nick and his wife’s guest ranch back in Wyoming, who had evidently come along for the experience. After the heifers were loaded, Gary and his son, Sean, arrived. They, along with Nick and me, just chatted and joshed around for a while out in front of the corrals. Sometime later, Nick and Gary exchanged money for the heifers, and then Nick and his party took off back home to Wyoming. For a while thereafter, Gary, Sean, and I continued talking, until Sean, with eyebrows raised and a smile on his face, said: “So yall wanna go have a beer or what?” I really wasn’t interested, as I still had work to do, nor did I have the money to spend on luxuries like alcohol. Nevertheless, I decided to jump into the truck with Gary and Sean and seize this opportunity for connection with our neighbors. And boy am I glad I did!

I felt a little awkward at first, as I walked into the Newell Bar, a place to which I am a complete stranger, but I was quickly reassured by the realization that I was accompanied by locals. After saying hello to a few folks, Sean and Gary immediately struck up a lively conversation with the bartender, a friendly woman in her late 50’s named Nancy. A few sips into my beer, Sean pointed out a fella at the checkout counter of the adjacent liquor store, saying: “There’s the neighbor I was telling you about.” Earlier that day, out in front of the corrals, he had told me about a young guy (24) who had just taken over management of his family’s 50,000 acre ranch right across the county road from me. Not wanting to pass up this chance to meet yet another neighbor, I jumped up from my seat and darted out the front door. I exchanged a few words with some guys outside, then excused myself and took off after my neighbor when I saw him exit the liquor store. I caught up with him and told him who I was and where I was living. A delightful fella with a bright personality, he asked me for my number and thanked me for approaching him. A little while later, I received a text message from him inviting me to dinner one day this week. Will Lindsey is his name, and he seems like a hell of a guy.

Also great guys are Gary and Sean. Honest, hardworking, and pleasing to be around. Gary is semi-retired (I assume) and Sean is an electrician, but both are cowboys at heart. After three rounds at the bar, we all went back to Gary’s place, about a mile west of me, and they showed me a few cowboy things. They got me up on an unbroken horse, showed me how a cowboy holds his reins, and asked me to move some of their bulls into a new pin. Then, they handed me a lasso and told me how to rope a steer. I practiced for about an hour or so on a metal steer out in their front yard. It’s definitely not as easy as it looks on TV, but I managed to do alright, good enough at least to please these two cowboys. I'd really like to find myself a rope, so that I can practice this everyday...what a handy skill to have!!

Week 3

Saturday, May 14, I picked up over 2 miles of temporary fence posts in the heifers’ previous paddock, Someday Creek. That’s almost 5 miles of walking, as I have to walk back to my ATV afterwards. After finishing up with this, I decided to just take it easy the rest of the day, as I was worn out and there wasn’t anything pressing to get done.

Sunday, May 15, I put up over 1.5 miles of semi-permanent fence. This took quite some time, as I had to place the fence lines along GPS coordinates. We aren’t usually so precise with our fencing, but this line separated our privately owned land from a BLM (Bureau of Land Management) paddock. Most folks are careless and inconsiderate when it comes to their interactions with BLM land, but we really want to build a strong, trustful relationship with them. So, we’re trying to go the extra mile, out of respect. Once I finished up with the fencing, I went back to Someday Creek. There, I removed almost another mile of temporary posts and then reeled up over 3 miles of electric wire.

Monday, May 16. Sunshine, salt, seagulls and waves…can you guess where I am?? Nope, I’m still in South Dakota! I’m at one of the ranch’s many reservoirs, around which I’m putting a temporary fence. It’s a clear, sunny day, but the wind is blowing so hard that it’s literally creating waves on the surface of the reservoir. I close my eyes for a few minutes, taking in all the delightful sensory inputs around me. I can hear seagulls, and waves crashing against the shore. I can taste salt in the air. I can feel the warmth of the sun, and a cool, gentle mist upon the wind. Just for a moment…I felt like I was at the beach, lying on the warm sand, with nothing to do but relax and enjoy the day.

Earlier that day, before beginning our work, Brandon and I had the chance to talk for a little while. He said it is his intention for us to meet like this every Monday morning. It was a good, productive, fulfilling meeting. I was able to voice some of my struggles and concerns, as well as some of my ideas for potential solutions. Brandon was very supportive and understanding. He encouraged me to always share what’s on my mind and iterated just how important that is for maintaining a strong, happy, healthy team. I was very pleased to hear all of this, and Brandon just made it even more fulfilling by telling me how great of a job I was doing. He said that I’m a hard worker, that I’m bright, and that I bring a lot of value to the team. Most of all, however, he told me that he trusts me. He knows that he can leave me here alone for several days and be sure that the all the work will get done as needed and that everything will be okay. That means the world to me.

Tuesday, I put up over a mile of rebar fence posts (semi-permanent) and a quarter mile of fiberglass posts (temporary) for our next paddock, Wild Horse South.

Wednesday, the owner of our 1543 heifers, Gary Peterson, delivered a pallet of salt & minerals. Leaning against the bed of his pickup truck, we talked about his cattle for a bit. I relayed how well they were performing (how healthy they looked) and made some flattering comment about how impressed I was with the quality of his heifers. Proud, he got a big smile on his face, thanked me for the compliment, and then asked how I was liking the job so far – and how I was doing out here all alone. He wanted to see my living quarters, and he asked what I was eating and if Grasslands was helping me with food expenses. While enjoying all his questions, this was nevertheless quite strange, as Gary, a grumpy and opinionated old fella, didn’t seem like the type of man who would care enough to ask someone how things are going. I was honored. When I explained to him how I was living and what I was eating, he told me: “You sure would make a great cowboy for somebody.” I was really taken aback by his remark, but then he took it even one step further: “When this gig’s up in the fall, I might just be able to offer you a job.” Although I wasn’t interested, I was still blown away by his offer. Simply amazing! It just goes to show…all anybody really wants, deep down, is for somebody to acknowledge and affirm something that they care about. For Gary, he just needed to be told how good his cattle looked – he just needed someone to notice.

Our conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Steve Brown, the owner of our cow-calf pairs, who was delivering another 40 or so pairs. Just as Steve had finished unloading, Jim Howell (CEO of Grasslands) arrived, just in time to help Brandon and I walk the new pairs out to pasture. Once back to the corrals, we were joined also by Zachary Jones (COO, CFO & Northern Great Plains Manager of Grasslands). Jim and Zach had come out to see how things were going – to see if our forage supply was sufficient, if our cattle were performing well, if our grazing plan was promising, etc. They needed to evaluate the operation in order to determine whether Grassland’s financial projections were on target for the year. They had just come from the Cinch Buckle, Grasslands’ 39,000 acre ranch in Montana. After finishing up our tour of the BR (i.e. Brown Revolution) Ranch, which is where I live and work, we then all headed into Belle Fourche (a small city of 5,000 about 30 miles away) for dinner, a meeting, and lodging (neither of the South Dakota ranches have adequate facilities for all of us). I was thrilled…a hot shower, a warm, comfortable bed, hang out time with the Grasslands team, pizza, chocolate, and even a few beers! What a treat! It’s amazing how much you appreciate simple pleasures when your life isn’t filled up with them.

Thursday, Brandy picked up my woodstove, chimney and all the extra parts and fittings. Although most of the coldest weather has passed, I am still really grateful for the stove, as there will inevitably be cold snaps, not just throughout the remainder of spring but also well into summer. This is a strange climate here in South Dakota. For all those people out there who can’t decided where they want to live – who just want a taste of every climate – this place may be just want you’re looking for. Because there is nothing to interrupt wind patterns (mountain chains, cities, canyons, large bodies of water, etc.), the wind just blows in all kinds of weather from every which direction. You could be in the wet Pacific Northwest one day (today! 2.5 in of rain!!), the hot arid Southwest the next, and in the cold windy Arctic on the following day. It’s the kind of weather that really keeps you on your toes, always bracing yourself for whatever might come your way. It requires a wide assortment of clothing and footwear, and a high degree of tolerance and flexibility. I actually like it quite a bit, but I wouldn’t want to live here year-round!

Week 2 in Review

 So here we are at the end of week 2. The work is still tough and the hours long, but the perpetual chaos (of escaping cows & tropical storm-force winds) of my first week has thankfully subsided. Below, I’ve journaled some of my ranching experiences over the last week, so as to offer an account of a typical week on the job. I hope that the menial nature of my daily work doesn’t bore you too much. I promise in future posts to offer ample digressions from my insipid journaling into more interesting subject matters, like: how Holistic Management can change the world; what plants I foraged today and why; or how a Philosophy & Religion major and former vegetarian ends up in the ranching business…

Saturday, I put in 3 miles of semi-permanent fence, which involves pounding rebar posts into the ground every 30 paces or so, attaching an insulator, and clipping in the electric wire (which my boss, Ranch Manager Brandon Dalton, lets out ahead of me). It was a beautiful day…upper 70’s and not a cloud in the sky. I actually got sunburned pretty badly, thanks to my recent haircut a few days before, which exposed areas around my ears and neck that literally hadn’t seen the light in years!

Sunday, I put up 1.5 miles of temporary fence. This is a slightly easier job, since I can drive these posts by hand, but quite grueling nonetheless. The job took most of the day, but when it was done, we had yet another task to complete. It was time for the 1543 yearling heifers to move to their new pasture, Someday Creek. Because they don’t yet know what’s waiting for them on the other side of the fence, we have to round them up into one big group and drive them, with force. This process is arduous and time-consuming, requiring patience, persistence and finesse. One wrong move, one extra inch of pressure, and the whole herd turns in the wrong direction. Trying to reverse this movement is like paddling upstream. Just out of pure necessity and outright desperation, I’ve learned a great deal about moving large herds during these first two weeks…at least enough to know that it’s more of an art form – a dialogue and a dance with the animals – than a science or knowledge-base.

Monday, I took salt & minerals to the heifers, then put up another ½ mile of temporary fence, in preparation for a small group of 32 pairs (i.e. mama cows & their calves) which arrived later that day. When I got back to the ranch headquarters (the corrals), Brandon and I, along with his wife Brandy and young son Emmitt, got to work outfitting my new living quarters (a 10x16 shed) with shelves, a bed, and a countertop. We didn’t get too far on the short-lived battery in Brandon’s drill, however. That didn’t upset me one bit, though, as it was already late in the day and I was exhausted from the previous days’ toil.

Tuesday, I checked 11 MILES of perimeter barbwire fence! Found a total of 6 spots needing repair (3 of which were pretty major), each the result of the powerful spring snow melt. The repairs were long, tough and painful, but it was very gratifying work! Securing a perimeter is a highly tangible, necessary, no-nonsense goal, and there is no way around it – no ifs, ands, or buts. One must simply get the job done the best way he knows how. I haven’t dealt much with barbwire in the past, so it was nice to have so much time practicing. I learned a lot, and I have the cuts, pricks, and punctures to prove it. Upon returning to camp, I was delighted to see that Brandon and Brandy had already completed construction of several things in my shed. Also a source of delight was a delicious sandwich brought by Brandy!

Wednesday, I checked another few miles of perimeter fence. Fortunately, no major repairs were needed! Then, I continued work on my shed and, later that day, received another 170 or so pairs. That brings the grand total to almost 2000 head! That's one hell of a responsibility...quite intimidating but also very exciting!!

Thursday was supposed to be my day off. However, I woke up to find 2 mama cows out on the county road looking for their calves, who were, ironically enough, on the right side of the fence the whole time. After getting them back with the group (which was no easy task), it was already after 10:00, and my day was ticking away. Before anything else could go wrong, I loaded my bicycle and took off. My destination was Spearfish, the closest good-sized town around, about 40 miles to the south. Although I did need to gather supplies, my main reason for venturing to town on my day off was so that I might fulfill an aching and unforgiving hunger, a hunger for human connection, for community. I went straight to a hip little coffee & bike shop that I had stumbled upon on my first visit to Spearfish. After dropping my bike off for repair and chatting with the mechanic for a few minutes, I immediately struck up a lively conversation with a group of guys hanging out with the coffee shop manager, breaking the ice with some witty comment about the South Dakota mud (i.e. “gumbo”) all over my boots from the morning’s rain showers. Friendly as could be, they started asking me all sorts of questions about who I am, where I’m from, what I’m doing in South Dakota, and the like. Although they were complete strangers, it was nevertheless so refreshing and empowering just to be heard, to be affirmed. Feeling blissful and rejuvenated from my short but fulfilling connection, I ordered a coffee and a shot of espresso and got to work catching up on all my internet tasks.

Friday morning, there were 2 more mama cows out on the county road, as well as 3 calves, none of which belonged to either of the cows. Although perplexed by the situation, I proceeded to work them all back into their pasture. However, because nobody was a matching pair, everybody wanted to go in different directions. Needless to say, this took most of my morning, time I really didn’t have to waste. Just as I was about to head out to work, Steve Brown, the owner of our cow-calf pairs, showed up with a few more pairs. He and I trailed them out to the group, then just stood there in silence for a few minutes, watching the pairs rejoin with their friends. After Steve left, I picked up almost a mile of temporary fence posts and wire from the previous paddock, Northview. Then, Brandon showed up and we put up a mile of temporary fence for our next paddock, called Ridgeline (Although only 220 acres, this Ridgeline pasture is of excellent quality, an estimate of at least 40 ADA’s (Animal Days per Acre), enough to feed a herd this size for 8 days if need be!). Brandon let out the wire, and I followed behind with the posts. While I was finishing up that, Brandon began scoping out the line for the following paddock, Dogtown (named for its community of Prairie Dogs). Once the Ridgeline fence was up and hot, we then rounded up the heifers and moved them onto their fresh grass. By the time we had finished everything, it was after 7:00…yet another 13+ hour day.

Note: In order to avoid redundancy, I haven’t included above anything on my routine cattle & fence checks done every morning and evening, or my daily land & animal monitoring duties. Both are essential parts of the job but quite uninteresting and uneventful nonetheless.

I hope you've enjoyed my week in summary! I promise to make future posts much shorter!!

My First Week on the Job

So things have been pretty rough this first week. 12-16 hour days. MILES of temporary electric fence. 50-70 mph ARCTIC winds. Almost daily breakouts. We had to round up over 1000 head of yearling heifers spread out across some 2000 acres each of my first few days on the job, then fix the fence and get it hot before they broke out again. They're basically wild cows, so they take some time getting trained to electric fence. We also had to trail a group of over 1500 yearling steers 8 miles because the road was too muddy for the cattle trucks. What a week! Lots more stories to come!

"Whatever your hands find to do, do it with your might."
- Ecclesiastes

Working with Grasslands

Howdy folks! So I've just started a new adventure. I'm now working with a company called Grasslands, the action arm of the Savory Institute. Using the principles and pathways of Holistic Management (which is very similar to the Permaculture paradigm), Grasslands ranches thousands of cattle on vast grasslands in a way that heals the land instead of degrading it (See Time Magazine article). With proper management and controlled grazing, the bovine can reverse desertification, sequester massive amounts of carbon, prevent wildfires, increase plant diversity, improve water & mineral cycling, create topsoil, AND feed America! The potential of the Grasslands project to change the world simply astounds me, and I cannot think of any other opportunity that would better fulfill my need to both pursue my passion and offer valuable service to the world.

"Until you do what you believe in, you don't know whether you believe it or not."
- Tolstoy

For more information on Grasslands, LLC, check out this article written by our amazing investors from the Capital Institute: The Grasslands Story.