Calving on the Golf Course

Golf season is here and with that comes the excitement of getting back on the greens. The clubs are out of the closet and have been cleaned, the shoes are polished, and the cargo shorts and polos are pressed and ready for a warm spring day. The next steps are to grab a golf cart, a cold drink, and set up the first tee. And then, that first swing comes, and it feels AMAZING.

Ok – who are we kidding – I know NOTHING about golfing. But honestly? Getting back on the greens is just like the first time working calves and sending cows to grass. The first horseback ride of the season calls for working the kinks out with your horse, and we remind ourselves of the routine of rounding up cows, all while finding a place for everyone on the team. Then, once we have everything rounded up, it’s off to the races of sorting cows, vaccinating calves, giving cows their pre-breeding shots, loading them on the trailer, and then it’s off to the pasture.

Now, this process doesn’t come easily. Sure, we catch the horse and saddle it, but we must remember the unique ways the horse likes to be ridden, and we have to readjust the cinch thanks to the little bit of extra weight it may have gained over the winter months. So, we’re saddled, we’ve hopped on, and we’re ready to roll. The ‘war cries’ are being sent up by the cows and it’s time to bring everyone in. Leave the newborns (born within the past 24-48 hours), and don’t leave anything behind. The crew is all spread out, the center man is giving directions, the wingmen are keeping things in check (because if they let one slip, it’s all downhill), and the dogs are keeping everything in line. It’s going perfectly. We get them in and then it’s time to quickly sort cows from calves. Next, we sort out the calves and cows that are headed to a certain pasture, drench the calves with CORID, give the cows their pre-breeding shots, check everyone off the sort list, and on the trailer they go. Each team member has a job, and for every load, they complete it, making the process fly so smoothly.

As with anything, we can all have a bad putt or a bad swing. We may have a bogey, or we may just completely miss the mark and have a bad day. We have bad days when working with cattle, but it all pays off when those cattle hit the green, lush pasture. For cattlemen, that moment is our swing on a golf club or when we putt the ball into the hole under par. We’ve done everything we can to calve out our cows and we’ve done our best to make sure they are in top health for when summer rolls around.

We don’t take moving cows to grass lightly. There’s a hierarchy of where certain cows go, and vaccination protocols must be followed in order to make sure that diseases are prevented for further down the road. Additionally, our cows have to be ready for breeding season when they leave the calving pasture because there’s a high likelihood that the bull is headed to grass with them.

Artificial Insemination (A.I.) season also arrives when cows head to grass. In fact, just last week we put CIDRs in our heifers and some of the cows. The majority of the older cows will be bred in early July. This is always a tedious process as with any mistake or wrong hormone, things could head south quickly and we could miss a cycle on the cow. Furthermore, if moving the cows or heifers to grass, we need to move them shortly after to be sure that we don’t jeopardize the process of the sperm cells moving towards the oocyte. Just like a swing of the driver, it’s all in the timing.

To all my friends reading who are avid golfers, I do wish you the best of luck with every round you play. Enjoy a cold beverage for those of us who spend our weekends in the cattle lot and be sure to tell us about your game. And we do promise that we won’t intentionally bring our cows and calves to the golf course.

ALWAYS REMEMBER TO EAT BEEF.

Lauren