Thoughts from the Middle of Nowhere

The new chickens are sure growing fast. They are wandering all over the place. Lucky keeps trying to herd them around. Where he is trying to take them is beyond me, but he keeps trying. Taken 6/25/2007.

Major Japanese supermarket chain puts US beef back on its shelves

Major Japanese supermarket chain Ito-Yokado Co. brought American beef back to its shelves Friday, about 3 1/2 years after sales were halted in the wake of the first U.S. case of mad cow disease, a parent company spokesman said.

U.S. beef went back on sale at 20 Ito-Yokado stores, mostly in the Tokyo area, said Shirotake Henmi, spokesman for giant Japanese retailer Seven & I Holdings Co.

I like to see this. Slow and steady wins the race. Slowly build the Japanese market up again for US beef and this will help beef producers. Just opening the market doesn't guarantee it will magically transform into the large market it was before. It takes time to do that and this shows that. Good tasting, high quality beef, which the US excels at, will finish the job.

Anyone who wants to sell you overnight success or wealth is not interested in your success; they are interested in your money. Bo Bennett

There was a pretty nasty hail storm went across Northern Montana earlier in the month of June. I gave it a brief mention and left it at that and there was some comments on how bad it was. I found it really interesting that the damage could be seen in satellite imagery.



You can clearly see the devestation that was caused by this storm in the pictures. You can clearly see why Gov. Brian Schweitzer declared Glasgow a disaster area. It was pretty nasty.

I've had hail come through and wipe out crops and grass before. Maybe not on the scale we see in these pictures, but it's happened. Depressing is the nicest term I can use for it. How else is a person supposed to react? The weather is something a human has no control over and to lose your crops to the weather for me is depressing. It's hard to get mad about it because who do you get mad at? God, Mother Nature? It does no good to be mad at them, they don't notice. You can get mad at the insurance companies for not paying, the government for not declaring it a disaster to your satisfaction, your spouse for just being there, but God/Mather Nature, they don't care.

The devastation such disaster brings upon a farm or ranch is hard to describe. I feel for these people having been there and done it and bought the t shirt as My Darling Wife says so I can say "I know how they feel." I guarantee you they feel like hell.

I was still looking for a panacea, for some kind of relief from all of that life, from all that damage. Tatum O'Neal

I know it is a little hard to see, but there is a bunch of mud bird nests in these rocks. I had never seen so many in this particular spot before. Taken 6/13/2007.

I have been real busy lately, but productive. We have wrapped strings around about 400 tons of hay so far and we're not quite half done yet. Going to have to take the morning today to overhaul the swather. I noticed a broken frame member when we started but decided to keep going till it got worse. Well, it's worse now so it's time to fix it. Luckily I ordered a new piece and have it on hand to slip in. Then we will be going like mad again.

Like I said earlier, it's kind of fun to hay when you are getting a good crop.

To find joy in work is to discover the fountain of youth. Pearl S. Buck

Gathered the yearlings and moved them to a different pasture yesterday. I had two bulls with foot rot with them in the past few days so I decided it was time to pull the bulls, normally I do it the first of July so I am only a few days early, and move them so I could look them all over for foot rot. I ended up taking 6 critters home and doctoring them for foot rot. Hopefully the problem will be over now. Taken 6/26/2007.

Can you say, "not haying weather?" That's definitely the case here. Cloudy, cool, and high humidity. I haven't been having much luck putting up hay. I think I am going to have to start using the diesel to turn the windrows to get them to dry. I am not looking forward to it but you have to do what is necessary to get things done. Taken 6/26/2007.

These birds have nests in the rocks and were really flying around like crazy while I was around. Taken 6/13/2007.

You might remember from the pictures, that I had some cows and bulls on the market on Wednesday. I heard the market report the other day for Wednesday and heard that cows and bulls were up 2-4 dollars on that day in Billings. I thought that I was real lucky to hit the market on a day that is what up like that and I can't wait to get the check to see how they sold.

Then it occurred to me that the market was also up 2-4 dollars with other semi load of drys I sent to town a little while ago. That made me wonder if I was lucky both times and hit an up market or was the big slug of high quality that I sent to town cause the market to move up the 2-4 dollars.

It really would be curious to know but I will never know for sure. The coincidence of it all really makes me wonder though. Could my cows have caused the market move? I would like to think so.

We don't change what we are, we change what we think what we are. Eric Butterworth

This morning when I left house the National Weather Service was predicting a very hot day and the temperature was supposed to be 100 degrees. I thought this was a really good deal because I would really be able to put up the hay and make some progress in getting things done.

Well, the National Weather Service was wrong. It never got above 90 degrees around here and when it did get that warm it all of a sudden turned around and cooled off to 80 degrees. I got some strings wrapped around some hay but not as much as I wanted because it was just to cold.

Don't get me wrong, I am kind of glad it didn't get as warm as they predicted since that just drys everything out and makes it nasty. The cooler weather is better for the grass but it would be nice if they could get it right. It ruined a good days work I had planned in my mind though. Isn't that just horrible?

A wise man never loses anything, if he has himself. Michel de Montaigne

Every year it seems like I read about drought somewhere in the US having to sell cows because of the drought in their area. This year I see that in California they are having drought troubles and having to sell cows to try to adjust for the drought problems.

Another area having troubles with drought in the US is in the south east and I see in this story that they are having to sell cows because of the shortage of feed.

More stories about the drought in the south east can be found here and here.

Drought, the bane of existence for anybody involved in agriculture. We fear it, dread it and pray that it won't happen, but it does and we can't stop it. Inevitable as the tides in the oceans, droughts are a part of life we wish would go away. Watching the cloudless sky, day after day, wondering where the rain went wears on your soul. Another drain on your life is watching parched crops shrivel up and die and the grass turn brown and burn under the relentless beat of the hot sun scorching the ground and your back as you labor on trying to make things work for you as Mother Nature beats you down. To me one of the worst things though is watching the critters move around looking for a little better bite of feed to eat. That was last year. The grass was so dry and brittle that it had no flavor for them and very little nutrition. They did nothing but wander around looking for better feed to eat. At least they had some grass here in my country last year. The poor guys in the stories above are out of options. The sale barn is the last option left and that is one tough decision to make. Let your cows starve or get rid of them while you can before they get in any worse shape. Then you have to think about how you are going to replace them when the drought does break and Mother Nature allows the grass to grow green again. It's tough.

I hate to read these stories. It has to be hard to sell your cows because of no feed. I have never had to do it but I have been close a few times. I've been in a drought now for a number of years. We might be wet now, but that is no guarantee the drought is over. It could hit with a fury again real quick. Normally I can find a way to get away without selling cows during a drought but the way the droughts are around the US my day might be coming. Might, I say, I hope not though.

One thing I have to say about this. As mean as it sounds these continued droughts around the country and guys having to sell cows has been one of thee of the big factors that has kept the cattle herd from growing and driving calf prices down due to oversupply. I know that sounds really mean. but it is the truth. I'm sure that thought doesn't help those that are having to sell their cows. It wouldn't help me in the same situation but I guess it makes the pill a little easier for the rest of us to swallow.


You see, I had been riding with the storm clouds, and had come to earth as rain, and it was drought that I had killed with the power that the Six Grandfathers gave me. Black Elk

A beautiful rose. This picture turned out better than I expected. Taken 6/18/2007.

As you know, Gov. Brian Schweitzer wants to regionalize the Brucellosis problem in Montana and make a perimeter around Yellowstone National Park where Brucellosis would be monitored and treated differently than in the rest of the state. I was never very sure about the idea but I listened and wondered about the whole idea of regionalizing a disease problem like this. Some people have claimed it's not good and that made me wonder but I've kept my council.

Now a story about regionalizing a disease has come to my attention and brings things into sharper focus for me.

USCA opposes plan to regionalize beef trade

In a letter sent on June 19 to the Senate Finance Committee, the U.S. Cattlemen's Association (USCA) made it clear that opposing regionalization of Argentina, related to animal health disease issues for import purposes, is one of the organization's "top member-driven policy issues."

USCA urged Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, to "strongly oppose any attempt to weaken oversight or regulation of trade with Argentina."

Despite widespread problems with foot and mouth disease (FMD), a highly contagious infection that can destroy entire cattle herds, Argentina has proposed a plan to export beef to the United States from certain regions.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is currently considering adoption of the proposal to relax restrictions on Argentine beef from some areas by regionalizing trade areas.

"I see said the blind man" as the old saying goes. I now understand the regionalization issue better and why maybe it isn't a good idea. I really think the Governor needs to rethink this issue. I don't think regionalization of disease is going to go over good outside of Montana so that will make the whole thing useless. We live in bigger world than just here in Montana and the whole idea has to be acceptable not just to Montanans, but cattle producer and health experts everywhere and this story indicates to tme that it might not be. Animal health is too big of issue to play with in most peoples minds so regionalizing it doesn't appear to be a good idea.

I never said I had no idea about most of the things you said I said I had no idea about. Elliott Abrams

BillingsGazette.com :: Rehberg now posting daily schedule

Who really cares? As if this matters in the larger scheme of life and politics.

But who cares? I can honestly look back and realize that everything happened for a reason. Everything that fell apart has fallen back into place beautifully and magically. Edie Brickell

It's kind of fun haying this year. I am getting enough hay that I don't mind doing it. This field is going about 1 1/3 ton to the acre. It is my poorest field so it will only get better after this. Pretty good for dry land hay. I am baling some small bales for now to have a few thousand on hand then I will start up the big baler and really get to putting some hay up. No snowballs for the cows this winter. Taken 6/19/2007.