Fall Feelings

Dear Reader,

Fall is finally here, somewhat. It’s still pretty hot in Florida, but it’s not as hot as it was. I’ve always loved the feeling that comes with fall: the falling leaves, cooler nights, getting to wear my favorite sweater, school starting, and sometimes even pumpkin spice (I retry it every year and then remember why I am not a fan). But there is another side to fall that calls to my soul. It’s the sense of adventure and reckless abandon to disappear into the wilderness in pursuit of only God knows what. I think God uses fall to remind us that there is something out there that is bigger than ourselves, and we will not be satisfied until we find it.

Fall is a favorite season among ranchers, just as it is with the rest of the population, but the rancher has one more thing in fall to look forward to than his city dwelling kin, payday. This is the time of the year that most ranchers ship the calves that were raised that year either to feed lots or to the cattle auction. While there are always cattle sales going on year-round, fall is the prime time to sell cattle because the calves that were born in the spring are ready to be weaned and moved on to the next step of the beef system. This can be a stressful time for the rancher, because not only is it busy trying to get everything sorted and shipped, it is also the only payday that a ranch gets if it does not have multiple sources of income.

Shipping season starts by gathering all of the cattle together. Nothing is medically done to the calves because the rancher does not know where they are going and if they will be taken to slaughter shortly after being bought. Most medicines have what is called a withdrawal period (the amount of time it takes for the medicine to work its way through the animal’s system), and cattle cannot be sold or slaughtered for meat within that time. After the cattle are gathered, the cows and calves are sorted, and the mothers are given whatever medicine is needed and turned out. Then the calves are sorted into groups of similar size and by gender and loaded up on trailers to be taken to their destination.

This is a very general and simplified process; I did not include the things that could go wrong like cattle jumping out of the pens or not being able to find that one trouble cow that you really wanted to ship this year. Also, depending on what type of cattle operation a rancher has and what the rancher’s personal preference is, shipping day will look a little different.

If a rancher raises what is called stocker cattle, which are cattle that are too old to be on their mothers but not quite ready to be sent to the feedlots to be finished, they are grazed and fed for a summer or a certain amount of months before they are sent to the feedlot. In that case, there are no mothers to worry about, you only have to sort and load. If a rancher has a cow-calf operation, it means that they raise calves from birth to about 6-7 months old, then they are sold buyers who will raise them to the next stage of the beef process.

When these calves are transported, they can either be loaded into semi-trucks or into stock trailers pulled by a pickup truck, depending on how many calves need to be sold. My family’s ranch is on the smaller side, so we do not need to hire a semi-truck to haul our calves, though we may hire a friend to come with their stock trailer if we cannot make it in one load to the market.

Now you are probably wondering if it hard on the mothers and the calves to be separated, and does it weigh on the rancher. The short answer is yes and yes. When we ship calves, the cows “low out” for two or three days looking for their babies, but after the third day they move on and are just fine. The same is true for the calves; once they are settled in their new place, it only takes a few days for them to adapt and move on. Cows are highly motivated by food and are easily distracted from their troubles. It is also important to remember that even though there are times that animals display emotions, they are still animals, and their main instinct is their own survival. That’s not to say that this doesn’t affect the rancher, more so if that rancher is female. It’s hard to sleep when all you hear outside the house is the distraught lowing of the mama cows, but you just kind of have to acknowledge the sadness and move on. Most of the time, especially for first time mama cows, if the calves stayed on them any longer, their health would have taken a toll, and they would not do well during the winter. The mixed emotions of the rancher during the shipping season are summed up well in these lines : “Cattle rollin’ down the meadows mamas-babies hear ’em cry. Brings a burnin’ to your bosom and a tear drop to your eye.” – Bren Hill, Hell on Your Women.