• If you are having problems logging in please use the Contact Us in the lower right hand corner of the forum page for assistance.

May 18th in pictures

Soapweed

Well-known member
Lettingthempairupbeforeputtingthemt.jpg

Letting them pair up before putting them through the gate
Holdingthecattletopairthemup.jpg

Holding the cattle
TheSpearheadbrand.jpg

The Spearhead brand
Heretheycome.jpg

Here they come
Changingpastures.jpg

Changing pastures
Comingaroundthecorner.jpg

Coming around the corner
Smokeysmaneislookingbetter.jpg

Smokey's mane is looking better
Blackcows.jpg

Black cows
Smokysizingupthesituation.jpg

Smokey sizing up the situation
Cattleacrossthelake.jpg

Cattle across the lake
Alongthelake.jpg

Along the lake
Whatsthatoveryonder.jpg

What's that over yonder?
Greengrowsthemeadow.jpg

Green grows the meadow
Earslookingatredcows.jpg

Ears looking at red cows
Movingtofreshpasture.jpg

Moving to fresh pasture
Hinkydrinkyparleyvouz.jpg

Hinky drinky parley vouz
Marchingon.jpg

Marching onward
Doubledippin.jpg

Double dippin'
 

Tap

Well-known member
Soap, I hope you continue to post the nice pictures. I like angus cattle very well, but a good looking herd of red cows such as yours make an attractive bunch as well. The thing I will never get used to is how your warm season grass country is behind our further northern grass. How far do you have to get south of you before they have earlier grass? And does basically all of the sandhills green up at once in general, or does it come earlier in the southern sandhills?

Thanks Soapweed.
 

Soapweed

Well-known member
Tap said:
Soap, I hope you continue to post the nice pictures. I like angus cattle very well, but a good looking herd of red cows such as yours make an attractive bunch as well. The thing I will never get used to is how your warm season grass country is behind our further northern grass. How far do you have to get south of you before they have earlier grass? And does basically all of the sandhills green up at once in general, or does it come earlier in the southern sandhills?

Thanks Soapweed.

Tap, these ol' Sandhills are always slow to come around in the spring but they tend to stay pretty green fairly late into the fall. Several different times through the years, I have put cattle out in the summertime on the LaCreek Valley in South Dakota, which is six miles straight north of our house, through some very rough sandy hills. That country is always at least two weeks ahead of us, and I usually trailed cattle up there to start summer grazing on the first of May. That area has more harder type grasses, and is very productive if it gets good rain. Even with adequate moisture, though, the grasses there start to fall by the wayside from August on.

In the Sandhills proper, grass is not ready to be turned out on until May 15th, and if you are going to continuous-graze a pasture all summer, you better wait until at least the first of June to give it a good head-start or it won't keep up.

My thought is that if you live in the Sandhills, practice rotated intensive grazing, calve late, and try to get by without feeding very much hay, and were only going to feed hay one month out of the year, that month should be from April 15th through May 15th. That is the time to lock cattle into fairly small pastures, feed hay, and let the Sandhills rest and rejuvenate for the upcoming summer.

I am guessing that most of the Sandhills proper (which comprises most of central and western Nebrask) all behaves about the same. I doubt if the south end greens up much faster than does our north end. It does seem like the Sandhills are more drought-resistant than other areas, and the sub-irrigated meadows usually produce at least some hay, even on very dry years. As one real estate agent said, while comparing the our country to the hard grass of South Dakota, "The Sandhills is never very good country, but it's always pretty good country."

Hope this answers your questions, Tap. Probably other native Sandhillers would have different viewpoints on the subject, but this is my take, for what it is worth.
 

Tap

Well-known member
Appreciate your input Soapweed. That is close to what I had thought. I know our bluestem here is later than the rest of the grasses. I was just visiting with a neighbor that is on the north end of our ranch the other day, and we were comparing how just a few miles can make a difference sometimes. The south end of our operation is sandy, but does not have as much bluestem as the far north end. The north end has two periods to grow grass, and almost always grows some grass even on the dry years like you said. And lots of years by the fourth of July the hard grasses have matured and browned, but the bluestem is just green as can be.

Mother nature sure is an interesting old gal. :wink:
 

ranchwife

Well-known member
Keep the pictures coming, soapweed!! I simply love to take tours of others places!! Looks like ya got some lovely weather and nice, green grass!!! :D
 

WB

Well-known member
Nice pictures as usual Soapweed. Glad to see someone has some green grass. It is always nice to have the cows back out on pasture and taking care of themselves. To me it is a feeling of accomplishment to have the cows all calved and the calves worked and marks the turn of a new season.
 
Top