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

Round up memories

G

garn

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 12, 2008
Messages
660
Location
Ankeny, IA
Well as many of you know, i'm a city slicker, but agriculture runs deep in my family and even though i'm not a farmer/rancher today, I still feel a deep connection to agriculture today.

Anywho, my step-dad grew up in South Central South Dakota, Gregory County to be exact and 20 years ago this spring, I got to take part in my first and only well, sort of round up. My Grandpa was losing his battle with cancer and my step-dad was making a nearly 7 hour one way drive from SW Iowa every weekend to spend time Grandpa.

Well in early May, just my step-dad and I made the weekend trip to Burke and this particular weekend was branding weekend. Grandma and Grandpa milked about 40 head of Holsteins, but they also ran over 120 cow/calf pairs and fed out all of the calves, I can still smell the silage pile to this day :D .

I was expecting a big praire round up, similar to the pictures that Jassy posted eariler today, boy was I disappinted to wake up and find all 120 plus pairs close to the milking barn and even more sad that I didn't get to help push the pairs in as my uncle had done all the work.

Anyway, all the calves were run through a table chute, which i'm sure made the job easy, but none the less, I was a little disappointed that it wasn't a true praire roundup.

Oh, two weeks later, I was back in Burke for my Grandpa's funeral.

Even though it wasn't a true "round up" those memories of that weekend still stick with me today and I wanted to share them with everyone.
 
Sorry to hear about your g-pa...but look at it this way, you probably made your g-pa's weekend just having you there and being a part of his life which was cattle. It may not have been the "perfect" roundup, but to your g-pa it was his way of doing things and he was happy just to have you come and help. Sometimes just being around livestock gives us a whole new look on things....take that weekend and make it one of your best memories...thanks for sharing...
 
Garn, Thanks for sharing your thoughts! :D The great thing about Ag is how it gets in your blood and sticks with ya throughout life. Folks may do things differently than I do. They may live in big towns or huge ranches. They may raise crops or grow beef. But they all love the land and the lifestyle that comes with ranching and farming. You sir, are just like all of us who possess the double reccesive gene that causes agriculture to take root and sprout deep in our souls! Your Grandad is smiling knowing his grandson follows in his footsteps. Even if your steps are mostly in your heart! :wink:
 
Thank you everyone for the kind words. To this day, I still look back on that weekend with both a sense of pride and sadness.

Oh, I was just a sophomore in HS when all of this took place.
 
Sorry for bumping an old thread, but for the first time in 9 years, i'm Burke, SD bound tomorrow :D


It's going to be a long drive, close to 6 hours, but will be worth it. If it was just myself going, the thought had crossed my mind of taking 275 out of Omaha, through Norfolk and O'Neil to the far eastern edge of the Sand Hills and heading north there, but with the wife and kid, it'll be a long enough ride for them, so much for that idea.

With so much of my family heading that way for a 40th wedding anniversary celebration, the thought has crossed my mind if Granny has been in touch with those who now own the farm that I wrote about in this thread of letting all of us come out and just roam around, that would be pretty cool.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top