A Look at What One Rancher is Cooking Up for His Cattle

Jonathan and I went on a Texas ranch tour after the American Farm Bureau Annual Convention on Tuesday. We toured Blanco County, which has been in a drought situation for a few years. Our tour guide for the day is also the Blanco County Farm Bureau president, Don Casey. Don came up with a way to remove the spines of the cactus, making them easier for the cattle to eat. He invited the tour to his cattle pasture, where he gave a demonstration on how the process works.

Prickly Pear Cactus are common houseplants in Minnesota, but in Texas, they grow in pastures and ditches. They have two lengths of spines, both of them very sharp.

Prickly Pear Cactus
Prickly Pear Cactus

To begin his project, Don took a boat trailer, removed the rollers, and mounted an LP Tank on the back to make it very portable.

LP Tank Trailer
LP Tank Trailer

He uses a long burner arm to be able to reach into large patches of the cactus. It sounds and acts a lot like our flame weeder, only it is made for walking around with.

CarolynCares Flame Wand

He burns the spines one side at a time, giving the smoke time to clear in between passes in order to make sure he isn’t missing any plants.

CarolynCares Flaming Cactus 1

Here you can see the spines that are on fire. This is a very quick, effective way to remove the spines.

CarolynCares Flaming Cactus 2

Notice the difference in color between the cactus in the foreground, and those in the back. When the flame is applied to the plant, it is lightly cooking the plant as well. Don flames enough cactus for one or two days of foraging, otherwise it rots before the cattle have a chance to use it for food.

CarolynCares Prickly Pear Cactus Patch

In this close up, notice how shiny the outside of the plant looks compared to the first photo.

Spineless Cactus

This is what the inside of the plant looks like – moist, and ready to eat. Cactus has a high water content, and is useful for its carbohydrates. The cattle are also fed a pelletized feed and minerals to balance out their diet.

CarolynCares Cactus

Don has 25 head of cattle in this pasture, and they all were just waiting for us to move a little out of the way so they could get at the plants.

CarolynCares Cattle

One person on our tour asked if the cattle like to eat the cactus. It was pretty obvious that they do when they all ran over to the patch and dug right in.

CarolynCares Cattle Eating Cactus

It was fun and interesting to see someone else using flames for a very different purpose than what we use it for.

We appreciate the American Farm Bureau for lining up tours to showcase agriculture in a different region, and to help bring an understanding that while we all are different, our roots are the same.

 

Wordless Wednesday – Thinking Warm Thoughts

Thank you, American Farm Bureau Federation, for holding your Annual Convention in warm places…and giving us an excuse to travel there!

CarolynCares Hawaii

Baby, It’s Cold Outside – Benefits of Raising Pigs Inside

Livestock farmers all over the upper Midwest are bracing for a cold spell. How do we make sure our pigs are safe?

Over the last few days, Jonathan has made sure the stand-by generator is in working order. We would need that in the event of a power outage. He also made sure the LP tanks were filled, to ensure plenty of fuel to run the heaters in our barns.

We like raising our pigs in barns, especially during cold spells like these! When Jonathan does chores every morning and evening, he is looking at the health of the animal, the food and water supply, the high and low temperature swings, and the quality of air in each barn. Even with the temperature at -10, and windchills at -26, the barns never went below 73 degrees F last night. The heater is set to turn on at 72 degrees, so it never had to run.

I wrote more about how we care for livestock in winter storms in December 2012. Click on the title to read Blizzards and Caring for Livestock.

Another benefit of raising pigs inside is disease control. There is a horrible sickness that is spreading like crazy between pig farms. It doesn’t matter if you raise your pigs inside, or outside, they can catch it. All pig farmers try to keep their pigs as healthy as possible, but sometimes that becomes really difficult. Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus has been found pretty close to our farm. By eliminating the ability for birds to land in their pens, and restricting the people who come into contact with our animals and equipment, we can hopefully keep them from getting sick. (To read more about PEDv, click here.) We hate when our animals get sick, just like we hate when our own kids get sick. We are thankful for a good veterinarian who will help us figure out the best treatment for our animals when they do get sick.  We treat our animals a lot like we treat our family. We keep them safe, warm, fed, and as healthy as possible. When they do get sick, we treat them according to the advice of the veterinarian. The difference is, we know we are raising the pigs for meat – meat that we feed our family, and meat that will feed many of our friends.

For us, climate controlled barns are a good way to raise pigs year ’round in Minnesota.

Happy Pigs!
Happy Pigs!

My friend, Janice, of A Colorful Adventure, has complied other storm related blog posts. Head on over and check them out!

Throwback Thursday – Wedding Dances

Our oldest daughter became engaged on December 31st. We are so excited for her and her fiance! Texting with her about wedding plans made me think of this photo. She was the flower girl in a friend’s wedding, and was so happy to dance with her daddy at the reception. The next time these two dance, it will be a part of the father/daughter dance.

Jonathan and Anna
Jonathan and Anna

 

Okay, I am needing Kleenex now. Is it a thing to have a Kleenex box bearer for the mother of the bride? I may need one!