When the Old Way Is Still the Better Way
How do you balance traditions, a respect and a reverence for "the way it's always been done," with new ideas and new technology?
It's been a question I've been mulling on this week in particular.
Part of it stems from our overall experience with this opportunity in Montana. The knowledge and the combined experience of the current stewards is worthy of admiration and respect. A lot can be learned from someone who's "learned the hard way" why to do, or not to do, things a certain way. This is something at the forefront of my mind as we learn about this place and the way it has been done and balance it with new ideas.
Cows and calves are separated so each calf can be quickly worked, then reunited with its mother just minutes later.
A specific example is the annual branding that happened yesterday at the ranch. There's a lot of things that are done "different" on this operation than the way the neighbors do it. They're very progressive in many ways—there's polywire and solar chargers everywhere. They practice low-stress stockmanship and have an Audubon certification for their stewardship practices. But, when it comes to branding, it's very traditional. Because it works.
The neighbors come. They help with the "gather" (getting the cattle to the corrals), and then the "sort" (sorting out the calves from the cows), and then the "branding" itself (vaccines, brand, castrate, doctor as needed). There's horses. There's cowboys (and a handful of cowgirls too). There's ropes. The calves are roped and pulled to the working area right outside the corral where they're held by "the wrestlers" and are done in about 1–2 minutes with all the things, and then released to go run and find mama (who isn't too far watching the commotion and grazing after the morning gather and sort).
It's fast. It's efficient. It's extremely traditional. The branding event took 5 hours from riding out of headquarters to the temporary corrals picked up and loaded back on their trailers and returning to headquarters. The whole thing was followed by a fantastic meal prepared by the host ranch.
This happens regularly through the summer on the surrounding ranches. It's a socialization event. It's work and play combined. It's quite the experience, and I'm very thankful I got to experience this tradition.
The welcoming committee. A curious group of cattle comes over to say hello.
And yes, I already have some ideas on how to make it less stressful for the cattle. But there are parts of it that I don't think would be improved by more technology or new systems. The goal is animal welfare—getting it done as quickly and safely as possible means less stress and less time away from mama.
The brands are important, too. With wide-open spaces, that's how ranchers know they're gathering their own cattle when the time comes. Ear tags fall out, fade, and become unreadable. A brand is permanent, and while it's not required by law, it's still a widely used way of identifying cattle here in Montana.
What traditions have you kept, and which have you adapted with new ideas or technology? I'd love to hear how you think about balancing the old with the new. Leave a comment and let me know.
Your Farmer,
Andrea