9 Pounder
8/6/12
Over the weekend, I was in Sonora, about 2.5 hours west of here, attending a Prescribed Burn School. It’s the first part of a two part school towards becoming a “certified prescribed burn manager”. In addition to that, I have to log 30 prescribed fires, five of which I have to be Burn Boss. I’m mainly doing it for the education, but it will be a nice credential if I get it. The school was at a Texas Agrilife Research Station, and along with a live burn, we got to see the effects of various “prescriptions” on different pastures. The effects are amazing. I’m really hoping to get some burning done on the ranch this fall or early next spring.
Last week we cut 1/3 of the Sudan field, the part closest to the road. We got 15 bales from it, but it was the thinnest stand. After cutting, the hay dried out really quickly in this heat. We really need to use two tractors so we can rake it up as we cut and then bale the next day. I’m also ordering the parts for our tractor to get the door fixed on it—this way we can crank up the AC in it again. The lakes and ponds are looking pretty miserable, and it looks like Ernesto will not be helping us. We’re going to need a good flood to fill things back up around here. I’m looking forward to the deer counts coming up. I’ve been seeing some really nice bucks around here. I moved that tripod from Pugmore back to one of the springs past all seasons. It will make a really nice bow stand there.
The cows are doing ok too. I let them have the back of the ranch last weekend, so they were really happy then. I found them in waist high grass when I went to pull them off again. This will probably be the pattern for awhile—put them in the back for 2-3 day stints, and then rotate them around the rest of the ranch during the week.
The pregnant lady and baby are doing good. Doctor says she’s going to be a least a 9 pounder. I can’t help but be a little proud of that---although Eleanor is not too sure about this.