Behind Barn Doors
Have you ever wondered what goes on behind those closed barn doors?
Today’s society thinks that ranching is something based off of the big screens. More specifically- Yellowstone. They believe that ranching is full of down time, vacations, minimal work, lots of social events… but in reality, there is no downtime, no vacations, constant work of a never ending to do list, and you are lucky to appear at your child’s friend’s birthday party.
Another point of view taken in by society, is that ranchers are just killers who don’t have any sort of compassion towards their animals because they are destined for death. But have you ever actually sat down and considered the differences between ranchers and farmers? This is by NO means a knock against farmers because our family is more than compassionate about what they do.
As a regenerative rancher, what do you think comes with it? Overgrazing pastures that leave no pasture for game? Wrong.
As we operate, we lease forest, state, and private properties around Northern Colorado. Grass, as you know based off of your green front yard, loves to be cut. It loves to be fertilized. It even loves to be aerated. That is basically the exact same thing we do with grazing pastures. Our cows cut the grass. The grass then goes through the normal biological system where it comes out as manure, and this feeds the micro organisms, insects, worms, etc, in the ground, therefore making the ground healthier for forages to grow. Grazing also is a type of fire mitigation, where you aren’t forced to mow your ground where you could potentially hit a boulder, reach in those nooks and crannies around objects and under trees, and limit the amount of kindling on the ground for the fires to progressively spread.
Also, in Colorado, if you lease your pasture, this also assists with you getting the agricultural tax breaks. You just need a legal fence, and then a solid contract stating your property’s parcel number, the two parties in agreements, and some sort of payment, whether it be in trading/bartering or a monetary compensation.
In this lovely, cold, windy atmosphere we are in during this time of year, we are still (unfortunately for us…) looking for cows. We are looking for those cows who are smart enough (well, how smart are they, honestly?) to take off and hide from us because they don't want their calves weaned. Those cows who were just in a far draw we never covered, or those who took a right right before we went left and never left a sign.
We are also milking cows, feeding replacement animals both for butcher and replacements to add into the herd, winterizing everything, helping our community stock up on beef for those who are financially stable, and YES those who are affected by SNAP withholdings right now. We are collecting donations for our companion company Ptasnik Land and Cattle’s grass fed beef, to support our community by donating beef to local food pantries, individuals, and charity events in the future.
On top of all of that, we are HOMESCHOOLING! YAY! I’m so happy to be given the opportunity to teach my children in the comforts of my home, where I don’t have to worry about what on earth they’re being exposed to in schools. I can teach them proper life skills that they will be able to use the rest of their lives. We are able to spend that extra time focusing on something if they dont understand it well, unlike schools where you are expected to follow a strict lesson plan and learn x, y, and z, and if you dont learn it by the end of the allowed timeframe, you are expected to basically fake it till you make it, and then they want your child in summer school because the school failed them. Seems fair, right? Not to me, which is why this is such a blessing to us.
In my next blog, I want to cover more into ranchers versus farmers, and the perspectives of the dangers in ranching.
Until next time,
Taylor