Yesterday, a blizzard hit South Dakota, closing the interstate and leaving many travelers stranded. My parents and sisters all stayed home to take care of baby calves. Of course, bad weather seems to correlate with the number of calves dropped on the ground, and my family kept busy yesterday keeping babies warm and out of the wet, cold snow. Even though my day was busy with dreaded tests, labs and homework, I felt pretty guilty that I was in a warm classroom all day while my family battled the weather outside. I had my sister snap a few photos to send me for today’s blog, and it didn’t sound like she was having much fun on her vacation from school!

I recently received a comment from a reader on this blog that said she hated when livestock producers “bragged” about saving baby calves from the cold weather. She insisted that if we REALLY cared about the animals, we would never expose them to below zero temperatures in the first place. To all beef producers, the idea of keeping every expectant cow indoors is laughable. How many times have you discovered a cow that has calved early and has had her calf in the snow or mud? To this woman, the idea of letting them roam outside is outrageous, and everything should be kept indoors. (Ironic? Wouldn’t that be considered the highly criticized management practice of confinement?) Of course, housing an entire herd of cattle out of the elements is financially impossible, and with the care of ranchers, cattle are designed to handle the elements of harsh weather. However, for this woman, if a house can’t be provided for the cattle, it would be much better to let them roam the land, without receiving proper feed, water and shelter as required.

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I took an impromptu “Spring Break trip” to the Black Hills in Western South Dakota at the end of last week, and I spent a few days enjoying the scenic beauty of the Badlands, Custer State Park, Spearfish Canyon, Black Hills National Forest and notable landmarks, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Bear Butte and Roughlock Falls. (If you’re looking for a summer vacation spot, South Dakota is the place to be!) Despite the snow-packed hills, I didn’t let the weather interfere with my mini-vacation, and I filled my days with hiking through the many trails. While on my nature walks, I discovered a host of wild animals including: mule deer, white-tail deer, bighorn sheep, bison and pronghorn antelope. I noticed that the deer and antelope that were grazing in the agriculture fields appeared much healthier than the ones in the national parks. It occurred to me that this was an obvious example of how ranchers are stewards of the land.

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I spent yesterday helping my dad get ready for the big blizzard that hit last night. We moved some cow/calf pairs into another lot, fed hay, bedded the bulls and checked over the cattle to pick out the ones that could be close to calving. Getting prepared for a blizzard is always stressful, but we were lucky to miss the worst of it. However, with the winds blowing today, it was a near whiteout when I went outside to check on the cattle. When I got back in the house to prepare another issue of BEEF Daily, I found an article that chilled me more than the cold Dakota weather.

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