Many
ranches across the west have rough areas where where
cattle "won't" graze. Chances are you have country
similar to the picture at the right. Right click on the
image to the right then click "view image" you will see
just how rough of country cattle will graze and browse
in. This is so efficient that the Circle
Ranch in west Texas cancelled out $20,000 worth of
single wire, permanent hot fence.
Low stress cattle handling from
the back of a horse requires a person to be half cowman
and half horseman. 80% of what needs to be learned is
intuitive "feel" which you cannot learn by watching
videos of someone else working cattle. This is why I go
to you. Instead of missing work to sit in a classroom,
your employees don't miss any work and are learning
while they work. The video below shows some of what I
teach, as well as some of the benefits.
Contact
me now to reserve a school or to host a clinic!
Being able to place cattle where you
want them to graze is just one of the side benefits of
low stress cattle handling. Being able to place your
cattle where you want and having them stay is the key to
using a holistic grazing plan in running your cattle.
This is fairly simple to do, with any class of cattle,
even in rough desert
country. This will help your operation in the
following ways:
You know where your cattle are
You know what the condition of your cattle are
You can gather your cattle in one day, without
hiring day help
Cattle actually do better in a herd situations than
in small groups
Take advantage of grazing areas cattle don't
normally graze
Concentrating the cattle and moving them
concentrates manure and herd effect, which in turn
helps build soil and increases both the amount and
diversity of forage while improving hydrology of the
land
By increasing forage and areas you can graze
increases your ability to either run more cattle or
lease grass for yearlings.
Reduces the amount of infrastructure to maintain in
order to keep the cattle watered
Reduces overall fuel, maintenance and labor costs.
Reduces the amount of water needed
Even if you are not
interested in implementing planned grazing, it will
reduce labor costs by allowing one person to move
hundreds of head at a time like in the picture to the
right (once again, right click, then click "view image"
to see a bigger version). Your cattle will gain better,
have less shrink at shipping time and be easier to
handle. Check our services
page to see how I can help your ranch.
If you have a feedlot, it has
been proven that low stress cattle handing can reduce
morbidity, mortality and antibiotic costs by as much as
50%. Pen riders need to know not only cattle
behavior, but also how to handle their horses in a way
that cattle react to positively and calmly. Please visit
our services
page for more information.
