What 35 Families Made Possible

This week covered the alphabet from bulls and beef to veterans and windmills. You'd better pull up a chair, grab a beef stick, and see what happened.

The bulls headed to their summer home in the Windmill Pasture. It's tucked behind a hill about a mile and a half away, so they can't spend their days watching the cows.

They'll spend the summer enjoying bachelor life until breeding season rolls around again.

The cow-calf pairs had a move of their own.

It took us two days to get everyone worked across the fence line and settled into the fresh pasture. There was plenty of mothering, plenty of calf-sitting, and a few little ones that needed encouragement to keep up with the crowd.

 

One thing I always enjoy during these moves is watching the cows take care of their babies. No matter how big the ranch is, every calf knows exactly who Mom is.  They may have lost track of her, but they know her when they smell her.

Speaking of babies, we hit a milestone this week.

We're now 83% calved in the first 21 days, with only 13 cows left to go.  Right where we want to be.

After last week's snow, it's hard to believe we're headed for temperatures in the 80s by the end of this week. Around here, spring never likes to do things halfway.

 

 

Memorial Day also marked the end of another season of our Veterans Beef Program, Montana 5 For Those Who Served.

From Veterans Day through Memorial Day, 35 families reserved beef shares from T Bar J Ranch.  That means their names are going on this spring's list.

That means we'll be donating 175 pounds of ground beef to the Montana Veterans Meat Locker in their names.

It's a small way to say thank you to the men and women who have served and continue to serve our country.

Thank you to every family who participated.

Starting today, we're keeping track of the next delivery. On Veterans Day this November, we'll make another trip to the Montana Veterans Meat Locker. 

So if you missed this list, you have another chance this fall.

 

Every sunset we enjoy out here is possible because of the men and women who have served our country.

Thought you might like to see our place at sunset.

 

One of the surprises this week came while checking the fence and water.

We ran across a mother badger and her two pups making themselves at home in one of the pastures.

We've also been seeing more signs of help from Sam the Bald Eagle, the coyotes, and even our barn cats.

The result?

Far fewer gophers and healthier grass.

Turns out, ranching has plenty of partners that don't collect a paycheck.

 

As for us, we'll keep moving cattle, tagging calves, and taking care of grass.

And before long, we'll be welcoming summer.

 

The first of our summer beef shares will start heading out in June.

If you've already reserved a share, I'll be giving you a call soon to line up delivery or shipping.

If you don't have a share reserved yet, now's a great time to reserve your share.

Local delivery and Montana shipping will continue through the summer. Nationwide shipping resumes in September when temperatures cool down, and I feel a lot more comfortable sending hundreds of pounds of frozen beef with Cory, our UPS driver.

If you'd like to put healthy Montana-raised beef in your freezer this year, give us a call or visit the ranch store to reserve your share.