Hey ya'll!
Sorry it has been a while since I have written. Things are going well out here in the 'middle of nowhere Nebraska'! This place is growing on me more and more. I never thought I'd admit to that. God TOTALLY knew what He was doing when sending me here was added to His plan. It is so peaceful and serene, away from the hustle and bustle of city life. Room to think, mull over things, and just be. I have been reminded how much I love the country and as well as how much I have missed it.
I cannot believe I have been here over a month already! My baby calves are healing well overall from there surgeries and my trial has been going for just over two weeks now. The first week of my trial we had over 7" of rain alone that came down three different nights! That is a LOT of rain in a week, let alone here. They normally only get ~19-21" of rain a year. It proved some interesting challenges with feeding my dry lotted cattle, but we figured it out. Some of our roads were REALLY washed out and the only way I could get over the hill was on my four wheeler.
Ok, here is the low down of what my research project is about. I am studying the grazing intake of cow-calf pairs on the native range grasslands in the sandhills of Nebraska. My focus is in how much the calf, in particular, is eating grass. Ranchers have not accounted much for the calf consuming a significant amount of forage (grass) because they are still nursing. Well, my advisor believes that the calf is eating earlier than we think he is and more than we give them credit. So, I have 9 pairs of cattle and five of the calves have rumen canulas. Rumen canulas are portals into one of their stomach chambers so that we can collect diet samples and find out how much grass they are actually eating. They are split in half, with 4 pairs in pens where they are fed hay individually of similar quality and digestibility of what is being grazed by the other 5 pairs in a pasture throughout the summer and fall. The two groups switch treatments (grazing vs. dry lot pens) every three weeks. We collect diet samples for the cows and calves, measure fecal output with fecal bags i.e. huggies :) and milk production of the cow by weigh suckle weigh method. It is quite the process. My first collection period begins tomorrow. Thankfully they ranch crew is great and willing to help me out. I couldn't do this on my own-in any way, shape, or form.
I have named two of my calves so far. One is Red Rock-from the crew because when we were breaking the calves to their harnesses and fecal bags for the collection periods he let loose like he just came out of a buckin' chute. The other has a star on his forehead and his name is Raymond or Ray for short like the firefly in The Princess and the Frog movie who is in love with the Northern Star in the sky. :) As I name the others, I'll keep you posted. One of my calves got pretty sick last week and we weren't sure if he was going to make it, but he is lookin' like he is on the mend. Praise God! He is well mannered and easy going canulated calf. I really wanted him to stay in the trial.
Let's see....I have found a great church recommended to me by one of my advisors-Pleasant Point Community Church near Ellsworth, NE. The only hitch is that it is 1.5 hr drive away from the ranch. I am unable to attend every week, but when I can, I am blessed. It is a great group of people that gather from the sandhills in LITERALLY the middle of no where. You turn North off of Hwy 2 onto Hwy 27 and drive for 30 miles and all you see are sandhills pastures and cattle. Then, at the bottom of a hill, there is the church! There are probably 50-60 people who attend regularly. It is nice to have fellowship and be fed spiritually, even out here. :)
It has been yet again another learning experience being out here. And the learning is not over by any means. I am so blessed to have the view and serenity right outside my door every day. The weather can be intimidating and forboding, but is thrilling as well. We are lucky that we don't have the humidity that Lincoln has! I am thankful for that. I am getting to know the ranch crew more and more each day. I am thankful that they are warming up and willing to teach me things that I don't know or how to do something better. They are even beginning to tease me-which is a good sign.
This collection period should prove to have several stories in line for the next entry. I am also headed to Estes Park, CO next month for a grazing nutrition conference for a weekend as well as trying to get back to Lincoln for my mid research break. Once the other grad student Sandra and Zac-her undergrad helper leave for school, I will be alone and not really able to leave the ranch for a weekend until my research is completed. Until next time....
