What is Going on at the Ranch? – Febuary & March
So, What’s Going on at the Ranch? This post will be like an ongoing diary of sorts. I will share short snippets and photos of what we are doing here. Right now, we are in Feeding Season!
Arturo and I run multiple businesses that are all involved in agriculture. Pacheco Cattle Company is our ranching business. Pacheco Beef is our beef business, and Pacheco Cattle Services is Arturo’s independent ruminant nutrition business.
Feeding Season
We are in what I like to call “feeding season.” There are two main seasons in ranching: feeding and grass season.
Arturo says that we deliver groceries to our cattle during Feeding Season, while during Grass Season, they must graze on green grass to obtain the groceries.
We are currently in the feeding season. During this time, we supplement our momma cows with distillers, by-products of ethanol and corn, and give them hay as roughage once a day.
Feeding Season is from about October 15 to May 1.
March 31, 2025
We wrapped up March with lots of fun and exciting things.
I visited the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association offices to learn more about my role as a Kansas Beef Council Executive Board member. It was a quick trip to Denver full of information about what the Beef Check-Off dollar does for us as American farmers and ranchers. The website www.beefitswhatsfordinner.com has a ton of information and recipes as well. Check it out!
The boys were busy helping Arturo fix the fence and feed as they wrapped up their spring break.
Our cows all have calves in the fall, and we have a fall-calving herd. However, we are also working towards a spring-calving herd.
Last spring/summer, Ross raised a bucket or an orphan calf for his project in 4-H. She is a nice little heifer, so we will breed her this spring to be the foundation or the start of our spring herd. We chose to do AI or artificial insemination on our cows. To begin this process or any breeding season, we give them a couple of different pre-breeding shots and a wormer to help keep them and their calf healthy. Ross gave the shots to his heifer.
To finish off the month, we brought home Ross’s borrowed pony, which he will ride this summer. Her name is Tootsie Roll, and he LOVES her!
As we move into April, our time will be filled with checking fences, pregnancy-checking our fall-calving cows, and getting everyone to grass. It is a busy month that will go by in a flash! Follow us on the gram @cookingwiththecowboy to keep up with all the things!
March 14, 2025
Today was the first day of the boy’s spring break, so I had extra help doing chores.
It also means we must take extra time to love all the creatures, which makes me smile!
The picture on the left shows Ross loving on his bucket calf, Rosella, which he showed at the fair last summer. We will breed her in April.
The picture on the right shows Leo loving our best ranch horse, Super. When Leo goes with us to check cattle, he always rides Super. He is a horse that we trust with anyone. He is the best horse. He can get the job done with an experienced cowboy and grow confidence in the less experienced.
We are about six weeks away from turning cattle out on grass. I shared a little about this in my Instagram stories the other day. Here is a snippet of that story!
February 27, 2025
As I type this, we are currently in what Ross calls “Fake Spring.” It is at the end of February, and the temperature is in the 60s. However, this was not the case over the last 8 weeks. We kicked off January with record snow for this area. We had over 14 inches of snow in one day. Crazy!!! The kicker for me is that Arturo had knee surgery in December, and I had to step into the role of caring for everything! So this little East Texas girl cared for the cows and horses with 14” of snow on the ground. I also had Leo help chop the ice and open the gates.
It has been a fun winter of learning and growing! I realized that feeding cows makes me happy. Working in those temperatures and snow pushed me out of my comfort zone, but by golly, I did it. I got the job done! It was super rewarding!
Arturo is healing well and is now able to get out and do chores, but I told him I wasn’t ready to give up feeding the cows, so we are tag-teaming it, and it is working out great!
February was a cold month with a little more snow, but we have been enjoying these current temperatures in the 60s lately. Again, it is a “Fake Spring,” as it could snow again before the real spring arrives, but we will take it as it comes!
Check back soon for more as we move into March! You can also follow us on Instagram or Facebook at @cookingwiththecowboy for day-to-day sharing on stories!
