…not only a lot of hard work but lots of creativity.  We enjoy reading about farmers and cattlemen who are going the extra step to insure the survivability of their operations. In business school I think they call it “line extension”.  With the kids gone, maybe Wooz will rent the spare bedrooms?  (About as fast as I start mob cooking!) http://apnews.myway.com/article/20130622/DA72T1880.html Thanks to Sue Beal for the link.

….nothing so grand as a new barn.  Just a shed to keep the elements off handlers and animals at the chute.  We’ve put the joists in place and now we’re waiting for the roof trusses to arrive. “We” are Kurt Volkert, a good friend visiting from Germany, Farm Manager Duane Ard, and the architect.

….I’m always amused at the number of people (from a political leader I know down to a well-known cattle consultant) who disparage profit.  The harshest critics of profit tend to be those who produce nothing themselves and live off the profits of others.  But I’ll save that for another post. I guess it’s why the consultants we hang onto (and convert to friends to save expenses) are those who don’t just talk…but do. My favorite quote on the subject has always been Dave Pratt’s:  “If it’s not profitable, it’s not sustainable!”  And we owe a lot to Dave Pratt’s “Ranching for Profit” education for his input into Thistle Hill. Another…

…is a new shed covering the working chute.  Farm manager Duane Ard sets the posts while, once again, I do the hard part.  Taking the picture. The previous shed was destroyed by fire, probably a malfunction of the electric fence charger because of a lightning strike.  The idea is to shade the cows (and me) while they’re waiting for new ear tags.  We’re also adding a new scale downstream. We used to have the scale positioned just before the squeeze chute but some of the cows balked at walking onto the metal, adding a minor bit of stress and delay to the proceedings.  That can be problem when you’re working 30 cows…