Welcome to the Ranch!

It is a tough time to be in the ranching business, especially when you are dependent on it for income.  Cross Creek Cattle Company is a working family-owned and operated ranch; we do not do this as a hobby.  This year has been especially tough because of the drought.  It is the worst drought in recorded history in Texas.

Because of the lack of pasture grass, we have been forced to find other sources of grass to continue our grass fed beef operation.  Hay, alfalfa cubes, and alfalfa pellets are all different forms of grass that we are using to keep up the condition of our herd.  Usually during the summer we do not have to purchase grass, we simply rotate our herds from green pasture to green pasture.  This year our costs have skyrocketed by having to buy forms of grass.

Now that winter is approaching, we are struggling to find enough hay to fill our needs.  The price for a roll of hay is going through the roof to unimaginable prices.  My dad used to buy round hay bales for $35.00 delivered.  This year they are asking over $100.00 a bale.  It is not a good time to be a rancher.

As we try to fill our hay needs for the winter, we also decided to plant winter grass in several pastures.  My husband spoke with an expert at Producer’s Co-op in Bryan, Texas, who suggested planting a week early because of the slight possibility of rain last weekend.  My husband decided to follow this man’s advice and with my father’s blessing purchased enough seed to sow between 20-30 acres on different pastures.

We brought the seed home late Thursday evening and began sowing the seed mid-morning on Friday.  Lane and I devised a system that we thought would be the most efficient.  He drove the big tractor pulling a disk with which he barely scratched the surface.  We were trying to decide if we should risk disking up the soil since it has been so dry and windy, but again we followed the advice of the seed salesman.  He suggested that we try to give the seed a head start by lightly disking the soil. I drove the small tractor over the lightly disked land while spreading the winter grass seeds.

If you have ever driven a tractor, then you know that the hum of the engine drowns out all other sound.  It leaves your brain isolated from your surroundings.  You are left with only your thoughts.  I get some of my best thinking done either mowing on a riding lawnmower or when driving a tractor.  For two days as I spread the winter grass seed, I was left to my own thoughts.

These are the facts.  We are 20 inches behind in our rain fall here.  We have been praying for rain everyday several times a day for months now.  Several times the wind has picked up and the sky grows dark, but no rain falls for us.  It has stormed literally a few miles away without even so much as sprinkle here.  I was growing discouraged.

As I watched the tiny seeds spray out of the implement and land on the incredibly dry soil, I prayed.  It was not your typical prayer; it was more a conversation between me and my Heavenly Father.  For two days I asked for rain.  I first began asking for one inch.  Then I thought if I am going to ask for anything I might as well ask for what I think we need.  I increased the amount to three inches.

I reminded myself, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Matthew 7:7).  Another verse from the book of James ran through my head.  It reads, “But he must ask in faith without doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord…” (1:6-7).

When I finished sowing the last of the seed, I expectantly looked up to the sky waiting for any signs of rain.  There was not any.  I showered and enjoyed my evening confident that rain would come.  Sunday morning I turned on the weather and rejoiced when I saw the line of showers headed our way.  I encouraged my son to go milk earlier than usual on Sunday morning so as to not get caught in the rain before church.  His reply was, “What rain?”

The church we attend has huge walls of windows on the sides of the sanctuary.  It gives you a great view of the parking lot on one side and a green lawn on the other.  As we sat there listening to the sermon, the rain began to fall.  I immediately offered up a prayer of thanksgiving and one that the rain would continue.  Too many times it has started to rain that it has just as quickly stopped.  The rain did not stop.  Instead, it grew harder.

It was not a thunderstorm.  Lightning did not threaten to start a fire.  Thunder did not roll.  It simply poured.  It was such a beautiful scene that I could not help but just gaze out the windows.  A smile spread over my face and I delighted in my Father’s blessing.  The best thing was that the rain did not stop.  It continued to pour for hours.  Even late that afternoon it was still raining!

When the rain stopped right before darkness settled over the land, I walked out to check the rain gauge.  God had not given us the one inch I first asked for.  He had not given us the three I eventually asked for.  Instead he gave the perfect amount of 2 1/4 inches of beautiful, soaking rain.  I have no doubt that our winter grass will grow and nourish our cattle throughout the winter.  What a blessing!

If you know of any reasonably priced, good quality hay for sale, please let me know.  We could use any and all tips.  You could be a part of another answered prayer.

The drilling truck on site. We were thrilled when they began drilling our new water well.

If you are in a part of the world with adequate rainfall or in some place with too much precipitation, then you might get tired of hearing about how the drought is affecting Cross Creek Cattle Company.  For us, it is a reality.  Unfortunately we are reminded on a daily basis how badly our land thirsts for rain. You cannot walk across the pasture or look out your window without being reminded of the exceptional drought we find ourselves.   Believe me, I wish I was just reading about it too.

My family and I are reading through the Old Testament right now.  Today our reading was in Genesis about the Pharaoh’s dream, which was interpreted by God through Joseph.  The interpretation of the dream was that they would have seven years of drought and famine.  However, they had time to prepare for it with the prior seven years of bumper crops.

Now in the third consecutive year of a drought, I looked around trying to imagine four more years of it.  I cannot fathom the devastation that that would cause.  I simply cannot wrap my head around it.  Without the advance warning, I doubt the Egyptians could have withstood such a time.

If you read the article about us in the Bryan Eagle, then you know that we recently dug a water well.  We chose to in order to provide adequate fresh water to our herd.  We also want to begin the process of filling up our stock tanks for the health of our fish, family enjoyment, and to provide water for our livestock and wildlife.  You have to remember the wildlife are struggling in this heat and drought, too.

The temperatures in ponds are higher than normal.  Some people are trying to remedy the problem by running a water hose out to their small body of water and filling it like a swimming pool.  However, the water has to be aerated to be effective in keeping your fish population healthy and alive.  You can aerate two ways.  You can simply spray the water up into the air or it can dribble over rocks before reaching the main body of water.  Spraying the water seems the easiest way to ensure that plenty of oxygen is in your water.

You can see how low our biggest stock tank is. Lack of rain and evaporation has caused this during the drought. To give you an idea of how low it is, the drain is in the foreground and the pier is in the background. Hopefully with our new well, it will be back up to a normal level soon.

In the same above-mentioned article, I said of the drought, “You hope it is just a passing phase,” in regards to whether or not we were going to increase our prices.  Drilling a well is an additional expense that was not in our thoughts even a year ago.  However, it will benefit our ranching business for years to come.  Water is a necessary resource.

We also hope that the drought is a phase that will soon be broken.  We long for cooler temperatures and inches of precipitation.  We pray throughout the day that God will heal our land and bless us.

Regardless of the fact that it has still not rained, Cross Creek Cattle Company has many blessing to count.  One is the fact that our herd still looks good.  The cattle are in good condition and healthy.  Between the newspaper article and television show, we are enjoying the media attention.  Importantly, we are selling our grass fed beef, and getting great feedback from our customers.

We are a family owned and operated business struggling to overcome this drought.  We have had to employ different methods, which I have written about in the past.  Now we are proud owner of a new water well.  If success is measured by how hard you try and adapt, then we are a very successful.

Lane DeHaven, the ranch manager of Cross Creek Cattle Company, attended the 2011 Beef Cattle Short Course last week at Texas A&M University.  He had a great time and learned a lot.  Lane really enjoyed listening to Dr. Temple Grandin speak.  The audience must have enjoyed her speech as much as Lane since they gave her a standing ovation.

He also attended a session about the drought conditions in Texas.  Climatologists have been studying weather patterns for decades and recording the temperatures, rainfall, and other meteorological information.  I was astounded by their hypotheses for the future.  Personally, I knew that we were in the midst of a three year drought.  This year has been the worst.  Earlier this week I read an article from The Texas Tribune by Chris Hooks called, “State Climatologist: Drought Officially Worst on Record.”  It just states what is visible to the layman’s eye.  It is bad.

The unfortunate news is that it doesn’t look like it is going to get any better any time soon.  I kept looking for rain.  Thought like, “Maybe we would have a tropical storm to break the drought.  Maybe this fall would be cool and wet.  Next year would be better.  The drought could not continue, could it?” all circulated in my mind.  However according to these climatologists, this drought cycle will continue for 15 more years.

Are you still standing up or did you pass out?  The current drought cycle began in 1995.  I know that we have had rain since 1995, but we have also had some of our driest years.  Instead of this year being more wet since it is over the midway point, it has been the most severe in recorded history.  So the question is, have we hit the bottom or are we still on the downward slope?

No one seems to know.  Evelyn Browning-Garriss, the climatologist who spoke at the Short Course, writes The Browning Newsletter. You can download a sample copy at her website.  In her newsletter, she explains the climate change and its impact on Texas and the Southwest.  Colored diagrams, charts, and maps help you visualize the weather patterns.  If you are interested in trying to understand the why, then this newsletter would be valuable.

However if you are like myself, all you want to know is when is the drought going to be memory.  There is no answer except for a possible fifteen more years of dry conditions.

The forecast for this winter is unfortunate.  Climatologists are expecting an extremely cold and ironically wet winter in Texas.  Ms. Browning-Garriss was clear that the amount of rain would not come close to breaking the drought.  It would be just enough to make everyone miserable.

So what does a rancher do with this information?  Right now I do not have a definitive answer.  I am honestly still processing the information.  It is time to make hard decisions.  The one thing I do know is that Cross Creek Cattle Company is committed to ranching.  It is in our blood.  We cannot deny it regardless of the weather forecast.  However, we don’t know what the future holds.  At least we have expert opinions on what might be in store for us so we can plan accordingly.  I thought it was information worth sharing.

The wildfire in Grimes County from from one of our barns.

If you look at a map of the United States, the Southern states from Arizona to Florida are covered in flames.  Texas is the most hard hit right now with over 3,000,000 acres burned and fires still burning.  One of the wildfires is very close to Cross Creek Cattle Company.  In fact, we sit only four miles from the fire.

Sunday afternoon the fire began allegedly with a barbeque pit.  Grilling outdoors is not banned by the burn ban; however, the results of this innocent event has been catastrophic to many families.  “One spark starts a fire” is completely accurate, especially with the tinderbox conditions in our environment.  We are still under an extreme drought.

Smoke has filled the air for days.  We have watered down our yards.  We have tried to keep our animals calm.  At the same time, the threat of the fire crossing Hwy 105, which would put us right in the danger zone, made us begin to prepare for a possible evacuation. 

We are not the only family in the area with livestock.  Fortunately, the two local livestock auction barns opened part of their facilities as a shelter for cows, horses, donkeys, etc.  Other places were set up for smaller animals.  Regardless of how much we love our animals from our family dog to the cattle herd, human life is so much more important.  Our foremost concern was our family and house-bound neighbors. 

Yesterday God blessed us with two and a half inches of rain.  This helped the firefighting effort; however, experts are warning that we should not grow complacent.  Even though the fire is now 75% contained, they are expecting flare ups today as the ground dries up and the heat reaches triple digit temperatures again. 

We are feeling much more comfortable as the evacuation area is diminishing.  They are allowing people to return to their homes just on the South side of Hwy 105.  However, the extremely dry conditions make me feel uneasy.  Someone carelessly extinguishing a cigarette could start a new wildfire that could endanger more lives. 

Please join with us to pray for rain, to pray for protection and strength for our firefighters, and to pray for all those directly affected by the wildfires all over the United States.  Cross Creek Cattle Company wants to extend a big “THANK YOU!”  to the firefighters who kept the wildfire from spreading north of Hwy 105.  We are grateful to be safe from harm.

Our new pier at the lake.

I have already written about the exceptional drought we are experiencing here in Texas.  One indication was a sign on a local nursery.  It read:

“New Shipment
Drought Resistant Plants
Now Available.”

The drought is so bad that the nursery is adapting what it carries in stock.  We have adapted, too.  We are feeding hay and alfalfa cubes, which I wrote about in the article, “Exceptional Drought.” 

Today we were blessed with 0.7″ of rainfall.  It might not sound like much; however, it rained for about two hours at a good rate.  It was a good soaking rain.  And, we are so thankful. 

Optimism runs high here at Cross Creek Cattle Company.  We decided to make the best of the lower water level in our largest tank.  We call it the lake because it encompasses about a three acre area.  Our family loves to fish in this stocked watering hole.  We have a row boat that we use for fishing and for fun.  Occassionally we will swim in the lake also.  Despite all we do at the lake, we did not have a pier. 

Well all that has changed.  My husband and I along with our boys have constructed a 30′ long pier.  When the water is at its highest level, it will come just under the platform.  We are looking forward to spending hours with our family enjoying the ranch even more with the help of this pier. 

Because of the drought, we have not seen many rain clouds, but we are still looking for the silver lining.  We seized the opportunity to build a pier for years of enjoyment.  Hopefully we will continue to get rain until we have caught up to our average rainfall.  We know that the drought will eventually break, and our lake will be full once again.  When that happens, I will be the first to run and jump off of our new pier.

Rain, glorious rain!  It started raining last night and I believe I heard it still raining early into the morning.  At about 8 o’clock this morning it began again.  We are so excited here at Cross Creek Cattle Company.

It is the perfect rain, too.  It is not accompanied with a storm system.  We were not under a tornado watch.  We did not lose our electricity due to high winds.  We were not kept awake with thunder and lightning.  It is a steady rain.

Not only is this rain steady, but it is a soaking rain.  The water is doing exactly what we need it to do; the water is seeping into the soil nourishing the roots of our plants and grass.  It is not running off our pastures into creeks that eventually flow into the Gulf of Mexico.  It is not flooding our pastures and putting our herd in peril.  As I said before, we consider ourselves blessed with this perfect rain.

As you would expect rain plays an important role on a grass fed ranch.  Grass has to have sufficient rainfall to thrive.  I know that our cattle and grass fed operation did well despite a drought last summer, but two back to back droughts would have been tough to pull through without many problems, which is why this rain is absolutely glorious.

I have a more selfish need for the rain that goes beyond the pasture conditions.  I have a big, organic vegetable garden that badly needs the rain, too.  Despite my seemingly constant watering, the plants are turning yellow.  The soil is never muddy; the soil has been soaking up all the water.  For some reason, watering with a sprinkler is not as good as rain falling from the sky for your garden.

I don’t know the reason, but I have made this observation countless times.  The garden always seems refreshed after a rain like this, but not when I water it myself.  Maybe it has something to do with the rain bringing cooler temperatures and overcast skies.  Whereas when I water, the skies are clear and the sun is still baking the plants.  Evaporation of the water might be a key issue as well.  Regardless of the reason, I am celebrating the fact that my garden is being refreshed and soaked by rain.

We want the rain to stay, but obviously we don’t want it to rain forever.  That would be unhealthy for our grass fed operation and my garden.  We want the rain to continue treating us with its blessings throughout the summer.  We definitely don’t want to endure another drought.  This great rainfall is a good sign that we will not.

Summer is in full swing here at Cross Creek Cattle Company.  The daily temperatures are hitting in the mid-90s and staying above 70 degrees during the night.  This is prime grass growing time.

With the new growth of our grass, the herd is on a strict pasture rotation now.  We are in the midst of our time-intensive pasture management.  It is time-intensive in that we check the pastures two times a day.  We are interested in the condition of the grass.  We also look for worn areas in our pastures.  We want to move the cattle before they erode any of our pasture land.

We make sure that the herd has access to plenty of good water. Cows drink surprisingly amounts of water in one sitting.  In this heat, full-grown cows drink about 25 gallons of water a day.  Times that by the head that you are raising and that comes to a high number of gallons necessary to support your cattle.

We use natural ponds as reliable sources of water.  We also utilize well water in one of our pastures.  In another, we pump water out of our largest watering hole into a large water trough using solar energy.  To read how my husband set that system up, read my article, “Watering Your Herd on a Dry Pasture.”

As long as the rain continues to fall, we will be sitting pretty on lush green fields.  I hope that we do not suffer from another drought.  Two consecutive years of drought would be devastating to Texas ranchers.  We did better than could be expected last year.  In fact, Cross Creek Cattle Company was blessed with fat cows and green grass.

While other ranchers in our area were feeding hay to their herds during the summer months, we did not.  I attribute it to many things.  First, we prayed specifically for fat cows and green grass.  To understand this statement better, read my article from Texas Homesteader called, “Pray More Effectively.“  Additionally, we adhere to strict pasture rotation.  These are the two things that we credit our success last year.  God-willing, we will be blessed with plenty of good rain, fat cows, and green grass this summer.

In a typical year, we try to not put out bales of hay until after the Thanksgiving holiday.  This is a personal goal of Cross Creek Cattle Company.  With good rain throughout the summer months, our pastures can supply grasses for our cattle until then.  Unfortunately this year we had drought conditions.  For months we had no rainfall.

We prayed for fat cows and green grass, and we were blessed accordingly.  Some of our less fortunate neighbors were having to put out hay during the summer.  It was incredible.  Just yesterday, I was driving in the northern part of our county.  I was amazed at how bad all the pastures looked.  They had their herds on completely bare and brown pastures.  You have no choice as a rancher, but to give hay in this situation.

As the grass season comes to an end and autumn is in full swing, we stop rotating our pastures.  Instead, we open all the interior gates and allow the cattle to forge for themselves.  They can find the best grasses on their own.  They have that innate ability.

Now as winter time approaches, we are preparing to put out hay a few weeks early.  My dad is disappointed, but considering the year we have had I think we are doing well.  In fact we are doing better than most in our area.  The way I look at it, we made it to November.

After an incredibly dry spring and summer, we are experiencing a very wet autumn.  It started raining, and it feels like it has not stopped.  As a rancher, I am not complaining.  We have to adjust to either drought or deluge.  Fortunately, nothing is flooding even after inches and inches of rainfall, which demonstrates how dry our land was.

Immediately following the first few inches of rain, the grass turned a deep and brilliant green color.  The pastures are beautiful.  Luckily through the drought, our pasture grasses did not dry up and die like many ranches in our area.  We count ourselves fortunate and thank God.  Our pastures fed the cattle, and will continue to feed them a little while longer.

Where the ground had cracked from extreme dryness, the soil is dark with moisture.  As the rain fell for days and days, the soil just soaked up the rain.  No rain even ran off.  The ground was like a huge sponge soaking up all the moisture it could get.  After even more rain, walking through the pastures at Cross Creek Cattle Company is like walking on supersaturated sponges.  “Squish, squish.”  The roads are also beginning to get muddy, but they are not impassable yet.

Now that the ground is saturated, the rain is beginning to run-off.  Our ponds and our lake are finally starting to fill up after lowering to worrisome levels.  I do not remember the water in the lake ever being that low before.  I am sure the fish are happier with more room to swim.  A good supply of fresh drinking water is critical for raising healthy cattle.

With rain, comes mosquitoes.  They are everywhere.  All the little eggs have hatched and the little mosquitoes are hungry for blood.  If you plan on spending any time out-of-doors, make sure you have something to repel the pests.

Despite the mosquitos, the rain has really freshened up the place.  It has washed away the dust from the county road that used to lay thick on the perimeter trees and bushes.  The pastures and trees alike are well-nourished.  The rain has also brought a coolness with it that broke the seemingly constant 100 degree streak we were having.  The air itself smells clean.  Because of the rain, it feels like there has been a rebirth of nature on the ranch.  We are seeing more wildlife out and about, even snakes.  Rain is good.  We are enjoying the fall season at Cross Creek Cattle Company.

Drought conditions have cracked the ground.

There are several phrases that a grassfed rancher does not want to hear.  Two main ones are extreme heat and drought.  We have just about endured the hottest and driest June and July that I can remember.  It was really hot and dry in May, too.  Almost everyday these past two months temperatures have soared  over 100 degrees.  The heat indexes are even higher.  This coupled with little precipitation is a two-edged sword.

So what does this mean for Cross Creek Cattle Company and their grassfed beef?  First and foremost, we pray.  We do not pray for rain, though.  I wrote an article called “Pray More Effectively” which explains why we pray specifically for fat cows and green grass.

We work very hard to ensure proper pasture rotation.  This is extremely important.  The roots of grass are about as long as the visible blades.  So if your grass is 12″ high, its roots reach about a foot in the ground.  Shallow roots are going to dry up in hot and dry conditions.  The grass will not be able to rebound as quickly when we get some rain.  Cattle can trample the short blades of grass and really tear up your pasture whereas the longer blades of grass are more resilient.  We do not allow the cattle to eat the grass down below 6″.  They are constantly being moved from one pasture to another.  We do this with temporary electric fencing and permanent barbed wire fencing.

A cow in the mineral feeder while others chew their cud in the shade.

We ensure that our cattle have supplemental minerals to help them maintain their health and body conditions.  At Cross Creek Cattle Company we use a mixture of kelp meal and salt.  We add some diatomaceous earth to act as a natural wormer.  This mixture is all-natural and allowed by the government for use on certified organic ranches.  Even though we have not sought organic certification, we use these products to ensure our beef is all-natural.  This mixture is self-limiting, meaning that the cattle take only what their body needs.  They cannot overdo the supplements.

We are surrounded by traditional ranchers.  Ones that feed out their cattle with grain.  Ones that do not adhere to strict pasture rotation.  Unfortunately, they are already feeding hay and putting out protein tubs.  These are measures usually employed during the winter.  It is also expensive.  Because their pastures are burnt and brown, they must rely on these products to get their cattle through the summer.

Photograph taken July 22nd.

With proper management, we have made it through June and July with fat cows and green grass.  We are in continual prayer as we know the “dog days of summer” are just around the corner.  Our herd is still looking good.  They are thriving when some cattle on area ranches are only surviving.  Regardless of weather, we are committed to raising grassfed beef.  We take our commitment seriously and are proactive in maintaining the health benefits of all-natural grassfed beef.  It is antibiotic-free, hormone-free, grain-free, and steroid-free.  Our cattle thrive on green grass, sunshine, and fresh air even during time of extreme heat and drought.

If you are interested in placing an order for our beef, go here.  Our website has information on the health benefits of grassfed beef as well as other relevant material.  Go green!  Go grassfed!