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The Most Beautiful Sight

I know that the Thanksgiving holiday has already passed.  However, we still have blessings to count here at Cross Creek Cattle Company.

You might get tired of me writing about the drought, but I cannot reiterate enough how difficult this past year has been on ranchers and farmers.  Any occupation that is dependent on good weather has suffered this 2011.  It has been extremely hot and dry here in Texas while other parts of the United States have had too much rain.  Weather patterns are beyond our control, which is why I feel that people in these businesses tend to be dependent on God and His provision.

We planted winter grass seed in faith.  Even though it did not rain seemingly all spring and summer, we took a chance and invested in seed.  Since then, God has blessed us abundantly with rain showers.  We have received close to eight inches of rain this fall.  We are still far behind in our annual rainfall, but you have to start somewhere.

More rain is expected even this week.  Sunday and Monday have high chances of rain as more fronts sweep through the area.  We could not be more happy.  Our rye grass is growing.  Its rich green color is such a beautiful sight in the midst of the gray and browns of the surrounding area.

After this next rain, we are going to put our calves that are being finished for beef on this pasture.  They will think we let them into a candy store.  With proper rotation and management, we will hopefully be able to resume our usual pasture rotation program.  We are very excited about that prospect.

Things are looking up this winter.  As we continue to count our blessings, our hearts are filled with gratitude for the recent rain and the protection we enjoyed throughout this year.  We know from whom all are blessings come and we thank God for them.

Rye Grass is Growing!!

Last week, I so enjoyed sharing with you the blessing of rain on our newly planted winter grass seed.  Since then, I put out one more bag of seed in the smaller pens used to finish our grass fed beef calves.  Even though there was no chance of rain in the forecast, it rained that night giving us an additional 1/10 of an inch.  Early Tuesday morning, it rained again a little.  My husband and I are now in the process of watching the grass sprout and grow.  It is an exciting time for us.  Apparently we are easily entertained!

It just goes to show how important grass is for us.  Many people don’t seem to understand the implications of a drought like the one we are experiencing.  To them they just have to water their yard more often.  Grass in any form is life-sustaining for our herd, our horses, and the wild animals.   Of course, grass directly affects our livelihood of raising and selling grass fed beef.  We have to have grass.

Another form of grass that we needed was hay.  We had some already put up in the barn, but we did not have enough to make it through the winter.  We still needed to acquire over 200 round bales.

Prices on hay have gone through the roof.  Every day that passed, as my husband spent hours on the phone and internet trying to find hay, the prices kept going up.  In fact, one of the last people my husband spoke with wanted $145.00 a bale.   Yes, $145.00 a bale!  That is obscene.

Last week I asked for any tips that would allow us to find the amount of hay we needed for a reasonable price.  We had been praying about this source of grass for our herd as well.  I am happy to announce that we secured a source for all of our hay needs.  Already an 18-wheeler has brought us the first load.  The great news is that the price quoted to us before they brought out the hay was about less than half what the last person wanted.

When Lane asked for the amount owed, the driver shaved off some of the delivery fee.  Needless to say, we were thrilled with the decrease in price.  Most of all we are thrilled and thankful with God’s provision for us as winter is soon to be approaching.  After the summer we have had, it feels like nothing short of a miracle.  And, I just wanted to share this true story with you.

In addition, the first cold front of the season blew in this week.  We put on light jackets and stayed outdoors just to relish in the cold wind.  After a record-breaking summer with day after day temperatures soaring to well over 100 degrees, the gusty wind and cool temperature is completely refreshing.  Everyone was feeling good.  The horses frolicked, the dogs acted like puppies, and the calves played in the pastures.  Everything seemed to feel younger.

God is sending rain at the perfect times.  The rye grass is growing in the pastures.  Our hay needs are secured for a good price in today’s market.  We are finally getting relief from the heat.  All just in the nick of time as the first cold front blew through our area.  Praise God, who gives exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think (Ephesians 3:20)!

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.

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.

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.