Everyone sees the squirrel-chasing dog, the milk-fed bacon that tastes like vanilla, the sold-out welcome boxes, and thinks, “Man, Tim’s living the dream.”
Most days, yeah, there is a lot of joy out here.
Then there are the days that punch you square in the soul.
Last week I found two of my best cows hurt on the same damn day.
Eleanor – my 50–60 % cream machine – has an udder that looks like it lost a fight with a bale feeder.
Judy – the $5,000 nurse cow who will let any orphan calf drink without kicking its head off – is limping so bad she can barely make it to water.
That’s $8,000 of cow I bought in the last year.
Replacement cost today? Probably eleven grand if I lose them both.
I stood there in the pasture staring at both of them and felt the ranch sit on my chest like a two-ton bale.
Eleanor is getting rolled barley soaked in olive-leaf extract and topical DMSO gel twice a day.
Judy is now living with the dairy girls so she only has to walk twenty feet from hay to water instead of two hundred yards.
She’s half-wild, so “just walk up and look” isn’t an option. If she doesn’t turn the corner in a week we’ll run her through the squeeze and figure out if it’s foot rot, a stone bruise, or something worse. Might even have to call the hoof trimmer.
This is the part nobody puts in the pretty reels.
Ranching is still the most stressful job I’ve ever had, and I used to do farmers' markets for a living.
Some days the wins are loud (sold-out pork boxes, a dog that comes home at 4:30 AM...more on that tomorrow).
Some days the losses are quiet and expensive and keep you awake wondering how you’re going to feed three guardians and a growing herd if one of these girls doesn’t make it.
We’re doing everything we know how to do.
Olive-leaf extract, DMSO, prayer, cussing, and a whole lot of watching and waiting.
I’ll keep you posted.
Because this ranch isn’t a highlight reel.
It’s a living, breathing thing that can bless you and break you in the same afternoon.
All the best,
Your still-out-standing-in-his-field (but some days barely) rancher,
Tim – CNP, OHP
BellMar Ranch & Gardens