Guest Blog

That unrelenting tyrant has descended once again upon the Dakotas – Old Man Winter. His arrival heralds subzero weather, wind-blown drifts that envelope pickups and, worst of all, brutally chapped lips. Its only positive attribute is that for one season, we don’t have to dodge road construction.

I was asked a little while back, “Can cows catch COVID?” It sounds like an alliterative riddle, but the answer is “yes.” While cows can catch COVID, according to South Dakota State University, they only possess a “medium” chance of doing so (and while we are at it, horses only have a low chance of catching the virus).

About this time every year, Craig and I decide it’s time to find ourselves something new to watch. From November through March, we find time for TV. It’s dark-dark by 6 p.m., the kids are in bed by 7:30 p.m., the wood stove is burning and the TV is on. Last winter, we watched all six seasons of Longmire. Craig loved it enough to put up with my commentary, and I liked it enough to keep watching. This year, we started watching Yellowstone, per the recommendation of Amazon Prime.

In our last episode of “It’s always the bulls,” one Charolais bull had been delivered to the auction, but Charolais bull number two had refused to go anywhere near a trailer.

Working cattle is a complicated process. You have to get the cattle up and sorted. Then the facility must be in order, with the alley and chute functioning. Add to this that all the products you plan on using on the cattle need to be lined up, with syringes prepared. And, that’s just the prep work.

Alarming news articles recently divided the country into “habitable” and “unlivable” zones, based on scientists’ climate change weather predictions. In essence, as the planet and country warm, the prime habitable zone in the U.S. moves north toward the Great Lakes region and the Canadian border. What used to be colder Northern regions (too cold for a long growing season) will now be prime production areas; and the present prime Southern and Midwest farm and ranch lands will become too hot and dry for sustained production or human habitation.