Ranching, Agriculture, Livestock, Etc...
Here are some images of agricultural stuff around the ranch. Numerous website visitors request these, so we've finally posted some pictures.
Yes, we have livestock. The Y-Knot Ranch is classified as a cow-calf operation. We raise Black Angus cattle, with the main product being eight month old calves. We turn our bulls in with the cows in the spring and roughly 283 days later, the cows calve. These "pairs" then graze on the ranch's native pastureland throughout the summer and the calves are sold at auction in the fall.
While the calves are growing, there's plenty else to do. We have some flood-irrigated meadowland that requires a lot of attention. Water comes from the creek running through the ranch. Old concrete and rock dams raise the water level enough to get it out of the headgates and into our ditches where it flows out onto the meadows...
Every six or seven years, the meadows are plowed and replanted. Every year we do one or two meadows, so that the alfalfa is kept younger than seven years everywhere. Here's Martin drilling new alfalfa with a cover crop of oats...
Water for livestock comes from developed springs and wells pumped mechanically with wind power. Here's a single-leg tower we built in 1989. It was Darrin's first welding project ever...
Along with calving, irrigating, veterinary duties, and haying, there's also over 40 miles of fence in and around the ranch, requiring constant attention. You can see the main ranch HQ between these old posts...
Over the years, we've also had milk cows, milk goats, chickens, ducks, and many horses. Darrin's first (and last!) horse was Jamie Jo, a sorrel Paint...
Darrin got a "deal" on her for $500. A few months later, she surprised us when she became two horses! Here she is with her foal Muņeca...
We must brand our calves to prevent easy theft. Rustling still takes place in Wyoming, and it's a capital offense! To see what happens at a branding, click the photo below to visit our 2003 event...
