Editor's note: Last night, in the city of Bismarck residents were preparing for a blizzard. The line at the gas station was long. The grocery shelves were nearly empty. I got the last package of egg noodles. Ground beef? Nowhere to be found. City folk like me prepare for a blizzard by buying the essentials. But what does a rancher do when a spring blizzard hits right in the middle of calving? Read this account from a southwestern North Dakota rancher. And God bless our farmers and ranchers.
by Haley Robison
My parents tell me stories about the spring blizzard of ’97. I remember snippets of it but at only 3 years old, I can’t recall much of it. I’ve looked at pictures in our photo albums of snow piled so high you couldn’t find fences. We even had a drift that was so tall it was level with the roof of our barn. I remember the fun parts of that storm. I remember getting to go sledding and building snowmen. I remember my dad was busy taking care of our land and livestock, but I never realized how much work a spring blizzard was for livestock owners…until now.
The calm before the storm. This photo was taken at 7 p.m. on April 11, the day before the blizzard hit.
Don’t get me wrong, we’ve seen plenty of snow in the past, but my husband and I have really only been ranching on our own for 6 or 7 years. The past few winters and springs have been relatively mild compared to what has been predicted for us in the next couple days.
We are nowhere near the size of some of the other ranchers in the area, but we are still in the thick of calving season, just starting our second cycle of cows. The last couple days have been busy, between prepping for the storm and delivering some bulls. We’ve appreciated the warm weather leading up to the storm because it made it so much easier to take kids outside with us so we can both pitch in to get some work done.
We spent an afternoon bringing up the heavy cows (cows that are about to calve) close to the yard, so when the storm hits and they decide to calve, we aren’t fighting to get a pair into the barn. We spent hours cleaning pens, rebedding pens, and putting corn stalk bales out for the pairs on pasture. Thankfully we have a great set of tree rows that lines our calving pasture, so we spent time putting feed out close to trees and moving calves up close to make sure they are with their mamma, protected from the elements.
A cow and her calf safe indoors with lots of comfortable bedding.
We’ve had some late nights. Times where the kids don’t get to bed until 9 or 10. I feel a slight tinge of guilt that they have to stay up later, but I know they will someday appreciate the work we do, and they will understand that taking care of our animals is a top priority.
As much work and worry we have over the next few days, I know I’m not alone when thinking that this moisture is much needed. The last few years of drought has taken its toll on the land, livestock, and people. Our way of life is a gamble, and so much of it is out of our control, but as the FFA Creed states, we persevere for “the promise of better days through better ways.”
This photo was taken at 7 a.m. this morning (April 12). Quite a change from last night's photo.
I’ve seen a quote floating around social media, and it is fitting for those of us in this area of the state, “You know it’s awful dry when our best hope is for a calf killing blizzard to save the cowherd.”
God bless our farmers and ranchers, and God bless this way of life. When you’re eating your supper this evening, say a pray for those that provided it for you.
Haley is the NDFB Southwest Field Representative. She has a website and blog at Dry Creek Ranch