Rain Making in Texas - A Successful Explosives Experiment in 1891

Okay, now this I find quite interesting; it would appear that rain was successfully conjured up in the Midland, Texas area in the fall of 1891.  Also of note is the author's mention of the extent of the drought in the Midland area in 1891 - " . . . little or no rain had fallen the locality for some three years."  It seems the successful experiment was premised on the rains that seemed to consistently fall in the grueling days of the Civil War following the cannon shots and gunfire of major battles.  Hmmm . . . there are a lot of guns in Texas . . . maybe we need to pick a day and time and all shoot at the sky!

SCIENTIFIC. RAIN-MAKING
Otago Witness , Issue 1965, 22 October 1891, Page 45












Timaru Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 5269, 21 October 1891, Page 3





 

Last British White Calf of the Fall Calving Season - A Low Birth Weight Heifer

Okay, well I am fairly behind in my efforts to post a blog every week.  What can I say?  I have been under the weather, otherwise indisposed, and off my game to say the least.

Here is a video of the last calf born in to my Fall calving season.  Rather than strain my old brain, I'll just regurgitate my comments made on the video description:

"This was my last British White calf born in my fall calving group and I really was surprised. This heifer was sired by J.West's Elvis, who generally has average birth weight calves. But, McQueenie has consistently had very low birth weight calves with a variety of sires. This is her first Elvis calf, and this little heifer weighed an actual bathroom scale weight of 41 lbs. I could really care less that she is overmarked, I'm just thrilled she's a girl and the birth weight is so very low. It really is proving McQueenie's ability to impact birth weights all on her own."

I would also add that this is the FIRST overmarked calf McQueenie has birthed, and she has never had anything but heifers.  So, don't be so quick to sell those overmarks that have otherwise very desirable traits you'd like to see in your herd.  McQueenie's lineage originated here at J.West Cattle Co. with HRH Bountiful, the pretty front and center headshot of the Halliburton Farms auction back in ..... 2002, I think.  What an outstanding group of American Fullblood descendants I have from this mighty fine Popeye sired cow from the Halliburton herd.  And in case you were wondering, Bountiful is still part of my herd, and is now the official senior, most elder, oldest, most experienced . . . . cow in my herd!

Old Sayings and Remedy's - Tyler County, Texas



Payton and Iva Butler Brown in Goose Creek


These are some of the "Old Sayings and Remedy's" of Iva Butler Brown Gray that relate to the weather and raising cattle.   Kenneth Brown, my neighbor and helper here at the ranch, shared these writings of his mother with me this week. 

Iva was born Oct. 13, 1905 in Colmesneil, Texas, and lived to age 95, passing away in 2001.  In April of 1999 she wrote down several pages of old sayings and remedies learned both from her own life experiences, and passed down from her family.  

1)  "The first 12 days after Christmas day are called 'The Old 12 Days' and the kind of weather can be determined by the 12 days representing the next 12 months of the New Year."

2)  "Thunder in February means frost on that day in April (or real cool)."

3)  "Aunt Frankie Gregory (my Mother's sister) always said that between eleven and 2 o'clock you could tell what the weather would do."

4)  "My Grandparents (Allen's) thought March 13th best to plant pepper seed and the 17th of September best day to plant fall turnip seed and start Fall garden."

5)  "Butcher cattle and hogs on the full moon to have good meat to eat."

6)  "Brand cattle on decrease of the moon and the brand won't grow large."

7)  " 'Mark' cattle or hogs when the moon signs are 'in the knees' (1) and they won't bleed but very little."

8)  "Wean calves or children when the signs are 'in the knees'(1), they won't grieve for their mothers or cry much."

9)  "Boil red oak bark or blackberry roots and give the liquid to calves or horses.  This will stop diarrhea in calves or horses."

10)  "For food poison in cattle - Mix 1/2 lb Epsom salts, 1/2 lb soda, 3 Tablespoons ginger, put in bottle, add enough water to make a pint and drench (several times)."


Waxing Crescent Moonshot I took a couple years back. . . .
(1) The moon is "in the knees" when it is in the sign of Capricorn, per the Farmer's Almanac .  "Each day of the month is said to be ruled by one of the twelve signs of the zodiac.  Each sign appears at least once a month for a period of two or three days." (See Hendry County Horticultural News  )   Consult the online Farmer's Almanac current Zodiac Calendar if you'd like to start planting, branding, harvesting, etc... by the daily changes in the planets and the moon.



And Iva finished up her list of sage advice with these two old sayings to live by that most readers will be familiar with:

** "A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches."
** "An ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure."

And I was happy to see two recipes included, one for cake and one for pecan pie -- certainly two staple sweets in the kitchens of bygone days in Southeast Texas.

"This is Grandmother Butler's cake recipe."

2 Eggs
1 Cup Sugar
1 1/2 Cups Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1/2 cup Butter (or shortening)
1/2 teaspoon Salt

Bake at 350 degrees until done.

This is a recipe for "Good Pecan Pie", Mrs. Gray doesn't tell us what temperature or how long to cook it, but I'd imagine you can bake it at 350 degrees until done as well.

1 Cup White Corn Syrup
3 Eggs
3/4 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Pecans ("I chop mine")
1 teaspoon Vanilla

 . . . . My thanks to Kenneth Brown for agreeing to let me share these old sayings passed down to him from his mother.

Child Labor Laws and Livestock - Proposed Rule Changes for Agricultural Employment

 Getting lots of play in agricultural publications and organizations are the September 2, 2011 proposed changes in Child Labor Regulations by the Department of Labor (DOL).  The Proposed  New Rules are available for review and comment, and can be found HERE at the DOL web site in a PDF file.  All references in this blog refer to this PDF file. 

The focus of the proposed rule changes are specifically in regard to youth employed in agriculture.  One of the primary complaints I've read is that it will lay the groundwork for the Fed to re-interpret what is defined as a family farm, and thus prevent youngsters from being 'legal' participants in the family's livestock or crop farming pursuits. 

A review of the proposal was very enlightening as to the high rate of injury of agricultural workers found in the lengthy preamble to the specifics of the proposed changes.  In regard to rate of injuries in livestock operations, the following statistics were provided:

"The injury rates for workers (adult) in beef cattle ranching and farming, which includes feedlots, was reported . . . to be 9.4 per 100 full-time workers in 2006, 8.7 per 100 full-time workers in 2007, and 7.2 per 100 full-time workers in 2008 (data available at HERE.).  These incidence rates are almost twice the national average for all private industry during the sample years." (PDF, Page 12)

"NIOSH cites several studies that demonstrate animals are one of the most common sources of injuries to children on farms and notes that, in 1998, it estimated that 20% of all injuries to youth under the age of 20 occurring on farms were animal-related. . .  Livestock-handling injuries are among the most severe of agricultural injuries; they are more costly and result in more time off work than other causes of agricultural injuries." (PDF, Page 24)



This is Flora Rae, Born 9/20/11, and pictured here
only a day old, and undoubtedly with her umbilical
cord 'present'.  Picture is courtesy of Al Ross, and Flora Rae
was sired by his fine Colonel Beau British white bull.



The rate of injury for children cited is alarming, but it is unclear contextually just what the population of 'children' are that were injured by animals, and it is an 'estimate' rather than a hard statistic.  A specific example was given of a 15 year old girl who was seriously injured.  She apparently was helping pen calves in a corral made from metal pipe, and was penned against the pipe by a "stampeding calf" and actually stomped on as well.  That is surely an extreme event, at least in my opinion.  And we are told that current laws prohibited her from working there, so these proposed rule changes would just be an added layer to existing regs with a bump as well in the age to a vague '16 or 17' age limit.  "The Department . . . is proposing to extend these same protections to minors who are 16 or 17 years of age. "  (PDF, Page 12)

Likening a livestock auction barn work environment to a family beef cattle farm is really lumping apples with the oranges.  One has to wonder if the majority of the serious injuries to children under age 20 mostly occurred in an auction barn environment.  Apparently, the DOL did not consider breaking down those 'estimates' based on 'studies', in order to differentiate and better assess the rate of livestock related injuries on family farms.

Among the new rules proposed by the DOL, one provides that 'youth' below that vague '16 or 17' years of age cannot work cattle on horseback, or any other method best I can tell.  Our docile British White cattle don't require a horse or motorized buggy to pen them or move them to new pastures, so we British White breeders would not be impacted by that.  However, there are many youngsters who do enjoy riding a horse and learning to pen cattle.  I have to wonder if implementation of these new rules will see the demise of youth rodeos!  Will team ropers have to work with cow dummies?  Maybe remote control operated calves?  Oops, forgot, those kids are doing it for fun only, and that will remain legal . . .



My niece, Taylor, 17 years old, employed by me part-time, interacting
with an uncastrated male bovine, and if the new rules were in place now,
this would be an Illegal Act.

 The new rule that irritates me the most provides that no 'youth' can be allowed anywhere near an uncastrated bull calf over the age of 6 months.  Yep, you just read right.  Nor can they be allowed near a newborn calf and mother when the "umbilical cord is still present".  Do they mean freshly pink and present, or dried and a couple weeks old and present, or still attached to the cow?! 

My niece is now 17 years old.  Just last weekend she walked among a herd full of uncastrated bulls over the age of 6 months.  Not only that, she interacted with them.  If these rules were in effect now, I would have multiple fines assessed I suppose, as she is officially working for me on weekends.  I am not her parent, so that would also be an immediate prohibition on her working here as the proposed 'new rules' would not allow any kid to work with livestock unless it was a family farm.  No 'exemption' via 'student learner' training, etc... is proposed; I suppose they couldn't figure out how to teach cattle handling in the classroom.  The full text in regard to livestock is below.

New Restrictions Proposed for Working with Livestock, and No Provision for a Student-Learner Exemption, as is the case with operating Farm Equipment:

"Accordingly, the Department proposes to revise § 570.72(b)(4) entitled Certain Occupations Involving Working with or around Animals . . .  and redesignate it as § 570.99(b)(4). This . . . would prohibit working on a farm in a yard, pen, or stall occupied by an intact (not castrated) male equine, porcine, bovine, or bison older than six months, a sow with suckling pigs, or cow with newborn calf (with umbilical cord present); engaging or assisting in animal husbandry practices that inflict pain upon the animal and/or are likely to result in unpredictable animal behavior such as, but not limited to, branding, breeding, dehorning, vaccinating, castrating, and treating sick or injured animals; handling animals with known dangerous behaviors;  poultry catching or cooping in preparation for slaughter or market; and herding animals in confined spaces such as feed lots or corrals, or on horseback, or using motorized vehicles such as, but not limited to, trucks or all terrain vehicles. . . . The Department does not propose that a student-learner exemption apply to this . . ."  (PDF, Page 25)

Choosing a gentle cattle breed such as the British White is a very effective step toward prevention of serious livestock injuries, but perhaps the most effective prevention of serious injury when handling livestock is actually plain common sense.  Essentially the DOL's proposed new rules in regard to livestock are an attempt to legislate Common Sense.  I would never let my niece near any animal that would harm her.  She is naturally cautious herself, as I have taught her to be.   But there is still that nagging question out there. . . Why is the DOL choosing now to propose these new rules? 

Perhaps the answer lies in the more international environment with respect to livestock activities.  Cattle continue to be maligned as climate change causing critters.  The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations continues to promote a change to a 'vegan' diet for the 'general population'.  The FAO predicts the family beef cattle farm will cease to exist as the owners will not be able to afford to pay the 'true cost' of the operation once the FAO and EPA recommended regulations, fines and taxes are assessed to the small family farm. 

Once you regulate away the right of children to help out on the farm or narrowly redefine what the parent can allow them to participate in on the farm -- the parents will have to hire additional help at higher wages, which can literally make or break a small beef cattle operation.  Hmmm . . . could that be a primary back door goal of these proposed new rules?

Or is the primary goal of these new rules the laying of the ground work to redefine just what is a family farm.  In this modern world there are several business entity types that can be set up for the operation of farms, ranches, and any other business pursuit -- S Corporations, C Corporations, LLC's, Partnerships, and of course plain old Sole Proprietorships.   I highly doubt this section of the proposed new rules is there just to fill white space - someone finds it necessary and pertinent to long range goals to ". . . clarify the parental exemption involving agricultural employment." 

This is Perhaps What Most Have Found Worrisome as it Relates to the Survival of the Family Farm:


"The Department proposes to clarify the parental exemption involving agricultural employment by including information about the exemption discussed in the Background section of this preamble. The proposal provides guidance as to who qualifies as a parent; what determines that a farm is ‘‘operated by’’ a parent; and how the Department interprets the extension of this parental exemption to persons standing in the place of a parent as well as a relative who may take temporary custody of a youth and stands in the place of the parent. The revision also notes that the parental exemption—both in terms of working during school hours and performing hazardous occupations normally prohibited . . .—would not apply to the employment of a child of a farmer when that child is employed on a farm not owned or operated by his or her parent. It also addresses related situations, such as where the farm or its property may be owned by a closely-held corporation or partnership consisting of family members or other close relatives." (PDF, Page 31)

 

Taylor and Aunt Jimmie in the bull herd, I can just hear the metal bars clanging as the jail cell is slammed shut in coming years on . . . . some farmer some where.





A Precocious Newborn British White Heifer



J.West's Lillie Bell and her Carter sired heifer, Sept. 2011

I'm really loving my September born calves, the nice weather change is easier on both the dams and the calves, and because it's no longer hot as Hades even in the evenings, we can sit outside and watch the little ones scamper around and head butt one another and generally feel good to be alive. 

But I've got one newborn heifer that is behaving rather oddly.  Up until this morning,  I was blaming this on her first calf heifer dam, J.West's Lillie Bell - thinking Lillie Bell was just not paying enough attention to her little heifer, not giving her the right moo of instructions to keep up with the herd or something.  Lillie Bell's heifer was born on Monday evening, the 26th, and on Wednesday morning the pretty little thing was all by herself snuggled up in goat weed along a cross fence about 50 feet off of U.S. Highway 69.  That morning I moved her several feet away from the cross fence, as I've had them sort of roll over and under and get up and find themselves in the wrong pasture in the past.



Lillie Bell's Heifer Calf - Very nice, notice how wide she is......

 Later on in the day something made me jump up and head out to check on her again.  Guess where the little heifer was?  She was on the shoulder of the highway with her pretty little head peering through the barbed wire back toward home.  Fortunately, she is very calm and I just lifted one of her front legs over the wire and then the other, and of course she full well knew what to do to go through the fence after that.  Afterwards, she just about flat refused to get off the fence line and walk with me on up the hill where most of the herd were gathered under a grove of hickory trees.  I finally gave up and carried her the majority of the way, a good 250 feet by my estimation. 

This heifer had a chest tape of 27 inches, which translates to a birth weight of about 64 lbs.  I didn't take a live weight on her, I've been trying to be a little kinder to my back lately.  I now wish I'd have done so, as I can't imagine that I could actually carry 64 lbs that far, and uphill as well.  Granted it was hard and I had to stop once and rest myself, but that's a lot of awkward weight to carry.  Sometimes in particularly thick or chunky built newborns, a chest measure can overstate birth weight.

This morning I went out to check the herd, and of course the little heifer was curled up napping right on the fence line of the highway.  I really couldn't believe my eyes.  She is going on 4 days old, her dam has had 4 days to learn a little something about keeping up with her kiddo, yet here she was all by herself in that dangerous spot.  However, this time her dam came down the hill when she saw me with her calf.



Lillie Bell's Heifer Contemplating Crossing the Fence.......

 Lillie Bell came straight away and somehow I think the tone of her mooing was one of absolute irritation with her baby, as in "Why don't you mind me!".  I had my camera this morning and shot some footage of them both.  In the video you'll see the little heifer giving some serious consideration to going through the fence yet again, rather than following her dam back up the hill.  So I'll not blame Lillie Bell any more, as it appears her daughter is just refusing to do as she's told.

The heifer calf was sired by J.West's S.S. Carter, and Lillie Bell is an El Presidente daughter from an Elvis sired daughter.