Buy the cattle. How often in life do you just do something that you later think, what the heck did I do? Roll the dice and see what comes up. That wasn’t me. I thought it over. I had a plan. When you have a plan, it always works. At least I try to convince myself of that.
I had the land. 40 acres of woods and pasture. My dream come true. A small turnout attached to the horse stables within spitting distance of a 3 acre pasture. The turnout has 4 rail iron fencing and the pasture has 3 strands of electric wire. The perfect place, in my mind, for my new Dexter cattle.
I had read, multiple times, that Dexter cattle are easy on the land. Smaller, lighter, and easy grazers. A cow per acre, I should be golden. Start small and grow.
Electric fencing, for me, was a nonstarter. I get it. The cattle respect it when trained. It is cheaper than other alternatives and easy to install. One small problem. I don’t like getting shocked. If I don’t like it, my cattle sure as heck won’t.
As a teenager, my cousin, Kevin, and I were raccoon hunting in my Pappy’s woods. Let me amend that. We were chasing our coon dogs through the woods who were chasing deer. The raccoons were very safe.
Kevin announced that he had to take a potty break. It was dark and I pointed my head lamp on anything but Kevin. I heard him yell and fall backwards directly into several thorn bushes. Not knowing what to think I shined my light on him seeing laying down with his pants at his ankles. Kevin was yelling, “I got shocked! I got shocked!”
He peed on an electric fence. Lesson learned. I don’t like electric fences.
But it was November. I won’t put the Dexters on the pasture until the spring anyway. I can buy the cattle and keep in my turnout. I can use the stables in the winter to keep them warm. I can remove the electric fence in the spring and install a new fence. It can’t be much more expensive. That should work. Plan was taking shape. Buy the cattle.
As soon I called, I knew. I found a website of a seller that was relatively close to where I lived. Looked genuinely wholesome, and in this day and age, you never know. I gave them a call. I didn’t know it then, but I say it proudly now, that is when I first spoke to very nice people who I will later call my mentors. If you are new, find one. There are people out there who share the same thoughts, and have experienced it before, who are willing to engage and assist. Take calls from you while you are on your cell phone standing in the pasture, staring at a cow saying what the heck just happened and what do I do now.
I, my wife, and Bear, my beloved dog, were invited to their farm. In fairness to my dog, I don’t know who is more attached, the dog or me. Both of us have a lot of sticky velcro on us. I am happy with either description.
It helps seeing the farm and the environment that the cattle are being raised in. I had decided that the cattle I wanted were cattle that were well taken care of, loved, not horned, and docile. All of those, of course, are a personal preference. After leaving, my wife told me that we just bought some cattle, though the check had not been written. She was correct.
My mentors delivered Bitsie, Willow, Jubilee (in calf), and Liberty just a few days later. Our Yellowstone was in the cattle business.
A little bit about the author. I own and operate a small farm called “Our Yellowstone LLC” in Illinois. I couldn’t do it alone, but will keep my wife’s name out of it to protect her innocence.
