Category Archives: Stockmanship

Horses, Ropes, and Dogs

I recently did a cattle handling clinic for a group near Red Bluff, California.  Most of them were competing in a competition called “The Rodear.” The competition consists of working cattle in a low stress manner, with sorting, moving and placing cattle through different obstacles on horseback using a dog.  The emphasis is on the proper use of stockmanship to complete the job.  I think it is a real good idea and hope people will get interested.

While doing the clinic I got to thinking about how ironic it was for me to be there sharing ideas about handling cattle so they could work their border collies better.  I feel most of the cattle handling techniques and ideas that I was sharing with them came from myself or people I had learned from observing the work of a good stock dog.

That lead to the thought of horse, ropes, and dogs and the role of each in the production of livestock.  The use off all three evolved from man’s need to control livestock.  Horses have been used as transportation for the human while working with stock, the herding dog has been used because they can get to places or in position to herd livestock quicker and more effectively than the human or horse can.  The rope was used to restrain an animal when we needed to completely control or stop the movement of an animal. All three of these required skill to achieve success.  Any time something requires skill, it creates a pride in these skills and different styles and levels of the skill.

The industrial revolution created tools to control livestock and eventually the technology and products evolved that made the horse, rope and dog less of a requirement.

Barb wire, trucks, stock trailers, four wheelers, portable corral panels, crowding pens, squeeze chutes, two way radios, cell phones, and electric fence have all made it possible to control livestock with stuff rather than skill, even though some level of skill is usually required, no matter the tools used.

Somewhere along the way it became popular displaying and contesting the skills of the horses ability to work cattle, dogs herding and gathering skills, and cowboys contesting with roping competitions.

These contests and competitions created associations, events, judges,and rules.  It has also evolved into a way to generate income, not only from the actual competition, but in preparing horses and dogs for the competition, and teaching people the skills to be able to compete better, as well as marketing products to make competing more successful.

As all this evolved, for many the focus shifted to honing skills to win the competition.  Many times to win the competition time was involved, or exaggerated movement to display the skill of the horse or dog competing.  All of these things created a movement in the livestock industry, and even though not everyone competed, the style of working with livestock with a horse, rope or dog was influenced greatly by the competitions.

From what I see today many of the people that choose to work with livestock are basing the decisions of how to work with livestock on either the style used to win competitions, or many are using technology and equipment to get the job done.

I am a firm believer in the owner of property, as long as they are not breaking the law,  has the right to care and handle that property the way they deem fit for their needs and values.

I am also a very strong believer in the law of supply and demand.  The consumer has every right to purchase the kind of product that fits their needs and values.  If the consumer desires products a certain way, someone will provide it to them.  If not they may make a different decision on the purchase of a product or decide to not use the product at all.

A growing percentage of livestock producers are going back to the methods of skills before the competitions, and combining them with equipment and technology, to create a skill of working and caring for livestock with a profit mindset.  Animal husbandry, animal handling and modern technology are being used to raise animals in the best way possible, for the owner and the consumer.

For me, this is what I am working on.  I use a horse, a rope and a dog.  I use them in a stockmanship style.  It is what makes me enjoy what I am doing to the fullest.

If I feel the need, I can enter a roping competition, show my horse or go to a dog trial and use the style it takes to win.

This is why I am so happy I live in the time and place in the world I do.  I have the choice and no matter if you are on the production or the consuming side you have choices too.  I hope by sharing my thoughts it will help making the decisions easier.

So we involved in livestock production do things the way we want and that is great.  The challenge is with the consumer.  They do things the way they want and are influenced the way they want.  My fear is the majority of consumers are on one path for food decisions and producers are on another trail for production.  Only the future will tell if a path and a trail can merge.

~ Curt Pate

Progressive Dairyman

Of all the valuable reading I get on the modern day smoke signal (Internet), I get more from the dairy magazines than any other now. The dairy farmers have learned the best ways to get the most production out of a cow.

Nutrition, cow comfort, and milking style seem to be really important things that make the operation successful.

I have read that nutrition has changed from an art to a science with technology. It is amazing how effective our feeding of animals has become, when we control the feed they eat and the time they eat.

It used to be standard practice to milk morning and night. I have read in some cases they may milk up to six times a day, on the modern dairy. The way cows are milked, the kind of parlor design, and the skill of the milker is very important for production.

Cow comfort is very well thought out. All kinds of creature comforts are provided – water at the proper temperature (some dairies run milk and water pipes together to cool the milk and warm the water), feeding and feed bunk design for optimum cow intake, and the very best rest areas for cow comfort and reduction of lameness.

I recently learned from a dairy specialist for Zoetis that they design dairies for cows to turn to the right. The gut of the dairy cow is so large that they have a difficult time turning left, because of the way the gut is designed so the cow likes to turn right.

These are just some of the things I have learned about the dairy world. I am certain if you learn more about the business there would be much more to learn about the science of making cows more productive.

This is a problem that I see happening. The dairy industry has gotten so good that the cows are are actually working themselves to death.

When a cow’s genetics have caused her to have a gut so large that you must design facilities you may be going to far. Watch one try to get up.

The length of time a cow is productive is less than it used to be. The production part of the cow is getting to be more than the transportation part of the cow can handle.

A lot of the negative animal welfare on national media coverage has involved dairy cattle. Animals with limited mobility, handlers not using proper animal handling techniques, and usually handlers trying to force the animal to go faster than it is capable of all led to these animal welfare problems.

To be blunt, the cows are not taken out of production soon enough and are not in good enough shape physically to go from milking to slaughter.

The other problem happens when the handlers don’t have the time or compassion to slow down or use the proper equipment to get the job done correctly.

I am a big fan of the Mexican charro skills with a rope. These skills are amazing. The Mexican culture with animals is much different than ours. We must make the Hispanics understand that our culture will not tolerate what we in our culture view as abuse to animals. In my opinion it is more important to learn this than it is to learn English.

The Mexican culture with animals is not the same as ours. We must keep reinforcing and encouraging proper handling practices frequently. To just think we can tell them once and then all the tradition and habits will go away is ridiculous.

It is also important for the dairy employee to get skilled at Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) practices. We see that they are way behind the beef industry in this. Again it is important that the employee understands the impact of doing things wrong.

One thing I feel we could all benefit from is our emotions toward animals. Animal handling expert Bud Williams spoke of this all the time. He felt animals really responded well to a person that enjoyed working with animals, and the mood of the people dealing with the animals was really important to health and production. I read of a study that showed when you named a dairy cow her production went up. The researcher surmised that if something has a name people care about it more.

It is so incredible to have not only nutrition go from an art to a science, but many other aspects of animal care as well. In college it changed from animal husbandry to animal science. We better be careful not to go to far toward science. We may even benefit to getting back to the way we felt about animals when we hand milked twice a day.

The dairy industry has come so far in animal science, but I think they need to get back to the art of animal husbandry. I think we all need to learn more on the art of animal husbandry.

It’s the right thing to do, and that’s Stockmanship and Stewardship.

~ Curt Pate

Avarice

This is a word I did not know of until recently. It kind of is the same as greed but it’s more about an uncontrollable desire for money and riches no matter what, and the desire to hoard the wealth.

The way I learned about this was someone talking about big companies being avaricious. This may be true with some companies, and I have even saw the results of this in one company.

When I first started in the world of horse expos I got involved with Purina Mills. They had been a company with a great reputation in all ways. They were purchased by another company and I was in on some of the process. A bunch of young greedy fellows that knew everything came in and managed with a total different philosophy. They bankrupted the company in a few years. This was a great lesson in how greed and arrogance will get you. Purina Mills was then purchased by another company that was managed with integrity and sound business practices and now they are making a profit providing a valuable product for consumers.

The thing I saw was the sales people, mill managers, research farm and even some of the tops in management knew that things at the top were not right, but kept on trying to do the right thing for the customer. That seems to be the only thing that saved the integrity of the checkerboard.

I have been fascinated with Walmart for several years. I have read several books about the company. They have a reputation for being a tough company to do business with and have probably been the reason for some companies demise. My conclusion is they are all about the customer and they will do everything they can to provide their customer with value and moral satisfaction.

Ryan Rupert of the NCBA invited me to attend the Walmart Global Sustainability Milestone meeting. Ryan presented on behalf of the beef industry. It was a great experience and I really was proud of what Ryan did and was amazed at how people in the audience responded to him and the message he shared about beef.

If Walmart is interested in sustainability, the majority of the consumers in the United States and the world are interested in sustainability. Walmart is also very interested in animal welfare. This tells me the customer is very interested in animal welfare.

From what I have read and from my experience at Walmart world headquarters, I do not feel Walmart has avarice. Instead it is almost like a culture to create great value for the customer. The Walmart mantra is “Save money, live better.” That is what Sam Walton was about and that is what the company is still about.

We in agriculture would do well to watch and learn from them. It seems we have to overcome the reputation of exploiting resources because of grazing. We need to refine our resource management and animal welfare practices. We need to work with the Walmarts of the world to learn to be better and help the customer understand “If it isn’t right, we will fix it.”

After thinking about it avarice is kind of the opposite of Stockmanship and Stewardship. We are about working with Mother Nature to create a quality lifestyle that is sustainable and profitable. For most, it is an honor and a huge responsibility to do it the best we can.

It would be time well spent to watch the Global Sustainability Milestone Meeting. Here’s the link: http://corporate.walmart.com/global-responsibility/environment-sustainability

~ Curt Pate