June 09th, 2024

Weather: High overcast and cool
Where: Cows (254) in BW-9. Bulls (18) + 10 horses (always been mixed) in WG-2. Heifers (74) and Charter (61) in LS-9.
 
Cows move to fresh split and new water center (still in L-9) just south of Reservoir. Bulls stay put. Heifers get three splits. Shaylie Alhgren (Reba Eliasson Ahlgren’s daughter. Reba and Morgan graduated from Roundup together) picked up acoustic recorders for bird monitoring after three mornings of recording.
 
Some updates on ranch now that we are only 10 days from the Summer Solstice:
Mixed bag. Timely rains have supported average grass production. Most cool season grass species are in the boot or flower stage. Rapid growth is depleting shallow soil moisture and some lower leaves are turning, reflecting early water stress. Senecio canus and Penstemon albidus are dominating shallow gravelly sites with bold patches of  yellow and white. Japanese brome and cheat grass are uncomfortably more abundant. More hopper hatches mostly on south side of ranch-could be a factor in annual forage production and forage quality. Prairie dogs are increasing a bit and waterfowl numbers are down. The ephemeral creek that runs through the ranch quit flowing about a week ago and reservoirs, except the large one south of Big Wall are mostly dry. June rains need to arrive soon to ensure grass production remains above average. There is good grass growth on paddocks with a year plus rest-which is the ground where both cow groups are now grazing. Sold on long recovery! All good with some edge that could tip either way.

Senico canus in full bloom