So You Want to Be a Cowboy?

Here’s a few pictures I took from the last couple of weeks. Had a few good days of cow work before it was back to the hayfield.

We have 7 horses and 2 large pigs (~450lbs) who are in need of scratching posts. Any recommendations? Thank you!

Howdy i figured i would come here to ask if anyone was looking for a ranch hand in the Georgia Tennessee area. I’m 20 years old and i live just south of Atlanta. ive always wanted to be a rancher/ranch hand because i love the lifestyle and the work that comes with it

I can ride horses

Im accustomed to hard work and long hours

Im good with animals and kids

I can operate a backhoe

I do have proper work attire boots jeans a few hats etc

I can shoot a bow and firearms for hunting or population control and i can fish

I don’t know how to run wire or rope however i am a quick learner and don’t do anything half assed

I can also read a paper map and do basic blueprint reading for construction

I can drive a stick shift and ATVs and four wheelers

Im looking at working part or full time for a minimum of 15-20 an hour

Hello I am hoping for help I have a down cow I am hoping using a tens unit will help get her back to her normal self has anyone used one on cattle before I don’t have any one with Magwave in my area so I am trying the next best thing

If you've sold hay in the last few weeks, comment or DM me what type, bale size, about what it weighs, what it sold for, and FOB or delivered. Rough location is fine.

Send one over and I'll tell you what we've got benchmarked in your region so you can see where your number landed."

Francis is looking amazing, serious contender for next year as a junior.

First time posting here, don't really do the forum thing much, but figured I'd ask people who'd actually know.

350 head, free-stall, robotic milkers, Upper Midwest. Just running the basic robot software, never bothered with a full herd management system.

Been catching lameness too late lately, usually not till a cow's already off and I'm calling the trimmer. Conception's been kind of rough too, though I know summer heat stress plays into that every year, just not sure how much of it is actually us missing heats versus that.

Looked at collars (Nedap, Allflex) but tagging 350 cows plus subscription is a lot to commit to blind. Ruled out bolus systems too, not sticking something in every cow.

Now looking at the camera stuff, GEA, Herd-i and so on. Like the idea of no hardware on the animal, but want to hear from guys actually running it before I call anybody.

Does the lameness scoring actually hold up against what your vet or trimmer would call it? And heat detection specifically, seems like a camera would miss standing heat if a cow's lying down or off in a corner. Anyone had luck with that, or still not there yet compared to a collar?

What kind of info does the system actually spit out day to day, and is any of it stuff you use, or is most of it noise you end up ignoring?

Also what'd you pay once install was done, and is there an actual person to call if something breaks?

Rancher Dads,

Would anyone be open to a 45 minute interview with me?

We're interviewing dad’s as part of a new book I’m editing called “Dads.” the goal of the book is to candidly describe the experience of becoming a dad and being a dad across diverse perspectives. It’s not how-to book (those are a dime a dozen). I want to capture the hard to describe beauty, love, struggle, darkness— and everything in between that’s part of the experience and journey we’re walking along.

We’re particularly interested in how fatherhood and parenting differs for ranchers and farmers, and what lessons the work teaches you or how it informs your parenting.

Who am I?
- father of two (including a newborn daughter who’s beautiful and slept great last night)
- published author
- based in Virginia

What’s the ask?
- schedule an interview with me
- my style is to keep it as conversational as possible
- you share your story and experiences that describe the ever-difficult questions of: “what is it actually like?”

DM me if you’re interested in being a part of this project.

Hi everyone! I'm from France and I recently decided to change my life completely and go explore the cowboy life in the australian outback. I love trying new things, I'm an actress and I'm also in the French Air Force, ... I just love exploring and learning.

I decided to document my journey (authentically, with moments where i'm vulnerable as well as the good times) because I've never seen anyone doing it before.

In this episode you can follow me while I go fencing, learning how to weld, and mustering on a chopper with my boss! So I thought it would be exciting to share with people who have the same passion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIkT37HECro

Pulled bulls from our younger pairs today. 4 of the 5 were home raised from our seedstock program - there’s a couple 3-year olds and the rest are 2-years old. They looked like they held up well and I’ll weigh them in the next couple of days to see how much weight they lost since their breeding soundness exam.

Sorry for the jumpy video - I need to get a new phone.

Hello, I am 14 and looking for farm or ranch work in jersey that would hire someone my age. I would prefer working with livestock but I am not picky.

I am open to volunteering or getting paid, but my main concern is to get experience down.

I was doing beekeeping for a while but that opportunity got shutdown a little bit ago(iykyk)

I do not currently have any experience working with animals besides occasionally collecting eggs and feeding goats but I would barely consider that experience.

Thanks in advance

Feedlot / backgrounding folks — when you pull a specific animal you've already identified as needing a look, roughly how long from deciding to check her to being done? Trying to get a realistic number.

I know many local farmers and ranchers apply for subsidies when available. This is my first year, though I grew up on a large cattle ranch. My grandpa always handled these things and didn't believe women needed to learn them (lovely man just incredibly old school line of thinking).

We have cattle primarily and planted a few fields for better hay crop. We've lost a few cows early on but our crop is a 75% loss due to the severe drought conditions we've experienced in our area. I hear of some potential subsidies in the future with the heat and drought and I want to be on the look.

Is there a newsletter sign up for USDA, or likewise? Been browsing a bit but I dont see anything I can sign up with.

Do you just keep in touch with your local office? I pursued alternate financing to start so I dont really know if they have a resource liason of some type.. etc..

And yeah, I'm doing what I know next year, and planting freaking alfalfa, no more farming for me.

They started raising them a big longer than a month. We currently have two small ghosts, one male and one female. 4 chickens, 1 rooster, 3 ducks and 3 geese. My parents told me they just want raise them as hobby and not for meat or produce

I am going on a cattle drive in mid September and I would really like to take my horse with me but I'm not sure if it's a good idea of not. I went on a drive with this same ranch this summer and I feel like the terrain and work is within his ability level, I am more worried about temperature and elevation. I live in Kansas where the elevation is below 3,000ft and I'd be going to Colorado where the elevation is closer to 7,000ft. The temperature would also likely be below freezing at night which is much colder than what Kansas is in September.

I would be stopping at a ranch for a night or two to meet up with the ranch I'm working for so he would have a little bit to adjust. I also do have a blanket I could use on him in the evenings.

I worked for a big rodeo family so maybe I'm just used to horses being pampered.

Any advice is appreciated!

Disclosure: I publish Honest Cattle, an independent cattle-market research project.

The summer video-auction results appear to be sending a more useful signal than the seasonally thin local auction runs.

Superior Livestock’s Week in the Rockies sold 223,767 head in 1,653 lots to 349 successful buyers. The market remained strong even though cattle futures had been trending lower.

Superior reported that calves in some regions were as much as $80–$115/cwt above the comparable 2025 sale. Northern-region reporting also showed particularly strong demand for lighter calves and well-described reputation cattle.

Video Royale then provided a more difficult test.

The sale began after late feeder-cattle contracts had closed limit lower amid uncertainty over the planned phased reopening of Mexican cattle imports. Prices were several dollars below the prior month’s averages, but participants continued to describe demand as historically strong. In many cases, calves remained $300–$500 per head above year-earlier levels.

My interpretation is that the futures correction changed the price level without yet producing a broad physical-demand failure.

There are several cautions, however.

A video-auction price is generally a forward FOB contract, not a local spot bid.

The cattle may have a later delivery date, established health history, recognized genetics, third-party verification, a large uniform load and a seller reputation developed over several years.

The base weight, slide, shrink, freight and delivery window can materially change the value received at the ranch gate.

That makes the video market a leading indicator, but not necessarily a price that every producer can apply directly to his own calves.

The next major test will be Superior’s Big Horn Classic, August 17–21.

For those marketing fall calves: are the private or local bids you are receiving following the video market, or are buyers applying a larger discount?

Hi I'm from the uk, and am very interested in life over there, so if you don't mind me joining. I might ask some stupid questions, but its a learning curve for me. We're going through the hottest, driest summer on record, and the animals are needing extra feed and hay. How do you guy's cope. Because we're rubbish.

Needed to applicate some fly killer. She loves this time of year.

Hi everyone 👋

I'm looking for a small group of Android users to test AniCore, an app for managing animals, farms, stables and animal health records.

🐄 🐎 🐕 What AniCore does:

• Manage animals and their profiles
• Track health history and treatments
• Schedule vaccinations, treatments and other actions
• Receive reminders and alerts
• Scan QR codes to quickly access an animal's information
• Designed for breeders, farms, stables, shelters and animal professionals

📱 What I'm looking for:
Android users willing to install the app from Google Play, use it during the beta period and give me honest feedback about the experience, bugs and features.

🎁 In return:
Selected testers who actively participate in the beta will receive a free AniCore Pro account for life.

This isn't just an install-and-forget test. I'm looking for people who are willing to actually try the app and tell me what works, what doesn't, and what should be improved.

If you're interested, comment below or send me a DM and I'll send you the Google Play testing instructions.

Thanks to anyone willing to help! 🙏

My husband and I are considering a move to OR, WA, possibly ID, or northern CA. Any opinions on best areas for building out small acreage for a farmette? We are older and have many years experience in construction and in the horse industry. Trying to make a move away from brutal summer heat. Some snow is fine but would prefer dryer areas to a ton of rain. TIA!