Cow Watching

Over the years, my favorite pastime outside baseball is driving through a pasture looking at cattle. It doesn't matter whether they belong to me or one of my ranching colleagues.

I got the inspiration for this from one of my cattle mentors, Homer Herring, who has ranched for many decades in South Texas. When I just started in this business, Ruth and I visited Homer and his family every year. After lunch, we'd climb in his pickup and look at his cattle all afternoon. Homer would teach us how to determine whether his cattle progressed from the previous year.

We've adopted Homer's techniques for our own cattle. First thing Ruth and I do when we arrive at each ranch during calving season is check the condition of the cows and calves. Then we'll examine the pairs one by one to notice whether our personal herd decisions are helping move our calves in the direction that we want to go as a beef company. We repeat the appraisal again about nine months later when we wean the calves off their mothers.

The process doesn't stop even after the calves go into the feedlot. I'll make a visit every time I'm in the area to observe my calves in their pens and make sure they are making progress toward becoming what I consider the perfect beef animal. If you have tried our beef, email us at info@nolanryanbeef.com and let us know how we're doing.

I guess it's understating when I say I really enjoy looking at cattle. In fact I'll bore people riding with me because I look at them so long. I can't tell you how many times I've looked over at Ruth after an afternoon of driving through pastures, and she's been asleep. But Ruth and I will never stop doing it because we know the ranchers that truly excel in this business have a passion for their cattle and are always striving to get better.

Well, calving season is just around the corner and I'll enjoy every minute of driving those pastures.