It's official: Fire Season has arrived. It was a bit late this year; we were beginning to hope that fall would sneak in and we could avoid large a fire. Of course, that was wishful thinking. But, we can dream can't we?

The Long Butte Fire started last Saturday. A lightning storm came in from the west and before we knew it there were five to seven small fires smoking on the desert. All but two of these fires burned out. It didn't take long for those two remaining fires to burn together.

This fire burned an amazing amount of land in a short amount of time; I believe the official estimate is 328,000 acres. It burned down power poles leaving many people without power. (Our power was restored yesterday, but I understand there are still people without electricity at this time.) It burned outbuildings and equipment. Sadly, it also caught some livestock in it's flames.

Although the fire got within a couple of miles of our home, we had very little of our land burn. We were fortunate this time. Many cattle producers to the north of us weren't as lucky. I feel for those ranchers; we were in their position a couple of years ago and it's a terrifying feeling.

I am always amazed in times of crisis how quickly people arrive and pull together to help. Fire crews from all over southern Idaho were on the scene to help contain this fire.

I stood in our yard on Sunday helping our cowboys prepare the generators, fill water tanks, fuel equipment and set handlines around our haystacks and outbuildings. We were all tense and anxious. Everyone worked quickly. I'm not embarrassed to tell you that I got goosebumps watching these guys drive off toward the fire.

You know why that fire stopped a couple miles north of my home? Our cowboys were there with the grader and the disk. They put it in a fire line and they defended it. Awesome.

Do you enjoy working out? What type of exercise do you enjoy?

I have a friend who enjoys workout DVD's. Another friend walks two miles each day. Yet another who lives for yoga and/or Pilates. Personally, I enjoy going for a good run. Ideally, I'd love to go outside for all of my runs, but it's a bit challenging to run with four kids in tow. So, I log a lot of miles on the treadmill instead of on the road. I spend my cross-training days on my bike, dragging the bike trailer with my younger kids inside.

The great thing about running is that my kids want to be runners, too. We are planning to do a 5K Family Fun Run next month. I will push the younger two kids in my jogging stroller and the older boys will walk/run with me. I love that they are supportive of my running and that they think of it as something "fun" to do. I'm really looking forward to doing the race together as a family (my husband will lead our cheering section).

I'd love to hear what you do to stay in shape or what is motivating you to start (or continue) your exercise program. Some days I need a little extra push to get me out the door. A little extra motivation. And what is more fun than having new gear for your favorite sport? Since having new gear is such a fun incentive, I am giving away a $50 Nike gift certificate.

A couple of weeks ago my husband and I, along with my in-laws and a few friends, attended the Idaho Press Club's Awards Banquet.

This blog, Beef Matters, received an award from the Idaho Press Club in their Best Blog category. This was quite a humbling experience for me, because, well, I'm not a journalist. To receive an award that is given by journalists and to journalists is rather intimidating.

If you know me, then you know this is a difficult post for me to write. I don't spend a lot of time blowing my own horn. So, why am I sharing this with all of you? To tell you thank you. There have been several times I have considered throwing in the towel on this blog-writing-endeavor. Then, inevitably, I would sit down at the computer only to discover a kind comment or email from one of you. You guys make it all worthwhile and I appreciate your encouragement, suggestions and comments.

Thank you.

As a family we have made several choices that we feel will help improve our environment. We use compact fluorescent light bulbs and re-usable shopping bags. We recycle newspapers, use metal water bottles and purchase energy efficient appliances. We also pick up trash along our roads and plant trees each year. Lots of people do these things and they DO make a difference.

We also make choices in our business that we believe improve our environment:

• We conserve water by using pipelines and troughs.

• Those troughs provide water for wildlife.

• We put bird ladders in the troughs so birds can access the water.

• After fires we plant a variety of grass and brush seed over thousands of acres of land.

• We use approved farming practices.

• We have cattle that eat grass.

(You didn't think that would be on our list of environmentally-friendly business practices, did you?)

When cattle graze they are typically eating grasses and other forbs that humans do not consume. Those grasses are converted to beef which is consumed by humans around the world. But, in environmental terms, grazing is more than just converting forage into beef. Grazing is a tool that when used correctly suppresses noxious weeds, minimizes the danger of wildfires, and creates fertilizer (yep, we’re talking manure here folks!) that enhances the soil in that field.

We closely monitor grazing in all of our fields. Areas are chosen at random to determine the utilization rate of that particular field. When the cattle have eaten around 30-50% of the available feed, we move them off of that field. This leaves a lot of grass still standing which provides feed for the wildlife in our area.

Earth Day is an interesting holiday. It’s a celebration of our planet, of course. But more than that, it’s a celebration of ourselves for what we do to care for our planet. A way to encourage others to do their part and remind all of us that we could do more. We can always do more and we will do more. However, just for today, I am content to remember what we are doing and what we have done and know that we are making a difference.

I had planned to write this post earlier this week. I have been feeling guilty that it took me until the final hours of Earth Day to sit down and write about our environment. Then I realized that for us, today is just another day. Just another day of caring for our animals, our land, our water; caring for our little corner of planet Earth.

Last fall at a cattle industry meeting Agri Beef Co. and The Idaho Foodbank  presented an innovative idea.

First, they presented statistics showing how many people in our state are hungry.  They didn’t just read a list of numbers or pass around papers summarizing the research statistics. They gave first-hand accounts of local families who’s children relied so heavily upon schools to provide their children with breakfast and lunch that often times these children had very little to eat over the weekend. Very little. The representatives from the Idaho Foodbank told us that the number one food requested from the people who use their services is meat. On average, the Foodbank is able to provide a family with five pounds of meat per month. 

My sons’ school provides free breakfast to all of the students and free lunch to those who qualify. I never realized until the moment I sat in that meeting that there are children in my local school who were HUNGRY. Consistently hungry.

I have never known hunger. My children have never known hunger. We are blessed, amazingly so. Once you are awakened to a need such as this, particularly in your own community, you can’t go back to being oblivious. Our state’s cattle association and state beef council agreed that this is a need cattle producers in our state WANT to fill. Beef Counts was created. Cattle producers can make a monetary donation or a livestock donation and those proceeds are used solely to purchase beef for the Idaho Foodbank. Here’s the amazing part: Agri-Beef has agreed to a 50% matching donation. The goal of Beef Counts is to provide a consistent supply of beef for The Idaho Foodbank.

It is humbling to watch as the momentum for Beef Counts builds. To see fellow cattle producers, many of whom are struggling during these difficult economic times, step up and do what we can to alleviate hunger in our state is inspiring. I am proud to consider myself a part of this industry.

I encourage you to check out the Beef Counts website. If you are interested in donating, this website makes it easy to do so. Also, check out Agri Beef Company’s website. They are an innovative company and leaders in the beef industry.

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has been in the news more than usual lately. Perhaps you have seen the commercials asking for your contribution of $19.00 a month to help rescue abused and abandoned animals? Those commercials are gut-wrenching, aren't they? It makes me want to hand over my wallet; do whatever it takes to help those animals.

However, if we look past the commercials and into the financial details of HSUS, it's obvious that their multi-million dollar annual budget ($111 million in 2008) is not spent on helping local animal shelters. Actually, the vast majority of local animal shelters around our country are not affiliated with HSUS. Check out the results of this nationwide poll and realize that we aren't the only ones confusing HSUS with local animal shelters.

Where does their money go? According to this overview of HSUS they 

To accomplish those goals the majority of their millions is spent on lobbyists and excutive staff salaries. According to an interesting article published in the Nation's Restauarant News (the leading U.S. foodservice publication),

For an in-depth report on how HSUS spends it's dollars, please watch this short news segment. If you are interested in more information about HSUS and the misleading ways it raises money, check out HumaneWatch.org.

On a personal note, we are supporters of our local animal shelter and we are appalled by any form of animal abuse or neglect. If you have read this blog for any length of time then you know we are people who truly love animals. From our posh canine geriatric unit to our newborn calf hospitality suite, we spend our days (and nights!) providing quality care for all of our animals. And we love doing it.

The use of antibiotics in livestock was in the news several days ago. As I was reading through this news story, I noticed it lacked the cattle rancher’s point of view. In an attempt to balance that news story, I thought I would share with you how we use antibiotics on our ranch.

We have made the decision to use antibiotics in our livestock for a couple of reasons. First, when an animal is sick it is easy to see that they are suffering and our first instinct is to help. We use antibiotics to help these animals recover quickly and become healthy again. Second, we use antibiotics so that the sickness doesn’t spread through our entire herd. Knowing that these animals will at some point enter the food supply, we believe it is our responsibility to keep them as healthy as possible.

In our operation, we buy many calves from different ranches throughout the western US. For the first couple of months after they arrive, it’s very similar to my son’s Kindergarten class! Colds appear and get passed around like crazy! It’s our responsibility to combat these colds (usually respiratory infections in the calves) through the use of antibiotics.

When we have a calf that is sick we contact our veterinarian. He diagnoses the illness, prescribes the antibiotics and tells us how to best treat the calf. Our veterinarian shares our philosophy that judicious use of antibiotics is the best way for us to care for our animals.

How often do we administer antibiotics to our cattle? Not often.  We maintain spreadsheets on our calves to help us keep track of all types of information, such as antibiotic use. Of the calves we bought last fall, less than 7% of them have been treated with antibiotics.

Now, I realize that we are just one ranch. I can’t tell you how other ranchers handle the use of antibiotics. However, I can tell you that there are industry guidelines for cattle ranchers to follow. These guidelines are found in a science-based program called Beef Quality Assurance (BQA). BQA covers a broad range of topics and on our ranch we try to adhere to their guidelines in all situations. This program provides a way for ranchers to learn the best way to administer antibiotics, specifically where and how to give injections.

As parents, we are concerned about antibiotic resistant diseases. When one of our children is ill and antibiotics are prescribed, we always discuss the options with our pediatrician. Are antibiotics necessary? Is there an alternative? It’s a decision we face repeatedly. So, ultimately do we give our children antibiotics? Yes, we do. Not for every little sniffle, but for the bigger infections we don’t hesitate to fill that prescription.

We believe we are making responsible decisions, not only for our children, but also for our livestock.

This week’s TIME magazine features an article titled, “Save the Planet: Eat More Beef” by Lisa Abend. The article discusses the environmental soundness of cattle grazing unproductive land and the benefits of rotational grazing:

Abend makes the argument that grass-fed cattle are actually beneficial to the environment:

And this quote:

Abend’s article centers on Eliot Coleman, author of The New Organic Grower and Barbara Damrosch, the Washington Post’s gardening columnist. In addition to their year-round vegetable farming, they have begun raising a few head of cows and sheep. When asked why they are raising livestock for meat, Coleman’s response was: ”Because I care about the fate of the planet.“

My favorite quote from the article:

Although my husband and I don’t agree with everything in the article, we do firmly agree that a scientifically based grazing system is beneficial for our environment. Cattle are able to utilize grasses and undesirable forage, including weeds, turning them into the premiere protein for human consumption: Beef! Other benefits to grazing include weed control and fire suppression.

My husband’s family and my family have been running cattle on their respective ranches for many generations. We are fortunate that the generations before us made sound business decisions and good environmental decisions for the land and livestock in their care. We intend to continue this tradition by making the best possible decisions for our land, our livestock, our environment.

After all, these little buckaroos deserve the same excellent start in ranching that our parents gave us.