Habitats

At the Waters’ Edge: Sept 2014

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      Earth is the water planet. Sometimes we lose sight of that out here on the dry plains. The average ranching mindset considers a stock tank or pond simply as a drinking station for livestock. For me, it can be so much more. I’m a fan of the beaver. This little ecological engineering keystone species works tirelessly to construct habitat for itself that directly benefits everyone else in the ecosystem. Before they were trapped and slaughtered en masse, 90 million or so of these guys dammed waterways and spread water out over the landscape where lush vegetation and … Read more

“The Secret Life of Weeds” Aug 2014

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One person’s weed is another person’s wildflower.  Some may consider weeds as a vile curse, others may see them as simply a nuisance.  How do you see a weed?  Typically a weed is best defined as any plant growing in the wrong place which obviously makes for a broad subject to discuss.  We try to grow crops, livestock or landscapes for our purposes and these unwanted visitors pop up and free-load from us.  Maybe they have something to say. Weeds are typically categorized as perennials or annuals.  The annuals have an amazing ability to pop up in massive numbers under … Read more

Southern Plains Bison – May 2014

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Plains Bison Well we’ve had a little rain. Some more than others and that’s just the way it is. While our neighbors in the bison world from the north draw a deep breath and let a sigh of relief after last winter, I envy their relief as I brace for making crucial decisions, planning ahead and watching closely how our herds handle summer in the southern plains. We’re not there yet, but the heat lamps-a- comm’in, and like us, our bison will slow down and shift many behaviors to cope. Our job is to strategically plan to save pastures that … Read more

Southern Plains Bison: April 2014

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Spring has most definitely sprung and it’s ‘raining red-dots’. For me; it’s miraculous and one of my favorite times of the year. Just the other day I was working on a round-to-it with the herd off in the distance, but well in sight. It was late afternoon and turning into early evening.  My hands were occupied with menial task, while I contemplated things that were complicated to me for no reason and to no pragmatic end.  All at once the herd emerged from its afternoon hibernation, set off by a red-dot chain reaction of running and playing for no reason … Read more

Botanical Solutions for Internal Parasites

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While internal parasites are a fact of life in ranching, there are alternative holistic solutions available to assist in their suppression. A high priority should be rotational paddock shift grazing and the encouragement of dung beetle populations. A healthy mixed sward pasture including medicinal forbs is also very important. Access to tannin rich browseable trees such as oak, mesquite, hickory, locust, elm, etc have a strong negative effect on the worms. Specific plants proven to possess vermicidal/anthelmintic properties are Wormwood (Artemesia), Wormseed or Epazote, Garlic, Senna, Pumpkin seed, Prickly Ash, Monarda, Black Walnut, Tobacco, Neem and Pomegranate root, among others. … Read more

Southern Plains Bison: Feb 2014

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   Green-up’s here! Yee-haw! What a great place to live if you’re a [Native Grazer] while your relatives in the north battle blue storms and last mile of what can only be referred to this year as a marathon winter.  Our green-up in the southern plains is very aggressive and prolific. Something else happens during the green-up, also aggressive and prolific… worms! The land of early spring-plenty is also the land of early internal parasite attack. This preemptive parasite strike on your bison, will not visibly take its toll on body-score and health until just before the breeding season.  Just … Read more

Useful Medicinal Plants of Texas and the southern plains – part 1

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Most of the time people seem to believe powerful plant medicine comes from deep in the Amazon rainforest or some high hidden mountain in Peru, so it often comes as a surprise that functional phytochemistry is to be found in all kinds of plants wherever you are. Perhaps you may have wondered about the hidden mysteries held within your local plants. In this article I decided to start with four kinds of plants [Black Walnut – Mesquite – Juniper – Prickly Pear] that can be found almost anywhere in the state of Texas, the southern plains, across most of the … Read more

Southern Plains Bison: Jan 2014

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Well… we got hit early and the assault continues as old man winter takes toll on, and tasks survival of the southern plains. We’ve only got another 20-30 days of having to put up with his polar rant. Food plots will re-emerge and bolster the nutritional regime for southern plains bison by mid march, after which it will turn into a stocking rate problem by not having enough grazers to manage the bounty. For now: we are simply charged with watching body score, feeding when necessary and letting them do [their thing] and make it through, which they will. It’s … Read more

Southern Plains Bison: December 2013

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Southern Plains Winter Bison Old man winter showed up early for work in the southern plains this year with a historic ice storm. Roads were closed; cattle were huddled up against the fences; pigs, goats and chickens in the barn; dogs and cats living together and declaring armistice inside by the fire, but the buffalo; out in the middle of it all just laid down most of the time and waited for it to pass.  This is what we all know as the bison-advantage and though their resilience to the North American environment is a matter of fact, we still … Read more