Last week I made a trip to the mountains to visit my cows. Early this year, I put some pairs in partnership with another producer whose pasture is located east of Powderhorn, CO, a tiny map dot near Lake City. It’s quite a process to get to there. I head toward Gunnison, driving past Blue Mesa Reservoir turning on Hwy 149 in the middle of nowhere, then turn on a dirt road at the edge of nowhere, and end up on a 4-wheeler trail to the backside of nowhere. It is dry and feed is sparse, but the cows look great.

Today he sorted off some spring-born pairs so that we could precondition the bull calves. We had planned to haul them out to a working facility, but a little rain shower changed our plans. We’ll just have to work them on the spot. We don’t have much to work with in the way of chutes and alleys, just some portable panels. However, we managed to crowd the calves in the trailer and work through them with their shots. You sure notice the calm disposition of PCC® cattle when you do something unconventional like this. Outside of a couple late born calves from first-calf heifers, the bulls look pretty impressive. Another month in the mountains will help them to grow out and be ready for weaning.

The thick, easy-fleshing, moderate framed genetics produced by PCC have been proven to prosper in almost any environment, and this is one of the toughest.
Now that we’re done, I’ll take that 30 minute 4-wheeler ride back to the middle of nowhere so I can make my way home. I’ll see you next time on the Herd Quitter® Minute.