As Americans, we respect those who work for a living. Shouldn’t we demand the same from our cows?

This past week we got a foot of snow in Western Colorado. Our yearling heifers were grazing a short cut hayfield that was all but gone when the snow came. We hauled them out to a better pasture to avoid feeding hay. When we dropped them off, they seemed perfectly content to graze through a foot of snow.

One of Kit Pharo’s low-input disciplines is to let your cows work for you, instead of you working for them by hauling hay bales and supplements. We have learned to treat replacement heifers like the cows we want them to become. It’s a good way to find out which ones can perform in a low-maintenance program. It’s amazing what cows can do if you don’t interrupt them with the feed wagon.

Just a warning about making your cows work for a living, we have found that some folks don’t understand. A few years ago, one of our citified neighbors called me to demand a reason why I wasn’t hauling hay to those heifers huddled in the corner of the pasture next door. I explained that first of all, they’re not mine – you’ve got the wrong rancher; and secondly, they are gathered in the corner because that’s where the protein tubs are located. There was a long pause, then she just said, “Oh . . .” Now, that’s OK. I know how to return a favor. A month later I saw her in town, and I introduced her to my wife as, “That crazy lady who tried to get me to feed the neighbors cows.”

In another instance, I had cows grazing in the snow in February where a neighboring rancher passed daily. We met on the road one morning and he wondered if I was ever going to feed those cows. When asked if they looked like they were hurting, he said, “Well, now that you mention it, they’re in better condition than my cows!”

Full disclosure, I will probably run out of grass during calving season and have to feed some hay. I also have a group of sale barn cattle running to a bale ring, but in our country, I can graze for 1/3 the cost of feeding hay. My goal is to feed no hay.

For 35 years, Kit Pharo has been selecting for traits that will make you money by reducing inputs. Moderate frame, fleshing ability, and calving ease are low-maintenance traits that allow cattle to work for a living and prosper with little or no help. Here’s the question, “On your ranch, who’s working for who?”

I’ll see you next time on the Herd Quitter® Minute.