PHOTOS: From Field to Truck

Jack Soloman rides his horse rounding up cattle from a pasture on the Waids' land the morning of July 9. Six more riders were also working to move the herd of nearly 600 steers that day to their stockyards for shipping. For their yearling operation, the Waids buy young cattle at roughly 500 pounds and sell them at around 900 pounds, averaging a gain of about two pounds each day. They grow the cattle in their background lots, where feed and water intake can be monitored and controlled, and in their pastures. This process is important, said Darrin Boss, superintendent of the Northern Agriculture Research Center, because it allows cattle to grow into a size that has ideal muscle mass before they are moved to a feed lot where the meat is marbled.

Jeremy Couch, a truck driver hauling cattle that day, stands on railings in his trailer as cattle, walking under him, are herded aboard for transportation from the Waids' ranch to a feed lot in Colorado. Another important function of weighing the cattle is to let truckers know how many cattle they can fit on their trailers legally since states have hauling weight restrictions of around 100,000 pounds. "Most trucks weigh 32,000 pounds which gives us 60-or-so-thousand pounds to use," said Billmayer. "Now this can differ between trucks, depending on the number of axles they have and on the state laws. But the general rule of thumb is that the more axles you have, the more cattle you can carry." In order to ship all the cattle eight trucks were brought to the Waids' ranch that day. Each truck, holding on average 60 head of cattle, took roughy 30 minutes to fill. The process of getting cattle on the trailers involves breaking down the total number of cattle to be loaded onto the trailer into groups that can fit the various compartments in those trailers. The inside of a livestock trailer contains trap doors and walls that slide and fall to give a trucker the ability to distribute the cattle evenly and safely into the available spaces of the two levels. Even with the trap doors it is not an easy task. Being confined in a space barely 10 feet across and less then 7 feet tall with an animal that weighs hundreds of pounds more than you can lead to some serious injury if the trucker is not careful.

Jack Soloman, a neighbor who was helping move cattle, rounds up steers after they broke through a fence on the Waids' ranch. While most times rounding up cattle is relatively straight forward, it is when things go wrong that shows how much more work is involved in cattle handling and production. The Waids used seven riders, each on horseback, along with a couple experienced cattle dogs to drive the steers into the stockyard. Following the lead of Lon Waid, the cattle were moved mostly by the presence of the riders and dogs, however, the vocal cues and physical force were sometimes needed for the more stubborn steers. This was often the case when pushing the herd through vegetation and water since the cows could easily spread. Another issue that arose while moving the second herd was that group mentality can easily lead the cattle to doing things against the handlers' direction. Such was the case that lead to a group of steers breaking the fence after cattle at the front of the herd became confused where to go, causing those behind to get further confused and so on, until some of the steers opted to take a route out through the fence.

Buyer Mark Billmayer sorts cattle based on weight while Loy Waid, 16, waits behind him, helping Billmayer when needed. "Lon wanted to sell the heavier end of the cattle pulled in from the field and so I was pulling out cattle that weighted less since not all the cattle from the field were going onto the trucks that day," said Billmayer in an interview a week after Waids' shipping date. A buyer fills an important role when dealing with cattle. Along with being the point of contact for those buying and selling cattle, they also are the ones who help visibly inspect the livestock to make sure each head of cattle is the agreed upon weight and that any signs of injury are noted. What is also worth mentioning is that it is the buyer who helps keep things local when moving cattle around. For example the cattle on the Waid Ranch came from ranches in Blaine, Hill and Liberty county. This keeps costs lower for transporting and helps stimulate local economy.

Photo below Stacey Waid records the weight of the steers in groups of about 16 as she receives the data from the scale's display to her right. The weight data of the steers helps the buyer confirm the true weight of the cattle, which need to meet a weight range at the time of sale. Growth, weight and profit go hand and hand on the ranch. "Any day that the cattle is not growing is a day that is hindering potential profits when it comes time to sell," said Boss. Maintaining that constant growth, around two pounds a day according to Stacy Waid, is one of the main challenges when it comes to a yearling operation. Cattle, much like people, eat at different rates and different amounts which, over time, can lead to an imbalance in a herd if not managed carefully. "If the animal gets too big, it can start to force out the others in the group when it comes to feeding," Lon Waid said. This can lead to the larger animal growing faster and the smaller animal growing slower, both of which can mess with profits.