June 2026

 

This month, the rain caught up with us.

After a pretty dry spring, we’ve had close to 20 inches of rain over the last three weeks. That is a lot of water in a short amount of time, even for South Louisiana. When the rain comes that hard and that often, it affects just about everything we try to do outside.

Right now, a lot of our work is focused on pasture maintenance. We have not had as many dry windows as we would like, so we are clipping pastures in between rain showers and getting them ready for Bermuda grass, which is our main summer pasture. The rain has the grass growing fast, so fence line maintenance is also back on the list. Around here, when the grass starts growing, the fence lines need attention too.

We also recently ultrasounded a group of our pregnant mama cows to check where they are in their pregnancy status. Once we know where they are, we can separate the bred cows and move them onto different pastures from the beef cow herd. It is routine work, but it is important work. Knowing where each group stands helps us manage the herd better through the summer months.

Summertime on the ranch is mostly a maintenance season. There may not always be one big project happening, but there is always something that needs attention. It might be equipment, fence lines, pastures, or livestock. The work does not stop.

And as always, Mother Nature determines the schedule. Sometimes we do not get to do things exactly when we want to. We do them when the weather gives us the chance.

 

Want to hear more from Shannon? Watch Episode 11 of Back to Basics here.