What some of my summer looked like

I’ve been on the road a lot this summer with projects in Oregon, Montana, Utah and Colorado and presentations in Colorado and Canada.  I’ve met lots of people, many of them in airports.  Since I’m always loaded down with a pack and cameras, they tend to ask me what I’m headed out to do.  Here’s a typical conversation:

Kathy: “I teach cows to eat weeds.”
Man in Cowboy Hat: (Laughs, gives me the “are you crazy?!” look) Huh!  How’s THAT working for you?
Kathy: “Pretty well, really.  I’ve taught over 1000 animals to eat a lot of our most problematic weeds, and those animals teach their calves and herd mates, so there are lots of cows eating weeds now.  It’s a lot cheaper than herbicide and the cows do well on weeds.”
Man: “You’re kidding me!”

This particular fellow thought about changing his seat to sit by me so that I could have enough time to tell him how the training process works.  Of course it only took me a few minutes while we walked across the tarmac.

But getting the big picture about the training process and actually implementing it can be two different things.  I learn something new every year from the cows and my partners.  Now that I have some time at home, I’ll be sharing them with you.  They’re things like:

Who feeds the cows really does matter
Mob grazing isn’t for everyone
Rabbit brush is a tasty treat! And so are a whole variety of other weeds we’ve been worrying about.
Phone and email coaching is a great and inexpensive way to help ranchers train their cows

I’ll also be working on updating some videos and putting more up on Youtube.  So check back often!