Ranch Youth Learn About Raising Cows at Cow Camp
Author: Samantha Ferrat
Ranch Youth Learn About Raising Cows at Cow Camp
Samantha Ferrat
Ranch kids and their parents spent Saturday morning learning how to breed and raise cattle during Future Ranchers Cow Camp at the Ferrat Ranch in Crow Creek Valley.
The camp, organized by Samantha Ferrat, showcased strategies for raising cattle successfully. About 75 participants from Townsend, Deer Lodge, Anaconda, Whitehall and Three Forks and Drummond walked through cattle genetics, the calving process, how to artificially inseminate a cow and cattle nutrition.
John and Samantha breed their registered and commercial Limousin herd so they calve in the Fall. Most producers breed to calve in the Spring. John showed a group of 25 students a cow who was unable to calve by herself. He detailed how he finally took the cow to a veterinarian who performed a cesarian section delivery of the dead calf. Ferrats had seven sets of twins this year, so he grafted one of the twins to the cow. Both are doing fine.
Participants asked what causes some cows to have twins more often than others. John said the experts maintained several reasons, but none that were infallible. He explained some twins are fraternal, some are identical. Often if a heifer and a bull come as twins, the heifer is not fertile. “That calf is called a freemartin. We sell her with the steers since she will not breed,” he said.
Samantha walked the group through their extensive work corrals. The round, cornerless tub keeps the animals calm because they cannot see out of it. From there the animal goes through a parallel squeeze chute to a self-catch head gate. “The entire system is adjustable so the animal cannot back up or hurt itself,” John said.
The group moved on to Montana Farmer’s Union Education Director Matthew Hauck’s genetics introduction. He began with the fact that cattle genetics had improved through the years because of selective breeding and controlling wanted characteristics through artificial insemination. “Because of selective breeding, milk production in dairy cows has now tripled since 1920,” Hauck said.
Marlo Leachman demonstrated the technique of artificial insemination which is planting live semen in a cow’s uterus. Embryo transplants are also implanted artificially. Some ranchers hire veterinarians to do their AI work, but many outfits do their own AI work, so learning the technique is important. She pointed out the importance of timing and temperature of the semen, and exactly where in the cow’s uterus to place the semen or embryo.
Montana State University sophomore and Collegiate Cattlewomen officer Grayce Siderius challenged the students to learn the parts of a beef carcass. They were tasked with putting together the “puzzle” of the various cuts of beef. She said many of the 4-H students put the puzzle together in no time, while the adults in the group stumbled arranging the pieces. Her team walked the group through cattle nutrition. The workshop ended with a short lesson in budgeting and finance of raising cows.
Montana Farmers Union provided camp take-home items for the workshop. The group ate farm-to-table cheeseburgers prepared by Mary Jenni, owner of MT Lamb and Beef, along with Ben Peterson and Diann Ferrat.
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PhotoCredit: Photo Credits: Samantha Ferrat
Image 1 Caption: John Ferrat walks future ranchers and parents through solving calving problems at the Ferrat Ranch in Crow Creek Valley
Photo Credits: Samantha Ferrat
Image 2 Caption: Five-year-old Melanie McLean of Whitehall contemplates the cattle chute at Cow Camp last Saturday.
Photo Credits: Samantha Ferrat
Image 3 Caption: Montana Farmers Union Education Director Matthew Hauck explains the genetics of cattle.
Photo Credits: Samantha Ferrat
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