The county fair that Chris Ledoux sang about would have been right here in Johnson County. So Gerry and I had to swing by and see what it’s all about.
Fair time is the highlight of the year for small western towns. Buffalo is the Johnson County seat.
Livestock is the main attraction. 4H kids bring their finest to show and sale.
All week long they wash and polish them.
They even practice their showmanship before the big day arrives.
Every night, before each critter’s event, they have a feed sponsored by different community organizations. Today was pork, put on by the local FFA.
Afterwards, they started the pig judging.
Out of every weight class, the judge selects the best in build and tells the kids why.
At the end of the week long fair will be the rodeo.
Because Johnson County is full of cowboys, it only allows locals to sign up for the events, with the exception of the rough stock. Anyone is welcome to come get bucked off.
Gotta have a snow cone to top things off.
Fun stuff. The county fair is for everyone. Whether you ranch or not, come out and enjoy the livestock and good folks. It’s about as down home as you can get. God bless America!
It was time to move our two brumbies into new pasture. Leaving them in Gillette until some pasture opens up in Buffalo, we ran over to walk them across the street.
Gerry from Spain came to visit for a couple weeks. It's nice to have him back around the ranch.
Every spring, for the last five years, Mike and Nancy Fulton have graciously taken care of our critters. Chief and Mike have grown to be pretty good buddies. Thanks, you two, for putting up with us all.
Once we gathered up the horses and their oats, we just walked them to a neighboring pasture.
Sally Craig has watched over Chief and Mollie before. She does a fine job. So much so that they rarely want to leave.
This guy will keep the horses watered for weeks.
This is also a good time to trim their hooves. Black hooves in late July are like clipping stone.
Happy trails.
Good stuff. Part of the fun of running critters on other people's places is interacting with them. I have grown fond of the folks that have housed my horses and cows. We've gotten into great discussions and have been able to draw nearer to God and His Church. The horses appreciate it too. They usually get plenty of TLC. Thanks y'all for being good stewards of God's creation.
Late July in Wyoming is barley harvest season. The grain has looked ready for the last couple weeks, but the kernel still needs time to mature. Coors has been good to the Big Horn Basin, and the farmers in turn, do good for them.
Today, Luke brought his combine out and Dad got busy threshing.
Combines have come a long way over the years. Luke has had this guy for a couple seasons now. Makes light work of a field.
Dad's right at home in a cab surrounded by green.
The barley has looked good all year and we are just thankful to get it in the bin before foul weather hits.
When we were kids, we used to shuttle the trucks to the elevator in town and bring them back out. Today, they primarily use semi tractor trailers.
If you don't want to seed the borrow pit, you better tarp your trailer.
Every load that comes into the Coors elevator is weighed and tested for protein, moisture, and trash content. This was a 65,000lb load of barley.
This is quite the facility. It can dump a lot of grain in a hurry.
Unlike most grain bins, the Coors elevator in Worland is horizontal and dumps off of a conveyor belt from the top. This allows them to mix the year's produce. This is last years crop that they are now shipping down to Golden.
Looks to be a bumper crop this year.
Dad's little field went about 120 bushel to the acre. Pretty darn good.
Done just in time.
So God made a farmer... It really wouldn't be any fun if the necessities in life just appeared in front of us. The more we work for them, the more we appreciate them. The reason I enjoy Coors beer is because of all the goodness that goes into raising the High Country Barley. You can taste the love. Well done, boys. America thanks you.
Once I’ve cased the local feed store in a town, I like to check out the sale barn. I've been to the Buffalo Livestock barn before. In fact, I bought my first pair of herefords here.
The last there years or so have seen some big changes at this barn. New owners have really brought it up to speed, making it a real contender among other area sale barns.
Their sale is on Wednesday, which is staggered from the other near by barns. Torrington is Friday, Riverton is Tuesday, and Worland is Thursday.
The market has been at an all-time high for about two years. Sounds like the biggest reason is the low cattle numbers throughout the country.
Good bulls like this will go for $175 a hundred weight. Making a big bull a $4000 hamburger cow.
You've got to think on your toes at a livestock auction. The column on the left is the weight of the current cow for sale. The going sale price is being rattled off by the auctioneer. The right column is the stats of the previous sale. On the bottom of the right column is how many have sold and how many are left to go.
Good time and good place to meet new folks. I think ranchers' ship has finally come in. These prices are about double what they have been in recent years. I spoke to one ole boy about the high prices and he said that they are finally where they need to be. Fair enough, ranching is far from cheap. Even though I wasn't bidding on anything, the local sale barn can be a pretty fun place to kill a little time. On to the next one.
A real treat for me is to celebrate Mass in my home parish of St. Mary Magdalen in Worland. I was asked to fill in the for the pastor, Fr. Robert Rodgers, over the weekend and he asked if I'd also preside at the Mass for St. Mary Magdalen's feast day. Can do.
The present day church was built in the 1950s. In typical fashion back then, they first built a school gym that would serve as the church building until they got the real church built. But as often happened in the decades to follow, the new church never got built. Over time, the People of God and their various priests have worked well with what they've been given. First came the school portion, which operated throughout the 1960s. That same decade saw a remodeling of the sanctuary and later in the early 2000s a fuller remodel that really accepted that this is going to be our church. Within the past 10 years, they also put in an elevator.
This was also 75th anniversary of SMM as a parish. Many fond memories.
SMM in Worland was originally a mission of Thermopolis. Fr. Endres was the iconic priest who traveled the Big Horn Basin on horseback in the early 1900s, celebrating Mass and building up the Body of Christ. In 1949 Worland had become big enough that it was made it's own parish. Today the tides have changed and St. Francis parish in Thermop is now served by the priest in Worland.
This is the baptismal font that I was baptized in.
December 23, 1979. John Schmeltzer and Frances (Schmeltzer) Hesseel were/are my godparents. Fr. Cyril Hmelovsky presided.
Here's where I received my First Holy Communion. May 8, 1988. My cousin Beth Schmeltzer was beside me. Fr. Joseph Fraher was the priest for much of my youth.
May 8, 1996 I was Confirmed by Bishop Joseph Hart. My Aunt Nancy Martinson was my sponsor.
Though I wasn't ordained here, I do enjoy celebrating Mass for the family and friends I grew up with.
After the Mass for today's feast day, we had an interview with a long lived SMM parishioner. Dee Arps will turn 108 in a few weeks. She's sharper than a tack and has much encouragement for the younger generations. Like, Go to Mass!
A parish feast wouldn't be complete without a picnic to follow.
Fun stuff. This is what it means to be Catholic. The past remains present. We take time to celebrate all the Good water under the bridge. So many folks have gone before us to make this parish a reality. The Good News is that they are still with as members of the Body of Christ. It is in the liturgy where this truth becomes present. Thanks be to God for all who keep this parish alive. Worland thanks you. I thank you too. It is at St. Mary Magdalen that I received all my Sacraments of Initiation. Through this grace I have been able to hear God's call to the priesthood. Keep up the Good work, y'all!
The Big Horn Basin usually gets three cuttings of alfalfa a summer. Mid July, right before the fair and barley harvest, is a good time to knock down second cutting. Uncle Chris farms several fields and pivot corners in the Neiber area. With his big green machine, he made light work of about 45 acres of hay.
Water and heat is about all it takes for alfalfa to grow. Great source of protein and quick rebound in between cuts, makes it an ideal hay crop.
As in all farming practices, cutting hay has come a long way. There are still plenty of sickle bar mowers around, but most guys in the industry have gone to these rotary heads. Clean cut and fast.
Uncle Chris has a deal with a local farmer to use this swather for cutting hay in exchange for driving corn truck in the fall. Win win. This guy is not your daddy's windrower. I could just imagine my Grandpa S., Chris' dad, wanting to ride a round with him.
So in memory of him, I took a turn. Good hay. 16' swath.
On these bigger runs, he programs the auto steer. Then sits back and watch it make nice straight cuts, even matching the arch of a pivot sprinkler.
While he was at it, he mowed our little corner. Not bad.
The going trend is wide flat windrows. Good bed to dry in. 16' apart is about all you want to go. Any more and it's hard to dry and a twin rake can't reach them to bring two windrows into one for baling.
Pretty much all hay cutting involves a crimper behind the mower. Alfalfa is a solid stem plant, and by crimping it every 4 or 5 inches helps it dry sooner.
Looks good.
Putting up hay in July is standard issue for dry land ranchers and irrigated farmers alike. The sooner you can get it knocked down the sooner you can get it put up. In the west, most of our summertime ag activity is geared toward surviving the winter. Cutting hay is just one example of that. The more bales you have in the stack the more time you can spend in peace by the fire. Good work, Uncle Chris. Keep those big green wheels turning.
