Foggy weigh-in

Last night on 10 pm news the weather forecaster said the overnight low would get down to freezing. With all the activity yesterday I hadn't covered my garden.

It was now pitch black outside. I hoped that with the overcast skies from the earlier rain, those clouds would stay till morning and keep the heat. On the internet I checked the weather conditions west of me in MT and Idaho. Overcast and cloudy. Maybe the clouds will stay till morning.

Before I went to bed I went outside to check. Do I see gaps in the clouds? Umm... is that a star to the west? And another star? The clouds were dissipating. Oh no! The temperature was 41 F, so 32 F was not far off. I had to cover my garden. In the darkness I covered my garden the best I could.

Even though I didn't go to bed until midnight I still woke up after 7 am - in time to go to the cattle weigh-in. Thick fog was outside and the temperature was hovering just around freezing. As I drove out of my driveway I could see white frost on the tall weeds here and there in the field across the road. I am glad I took the effort to cover my garden.

The fog let up as I drove through Kalispell. However south of town it came back thicker than ever. I drove on a 4 lane divided highway. Even driving in the left lane I could barely make out some of the buildings to my left. I had only been to the cattle broker's place once before, the previous day when we brought the cattle over. The landmarks I noted were lost in the fog.

After I realized I drove too far I turned back. Driving in the right lane I was able to find the road that led to the broker's place.

It was 8:07 am when I arrived. In the fog I could barely make out the broker as he stood and waited outside his weigh scale building. Dan wasn't there. He didn't come till later, after I left. The broker and I went ahead and weighed the cattle. Dan's steers averaged 740 and his heifers averaged 671. My girls averaged 795 lbs.

On average my cattle gained 201 lbs over the summer. The broker said that was good, and he again said I had very nice looking cattle. But that is exactly the same weight gain my cattle averaged last year. I had the cattle this year 3 weeks longer.

And I made the same amount per head as last year even though my expenses were higher this year. Less than $100 per head. I guess it is good I like having cattle as it doesn't pay to raise them.

I am a little disappointed in doing the exact same as last year even though I did things this year where I expected to do slightly better than last year. Still, I'll have cattle again next year. My place feels empty without them. As I was out and about in the yard today I would glance out to the pasture to see my cattle before catching myself. They're gone.