Monday, May 26, 2025

Eventful Pasture

About a mile from my house, we have a pasture full of beef cattle. It's a pleasant little tucked-away farm that is one of my favorite places. Normally, that herd of beef cows is fairly low maintenance. I check on them daily, which only includes counting to be sure everyone is accounted for. Every few days, I will rotate them to a different section of pasture, literally and figuratively... no heavy lifting. However, on a farm, you just never know where the excitement is gonna come from. This past week, that herd kept us hopping. In the scope of 4 days, they gave us moments of tragedy, nervousness, and renewed optimism. First came the tragedy. These parts of farming aren't fun to write about, but I do think it's important to be transparent. Lots of folks online romanticise farming. I probably have a tendency to do that as well, mainly because I love this lifestyle. However, honesty should compel us all to shine a light on all aspects of the thing we represent. Thursday, I walked into the pasture to take a head count. From a distance, I noticed some black headed vultures. My eyes immediately widened, and I perked up. Something wasn't right about that. As I walked closer, I saw a distraught mama cow. She was protecting a premature calf that unfortunately didn't survive. It was a completely heartbreaking scene. The ground around the calf was trampled by her hooves where she had spent a couple of hours defending her baby. I'm not necessarily a softy, and I have seen things like this over the years, but this one got me. I felt so bad for this cow. I was able to collect the calf and get it buried so she could get some rest. I talked to her and offered all the comfort I could as I did that. Some days on the farm are just a little heartbreaking. Next came the nervousness. We worked with my kid's school on a 1/2 cow fundraiser. On Saturday, I delivered the beef to the winner of the raffle. On the way home, I received a call from a passing motorist. He claimed to have witnessed 3 calves running across the pasture and jumping the fence like some English jumping horse. Regardless of whether his account was accurate, the bottom line was that I had 3 calves on the shoulder of a busy highway. I phoned Julie and she drove to the highway and parked near the calves with her flashers on, alerting traffic. When I arrived only a few minutes later, sure enough, 3 calves were walking down the shoulder of a very busy road. Julie and I walked them back to the gate, and they were happily reunited. I walked the entire fence looking for problems, but found none. Maybe they did jump the fence... but that would be very odd. Either way, anxiety levels decreased when they were back inside the fence. After the calves were back in the pasture, my head count was one short. I needed to change clothes and return to check the fence anyway, so I left. All the while thinking the worst. If a cow isn't with the herd, that is unusual and typically bad news. I got back to the pasture and started checking the fence. All the cows were nosy, so they came to investigate what I was doing. Again, I took a head count, again it was one short. I'm still thinking the worst. Finally, the fence is checked except for one spot on the back side of the pond. I went there to make sure the fence was secure, and it was. It was there that I found not only the missing cow, but a brand new, healthy baby bull calf. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. (Psalm 30:5b) The farm can throw all sorts of things our way, but hope always springs eternal. The new life we get to witness provides that hope. All the other challenges demand that we keep that hope in focus.