Working Ranch Blog

Someone forgot to tell me about that part of the deal. I have only been working in my new job at the feedlot for one week and I have not stopped learning. Northwest Texas is awful close to the “No Man’s Land” of Oklahoma, and it sure seems like things run at just a slower around here. Dalhart has been nothing short on the hospitality. In fact, the church family here has been making sure I have plenty to eat. Maybe their plan is to help me get into a size of jeans I can actually find on a store shelf instead of having to make a special order.

Five Rivers is nothing short on the safety training for new employees either. The first two and half days on the job were spent in safety training. 15-some-odd videos and feeling like I have signed my life away, I have covered everything from proper cattle handing, lock-out-tag-out for power sources on equipment, and proper lifting methods for heavy objects. Talk about a headache and a half. This does give me comfort in the fact that the company takes pride in employee and animal safety.

Have no fear; I had a shovel in my hand soon enough, digging in deep with some dirty work. The words “Management Trainee” mean nothing when there is spilled silage to be cleaned up, scales that need to be cleaned off and a truck that needs to be pressure washed. Some people might look at these tasks on the first and second day of the job as means of just breaking in the newest member of the team, but I look at it as just getting started on the right foot. Even if I seemed like the new employee doing the grunt work, someone will drive by and see the clean scales and the piles of feed no longer in front of the office. In fact one truck driver made it all worth it when he drove by and said, “They can’t say you’re not earning your wages today!” as I was shoveling dried mud from the side of the scales. Just doing my part to keep the feedyard in tiptop shape.

My manager put me to a quick start on the cattle work as well. I am working alongside the cattle receiver managing the cattle coming into the yard: evaluating newly received cattle for soundness, assigning pens for new lots, and taking processed cattle to their new pens. It is quite a task to wrap my brain around the whole process, but it is not unmanageable. I made my share of mishaps for the first week like entering a scale ticket on the wrong lot in the computer and overlooking one bull yearling out of almost 800 steers. These are just things that will come with practice.

Texas is welcoming me with open arms, 100-degree temperatures, and an A/C unit that refuses to work properly. At least it cools off at night and yes, it is hot here, but it is more of a dry heat instead of a heat you can wear. I am really looking forward to working with the management team at the feedlot. They appear to be a group of genuinely good guys that hopefully will allow me to learn all I can while getting my start in the cattle feeding business. I stick to the old method: surround yourself with good people and you will only improve your success.

What questions do you have about life in the feedlots? Pick my brain and you may see the topic in a future post. I do not know what you want to learn about unless you drop me a line! Shoot me an email (rjlgoodman@hotmail.com) or find me on Facebook and Twitter. Until next time—ARranchhand (Or should I change that to TXfeedhand now?).

CattleFact: Texas ranks number one in the nation for cattle and calves inventory with 13,300,000 head of cattle. That is a value of more than $10.5 billion. Read more on Texas Ag Statistics by following this link.