Meet the Johnston Family Family
We are a first-generation ranching family that manages a large cow-calf herd in Canon City , Colorado . Cow-calf means that we have cows ( females ) and bulls ( males ), and every year each cow has a calf ( baby ) in the spring . The calves are sold in the late fall , after they have been weaned ( separated from their mothers ). The ranch has two divisions , one high up in the mountains and the other on the plains . Our land isn ’ t very good for raising crops — it ’ s too dry and cold with a short growing season on the mountain , and too dry and hot down on the plains — it ’ s great for growing grass and other plants that cows can eat !
WHO IS INVOLVED :
Bert and Cassidy ( aka Mom and Dad ) and their three boys : Wacey , Buster , and Kirby . Plus a lot of dogs , horses , and several barn cats ! There are also ranch hands and their families who live and work on the ranch .
DESCRIBE A TYPICAL DAY :
Each day is different , and that makes it fun . Early in September , we start bringing the cows off the mountain leases to the meadows closer to the ranch . In late October , it ’ s time to wean and ship the calves to the lower ranch so they can eat lots of forage and grain to grow big until it ’ s time to sell them . We will also pregnancy-check all the mama cows to see who is going to have a calf next year and when . Our vet uses a special tool called an ultrasound so he can see the calves inside the cow ’ s reproductive system . Because we live high up in the mountains , we also PAP Test our replacement heifers ( the young cows who are going to be new mama cows .) PAP means Pulmonary Arterial Pressure , and it ’ s a test the vet does to see how hard a cow ’ s heart is working to pump blood through their body . Up here where the air is thin , if a cow ’ s heart has to work too hard , it can make the cow sick and it will die . This test helps us understand which cows can thrive in the mountains and which ones need to spend their lives at a lower elevation on the plains . Once
all that work is done in November , we will ship the cows down to the lower ranch for the winter .
WHY WE RANCH :
The Johnstons are first-generation ranchers , which means they are the first ones in their families to raise cattle on a ranch . Bert knew he wanted to be a cowboy from the time he was really little . He participated in rodeo all the way through college and started working on a ranch as a teenager . Cassidy discovered ranching in college and knew that it was what she wanted to do for the rest of her life almost right away . Now , they run big ranches that need a lot of cowboys to take care of all the cattle . Wacey loves to go with dad on his horse , Chug , to help move and care for the cattle . Buster likes to play in the barns and draw pictures of everything going on , and he also makes sure there are enough snacks . Kirby loves to do any kind of cowboy thing but especially loves going for rides in the backhoe or tractor , or on the four-wheeler or on his favorite horse , Sneaky .
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