To start with, it was a warm, open, snowless winter – a good time to record a drought and get it out of the way. Other than a short week to Elko, Nev., to celebrate our 40th Annual National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, it was daily cattle feeding and sporting events for the grandkids. Spring calving went well as Mother Nature’s weather “Gods” slept. The biggest fear was of another massive drought, but by mid-April, a reprieve came followed by our May general “soakers.” In fact, it kept it up most the summer with rain during 11 days of June and 15 days of July. Only one was hard enough to take out our six major Wannagan Creek fence crossings. It filled stock dam reservoirs, and September and October did well, too. All summer long, even through August, the early morning dew was so heavy that it appeared as rain.
Another wild year in review of the ranching business
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