The First Frost

There are a few very specific times of year we look for and anticipate on the ranch. The first is when the grass begins to grow after its hibernation period, meaning we no longer need to rely on our home-grown hay to nourish our cattle through the winter. The second is when nights begin staying around 90 degrees, meaning it's the beginning of hay prep season. Which means the third has to be when we need to bust out the hay bales for the winter feeding of our cattle.

We work hard all summer long fertilizing, cutting and baling our hay to nourish our cattle and our fellow farmers and ranchers. This past year, we produced over 900 round bales of hay! (If you know of anyone lookin' for hay, I know a guy ;) )

So how do we know when it's time to unwrap the hay bales into the hay rings in the pasture? I'm so glad you asked! There comes a time, usually around a month into autumn, when we wake up and it looks like Jack Frost blew his cold breath across the the blades of grass in our yards and pasture. That's what we call the First Frost, and it tells us that the grass is not going to grow much anymore, if at all, until springtime. Obviously, our crop (cattle) rely on grass and if it's not growing, they're not eating and if they're not eating, none of us get beef. We can't let that happen! We know how much y'all love our beef, so that's why we produce our own hay to make sure our animals are nourished well during the winter.

The First Frost doesn't only tell us when to start feeding hay, it also tells us that it's safe to start shredding the pastures to clean them up since they're not going to grow much anymore. Clean pastures make it easier to see wildlife that are exploring our pastures, either passing through or hunting down their own food. Autumn and winter are heavy hitting times on our pastures for wild hogs since they're having to search harder for food. If you don't know the nuisance wild hogs make for farmers and ranchers, stay tuned for a future blog post about that!

Not only do we see wild hogs out and about in our pastures, but we also get to see coyotes and whitetail deer. So the First Frost also is an indication that it's hunting season and hunting season usually means crockpot meals and chili! So if you find yourself craving some warm and fork-tender pot roast and mouth watering chili, look no more because we've got your cold weather beef needs covered.

-Halee