Bad, Better, Best: 5 Must-Haves for Life on the Land

With the recent boom of urban farming, farmers and ranchers welcome our city friends into the fulfilling yet difficult lifestyle.  As a word of caution to the new family farmer or backyard rancher, you might want to find your way to a feed store to stock up on a few supplies.  There are some that work better than others, and it is easy to assume something will work successfully when it will not.  Those of us making a living off of the land may appear to the outside world as simpletons, and while we are resourceful, making do with what we have and converting trash to treasure, we are no exception when it comes to needing the right resources for various endeavors in the field.  When we go without, we remind ourselves of the old adage, “Only a poor craftsman blames his tools for poor workmanship,” but having the right tools sure makes the workmanship better, and it lets us produce the best final product.

Gloves in the Corrals during Breeding and Branding Season

Bad: Assuming you don’t need gloves when handling vaccinations.  Because Murphy has an iron grip on the law, you will of course squirt more on your fingers than you inject into the livestock.

Better: Dish gloves.  They provide protection from chemicals that can wreak havoc on women’s hormones, and at least they create a necessary barrier.  Though they will never make it back to the kitchen sink, they don’t need to because you’ve pinched and pulled all the fingers out of shape after getting the excess rubber stuck between your finger and whatever you’re holding.  The next time you pull them on, they will indeed rip.

Best: Suck it up and get a box of fitted latex gloves that you average doctor wears.  Much of what we do is intensive and having the mobility of your fingers to hold small vials, use 2ml syringes with 18 gauge needles, and “feel” your way around the back side of a breeding cow is a must that requires dexterity.  Then you can peel off those blue bad boys and throw them out-- a rarity once you realize how many times you can reuse other items.

Sweatshirts or as they’re known around here, Sweaters.

Bad: Your raggedy college favorite, missing the draw string, holes over the thumbs, and a purposely torn V cut out of the neck is not appropriate feeding attire.  In the late spring, you have no idea when a gust of wind will blow those fine alfalfa leaves back in your face, and without tying that hood down, they blow right down your neck.  What they don’t tell you about the tiny little leaves is that they are second cousins to barbed wire when they’re in your bra and tee shirt.

Better: Keep about three sweatshirts per season on hand.  You will need a wind-resistant one that won’t let old man Winter bite through.  You will need a fitted one for when you need to be more mobile, and you will need a light-weight one for when the sun just isn’t quite ready to admit he wants to bring on summer.  This only covers spring, so spend some time during the other seasons collecting numerous shirt varieties for the occasion.

Best: Upgrade your feed sweatshirt at least once a season after it isn’t fulfilling its function and know that there is no clothing too threadbare to retire from the farm.  There is always another lower level for it to live.  After it’s served its purpose outside, it can keep you covered when cleaning, dealing with oil, hydraulic fluid, ammonia, fertilizer, or bleach.  Finally, you can cut it up for rags or even calf/lamb/kid blankets, making its way back to protecting a living body from the cold and restoring warmth and vitality.

Boots for all Occasions

Bad: Anything you buy at the sporting goods store.  Boots made for hiking are just that.  Hiking is like prancer-cizing when compared to the strain you put on boots in a dirty corral or dusty arena.  The breathable mesh lets in dirt and somehow the rubber doesn't hold up well to concrete cow patties or provide traction on little scour plops all around the place.

Better: Muck Boots.  These recycled 20lb tires pass as shoes, but work wonders in the wet slop after a decent rain or snow storm.  Once the sun returns, you still need them since puddles will sit side by side next to dry spots.  Wet or dry, at least your toes won’t be sharing their space with pulverized, powdered feed dust or suck-ya-down mud or pure liquid poo.

Best: You can’t just pick them up at the local ranch supply store, but after some time and dedication, you will wear out a great pair of everyday cowboy boots.  Maybe they’ve seen some rodeo action or just lived their life plodding around the place, but a worn out pair of boots holding you up when a steer is trying to run you down will remind you that you’ve been through so much already, what’s one more day?  

Trailers in Tow

Bad: Loading a pickup bed full of wasted hay from the bottom of the barn floor or haystack.  Having to fork it out leads to much of the feed blowing away.  Likewise, hauling water in a 300 gallon tank painstakingly hoisted into the bed each afternoon builds muscle but breaks down morale.  

Better: Repurposing anything with wheels into a functioning trailer.  Sure, a fertilizer tank will need some invasive cleaning to haul water, or wood slats will need reinforcements to hold 10 tons worth of bales, but with a little ingenuity and effort to make them work as you need them to, they will get the job done.
Best: Buying equipment built its purpose.  You know you’ve made it then.  It takes man-hours and man-power, and lots of years doing it the hard way just to get by before justifying such luxuries as bale processors, feed bunks, extensive corrals, automatic waterers, or heaters.  Convenience comes at a cost albeit sometimes well-deserved.  Having paid your dues in problem-solving, patience, and gained strength, these extravagances help you remember how far you’ve come and help you reallocate your time and energy to continue expansion of your livelihood.

The most beneficial tool is in your head

Bad: Ranchers love their animals and want to do what is best for them.  Thus they become part veterinarians, part dietitians, part truck driver, part bookkeeper.  Farmers become part electrician, part meteorologist, part greasemonkey, and part coffee connoisseur during the wee hours of baling in the night.  However, having too many irons in the fire doesn’t allow any iron to get hot enough to brand.  Ranching and farming with their many facets and hand-in-hand financial opportunities allows for diversification, but beware of spreading out beyond your own capability.

Better: Rather than thinking you can do it all and working yourself weary, invest in equipment, implements, and reliable help to work smarter.  Know when you have to pay for convenience and time, and understand that investments that return 50% in a year is not bad debt!  Debt will pay itself off with smart work.

Best: Having put in the time during the early years of your operation, forgoing vacations and exotic living locales, seeing friends at parties and running marathons, make your life your livelihood and your livelihood your life.  Using the right tools for the job, you will set yourself up to enjoy the ride on the downhill slope. Debt will be done, and investments will begin working for you, freeing up time and returning your sanity.

Although, by the time you reach this point, you will just want to reinvest the fruits of your labor back into the ole place because working on the land and for the land makes you invested in the land.  Welcome friends to this piece of paradise!