Sunday, May 22, 2011

The Prairie in the Spring



Driving home from the Sampler Festival I snapped this photo of cows grazing along the road. It's such a rarity to see cows wandering on the prairie anymore. They're generally penned up in dirt lots and the stench reaches you before you can see them.

These bucolic scenes of cattle grazing are yet another disappearing sight. It's one I will miss.

In fact, I already do.

2 comments:

Kim said...

I've thought for several days about whether or not I should comment about this. I think you have incorrect information about the number of cattle in feedlots, as compared to those in pastures. In fact, 2/3 of the more than 6 million head of cattle in Kansas are cared for by individual farmers and ranchers in pastures, or, during the winter, are fed silage and hay raised by those same farmers and ranchers. Many of the cattle in the feedlots themselves started life at Kansas farms and are just being "finished" at feedlots during the last few weeks of their lives. You just must not be going down the right roads to see them. (And they are, admittedly, off the beaten path.) During the past several weeks, we've seen lots of trailers going by, taking cattle to their summer homes. Check out this blog (I have lots of others with a similar theme and other pastures, but I thought this was representative of where the majority of Kansas cows & calves hang out during the summer):
www.kimscountyline.blogspot.com/2010/07/summer-home.html

I do enjoy your blog.

Patsy Terrell said...

I'm so glad you commented! It's great to know this is not a disappearing scene - just one I'm missing. I will have to pay more attention. Please don't *ever* hesitate to correct anything here. The journalist in me always wants to be correct - even when it's just opinion! :)