Its sometimes hard to believe how fast the year goes by on a cattle ranch.  We always like to spend some time planning the year in January and February because once calving get busy in March, it seems like it is full steam ahead until November. 

2026 is jammed packed with fun and exciting new things! Here is a bit of a yearly ranch life summary of our upcoming year.

January 

We have been eagerly waiting for more snow to fall this winter so hopefully it arrives in January and February.  We need all the water holes to fill up because they have been very low the past few years.  We are going to process of heifers this month and give them their first dose of a scour vaccine. Throughout the month, we will work on finishing up our books for 2025 and planning for 2026. We have some exciting new products coming this year! We usually spend some time cross country skiing this month too when it is a little quieter.

February

We will process the heifers again and the cowherd and start to get the corrals ready for calving.  We have some purebred cows calving this month, so we will need to get the barn ready as well. Next on the list is processing the ewes ready for lambing season. February is usually a lot of calving prep so that we can be prepared for the first calves and lambs to arrive. We will need to make sure our supply room is stocked with all the necessary supplies.

March

We will be in full swing of calving and lambing this month. We are very excited about some the calves from some new sires that we used last spring. I will try to bring you along as much as possible during calving! The last few years, our weekly calving blog posts and daily social media posts were very popular.

April

April will definitely be the month of fencing! Between the annual fencing and the remaining fencing from the fire, we will definitely be consumed with building fences. Along with that, we will need to do the spring field work and process calves and cows ready for spring turnout. The boys also have their first show of the year this month.

May

May is usually when we turn most of the cows out to their summer pastures and turn the bulls out with them. We are planning to implant embryos in our recipient cows and do some artificial insemination on a group of cows again.  Of course, the boys will be getting into full swing with working their show cattle. They keep adding to their list, so they are going to definitely keep busy. 

June

June is usually a bit quieter. This year, we hope to spend some more time on our garden. Last year, we loved having our own fresh produce through the summer and fall. The boys have another show this month and depending on the moisture situation, haying season may start. We are hoping we get lots of moisture at the beginning of the year, but if not, hay, pasture and water may be quite dire. We also check pastures and cattle throughout all the summer months, and keep our fingers crossed that the bulls stay in! 

July 

We usually are in full swing of haying and continuing with the show cattle prep. Hopefully no forest fires this year! There is also a cattle show that we would like to attend in July so we will see how the year goes.

August

Haying is usually wrapping up in August, and we usually have to move some cattle around. We have a lot of beef and lambs being processed in August, so we are usually doing quite a few pickups and deliveries. A few of us will also be getting ready for another cattle show this month.

September 

In September, we work on getting the corrals ready for fall when we bring the cattle home. Some of the cattle are hauled home towards the end of September and the boys attend a cattle show and sell their steer projects. 

October

October is the cattle month when we are weighing, processing and selling our calves. We also preg check the cow herd and turn the cows out onto fall grass. 

November

The cows will hopefully be on fall pasture still and then we usually bring them home and start to feed hay sometime in November, hopefully after the middle of the month. We will have 2027 calendars available for purchase. We are also hoping to attend a cattle show in Alberta this month, which will be a first for us!

December 

December is the month of feeding and finalizing the books from the year. Between the daily winter chores and getting ready for Christmas, the days get filled quickly. It is usually a bit quieter and we always love when the skiing season opens! 

Exciting Future

A lot of this year will be dependent on the weather. Our fingers are crossed for lots of moisture as we are very dry right now! 

We have beef being processed frequently this year and we are continuing with our weekly beef deliveries. We also have lambs being processed in August. We are looking forward to expanding into some new products and we are excited to tell you more about them throughout the year!