35 Story Idea? Email Paul.Nolan@Farms.com Better Farming | November/December 2023 doing their best. It is about give and take and no one can do it by themselves, so everyone understands that teamwork is a big part of it. Do you have any farming mentors? My ranching mentors would be my father and grandfather. My grandfather started with sheep, and it later transitioned to a cattle ranch. My dad is very diligent in his bookkeeping and cattle tracking, to the point that it goes beyond what we need for a commercial operation. But his knowledge and organization are something I strive for, even if I don’t know if I have it in me. Is there any technology you’d like to add to your farm? I bought a drone to try to find cattle, so maybe I’d put more thought and trial and error in with that. I don’t use it very much because I have to tow it around and you need the right conditions. My initial reason for buying it was that we have a lot of land, and a lot of coulees, and it’s a hard ride and not driveable. We are short on manpower so I thought the drone could do it. If it’s midday and the cattle are in the trees, the drone isn’t very handy. And you have to know your blind spots. So maybe putting more energy into that. I would also say more automated feeding, but we do so much on horseback with our yearlings and we feel like them seeing us hand-feed them with pails helps them cope later. You sure notice a difference when you take away the human element. BF UP CLOSE Checking on the cow herd on horseback. Anderson Family photo
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc0MDI3