My last weekend in the USA has been and gone. After leaving Starlake I made the 200 mile trip to Pratt Nebraska for the night, to be a bit closer to my Saturday visits. Unfortunately it didnt suit to visit the Gardiner Angus Ranch which was a real loss to my study as it is an amazing operation and one of the oldest established ranches in Oklahoma. I went to visit the famous Dodge City the Queen of the cow towns, one of the wildest places in the west, the town that Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson tamed and of course the famous shoot out at the OK Corral.
It was bitterly cold with the wipers freezing as I drove, not the sort of weather to be a tourist in but needs must! There are a few pieces of history remaining around the town El Capatain, a bronze statue of a Texas Longhorn whos breed made the town during the cattle drives, a statue of Wyatt Earp and a reconstructed town depicting Dodge in the "good ole days".
Modern Dodge? Unfortunately its not quite so glamorous as the vision in out minds. Several very large feed yards which can be smelt from miles away, and two very large meat plants, Cargill and National Beef. They are esay to spot on either side of the main highway with hundreds of refrigerated trailers parked up outside waiting for their loads of beef. I cant confirm other than my own assumptions but it looks very like the towns largest employers are the meat packers employing mainly Hispanic workers. The next town west is Garden City which is supposed to be exactly the same thing all over again. It is cattle country!
The real purpose of my visit was to visit Sandhill Farms near Haviland KS. I stopped for a coffee in Greensburgh KS and noticed there was a massive amount of home building going on. An F5 tornado had passed directly through the village totally destroying it and claiming 8 lives. It is estimated it was 1.7miles wide and travelled for 22miles with wind speeds reaching 205 MPH. Two tornados cut a swath through this part of Kansas simultaneously on the 4th of May 2007, followed by 2 more the next day although not of the same strength. The re-building is progressing steadily with the new homes embracing green technology and building techniques giving the town a new lease of life! http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/photos/kansas-tornado/widespread-damage-kansas.html
Back to the purpose of this post and my visit to Sandhill Farms. I knew a little about the herd and breeding programme but it was great to visit and meet everyone as well as seeing their herd. There is a real degree of practicality here as this is a family owned and operated farm where their living is made from farming cattle and crops. There is a real grasp of the commercial realities of cattle production here with all the breeding efforts being placed on producing the type of bull that their now established demand and expect. This trade has been built from years of hard work building a product and customer base. Some of the factors contributing to this include an understanding of the commercial side of cattle breeding, selecting for the practical traits essential to 21st century meat markets, tough quality standards and a keen appreciation and knowledge of the mechanics of EPD's. It was really refreshing to see the cattle and find out about how they do things from really nice people. Thanks for the hospitality!
I visited the Nobel Foundation in Ardmore OK today. I will tell you more about it in my next post as my battery is going. That was my last official engagement (dont I sound like royalty) in the Sooner state. Tomorrow morning its a 700 mile journey NW to Wellington Colorado for the last few days in the USA before moving on to NZ. Hopefully I will get online tomorrow night to update and definately before I leave to sum up my trip so far.
It was bitterly cold with the wipers freezing as I drove, not the sort of weather to be a tourist in but needs must! There are a few pieces of history remaining around the town El Capatain, a bronze statue of a Texas Longhorn whos breed made the town during the cattle drives, a statue of Wyatt Earp and a reconstructed town depicting Dodge in the "good ole days".
Modern Dodge? Unfortunately its not quite so glamorous as the vision in out minds. Several very large feed yards which can be smelt from miles away, and two very large meat plants, Cargill and National Beef. They are esay to spot on either side of the main highway with hundreds of refrigerated trailers parked up outside waiting for their loads of beef. I cant confirm other than my own assumptions but it looks very like the towns largest employers are the meat packers employing mainly Hispanic workers. The next town west is Garden City which is supposed to be exactly the same thing all over again. It is cattle country!
The real purpose of my visit was to visit Sandhill Farms near Haviland KS. I stopped for a coffee in Greensburgh KS and noticed there was a massive amount of home building going on. An F5 tornado had passed directly through the village totally destroying it and claiming 8 lives. It is estimated it was 1.7miles wide and travelled for 22miles with wind speeds reaching 205 MPH. Two tornados cut a swath through this part of Kansas simultaneously on the 4th of May 2007, followed by 2 more the next day although not of the same strength. The re-building is progressing steadily with the new homes embracing green technology and building techniques giving the town a new lease of life! http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/photos/kansas-tornado/widespread-damage-kansas.html
Back to the purpose of this post and my visit to Sandhill Farms. I knew a little about the herd and breeding programme but it was great to visit and meet everyone as well as seeing their herd. There is a real degree of practicality here as this is a family owned and operated farm where their living is made from farming cattle and crops. There is a real grasp of the commercial realities of cattle production here with all the breeding efforts being placed on producing the type of bull that their now established demand and expect. This trade has been built from years of hard work building a product and customer base. Some of the factors contributing to this include an understanding of the commercial side of cattle breeding, selecting for the practical traits essential to 21st century meat markets, tough quality standards and a keen appreciation and knowledge of the mechanics of EPD's. It was really refreshing to see the cattle and find out about how they do things from really nice people. Thanks for the hospitality!
I visited the Nobel Foundation in Ardmore OK today. I will tell you more about it in my next post as my battery is going. That was my last official engagement (dont I sound like royalty) in the Sooner state. Tomorrow morning its a 700 mile journey NW to Wellington Colorado for the last few days in the USA before moving on to NZ. Hopefully I will get online tomorrow night to update and definately before I leave to sum up my trip so far.
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