If you stopped by Original Carter Cattle right now, you would quickly realize that fall on a Utah cattle farm doesn't mean things are slowing down.
Actually, it feels like just the opposite.
There are calves bawling in the feed yard, equipment moving, corn silage packed in the pile, hay still needing to come off the fields, cows waiting to move onto pasture and a new group of show steers getting acquainted with the Carter kids.
The leaves are beginning to change here in Utah, we're seeing more storms roll through, and we know winter isn't very far away.
But before winter gets here, we have work to do.
And this year, there's a lot happening at Original Carter Cattle.
1,180 Calves in the Feed Yard — And More to Come
Over the last couple of weeks, our calves have been coming into the feed yard, and they're now weaned from their mothers and getting settled onto their new feed.
We recently caught Rodney standing in the feed yard and asked him how things were going.
His answer was pretty simple:
“This is a good year for us. Good year to be feeding cattle.”
Then we asked the obvious question.
How many calves are here right now?
1,180.
And Rodney's response after that pretty much sums up ranch life:
“More to come.”
There's always more to come.
Weaning calves is a normal part of raising beef cattle, but it's also a big transition. The calves have left their mothers, they're adjusting to a new environment and they're learning a new feeding routine.
So while seeing 1,180 calves standing in the feed yard is impressive, what matters to us is what's happening with those cattle every day.
Are they settling in? Are they eating? Are they drinking? Are they adjusting well?
Those are the things we're watching.
It's part of the everyday cattle care that goes into raising beef here at Original Carter Cattle.
So...What Do You Feed 1,180 Calves?
That's where another huge part of our fall comes into the story.
Corn silage.
If you've been following Original Carter Cattle on social media, you've probably seen us standing out in the cornfields recently.
We've been showing you what we're looking for in the corn and giving you a glimpse into something most people never think about when they're shopping for beef:
Where does cattle feed actually come from?
For us, some of it starts right here in our own fields.
We recently finished chopping our corn, and saying “we chopped corn” makes the job sound a whole lot easier than it actually is.
It's a process.
A lot of people are involved. There are long hours in the equipment. The corn has to be chopped, hauled out of the field, transported to the pile, unloaded and then packed and compacted.
Load.
After load.
After load.
The goal is to get that chopped corn packed tightly so fermentation can take place and turn it into corn silage for cattle feed.
When you stand next to that finished silage pile, you finally get a sense of just how much work went into it.
And when there are 1,180 calves in the feed yard—with more coming—you understand why putting up feed matters so much.
From Our Cornfields to Our Cattle
This is one of the things we wish more people could experience when buying beef directly from a rancher.
There's a connection between everything you see happening on the farm.
The cornfield isn't separate from the cattle.
The silage pile isn't separate from the feed yard.
The feed yard isn't separate from the beef.
It's all connected.
The decisions we're making in a field today can affect how we care for cattle months from now.
That's part of raising cattle—and it's part of the story behind Original Carter Cattle beef.
Now We Need to Get That Fourth Cutting Off!
While corn chopping may be finished, we're definitely not done in the fields.
Our next job is getting the fourth cutting of alfalfa hay off.
And there's a very practical reason we're anxious to get it done.
We want to move some of our cows out of the corrals and onto the pastures for the winter months.
There is still valuable feed remaining in those fields, and as cattle producers, we don't want that forage going to waste. If the cows can graze what's available, that's feed we can put to good use rather than simply leaving it behind.
But there's a balance.
Alfalfa is a high-quality, protein-rich forage, but lush alfalfa can also increase the risk of bloat in cattle. Bloat can become serious very quickly and, in severe cases, can be fatal.
So we can't just open a gate and turn the cows loose without thinking about what's growing on the other side.
We need to get that fourth cutting of hay off the fields first. Then we can carefully manage the cows on pasture and let them utilize as much of the remaining forage as we reasonably can without wasting good feed and without putting the cattle at unnecessary risk.
That's agriculture.
Sometimes you're looking at a field and trying to answer several questions at once:
What can we harvest?
What can the cattle use?
What shouldn't we waste?
And how do we do it safely?
There isn't always a flashy answer.
A lot of ranching is simply knowing your cattle, knowing your ground and making the best management decision you can with what Mother Nature gives you.
Meanwhile, the Carter Kids Have Their Own Work to Do
While we're worrying about calves, corn, hay and winter pastures, the kids have another project beginning.
The new show steers are here.
They've been weaned, and we've been hand-feeding them every morning and every night.
Now the kids and steers are ready for the next step:
Halter breaking.
If you've followed our family for a while, you know how much work goes into a show steer long before anyone ever walks into the show ring.
This is where it begins.
Morning feeding.
Evening feeding.
Getting the steers comfortable around the kids.
Putting those first halters on.
Teaching them to lead.
And probably a little bit of convincing everyone—kids AND steers—that this whole arrangement is going to work. 😊
Over the next several months, those daily chores will turn into relationships between the kids and their animals.
We'll bring you along for that journey too.
This Is What “Know Your Rancher” Means to Us
You've probably heard us say:
Know your rancher. Know your beef.
To us, that means more than knowing the name of the ranch where your beef came from.
We want you to see this part too.
We want you to see Rodney standing in the feed yard talking about 1,180 calves.
We want you to come into the cornfield with us and learn why we're checking the corn.
We want you to see the silage pile after the last load comes in.
We want you to understand why we're racing Mother Nature to get another cutting of alfalfa off.
We want you to watch our kids put halters on their new show steers and see how much work happens before show day ever arrives.
Because when you choose ranch-raised beef and buy beef directly from a cattle producer, there's an entire story behind the food you're putting on your family's table.
For our customers, the story might end with a steak on the grill.
For our family, it began months—or even years—before that.
It began in the fields.
It began with the cattle.
And it began with another day of work on our Utah farm.
Follow Along With Original Carter Cattle
Fall is just getting started, and there is plenty more happening around here.
We'll continue sharing behind-the-scenes videos, cattle updates, farm life, the kids' progress with their show steers and more of what goes into raising quality beef at Original Carter Cattle.
If you've ever wondered where your beef comes from or what life looks like on a working Utah cattle farm, we hope you'll keep following along.
We're proud to show you the work behind our beef.
From our fields, to our cattle, to your family's table.
Original Carter Cattle
Know your rancher. Know your beef.