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10 Tips for Raising Grassfed Cattle in Argentina – #4

Of Wind and Windmills

Charming, huh? A landscape dotted with old-fashioned windmills like a 1930's movie. Green, too! Windpower from technology that is more than 100 years old. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if some of the windmills around here were 100 years old.

100 years ago, you could buy them at Patio Bullrich on Av. Libertador back when it was one of the world's finest agricultural showcases. Some of the best were from Chicago. Innovative design, finest construction, cutting-edge and lusted after …sort of the iPad of its day.

They pump water (in fact, they are often called windpumps.) The spinning motion drives a pipe up and down through a cylinder that sucks water from a well directly below. On every up-stroke the water is then gravity-fed to a huge open-air tank that supplies the watering troughs for the cattle.

But it's old tech now. And my problem is that windmills are binary; they have two positions: pump and don't pump. If they are moving, they're pumping. There is no clutch to allow the windmill to move/spin without pumping water.

That means you have to turn them off when your tank is full. If you don't turn them off, they will overflow your tanks and erode the soil around them. This creates a muddy lake and I've seen cows sink into that muck to the point where they have to be pulled out by horses.

On your average-sized Argentine cattle ranch you probably have 5 or more. Some located at the extremes of your spread where you share the pumping with your neighbor. Don't forget to turn them back on when your tanks begin to run low.

That's a lot of horseback and on a regular basis. Regular, in that 1000 cows will drink 15,000 gallons of water a day …and horseback, in that there really isn't any other means of transport that will do it especially when it's muddy.

Wind and windmills: the best of buddies, right? They go together like Starbucks and WiFi, no?

Wrong. Wind will destroy windmills like nothing else.

In high winds (about 40 miles an hour) if you don't turn them on …the winds can tear them to pieces. In the off position they become huge galvanized kites and can end up in the next pasture or ranch. (At this writing, the mighty pampas winds are really picking-up and it's Carneval so my gaucho has the day off!)

When a sudden storm blows in with both plenty of rain and wind, it is a dreary chore to put your poncho on and saddle-up for what amounts to miles of horseback to reach them all.

I would dearly love to modify our windmills to include a "third" position that would allow them to spin free so they don't break to pieces in high winds but wouldn't pump over my tanks while doing so.

Although old tech, they are very expensive to replace or repair. And because they're such old tech, google and the wisdom of crowds is not exactly teeming with hacks and updates to the firmware.

But that won't stop us here at The Open Bar Institute of Old Agricultural Stuff Research …if it can be at all cost-effective, we'll find a way to give these babies an upgrade!

Until then, I'm grateful for ponchos, horses, and gauchos.

10 Tips for Raising Grassfed Cattle in Argentina – #2

As mentioned in #1, get yourself a good gaucho and treat him right …their numbers are dwindling and by going through the trial and error of finding a good one, you´ll be doing your part to keep a tradition alive.

Today, I´d like to mention the importance of rain. Be sure to get yourself some good rain.

As well as being great for your pastures, a rainy day is perfect for a glorious extra hour of sleep, miscellaneous maintainance of buildings and machines, and general catching-up on paperwork and inventories. It´s great for a guilt-free glass of beer and maybe a summertime fire to roast a tasty lunch.

As a lifelong city boy myself, I´ve always heard weather reports saying that X number of inches fell last night …blah, blah, blah. So what? It rained. It ruined the weekend, rained-out the ballgame, concert, BBQ, etc. It was wet.

The ears of any rancher of farmer, however, will perk-up like a stock broker on the floor of the NYSE. “Shit. Only an inch” or “Yeah! 7 inches real steady all night long!” If the tone of voice makes it sound as good as sex, you´re listening well.

Rainfall in our part of the pampas is a lot like the mid-western US: about 40 inches per year. As I write this morning, about 5cm has fallen already and there´s no sign of it stopping. So …how much rain is 5cm? It depends.

Imagine yourself an average Argentine ranch of abount 2500 acres and let´s say that 5cm is 2 inches. At 27,154 gallons per acre, you´re average Argentine ranch has received about 136 MILLION gallons over its surface …and you´re gonna need a lot more and and on a regular basis: if soils dry-up too much between rainfalls, they can become brick-like and can´t absorb gifts like this morning´s.

On the other hand, fields saturated from previous rains or areas where the groundwater is naturally close to the surface have a lot of trouble absorbing only 3 inches. The State of Florida, for example, considers 4 inches in 24 hours to be torrential.

7 inches of rain for a big well paved suburb will probably result in impassable roads and parking lots. Grassland is much more forgiving, though. Although here in the center of Buenos Aires Province even our roads are grasslands! They´re unpaved. So if this rain gets to 7 inches today …my Missus and I won´t be going to town tomorrow. We´ll be counting on our provisions until the roads dry-up a bit.

This year has been a “la niña” year. OUr winter and spring were wonderfully wet …but this summer has been hot and dry. Grasslands are forgiving under those circumstances too. Although it was a little scary waiting for the rains to finally return, our natural and cultivated pastures came through like champs and our animals haven´t looked this good in years.

The value of rain (especially after a long dry spell) is incalcuable …but I´m still tempted to put a $ figure on every inch or hour. If, for example, you figure all the money that you could lose if the rain doesn´t come then divide that by hou much rain fell, your whold attitude toward rained-out picnics changes forever.

A real prolonged drought like we had 3 or 4 years ago is nightmarish for any rancher that depends on grass. What happened in Texas and Oklahoma 6 months ago was very similar. Ranchers were faced with either selling off their herds or watch them die in the fields (usually a little of both.) All the selling-off coming at the same time caused cattle prices to fall, making it less profitable to stay in the business.

When the rains finally returned, all the femaile animals were gone and the price of the remaining “mommies” had skyrocketed making it impossible for most people to get back into a business that may have been generations old.

To those who hung-on, the rains were a windfall that left them with high cattle prices and few competitors. Such is the game-changing power of rain!

10 Tips for Raising Grassfed Cattle in Argentina – #3

Today, I´d like to address the phenomenon of alien abduction as it relates to grassfed ranching deep in the pampas.

The profound silence here at the Open Bar Ranch attracts aliens like expats to sushi.

The lack of any mechanized equipment, TV, or human noises of any kind is a sure sign that you are at risk of the mothership slipping up right behind you.

The sneaky bastards will use a hypnotic symphony of bird noises and/or rustle the leaves of nearby willows and elms with perfumed breezes thereby inducing a remarkable anethesia.

Concentration is key …to getting your ass abducted! Detail-work such as repairs or repetitive motion tasks like painting allow the slippery devils’ tractor beam to envelope you.

While on board, the little buggers perform invasive procedures to havest your stress and worry cells necessary to the production of sharp jagged objects on Mizar-5.

Occasionally, a horse will snuffle and stomp the ground with his hoof scaring-away the mothership …but if your Missus is off gardening or putting the finishing touches on some project, you´d both better be prepared to disappear into the cosmos until suppertime.

10 Tips for Raising Grassfed Cattle in Argentina

As mentioned in #1, get yourself a good gaucho and treat him right …their numbers are dwindling and by going through the trial and error of finding a good one, you´ll be doing your part to keep a tradition alive.

Today, I´d like to mention the importance of rain. Be sure to get yourself some good rain.

As well as being great for your pastures, a rainy day is perfect for a glorious extra hour of sleep, miscellaneous maintainance of buildings and machines, and general catching-up on paperwork and inventories. It´s great for a guilt-free glass of beer and maybe a summertime fire to roast a tasty lunch.

As a lifelong city boy myself, I´ve always heard weather reports saying that X number of inches fell last night …blah, blah, blah. So what? It rained. It ruined the weekend, rained-out the ballgame, concert, BBQ, etc. It was wet.

The ears of any rancher of farmer, however, will perk-up like a stock broker on the floor of the NYSE. “Shit. Only an inch” or “Yeah! 7 inches real steady all night long!” If the tone of voice makes it sound as good as sex, you´re listening well.

Rainfall in our part of the pampas is a lot like the mid-western US: about 40 inches per year. As I write this morning, about 5cm has fallen already and there´s no sign of it stopping. So …how much rain is 5cm? It depends.

Imagine yourself an average Argentine ranch of abount 2500 acres and let´s say that 5cm is 2 inches. At 27,154 gallons per acre, you´re average Argentine ranch has received about 136 MILLION gallons over its surface …and you´re gonna need a lot more and and on a regular basis: if soils dry-up too much between rainfalls, they can become brick-like and can´t absorb gifts like this morning´s.

On the other hand, fields saturated from previous rains or areas where the groundwater is naturally close to the surface have a lot of trouble absorbing only 3 inches. The State of Florida, for example, considers 4 inches in 24 hours to be torrential.

7 inches of rain for a big well paved suburb will probably result in impassable roads and parking lots. Grassland is much more forgiving, though. Although here in the center of Buenos Aires Province even our roads are grasslands! They´re unpaved. So if this rain gets to 7 inches today …my Missus and I won´t be going to town tomorrow. We´ll be counting on our provisions until the roads dry-up a bit.

This year has been a “la niña” year. OUr winter and spring were wonderfully wet …but this summer has been hot and dry. Grasslands are forgiving under those circumstances too. Although it was a little scary waiting for the rains to finally return, our natural and cultivated pastures came through like champs and our animals haven´t looked this good in years.

The value of rain (especially after a long dry spell) is incalcuable …but I´m still tempted to put a $ figure on every inch or hour. If, for example, you figure all the money that you could lose if the rain doesn´t come then divide that by hou much rain fell, your whold attitude toward rained-out picnics changes forever.

A real prolonged drought like we had 3 or 4 years ago is nightmarish for any rancher that depends on grass. What happened in Texas and Oklahoma 6 months ago was very similar. Ranchers were faced with either selling off their herds or watch them die in the fields (usually a little of both.) All the selling-off coming at the same time caused cattle prices to fall, making it less profitable to stay in the business.

When the rains finally returned, all the femaile animals were gone and the price of the remaining “mommies” had skyrocketed making it impossible for most people to get back into a business that may have been generations old.

To those who hung-on, the rains were a windfall that left them with high cattle prices and few competitors. Such is the game-changing power of rain!

just couldn’t hold it in

Shanks pull out of Roca

Monday – February 13, 2012 – “I can’t say it was fun while it lasted, but there were some awesome moments.” Following a string of hardships brought on by the wrath of nature and at the hands of the petty crooks that lingered after dark, the Shankee organization was forced to pull out of Parque Roca, and thus close a bitter sweet chapter in the Shankee history books. It was in April 2011, that the Shankees were awarded the right to restore and operate an abandoned Clubhouse and Softball field within the Parque Julio Roca premises. However, the internal codes of the park and the crack heads from the adjacent shanty neighborhoods, made it almost impossible for Shankee Skipper and President Paul Perry to keep things going despite his desires and efforts to turn it into an international spot for baseball players from all walks of life, Unfortunately, “If it’s not the wind blowing off the makeshift tin roof, it’s the broken pipes flooding up the entire place, and if it’s not the thieves stealing the power cables from underneath the ground, it’s the park workers digging up ten years of trash for no apparent reason, and then leaving me to clean it up,” states Perry, who financed the restoration and development of the area himself with the help of generous Shankee supporters. “We put about 10,000 pesos into that place, al pedo!” Perry adds, who despite being broke after having put all his savings into the clubhouse, is still hopeful he can get a team together before the season starts on March 4th. “I know how much Shankees baseball means to Expats and to Buenos Aires,” says Paul, after contemplating calling it quits. Though given the support of Shankees past and present, this seems very unlikely. “I never thought I’d never play hard ball again,” states former Shankee Karl Hass, who adds, “I can’t thank you enough for giving me the chance to throw on the mask again, it meant the world to me. I’ll never forget my time in BA because of that.” Shankee Sponsor and the first fan to ever hang up a K sign, Fred Badagani of Silver Star Transport states, “The clubhouse concept should not go away; we need a place to eat real chips and salsa, have brisket, win baseball games, eat real cookies and hang K signs and Speak English. This is so sad!” Former ace pitcher Andrew Terry also comments, “The Shankees need to continue to grow… It’s my favorite Buenos Aires experience.” And local artist, the flamboyant Tranki Yanqui says, “Look at all this support Pauly! You’re a hero man, and everybody loves the Shankees!” Given the outpour of support, the Shankee Organization is looking to get back on track, and continue to bring baseball to everyone who loves the game, and just happens to be in Buenos Aires.

Reporting for the Shankee Press, Jack Green.

Chronicles of pitfalls:

May 2011- Thieves break into clubhouse and steal 8 recently bought plastic chairs*

June 2011- Strong winds blow half the roof off the clubhouse. *

July 2011 – Broken pipe leaves clubhouse without water for two weeks.*

July 2011- Mild hurricane blows tin roof off again. *

August 2011- Park workers dig up the entire space along the first base line. Unearthing decades of garbage.*

September 2011 -A series of robberies cause Perry to remove everything until better security can be installed.*

October 2011 – Heavy rains flood entire clubhouse.*

December 2011- Thieves steal 20 meters of electric cable from underground, causing 1000 pesos in ice-cream to go to waste.*

January 2012- unable to replace electric cable due to the uncertainty that it will be robbed again, the clubhouse remains inoperable. Rats eat two boxes of Alfajores. *

January 2012 – Perry finds dead rats in kitchen. A most gross moment. *

January 2012 – Perry obtains new electric cable and digs a ten meter trench in which to place the new cable.

Next day- Cable gone; Power out again.*

February 2012 – Perry receives threats from the park administrators, claiming money for maintenance and a copy of the keys to the clubhouse.*

February 13^th- Perry rents a moving truck and enters Parque Roca in the night to empty out clubhouse. Exodus!

Meanwhile Back at the Ranch…

(A Letter from Cow Heaven)

Like a lot of things happen, it was slowly, and for a long time, and then… all of a sudden! (I think Hemingway said that about going broke.)

At any rate, after a couple of unsatisfying visits to the ranch here in early January …we fired everybody and have been living here ever since!

It suddenly feels like “the polarity” has finally been reversed.

Longtime readers may remember that I prematurely announced that my Missus and I would be spending the majority of our time here in Cow Heaven and just visiting Buenos Aires …instead of the other way around. (I think that may have been 2 years ago!)

Although the ratio was to have been 20 days at the ranch for every 10 days at in Capital, we’ve been here for almost six weeks with hardly a break.

We’re chalkin’ that up to “start-up” efforts: the place was in disarray, work not completed, wool pulled over our eyes, etc.

As the old Argentine saying goes, “The eye of the owner fattens the cattle.” And we means to fatten some cattle!

As I was tellin’ that Bad Hombre from the Great State of Texas, El Tejano, last month, I can’t really get angry that our top-shelf salaries were bringing trash-bin results

…you can’t expect employees to run your business as if it were their own …especially if the owner only drops-in a couple times a month for another whirlwind visit. If I had ever been supervised that way, I’d have done (not done?) the same thing.

Another aspect of being an owner that makes me sound like some whiny “you just can’t find good help anymore” bitch is: nobody wants to do gaucho-work anymore …and you can’t blame them.

The life of a 21st century gaucho (officially, “encargado” or as Slats G. Johnson would put it: HMFWIC) is not much fun …and with the booming Argentine economy, everybody living in town is having fun with hi-speed internet, satellite TV, and REAL electricity!

My Missus and I do all we can to make life here on Yanqui Mike’s Open Bar Ranch loads better than most ranches.

A gaucho’s life at our place includes nice quarters (with room for a significant other) in the big owner’s house with flowers and ancient trees, gas refrigerator, electricity from a generator a couple hours a night, wood-fired hot water heater, inside plumbing and toilets, pets and horses allowed, and some other little perks like legal pay and the required days-off and vacation.

Most ranches don’t have a house at all.

After generations of splitting-up the big old estancias, most kids inherited a section of land without any buildings at all. Gauchos on those places live in makeshift shacks or trailers.

While interviewing for our new gaucho we heard some pretty scary stories about living alone or with other workers and no nothin’!

One couple told us that they weren’t allowed days-off, had no electricity or refrigerator, and had to buy their provisions from “the company store” (as in “owe your soul to”)

Even under the best of conditions, the work is hard and the workday is long. Up before sun-up every day and lots of horseback for quite a few kilometros, moving cows and caring for them in a minor veterinary way, mending fences and general maintenance.

When the sun goes down, you’re happy to see it go down. You’re tired and you want to shower, eat, and go to bed.

So there’s really no wonder that few people want to do that anymore. Folks in the nearby town (friends and relatives) have been enjoying good employment and subsidies and all the comforts of modern living …either right at home, or delivered, or right down a sociable street or corner.

Wages for an excellent gaucho today, however, are generally twice what is paid to the average worker in town or Capital…and are equivalent, on bigger ranches, to a professional in downtown Buenos Aires.

But to want to be a successful, long-term gaucho means wanting something that is at odds with the urbanity that I have always sought in my own life …and that I am only now surrendering part of.

Hats off to those who still love the life and the tradition!

…more to come from the ranch …and I hope to see you sometime soon in capital!

Love,
Mike

Festival Shakespeare Buenos Aires 2012

Psychoactive Mushrooms as Big as Your Head

Is there any wonder that nature is SO contemplative …or that we get so little work done! Take a trip and never leave the farm.