Baxter Black: CAROL’S STORY
Carol’s story is just another glamorous tale of a city girl who married a romantic Nebraska Sandhills rancher years ago and became a ‘vocational COW assistant’ for life. “So what exactly do you want me...
Baxter Black: He Wondered How He’d Tell Her
The rancher told his foreman, “Looks like things are gettin’ tough The price of calves is deadly, heck, there may not be enough To pay the note this winter, I’m already overdue What with buyin’...
Cowboy Vegetarian Cookbook
When beef gets short, a lot of cowboys are forced to do without. The cook must come up with meatless meals. The following recipes are from the Cowboy Vegetarian Cookbook. TENNIS SHOE TONGUE: Select an...
Baxter Black: Big Macs and Whoppers
No doubt most of you in the livestock business have a certain “family affection” for the fast food chains. Particularly those restaurants whose main attraction is the often disguised but still All American hamburger. It...
Baxter Black: Cow Disturber
McGraw posed an interesting question. If a cowboy herds a herd of cattle, we call him a herder. If a sheepman herds a flock of sheep, he’s still a herder. Why isn’t he called a...
Baxter Black: Thumbs Up
I confess to not owning a tractor. I have plenty of friends nearby with tractors. But in a lapse of good judgment I borrowed one to brush hog a patch of weeds. Experienced farmers, even...
Baxter Black: Testimony
Christmas is the most joyful of seasons for Believers…when publicly we are closest to God…birth of Christ. It is also a time when we can open our hearts and remember the “second great commandment” as...
Baxter Black: Leroy and Tom
Everybody has a Christmas that stands out in their memory like dandruff on Superman’s cape! Mine was several years ago. Bah Humbug Bill, the cow buyer made a deal on a set of cows down...
Baxter Black: Goddess of the hunt
Diana, goddess of the hunt, stands as a Roman heroine to a long line of female hunters. Even today there are many who have followed in her spoor that deserve to have their name written...
Baxter Black: An Old Story
Stop me if this sounds familiar… Jake had some trouble with his folks. So to keep peace in the family he let the ranch and headed east where his reputation hadn’t preceded him. He wound...
Baxter Black: Remains of a Party
We all have great memories of ‘the best party’. I had a party. It lasted 48 hours. I lost my socks, my dignity, two days of my life, six ping-pong balls and four pounds. I...
Baxter Black: Medical or Nutritional
One of the most important traits of a good feedlot manager is the ability to assign blame. That is the reason they often employ consulting vets and nutritionists. It keeps them from having to fire...
Baxter Black: “Climate Change” Cowboy Logic
The sea level is rising. We are in an “interglacial period” within the Pleistocene Ice Age, according to the learned. It has been melting ice for the last ten thousand years. So, we miniscule Earthlings...
A Hundred Years From Now
Life has always been a balancing act between the haves and have-nots. Less populated industrial countries use the major portion of fossil fuel while third world countries still farm by hand and recreate. The world...
Baxter Black: Farm Animals In History
Mankind from prehistory to space exploration has always depended on animals for help in their quest for advancing civilization. Granted, often as bait or as guinea pigs but we have depended on them, nonetheless. After...
Baxter Black: Gypsy Cow
I was just about to cull the cow when the boss sees me swingin’ the gate. “Hold it there, Doc, for a minute yet, ‘cause I’ve not quite decided her fate. There’s somethin’ about this...
Back to Nature
Harold has been dismantling his feedlot. He built it over 40 years ago and eventually achieved a 30,000 head capacity. You can imagine the accumulation of steel, rubber, railroad ties, nails, car bodies, pipe, chains,...
Baxter Black: In The Doghouse
It’s not easy being a missionary distributing religious pamphlets door to door. Home-owners will go to extremes to avoid listening to you. Audrey and her husband, Walter, have a ranch in British Columbia around Fraser...
Baxter Black: Rich Farming
If wheat gets up to seven bucks I’ll hoard it, yessiree Till the grain bin’s overflowin’ Or it gets back down to three. There’s too much ridin’ on it To sell it right away, The...
Baxter Black: Trolling for Buffalo
Buffalo Bob took the call on his cellular phone. I caught the last of the conversation, “and if that don’t work try a shot. No . . . not a tranquilizer, a 30-30. At least...