#meadowsranch

Hey #MDiTA, @jerodfoster back for the last day on this visual trip around Meadows Ranch. A ranch like this, at its foundation, is built around a family. I’m proud to be a part of the Meadows family and have taken with me many influencing characteristics from it that show up in my daily personal and professional lives. I imagine all of my cousins that grew up on the ranch can say the same thing. Speaking of cousins, it’s getting more and more difficult to get us all together on the holidays as we get older and grow families of our own. This shot was made a couple years ago, and there have been at least three more additions since then (one birth and two marriages)! Yet, we do work hard to get together over the holidays and pack the main ranch house! Today’s feature is all about those folks that live on the ranch and make it home! I hope all of you can relate. • • #MDiTA #igTexas #TexasAgricultureMatters #texasranch #ranchlife #cattleranch #TexasAgriculture #TexasAg #AgPhotography #travelphotographer #fightnaturedeficitdisorder #getoutside #wisecounty #meadowsranch (at Cottondale, Texas)

Hey #MDiTA community! @jerodfoster, once again, walking you through a visual trip to Meadows Ranch. Seasons are often distinct on the ranch, in both visual terms and the work that takes place during the year. Located in north central Texas, just northwest of the larger Fort Worth area, Meadows Ranch sees a larger amount of springtime rain and growth than its counterparts out west. Like with other agricultural ventures, rain is always welcome, even if it leaves the ground, the livestock, and the people a little soppy for a few days or weeks. One thing I’ve always appreciated as a photographer is the ranch’s location for capturing the weather. Being in the transition zone between southern high plains and piney woods, the ranch has a great mix of trees dotting the undulating hills while still leaving plenty of room to see the skies and weather systems moving across them! The rain always bring along the typical spring wildflowers (although these aren’t as plentiful in the region as the Hill Country south), sustenance for grazing fields, and most important, resource for a healthy hay crop waiting be harvested in the summer. After what can be hard winters, springtime is always a welcome sight! • • #MDiTA #igTexas #TexasAgricultureMatters #texasranch #ranchlife #cattleranch #TexasAgriculture #TexasAg #AgPhotography #travelphotographer #fightnaturedeficitdisorder #getoutside #wisecounty #meadowsranch (at Cottondale, Texas)

No good conversation about the animals raised on Meadows Ranch can be left without giving a nod to its long history with livestock showing. Whether through 4-H or FFA, the youth of the ranch have always stepped into a show ring with market and breeding animals of all kinds. From locals to majors, showing livestock is almost a rite of passage on the ranch, and one that develops in the showers a great many positive, real-world skills and characteristics. Breeding stock turns into small herds for larger FFA projects, market animals curate responsibility and a healthy sense of competitiveness, and through it all comes an understanding and appreciation for showmanship. Looking back on it, I’m quite nostalgic about showing registered Angus heifers. I was proud to contribute to the ranch’s herd when i left my few heifers and cows for Texas Tech. Livestock showing is a family effort and it’s one of those activities that keeps the families on Meadows Ranch knitted together. I get excited to see those still involved exhibiting their projects. Likewise, showing and involvement in 4-H and FFA helped pave the way for many of the ranch family’s kids go on to college (yours truly, for example). And, it has even inspired career choices for a lifetime (the young man in the first image here, shot in 2010, is now an ag teacher). • • #MDiTA #igTexas #TexasAgricultureMatters #texasranch #ranchlife #cattleranch #TexasAgriculture #TexasAg #AgPhotography #travelphotographer #fightnaturedeficitdisorder #getoutside #wisecounty #meadowsranch #livestock #livestockshow (at Cottondale, Texas)

Meadows Ranch is home to non-livestock, as well. The ranch relies on its other workers: herding and guard dogs. The ranch, thanks to Todd Meadows, son of the family’s patriarch, Melvin, has gained recognition over the years for its Border Collies used for herding and working both cattle and goats. Champion collies have been raised and trained on the ranch, and they’re a wonder to watch under Todd’s direction. These dogs love to work, and since horses have not been used regularly on the ranch in sometime, they play an integral role in its day-to-day operation. Another breed that serves a vital function, but often is an unsung staple to the ranch, are the Anatolian Akbash and Great Pyrenees guard dogs. These large, fluffy and fiercely loyal dogs are raised among young livestock, such as newborn goats (kids), and live alongside them in the field, effectively protecting them from predators (mainly coyotes). Meadows Ranch progressively adopted dogs to ranch work decades ago, and I (and others) can’t imagine the ranch without them. They’re certainly more than mere pets, and each has their role to play. • • #MDiTA #igTexas #TexasAgricultureMatters #texasranch #ranchlife #cattleranch #TexasAgriculture #TexasAg #AgPhotography #travelphotographer #fightnaturedeficitdisorder #getoutside #wisecounty #meadowsranch (at Cottondale, Texas)

Hey #MDiTA, @jerodfoster here again with more from Meadows Ranch! For as long as it’s been around, cattle have been the main production staple for the ranch. Hearty, quality stock—crossbred between Hereford, Charolais and Limousine breeds—are frequent visuals across the ranch’s landscape. Later, Angus we’re added to the mix, increasing the number of black cattle seen dotting the green grass. Quality beef production comes with a load of both time-tested indigenous knowledge and modern-day management practices. It’s around this time of the year that a passerby will see spring calves with momma cows in the pastures close to the main ranch house. It’s more manageable to keep a close eye on the herd with this proximity to it. As a photographer, springtime is my favorite time to photograph the cattle operation, given it’s a time for new life and vibrancy around the ranch! However, photographing the day-to-day during the winter is also interesting and often more action-filled given the daily feeding that takes place around the ranch. • • #MDiTA #igTexas #TexasAgricultureMatters #texasranch #ranchlife #cattleranch #TexasAgriculture #TexasAg #AgPhotography #travelphotographer #fightnaturedeficitdisorder #getoutside #wisecounty #meadowsranch (at Cottondale, Texas)