#texasag

Breakfast… the most important meal of the day. These ladies get served two 15,500 pound loads of breakfast every morning before 9:00am. • #MDiTA #igTexas #TexasAgricultureMatters #Dairy #DairyFarm #DairyLife #FarmLife #Farm #TexasAg

Breakfast… the most important meal of the day. These ladies get served two 15,500 pound loads of breakfast every morning before 9:00am. • #MDiTA #igTexas #TexasAgricultureMatters #Dairy #DairyFarm #DairyLife #FarmLife #Farm #TexasAg

Breakfast… the most important meal of the day. These ladies get served two 15,500 pound loads of breakfast every morning before 9:00am. • #MDiTA #igTexas #TexasAgricultureMatters #Dairy #DairyFarm #DairyLife #FarmLife #Farm #TexasAg

We are currently scheduling guest host for Summer. If you are Texas Agriculturalist and want to share you story, send us a message for more info. #mdita #guesthost #igtexas #texasagriculturematters #texasag

I want to wrap up this week’s visual journey around Meadows Ranch by acknowledging the work that goes into operating the modern-day ag operation. The dedication it takes to ensure success on a ranch like Meadows Ranch is sometimes hard to comprehend or even imagine, and yet the folks living on and working this place do it day in and day out. It takes a special level of commitment to forego vacation during the summer because the hay crop is ready for harvest, to wake up early on an icy morning in the winter to feed cattle and check to make sure wells haven’t frozen, and to chase down birthing cattle to ensure healthy deliveries of calves while it’s chilly and wet outside. I’ve grown up around people that have that level of commitment, and if a fraction of it has rubbed off on me, then I’ll consider myself a lucky person. Folks like PaPa and MaMa and my uncle Todd always represented that to me growing up, and I recognize it in others on Meadows Ranch, as well. I’m fortunate to call this corner of Cottondale home. • • #MDiTA #igTexas #TexasAgricultureMatters #texasranch #ranchlife #cattleranch #TexasAgriculture #TexasAg #AgPhotography #travelphotographer #fightnaturedeficitdisorder #getoutside #wisecounty #meadowsranch (at Cottondale, Texas)

Fall on Meadows Ranch is a transition away from the heat into mellow evenings and sometimes an early frost. The 1,500 bales of hay from the summer are stacked away in preparation for the winter, and the days grow shorter. The occasional fall storm supplies moisture for the ground going into winter and the cattle graze in anticipation of the fields going dormant. It seems a sleepy time around the ranch. Yet, there’s plenty of work to be done, and it ramps up at the first freeze, which usually occurs a month or so before winter officially begins. The skies in the fall do what most do at this time of year in Texas: they light up for sunrise and sunset, mixing sunlight with natural (and unnatural) atmospheric debris to color the sky like a painter would on canvas. Fall is also a time for family, as Thanksgiving is one of the more crowded holidays celebrated at the ranch (as you’ll see tomorrow). In some ways, fall feels like the end of the year, or the end of a great work day, especially when there’s no beating those mild fall evenings watching the sun go down over the pastures. • • #MDiTA #igTexas #TexasAgricultureMatters #texasranch #ranchlife #cattleranch #TexasAgriculture #TexasAg #AgPhotography #travelphotographer #fightnaturedeficitdisorder #getoutside #wisecounty #meadowsranch (at Cottondale, Texas)

Summertime transitions out of spring as the humidity climbs and temperatures rise along with it. Likewise, hay production ramps up, and thousand-pound round bales are the name of the game. With decent rains, multiple cuts can be made throughout the summer and into the fall months. Meadows Ranch bales hundreds (if not thousands, some summers) round bales at various locations on the ranch and at leases around southern Wise County, all in an effort to have stores for winter feeding. Rows of bales are stacked on a hillside visible from a main county road cutting through the ranch, and I’ve always thought they were the most iconic part of the place. You could tell if it had been a wet or dry year just by looking at the amount of hay stacked on that hillside. Water on the ranch plays a couple extra essential roles during the summer, too: keeping cool and recreation. It’s not uncommon to see heifers wading in the shallows of a creek or pond, and fishing on one of the ranch’s three lakes is enjoyed by everyone that lives there. One of my favorite times on the ranch was the summer after my first semester at @TexasTech. My brother, @cathead_biscuits and I bought and repaired an old Bass Buster and a trolling motor and fished every evening that summer. I felt like we caught everything the lake had in it! Summertime on ranches are full of work, but I imagine a few following this account can agree that they are also some of the most rewarding times. You just have to keep an eye out for the snakes in the garden! • Hay Production photos by @dillonmeadows • • #MDiTA #igTexas #TexasAgricultureMatters #texasranch #ranchlife #cattleranch #TexasAgriculture #TexasAg #AgPhotography #travelphotographer #fightnaturedeficitdisorder #getoutside #wisecounty #meadowsranch (at Cottondale, Texas)