Driving the range: Ranchers coordinate cattle drive

ELKO – If guiding cows for a half-mile trot down the road sounds like a simple plan, think again. Cattle drives are necessary to relocate livestock from one area to another, typically to a spot with fresh feed. Seasoned cowboys know the drill; even so, it can take a coordinated plan that involves making contact with the state’s highway department, railroad operators, and gathering enough bodies to set up a “human barricade” if necessary, said rancher Susan Church. Church, with Glaser Land and Livestock, participated in a few drives this spring, one of which was less than a mile in distance but crossed two sets of railroad tracks. It began with a call to the Union Pacific’s office in Omaha, Nebraska, the night before to ensure no trains would chug through while livestock was on the move. “The morning of you tell them when you’re going to get ready to go, get everyone saddled up and ready,” she said. “They dispatch with Elko. They then call us and let us know that we can go.” Church has to remind herself to call the railroad once the drive is complete. “They’re always very nice about it,” she said. On a drive years ago, Church said, the cows stubbornly caused a longer-than expected delay for the trains. The engineers pitched in, helping the calves safely across. “We held up more trains that day than Jesse James,” Church is fond of saying. The cowboys also coordinate with the Nevada Department of Transportation and the Nevada Highway Patrol to help with traffic control. “We do put signs out on the road, so (residents will) know that morning,” she added...more