Cow pie patrol

What goes up must come down. That’s gravity. What goes in must come out. That’s the rule of mazes, freeway tunnels and, in bovine and all other species I know of, digestion. I’ve been combining my knowledge on the two rules of digestion and gravity as I venture into a new area of modern ranch management and cattle nutrition. Here’s the deal. I walk nonchalantly into a herd of my grazing cows and look for five to 10 fresh cow pies — really fresh cow pies. I reach down for a little piece of each pie, so to speak, about a spoonful, and put it in a resealable plastic bag for a little laboratory analysis. According to the folks at the lab, the sample would be even better and fresher if I could catch a spoonful in midair, or next best, from the pie that just hit the ground that very second. I want to send the best sample I can, so this becomes a waiting game for me and my cows. I stand there amidst the herd with sharpened senses, my eyes furtively searching for a rising tail or a look of alternating bovine concentration and relief, my ears tuned keenly to listen for the sound of a “plop, plop, plop.” Like a stakeout in law enforcement, it’s tedious. The reward is a nice bag full of . . . used grass to send to the college lab down in Texas...more