On a Flint Hills ranch, tradition falls victim to the recession

Slowly, over the horizon, the last cattle drive slips into sight. There are no thundering hoofbeats. The sound is almost a whisper, like a gentle stirring of the wind. Horses neigh and cowboys occasionally whistle and "yip-yip" encouragement to the herd. It is the last drive for the Cedar Creek Ranch. The effects of a tough and long recession are cutting deep into Flint Hills traditions. The 300 cows owned by Mike and Jayne Mayes and their son, Josh, will be shipped next week to range land in Oklahoma, where it is cheaper to graze year-round and the winters aren't as tough. It costs roughly $215 a cow to graze over the summer on Flint Hills grass. The Mayeses were able to strike a better deal in Oklahoma, at roughly $300 a cow to graze year-round. For eight years, friends and neighbors have helped the Mayeses drive the cattle each fall from their summer pastures at the Baileys, 17 miles east of Cassoday in Greenwood County, to the Mayeses' winter pastures near Matfield Green in Chase County. In the sea of grass and cattle, three pink coats stand out: Annette, 17; Jesse, 14; and Ellen Jones , 11 — all members of 4-H, sisters who are growing up with the ranching lifestyle. That pleases their mother, Wendi Jones, who drove the chuck wagon for the cattle drive. Seeing the cattle come over the horizon, she said, was reward enough. "My heart is so full," she said. "The animals are happy and healthy. Nobody is scared or hurt. They always talk about how the rancher is destroying this. You see these cattle out here that have lived and will continue to live a really nice life — it is just beauty." She wants her daughters to see this way of life. Ellen Jones is the youngest rider on the drive. "I feel kind of special that I am going to be part of something that is probably never going to happen again," she said...more