More ranch terminology explained

It’s time for another ranch country language lesson. Note: If you haven’t taken this language class before, you can do the make-up work by visiting my blog. I have reposted the two previous columns containing other terms. Field corn: Not suitable for human consumption in third-world countries, but a type of feed for herbivores instead, which gets converted into food called beef for human consumption. One activist group tries to convince easily influenced and ignorant people that third-world countries have people starving because this kind of corn is being fed to livestock instead of humans in a ploy to get Americans to become vegetarians (I’m not making this up). Butcher critter: A sorted-off yearling calf or 2-year-old that usually gets quite spunky from feeling its oats and is raised to be processed and packaged into different meat cuts to fill a native’s freezer. Stem: An appendage that gives a bull a reputation for being a bovine Casanova; used for reproductive purposes. Broken stem: A bull’s reproductive organ that’s been injured, thus rendering him unpopular with the cows, his services useless. Springer(s): Unlike bouncy cows, springers are cows that demonstrate or show signs of calving soon. LA 200: To non-natives, it may describe people from LA driving 200 mph on freeways, but in ranch country it’s an antibiotic for livestock that are sick or have an infection and need medical attention. Slumped: Assumed to mean a cow with bad posture but actually refers to a cow that has aborted her calf for some reason and causes a rancher to worry if more cows will do the same...more