#meadowsranch

[mydayintexasag-blog]

All three of Melvin and Jannie Lou’s children still live and have raised families on Meadows Ranch. Agricultural families work together, even if only a few make their sole living from it. The ranch was a great place to grow up, and we were in many ways our own small community just south of Cottondale. We all lived within a couple miles of each other and could literally walk across pastures to each others’ houses. Even though all of my cousins and I no longer live there (except for two that are still in high school), we make it back as often as we can. Some of us live close enough for a day trip, while others, like myself and @bradrm33 and his family, live several hours away and plan multi-day trips in. Holidays are especially enjoyable, and we fill out the main ranch house tightly. For Easter this year, 32 of us filled several large tables for lunch, and hundreds of eggs were hidden for the nine great grandkids. Spouses are added and the number of great grandkids keeps growing, but no one complains about the size of the family. Why would you? It’s what really matters. Plus, you can always turn the kids out on the pastures when they turn restless inside! It’s where they’d rather be, anyways. • • #MDiTA #igTexas #TexasAgricultureMatters #texasranch #ranchlife #cattleranch #TexasAgriculture #TexasAg #AgPhotography #travelphotographer #fightnaturedeficitdisorder #getoutside #wisecounty #meadowsranch (at Cottondale, Texas)

[mydayintexasag-blog]

Hey #MDiTA, @jerodfoster back for the last day on this visual trip around Meadows Ranch. A ranch like this, at its foundation, is built around a family. I’m proud to be a part of the Meadows family and have taken with me many influencing characteristics from it that show up in my daily personal and professional lives. I imagine all of my cousins that grew up on the ranch can say the same thing. Speaking of cousins, it’s getting more and more difficult to get us all together on the holidays as we get older and grow families of our own. This shot was made a couple years ago, and there have been at least three more additions since then (one birth and two marriages)! Yet, we do work hard to get together over the holidays and pack the main ranch house! Today’s feature is all about those folks that live on the ranch and make it home! I hope all of you can relate. • • #MDiTA #igTexas #TexasAgricultureMatters #texasranch #ranchlife #cattleranch #TexasAgriculture #TexasAg #AgPhotography #travelphotographer #fightnaturedeficitdisorder #getoutside #wisecounty #meadowsranch (at Cottondale, Texas)

[mydayintexasag-blog]

Winters on Meadows Ranch are not always white with snow, but at least once during the season every year, accumulation is thick enough to paint the landscape white. Winter is my favorite time to photograph the ranch, quite possibly because of the snow (every Texan can’t get enough of it), but also because of the work involved in keeping the ranch running. This is especially true for the cattle. The hay, so diligently grown, baled and stacked for storage, is now moved out of the barns and off of the hillside and into frigidly cold hay rings or simply onto the frozen ground. It’s my favorite time to load up with PaPa and ride the ranch with him, feeding cattle and photographing him work amongst them (see tomorrow’s posts). Growing up having to feed my own livestock and show animals, the winters were always difficult, especially when you needed to break ice on water troughs. Even without the snow, the ranch visually transforms, the light becomes a bit crisper, and the expanse of the pastures becomes ever more so. Winter lasts about as long as you want it to, and it’s only more brutal than it needs to be. ATVs and pickups make way for four-wheeled drive tractors for the feedings, and bred heifers and cows will be moved closer to the main ranch house, completing a migration of sorts back to the home place. Winter isn’t for everyone, but it’s a much more fascinating season than many think, especially when the cows need feeding! • • #MDiTA #igTexas #TexasAgricultureMatters #texasranch #ranchlife #cattleranch #TexasAgriculture #TexasAg #AgPhotography #travelphotographer #fightnaturedeficitdisorder #getoutside #wisecounty #meadowsranch (at Cottondale, Texas)

[mydayintexasag-blog]

Of course, Meadows Ranch bleeds green—John Deere green, that is. If you drive by one of the hay fields, pass by fence work or brush removal, or just happen up to the main ranch house, you’ll most likely come across a John Deere tractor being used in the field or being stored in a barn. Tractors from the 1960s onward are noticeable, from small 2WD models to larger, modern-day cabbed 4WD heavy lifters. Although the implements have come from various manufacturers over the years, the tractors have always remained John Deere. I took a couple hours a few years back to explore some of the lesser-used tractors in one of the barns near the main house, and I ended up shooting a 1960s 3000-series model with some strong angular light and shooting some non-commercial images. Although I’ve photographed tractors in use since I started shooting, I’ve always liked being able to shoot the smaller parts that make up the whole. These couple of hours let me focus on the finer details that have a patina that suggests years of being put to productive use on the ranch. It is true, what they say: “Nothing runs like a Deere.” • • #MDiTA #igTexas #TexasAgricultureMatters #texasranch #ranchlife #cattleranch #TexasAgriculture #TexasAg #AgPhotography #travelphotographer #fightnaturedeficitdisorder #getoutside #wisecounty #meadowsranch (at Cottondale, Texas)

[mydayintexasag-blog]

In the past couple of decades, goat production has become a larger facet of Meadows Ranch given their adaptability to various environments and the market for their meat. Boer-Spanish crosses dominate the herd, and they’re most often found on the southern edges of the ranch. The ranch did host a small herd of sheep for some time, but eventually the goats won over as a smaller animal to keep on the ranch, and the herd grew and thrived. Comical, inquisitive, and sometimes mischievous, goats offer a great livestock complement to the ranch’s cattle herd. Their stocking rate is higher, they do well in a Texas market, and working them is a more efficient task. They also keep the pastures well-grazed and the troublesome vegetation at bay in parts of the ranch. I remember well removing a thick set of briars from a fence as an arduous task once when I was a child. It wasn’t too long after did I see a small herd of goats take care of a similar issue with ease. • • #MDiTA #igTexas #TexasAgricultureMatters #texasranch #ranchlife #cattleranch #TexasAgriculture #TexasAg #AgPhotography #travelphotographer #fightnaturedeficitdisorder #getoutside #wisecounty #meadowsranch (at Cottondale, Texas)

[mydayintexasag-blog]

Hey #MDiTA, @jerodfoster here again with more from Meadows Ranch! For as long as it’s been around, cattle have been the main production staple for the ranch. Hearty, quality stock—crossbred between Hereford, Charolais and Limousine breeds—are frequent visuals across the ranch’s landscape. Later, Angus we’re added to the mix, increasing the number of black cattle seen dotting the green grass. Quality beef production comes with a load of both time-tested indigenous knowledge and modern-day management practices. It’s around this time of the year that a passerby will see spring calves with momma cows in the pastures close to the main ranch house. It’s more manageable to keep a close eye on the herd with this proximity to it. As a photographer, springtime is my favorite time to photograph the cattle operation, given it’s a time for new life and vibrancy around the ranch! However, photographing the day-to-day during the winter is also interesting and often more action-filled given the daily feeding that takes place around the ranch. • • #MDiTA #igTexas #TexasAgricultureMatters #texasranch #ranchlife #cattleranch #TexasAgriculture #TexasAg #AgPhotography #travelphotographer #fightnaturedeficitdisorder #getoutside #wisecounty #meadowsranch (at Cottondale, Texas)

[mydayintexasag-blog]

Speaking of water, Meadows Ranch, more so than many of its contemporaries further west, is blessed with it much of the time. Decades ago, three small lakes were built either on or adjacent to the ranch and all three of them feed creeks that meander through the property. Not only a source of water for cattle and other livestock, they help sustain the land around them, it’s wildlife, and even play a large role in recreation on the ranch. When parts of the ranch were cultivated in melons, irrigation was necessary. Now, modern center pivot systems water fields for hay production and grazing. Even though water is more available than in West Texas, it’s still Texas. Drought doesn’t go unnoticed and it has its effect on the ranch. Tanks dry up, wells are relied on more, and even the lakes are pumped to continue summer hay growth. Like any agricultural operation, though, the ranch weathers the dry periods as folks pray for signs of rain on the horizon. It will come eventually. • That’s it for today! Thanks for following along on this introduction to Meadows Ranch and the photography I’ve created on it for the past decade. I look forward to sharing more tomorrow! • • #MDiTA #igTexas #TexasAgricultureMatters #texasranch #ranchlife #cattleranch #TexasAgriculture #TexasAg #AgPhotography #travelphotographer #fightnaturedeficitdisorder #getoutside #wisecounty #meadowsranch (at Cottondale, Texas)

[mydayintexasag-blog]

Hey Everyone, @jerodfoster here! Many thanks to My Day in Texas Ag for letting me host this week! I’m an editorial and commercial photographer and @texastech professor, and my roots are steeped in agriculture. I grew up in a rural north central Texas community called Cottondale on Meadows Ranch, a cattle, goat and hay operation just 22 miles south of Decatur. Even though I live in West Texas, I make it a point to photograph home when I can, and I’m looking forward to taking you on a visual trip around the ranch this week from work I’ve shot over the past 10 years, highlighting a special place in Texas agriculture that’s steadily being surrounded by the burgeoning DFW metroplex. • • #MDiTA #igTexas #TexasAgricultureMatters #texasranch #ranchlife #cattleranch #TexasAgriculture #TexasAg #AgPhotography #travelphotographer #fightnaturedeficitdisorder #getoutside #wisecounty #meadowsranch (at Cottondale, Texas)

[mydayintexasag-blog]

Many thanks for #MDiTA for allowing me a week to showcase Meadows Ranch. This place has inspired me my whole life, and it has inspired my photography for an entire decade. Professionally, I don’t get to photograph in the agricultural industry as much as I’d like sometimes, but I always appreciate the time I get to shoot back home. I’ll end with my favorite photograph of the ranch, a fitting sunrise. I hope you all have enjoyed the work this week! Please consider following me @jerodfoster for more of my work and adventures. And, if you’re ever by @TexasTech, please look me up! Thank you, and goodnight! • • #MDiTA #igTexas #TexasAgricultureMatters #texasranch #ranchlife #cattleranch #TexasAgriculture #TexasAg #AgPhotography #travelphotographer #fightnaturedeficitdisorder #getoutside #wisecounty #meadowsranch (at Cottondale, Texas)

[mydayintexasag-blog]

Hey #MDiTA community! @jerodfoster, once again, walking you through a visual trip to Meadows Ranch. Seasons are often distinct on the ranch, in both visual terms and the work that takes place during the year. Located in north central Texas, just northwest of the larger Fort Worth area, Meadows Ranch sees a larger amount of springtime rain and growth than its counterparts out west. Like with other agricultural ventures, rain is always welcome, even if it leaves the ground, the livestock, and the people a little soppy for a few days or weeks. One thing I’ve always appreciated as a photographer is the ranch’s location for capturing the weather. Being in the transition zone between southern high plains and piney woods, the ranch has a great mix of trees dotting the undulating hills while still leaving plenty of room to see the skies and weather systems moving across them! The rain always bring along the typical spring wildflowers (although these aren’t as plentiful in the region as the Hill Country south), sustenance for grazing fields, and most important, resource for a healthy hay crop waiting be harvested in the summer. After what can be hard winters, springtime is always a welcome sight! • • #MDiTA #igTexas #TexasAgricultureMatters #texasranch #ranchlife #cattleranch #TexasAgriculture #TexasAg #AgPhotography #travelphotographer #fightnaturedeficitdisorder #getoutside #wisecounty #meadowsranch (at Cottondale, Texas)

[mydayintexasag-blog]

No good conversation about the animals raised on Meadows Ranch can be left without giving a nod to its long history with livestock showing. Whether through 4-H or FFA, the youth of the ranch have always stepped into a show ring with market and breeding animals of all kinds. From locals to majors, showing livestock is almost a rite of passage on the ranch, and one that develops in the showers a great many positive, real-world skills and characteristics. Breeding stock turns into small herds for larger FFA projects, market animals curate responsibility and a healthy sense of competitiveness, and through it all comes an understanding and appreciation for showmanship. Looking back on it, I’m quite nostalgic about showing registered Angus heifers. I was proud to contribute to the ranch’s herd when i left my few heifers and cows for Texas Tech. Livestock showing is a family effort and it’s one of those activities that keeps the families on Meadows Ranch knitted together. I get excited to see those still involved exhibiting their projects. Likewise, showing and involvement in 4-H and FFA helped pave the way for many of the ranch family’s kids go on to college (yours truly, for example). And, it has even inspired career choices for a lifetime (the young man in the first image here, shot in 2010, is now an ag teacher). • • #MDiTA #igTexas #TexasAgricultureMatters #texasranch #ranchlife #cattleranch #TexasAgriculture #TexasAg #AgPhotography #travelphotographer #fightnaturedeficitdisorder #getoutside #wisecounty #meadowsranch #livestock #livestockshow (at Cottondale, Texas)

[mydayintexasag-blog]

Meadows Ranch is home to non-livestock, as well. The ranch relies on its other workers: herding and guard dogs. The ranch, thanks to Todd Meadows, son of the family’s patriarch, Melvin, has gained recognition over the years for its Border Collies used for herding and working both cattle and goats. Champion collies have been raised and trained on the ranch, and they’re a wonder to watch under Todd’s direction. These dogs love to work, and since horses have not been used regularly on the ranch in sometime, they play an integral role in its day-to-day operation. Another breed that serves a vital function, but often is an unsung staple to the ranch, are the Anatolian Akbash and Great Pyrenees guard dogs. These large, fluffy and fiercely loyal dogs are raised among young livestock, such as newborn goats (kids), and live alongside them in the field, effectively protecting them from predators (mainly coyotes). Meadows Ranch progressively adopted dogs to ranch work decades ago, and I (and others) can’t imagine the ranch without them. They’re certainly more than mere pets, and each has their role to play. • • #MDiTA #igTexas #TexasAgricultureMatters #texasranch #ranchlife #cattleranch #TexasAgriculture #TexasAg #AgPhotography #travelphotographer #fightnaturedeficitdisorder #getoutside #wisecounty #meadowsranch (at Cottondale, Texas)