Meanwhile, Back at the Flying M...
from the Fall/Winter 2025 issue of Ground Truth
What a summer this has been… In my 79 years, I have not seen grass plants hanging on by a root or two. We started hauling water on Anderson Mesa on May 25 and have hauled 1+ million gallons to our cattle and the wildlife that call it home. We kept about a third of our cows in the winter country this summer because we can only haul on two roads on Anderson Mesa. So, we pumped wells most of the summer. We grew some fresh green feed, but it dried out quickly. Had a couple of herds of elk with us all summer, north of Grapevine Canyon, about 75-100 cows. They sure keep the electric fences “messed up.” It sure will be nice when the moisture returns to normal, or is there a normal anymore?
We drilled a well at the headquarters, which will now supply all the water to corrals, several pastures, and traps around the Cedars. This will allow us to have more water for the greenhouse, the three hoop houses, and all our houses. We have been wanting to do this for years and have finally achieved it. We did get four stock ponds cleaned on the Mesa before we started hauling water.
We were especially grateful for the recent tropical storm “Priscilla”. We got 3.45” of rain at the Cedars Headquarters and about 3” at Ashurst Run. The storm hit the hunters hard, but some of them had success. The roads have some stories to tell by looking at the tracks. All the canyons and ditches ran and filled all the stock tanks north of Grapevine Canyon. Kit even said Grapevine moved a tree stump down the canyon. We hope you all enjoyed the storm as much as we did. This rain will give us the opportunity to keep more producing cows on ranch through the winter. We are concerned that without a big winter to put water on Anderson Mesa, we will have to take the whole herd somewhere else.
And then what?.... We have talked about a variety of scenarios; no decision at this point. One positive thing was the discussion and field trip with many of our partners from the Ranch and Diablo Trust to look at a pipeline that could gravity-deliver water to many water sources on the Mesa. It could be a game-changer, though it is a few years away.
In other news, during the wet conditions, the Forest Service burned our main shipping pasture. This area was cleared by hand crews last fall to be a wildlife corridor, which was approved in the Environmental Impact Statement of 20 years ago, so we are grateful they got it done. Some of this area's wood has been available for pick up for “Wood for Life”, the tribal fuelwood project, but not much has been picked up. After the burn, the area looks so different now, and the cattle will stir up the ashes and plant more seeds. Can’t wait to see what it looks like in the spring.
The greenhouse was put into production this year by Bunny Willig, who put her heart and soul into the project, along with her husband Chris, who herded the roto-tiller around many times. She grew some new things and a traditional summer garden. We all loved the fruits of her labors. We are drying the last banana chiles, green peppers, and jalapenos. Thank Bunny for all her sweat and tears.
All in all, the cattle are doing well despite the drought. The calf crop was quite spread out, which gives us the opportunity to do some different things with them this fall. We have contracted some steer calves for December delivery and are going to keep all the heifers and send them to a grow-lot in California. At least that was the plan a few days ago, our plan changes nearly every other day.
Bottom line, we are here to stay. It might look a bit different from what we all thought or could imagine, but we are so glad for the awesome employees, neighbors, partners, and the Diablo Trust to join us on the journey.
— Diana Kessler
