REDFIELD, Iowa (DTN) -- Each spring, at S Bar K Cattle and Hay, branding is done, and it's more than just an old tradition. Branding is a time to work and check the herd, a time to get a lot accomplished and a time for working together with family and friends.

Tristan and Shaylyn Stark own S Bar K Cattle and Hay in Baker, Montana, and are participating in DTN's View From the Range series, where DTN will follow a year at the ranch to give readers an inside look at how the ranch operates and cares for its animals.

This segment of the series shows how the Starks work with their family and friends to get the herd branded each year.

BRANDING MEANS WORKING TOGETHER AND CELEBRATING

"We brand our big group on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend every year," Shaylyn said. "We celebrate at the end with a party for our son, Wayne's, birthday. We have a seafood boil, steak and birthday cake."

She likes to be able to help with the branding, so a lot of the food preparation is done in the days leading up to branding day.

Other preparations include getting vaccines for the calves, setting up the corrals and branding tables and having all the proper branding irons and propane tanks to fuel the fire, according to Tristan.

"We share hydraulic calf branding tables with our neighbors," he said. "Instead of us each buying more than one, three different families own one, and then we take them to each other's brandings."

Cattle are brought closer to the corrals the day before the work is to be done. When they are branding their biggest groups, which is about 200 pairs, they need more people to help get cattle in the corrals and push them up the alleys.

"We will sort off the cows and put the calves in the pen," Tristan explained. "The cows are let back out into the area in front of the chutes so they can pair back up as the calves come off the table."

During branding, all bull calves are castrated, those calves are then implanted with Ralgro. All the calves are vaccinated with a clostridial 7-way vaccine and a nasally given BRD complex vaccine. Since there are some cows left in their herd with the horn gene, the calves are also checked for horns and dehorned if needed.

Calves are then given the appropriate brand according to ownership. Tristan and Shaylyn together have the S Bar K brand. This has been in the family for several generations and was gifted to Tristan when he started his cow herd. It was started by his great-grandparents with S standing for Stark and K standing for kids. The cattle Tristan owns with his brother are at the ranch south of Baker, and after looking through the Montana brand book, they settled on a rocking SB for Stark Brothers. "The other brands in the family have all been passed down through the years, but we wanted to create one for this partnership that's different," Shaylyn explained.

It's also important to get a good count on the calves, knowing how many steer calves and how many heifer calves there are and all the calf numbers are written down to be included in the inventory for each pasture the groups will go to.

Once all the calves have had the vaccinations, been branded, and paired back with their mothers, it's time to move them out to the pasture they will be in for the summer. "We sometimes have to work around the schedules of other people who will be helping us. This year, our branding was a little more spaced out than normal, but we got it done," she said.

SMOKE ON THE HORIZON

A concern around branding time this year was a wildfire that started very near their ranch because of sparks from powerlines and high winds. The fire burnt over 1,200 acres to the west of the Starks. Tristan spent 36 hours helping fight the fire.

"It burnt BLM (Bureau of Land Management) ground combined with ranch land," Tristan said. "That ground is grazed well, but it's rough up there, and the trees tend to be more of a problem." Most all ranches have their own fire trucks to fight fires since they are so far from town. This one, however, had the help of the state.

Four airplanes, one helicopter, six road graders and other large equipment helped fight the flames. The 60- to 70- mile-per-hour winds did not help the cause and pushed the fire into the trees. Thankfully, no houses were in the line of the fire.

Wildfires in these big open spaces can spread quickly and drought combined with high winds makes for difficulty putting the fire out.

"We could use more moisture, but we have had some rain, which has taken off the edge for now," Shaylyn added.

Cows and calves are safely sent to pasture for another summer.

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Editor's Note: To see previous stories in this series, go to:

-- "Montana Family Shares View From the Range," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

-- "Montana Ranchers Weather Challenges to Preserve Ranch Heritage," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

-- "Montana Family Follows Winter Weather Care Routine," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

-- "Montana Family Keeps Calving Low Labor," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

-- "Young Montana Ranchers Making Dream into Reality," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

Jennifer Carrico can be reached at jennifer.carrico@dtn.com

Follow her on social platform X @JennCattleGal

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