South Dakota cattle drive provides taste of tradition
Dec. 5—FEDORA, S.D. — It was a taste of tradition as a slow-moving herd was out for a long morning stroll.
A three-plus mile cattle drive on Saturday, Dec. 2, captured the attention of each passing vehicle that patiently waited as 132 cows marched south down the highway to their new Miner County home.
"Did you see a few of those folks had their phones out recording?" said Will Walter, a Fedora-area farmer and rancher.
"Sometimes, I worry about the cars and think about shoving the cows over so the people can go ahead. Then I go back and ask and they're just fully entertained watching it all."
About a dozen people assisted in the drive, which is an annual occurrence for Walter, his son Thad, and their neighbor Pete Hansen, who is Walter's son-in-law. About a half-dozen cars got to see the sight first-hand, slowing for the group and taking in the unique roadside view.
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The three men own the cattle that were transported in the old-school fashion. With four-wheelers and ATVs keeping the cows in check, they moved the herd along 421st Avenue (known locally as the Fedora-Alexandria oil) from a grazing pasture area to Arlen Foster's harvested cornfield.
Rather than getting fed at a cost of about $3 daily per cow, the animals will be scrounging on corn stalks and fallen ears for the next four to five weeks. A general rule, it's known among producers, is that about 160 cows can graze on a 160 acres of corn for one month.
"There was a windstorm that rolled through this area, when what was it, October? There's a lot of corn on the ground for them to eat," Hansen said, noting that weather impacts the length of time the cows will be in the field. The nicer the weather, the longer the stay.
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Thad Walter and his daugter Kasey sit on a four-wheeler during their annual cattle drive on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023, near Fedora.
Adam Thury / Mitchell Republic
A cattle drive of this length, alongside a busy highway, isn't overly unusual for this crew.
But it's not a regular occurrence for most farmers and ranchers. Usually, grazing cattle get rounded up from a pasture and put into a corral to be loaded up on a trailer and hauled off via pickup truck.
That takes a lot of time, equipment and fuel, Walter said. And, the timing of a drive is good now because the crops are mostly out. A recent United States Department of Agriculture report says more than 96 percent of the state's corn crop is harvested, so pushing cows down the road won't result in a neighbor's trampled stalks.
The second day of December this year provided temps in the mid-30s and a brisk wind. Hansen, 34, joked toward the end of the push that with upcoming temps this week in the 50s, they picked among the coldest days to work.
But plenty of sunshine and above-freezing temps? Farmers will take the rest of the winter exactly the same, Will Walter said.
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1/16: Scenes from a cattle drive northeast of Mitchell on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023.
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2/16: Scenes from a cattle drive northeast of Mitchell on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023.
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3/16: Scenes from a cattle drive northeast of Mitchell on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023.
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4/16: Scenes from a cattle drive northeast of Mitchell on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023.
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5/16: Scenes from a cattle drive northeast of Mitchell on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023.
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6/16: Scenes from a cattle drive northeast of Mitchell on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023.
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7/16: Scenes from a cattle drive northeast of Mitchell on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023.
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8/16: Scenes from a cattle drive northeast of Mitchell on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023.
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9/16: Scenes from a cattle drive northeast of Mitchell on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023.
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10/16: Scenes from a cattle drive northeast of Mitchell on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023.
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11/16: Scenes from a cattle drive northeast of Mitchell on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023.
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12/16: Scenes from a cattle drive northeast of Mitchell on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023.
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13/16: Scenes from a cattle drive northeast of Mitchell on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023.
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14/16: Scenes from a cattle drive northeast of Mitchell on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023.
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15/16: Scenes from a cattle drive northeast of Mitchell on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023.
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16/16: Scenes from a cattle drive northeast of Mitchell on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023.
"Every day we get like this this time of year is a bonus," he said.
As Thad Walter, 32, drove a four-wheeler with his 4-year-old daughter, Kasey, bundled up and riding along, Hansen outlined the herd on the opposite side. Two vehicles acted as the caboose and honked every now and again as a way to tell the cows to move along. The drive didn't take too long, only a little more than an hour from start to finish.
"It makes a guy think about how things used to be," Thad Walter said. "It's kind of peaceful going down the road letting the cows pick here and there in the ditch and find an ear of corn in the neighbor's field. ... The whole family can help, drive along and just watch the cattle."
