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Reality Ranching: A Story of Modern-Day
Cattle Rustling
Randall Debler
July 2009
Monday, March 30,
2009. It is a day that will be forever etched
in my memory. As usual during winter feeding
season, my business partners, Paul & Nancy
Miller, and I had split up to do chores so we
could start working our calves for spring
pasture turnout in a decent time. I had fed a
couple of bunches by my house and then headed a
couple miles north to one our dry lots near the
junction of Hwy. 4 & 99. As soon as I pulled in
and saw the muddy trailer tracks, my stomach
flip-flopped, a feeling that only worsened once
I realized something was terribly wrong. I
spied both cows and calves locked in a corral
normally only used to creep-feed our steer
calves. After a thorough count, it was
determined nine cows and six calves had been
stolen sometime in the middle of the night. It
was like a punch in the gut. I am somewhat used
to my business being threatened everyday via
increased regulations and consumer
misperceptions, but this was a direct attack on
my livelihood.
First, we called the
Wabaunsee County Sheriff’s Department so the
theft could be documented. Then, referred by
KLA, we contacted the Kansas Animal Health
Department. Through KAHD a bulletin was posted
to all of the sale barns in the state, but we
still weren’t comfortable we had done all we
could to find the culprit. So, we called a
local cattle buyer, who told us all the barns
that had Monday sales – Overbrook, Salina, and
Beatrice, Nebraska.
The first two calls
didn’t produce any results, but when we reached
Beatrice, they said they had 15 head of black
cattle unloaded during the night and asked if we
could describe them. Of course, we went into
detail about their brands, etc., but did not
mention anything about ear tags assuming the
thief had cut them off. They said let us check
and we’ll get back with you. Once they called
back, they asked if we could tell them a little
about their ear tags, so we provided great
detail because our record book had exactly all
the numbers of the cattle missing and even the
birth dates of the calves, which were on the
back on the calf tags. The lady said she was
almost positive these were our cattle, but some
further investigation needed to be done. At
this news, I could breathe a sigh of relief
because it meant we would soon have our valuable
property returned to us. Who would have thought
that after discovering our cattle gone at 9 in
the morning, we would have known where they were
by 11:30 a.m. the same day? That’s the real
story. Doing what it takes to protect your
property and livelihood.
To make a long story
short, we were able to travel to Beatrice the
next day and have our cattle back by 6 o’clock
that evening, approximately 40 hours after they
were stolen. I was interviewed by WIBW Channel
13 news Monday night about the incident and had
it not been for my leadership and spokesperson
training with KFB and KLA, I would not have been
able to present such a credible voice for
agriculture and rural America.
Now, I am onto to
haying season, which will hopefully be a quieter
and less exciting time of year. Oh, wait, the
swather has already broken down and needs to be
repaired and we’re only a week into brome, but
that’s another story for another day in Reality
Ranching…!
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