It’s branding time in cattle country, and I had the honor of being invited to participate in the annual ritual at the Gillham Cross-I Ranch near Peetz on a recent Saturday. During the ...

On the Burdick Ranch, nestled in Nebraska’s Sandhills, spring cattle branding is an annual act of community. The sheer scale of gathering, roping, vaccinating, and marking 900 calves with the family ...

ROSE, Neb. — An hour before sunup, under the wide prairie sky, the Shovel Dot Ranch is still. The hills are draped in shadow. Then, a rumble. Distant pounding. The cattle come surging over a rise, ...

There are a few things about cattle branding that may make the squeamish, greenhorn a bit weak in the knees: burning cowhide smells a bit ripe and calves lose control of their bowels right when they ...

Editor’s note: John Grant Emeigh was born in Detroit, Mich., and later moved to Baton Rouge, La. He’s worked as a journalist for years in industrial towns like Youngstown, Ohio, and Gary, Ind., where ...