Cowboy Corner

Hello, and welcome to this week's Cowboy Corner!

If you're new here, my name is Connor McCauley, and I'm the guy behind these newsletters. My goal is simple: bring you along for the ride and show you what American ranching really looks like. Every week is a different adventure, whether we're horseback gathering cattle, fixing broken equipment, or shipping beef across the country. You get an inside look at what it takes to run both a working ranch and a family beef company.

This week brought one of the biggest shifts of the year, so let's jump right in.

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From Cowboys to Farmers

This is the time of year when everything changes.

Almost overnight, Sam and I go from being ranchers and cowboys to becoming farmers. We trade horses for tractors, cattle for planters, and spend far more time under machinery than in the saddle. It takes a completely different mindset.

What many people don't realize is that our ranching and farming operations are deeply connected.

The hay and milo we grow help feed our cattle throughout the winter and are especially important when we wean calves in the fall. Without a successful farming season, our ranching operation becomes much more difficult. So while it might seem like two separate jobs, they're really two halves of the same operation.

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Getting Ready to Plow

Before a single acre could be plowed, we spent a full day getting equipment ready.

That meant greasing every fitting, repairing tires, checking hydraulic hoses, inspecting the sweeps that actually work the soil, looking over old welds for cracks, and making sure every moving part was ready for another season.

Of course, we found a hydraulic leak that needed attention. That's just part of farming. Something always needs fixing.

Once everything looked good, we finally headed to the field.

Our goal was to work up fields full of weeds and prepare the ground for this year's hay crop.

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Then... Bang.

It didn't take long before things got exciting.

Sam was making another pass through the field when there was an incredibly loud BANG!

The hitch on our plow suffered a catastrophic failure.

The long tongue that connects the plow to the tractor actually cracked in half and separated completely.

Thankfully, we got lucky.

All of the hydraulic hoses that run between the tractor and the plow simply popped apart instead of tearing in half. Had they stayed connected, we likely would've destroyed every hydraulic hose on the machine. Instead, we only had a couple small repairs to make.

Sometimes a little luck goes a long way.

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Time to Weld

The repair wasn't exactly simple.

We fired up the torch and welder, cut away the broken steel plate, fabricated a replacement, welded everything back together, and reassembled the hitch.

If you'd like to see the whole repair happen, be sure to watch this week's YouTube video. It's one thing to read about it—it's another to actually watch a massive plow come apart in the field.

(You'll find the link at the top or bottom of this newsletter.)

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Back to Work

With the repair finished, we climbed back into the tractors and got every field plowed.

Next week we'll finally start planting hay and milo, and trust me—there's plenty more excitement ahead. We've also got some really fun projects and surprises coming over the next month or two that I can't wait to share with you.

So stay tuned.

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Before You Go...

If you've never tried our beef, I'd love for you to give it a shot.

We raise premium Black Angus cattle right here on our family ranch, and we obsess over quality from start to finish. The result is beef that's incredibly tender, packed with flavor, and honestly unlike anything you'll find in a grocery store.

Don't just take my word for it, though. We're closing in on 1,000 five-star reviews, and the comment we hear most often is:

"That's the best steak I've ever had."

If you're looking for a place to start, I'd recommend either the TriTails Box or one of our ground beef bundles. I think you'll quickly see why so many families keep coming back.

Thanks again for following along with our journey. We truly appreciate you being here.

Until next time,

Connor McCauley