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4A – Daily News – Saturday, July 3, 2010 Agriculture & farm We learned why the meadows were yellow with dandelion blossoms when we visited Danciger Tybar Ranch, Carbondale, on the Western Livestock Journal High Country Tour of Col- orado. It seems that the Ital- ian emigrants brought dan- delions for salad greens back in 1903. Learned more about PAP (Pulmonary Arterial Pressure) at this ranch stop. High-altitude disease (HAD), also known as brisket or high-mountain disease, dropsy or big brisket, affects cattle living 5,000 or more feet above sea level. It is characterized by pulmonary arterial hypertrophy and pul- monary hypertension resulting in congestive heart failure. In other words, chronic low-oxygen tension causes the small pulmonary arteries to thick- en, resulting in high blood pressure and a weakened heart, which prevents the heart from circulating blood sufficiently. This leads to blood congestion in the heart and, if untreated, results in death. Symptoms, directly related to congestive heart failure, including edema in the brisket and lower body, a fluid- filled abdomen and chest, diar- rhea, bulging eyes, depression, and (most of all) weakness. Lesser degrees of the disease manifest as reproductive failure, abortion and calving loss Texas natives David and Emma Danciger began ranching south of Dallas, Texas, in 1950. They built a herd of 350 registered Angus cattle, operating until 1964. In 1980 they purchased the Tybar Ranch southeast of Carbondale, Colo., and began managing registered Angus cattle on scenic, irrigated land at 6,500 feet. Today, the Tybar is home to 350 registered and PAP-tested Angus cat- tle. They added another ranch at Rifle, Colo., in 1993. ranch Ranching at high altitude in Colorado OT rules for farm workers SACRAMENTO (AP) — California lawmakers Thurs- day sent Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger a bill that would require farmers to pay overtime to field hands after they work eight hours in a day, ending a nearly 70-year exemp- tion for the state’s largest industry. The bill, SB1121, would change state law so farm work- ers are no longer exempt from the overtime laws that cover most other hourly workers. Currently, farm workers can earn overtime only when they work 10 or more hours in a day. Supporters described the 46-26 vote in the state Assem- bly as one for fairness for laborers excluded from overtime protections since 1941. ‘‘If people who work in air conditioned offices get over- time after eight hours, farm workers should, too,’’ said Assemblyman Juan Arambula, I-Fresno. The bill is backed by the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, the United Farm Workers, the United Food & Commercial Workers Western States Council and other labor groups. Courtesy photo Jean Barton, Emma Danciger of TyBar Ranch, and Jerry York, Western Livestock Journal tour leader. Jean Barton State University to help evaluate Angus cattle for PAP scores, an indicator of the possibility of develop- ing brisket disease. Tybar wants their PAP scores to be less than 40 mmHg. “Below 38 is even better,” manager Mark Nieslanik says. They will not use any bull with a PAP score of 46 or higher. “There are bulls we’d really like to use, but we can’t because they’ll probably give us problems in the PAP area.” They start calving Jan. 28, and put the pairs in the huge sale barn in 48 pens for 24 hours while they give The Dancigers‚ first run- in with HAD came in 1984 when they noticed an increase in yearling cattle deaths on their BLM and USFS allotments. They worked with Colorado shots, weigh the calves and make sure the calves get colostrum. If birthweight is 90 lbs, the bull calves are banded. 78 to 85 lbs is the desired birthweights. They want calving ease bulls. They will sell about 150 yearling bulls private treaty. The bulls are priced $2,200 to $2,900. The calves are in the high country during the summer, and will be PAP tested in November. The test costs $ 15 per head. The 150 heifers are sent to Nebraska to be devel- oped, and bred AI in 42 days. They will come back July 15. The average wean- ing weight for steers is 610 lbs and heifers at 580 lbs. From the upper hay field we could look across the river, and see the mansions built on the mesa. The water ditch comes 12 miles from high country to fill the pond, and the gravity flow sprinklers. They need a 50- foot drop from pond to line, and they use pressure reducers. There are two main lines down from the pond. They will get two cuttings of hay. The 24,000 sq foot sale barn had an office and lobby down stairs, and upstairs was a bedroom and bath. For the bull sale, out- door carpet is unrolled with tables and chairs facing the auction block. The bulls are in pens around the edge of the building (inside). To get a building permit the barn had to have an apartment, for higher taxes to the coun- ty. Taxed as a residence instead of barn. Our luncheon was catered by Navajo Nation, from Northern Arizona. It was a delicious Navajo Taco, fry bread, ground beef, beans, lettuce, cheese, tomato, guacamole, chips and salsa. Dessert was cake, cookies, cobbler and ice cream. Beverages were beer, soft drinks, lemonaid, water. McCabe Ranches, Snowmass, is managed by Brad and Niki, a young couple, since 1998. In the early ‘80s, the ranch went through a partial subdivi- sion, and then a second sub- division in the early ‘90s. That process created 14 lots while removing 15 irrigated acres from 500 hay produc- tion acres. The home own- ers pay the ranch to main- tain the roads, and irrigate their 40 acres. There is only one full time owner here. The ranch leases the pas- ture from the owners and buys back the hay. Several movie stars have homes in the area because of the ranch atmosphere and it was nice. They have 320 Angus cross cows, and 50 year- lings. The 40 to 60 replace- ment heifers start to calve March 1, and they use the large barn to get the calves warm and dried off. The 135 x 180 foot well built barn was the gym at Leadville, when the 10th Mountain Division taught the soldiers to ski in World War II. A previous owner had the gym moved and reassembled when she raised race horses at this ranch. One of the hay fields is closely clipped and becomes a polo field in July and August, with hors- es and riders coming from Texas, California and Flori- da. They will accommo- date 175 horses on the ranch. The grooms that accompany the horses will take care of their string of horses. The day concluded with a visit to Aspen. I counted 11 jets on the east side of the airport, and lost count of the many planes on the west side. There was either a car or a plane in the open sided hangers. Aspen was very quiet between seasons, but the lit- tle stream down the center of the street had water splashing, and it was shad- ed by the trees. It had been turned on for the summer that day. There were bench- es for sitting and enjoying the day under the trees on a warm afternoon. Flowers were planted at the base of the trees. The elevation was 7,907 feet and population was 5,914. Things were still expensive. A cotton long sleeve western shirt with snaps was $129. Jean Barton can be reached at jbarton@theskybeam.c om. 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