By Tyler Trieglaff

Notes from the Chief

I have been slacking on my editorial section lately.  I’m surprised I haven’t heard from the Rochert Stalker.  Let’s try to get back into the swing of things.

We have a bunch of hay down ready to be baled.  With the high temps the last weekend we hopefully got a lot of it baled. Thursday, I baled up 88 round bales and the crop is looking very healthy so far. Last year we only had 410 bales due to the drought conditions. We are well ahead of the last year’s pace already.  

We hauled the cows to the pastures after giving the cows and calves all a pinkeye vaccine. We are trying a different mineral this year also. It is a fly control mineral. The cow eats the salt/mineral combination and there is a chemical in the mineral that affects how the fly larva grows (or doesn’t grow) in the fresh manure. Fly control mineral is not a new thing, we are just trying a different approach.  

The bulls got their annual physical exam last weekend also. The veterinarian does what they call a Bull Soundness Exam, (BSE). This is to make sure the boys are ready to perform for the ladies.  We also don’t want to risk putting out a bull that shoots blanks with the ladies. 

If a bull is no good, and you are hoping for pregnant cows in the fall, you are setting yourself up for potential financial failure.  We don’t expect the bulls to breed every cow, but we sure hope for a pregnancy rate of over 90 percent. There are several reasons that a cow may not become pregnant and we want to ensure that the bulls are not one of them.  

The bulls are locked into a cattle chute with a headgate and the process can begin. There is a physical examination which includes measuring the scrotal circumference, making sure the scrotum and testes are proper conformation. Palpation of the internal sex organs to make sure things are in the right place. There is also sperm morphology and sperm motility. We need to make sure the boys can swim and that there are enough swimmers for the journey.  

The sample is collected with the “Semen Blaster 6000” I call it. It is a tube about the size of a zucchini which is inserted into the rectum and electric pulses are emitted from the device. You will see the bull start to tense up and hopefully soon there is a sufficient sample. This process takes about 30 seconds or so and it will drop a 2000-pound animal to his knees. You almost feel sorry for the big guys, I wonder if next time I should have a smoke to offer them when they are done.

Have a nice week.

Friday, June 10

9:02 a.m. Alarm at the elementary school.  All ok.

1:59 p.m. Complaint of neighbors driving on others property.  Officer informed both sides of the approximate property line and asked to not allow vehicles on the others property.

Saturday, June 11

6:20 p.m. Report of a vehicle on fire on Co Hwy 10.  No fire, vehicle was just steaming. (vehicle probably doesn’t like the high priced fuel it had to burn)

8:58 p.m. Another call about the injured swan by the RR bridge.  DNR advises to let the bird be.

9:03 p.m. Mother reporting her daughter as a runaway.  Mother does not have custody of the daughter; daughter was in a safe place.

12:27 a.m. Noise complaint on Rivercrest Drive.

Sunday, June 12

8:51 p.m. 911 hang-up on Rivercrest Drive.  All was ok.

9:23 p.m. Complaint about a large number of kids downtown.  Kids left with nothing happening.  There have been issues with this group of kids in the past.

11:02 p.m. Officer saw a juvenile male running downtown. Boy told the officer that he was running to a friend’s house because he was scared of the dark. He said his parents did not know he was gone. Officer talked with mom. She was not aware that he ran out tonight but did know the friend’s house he would go to.

Monday, June 13

11:57 p.m. Assist with a funeral escort.

Tuesday June 14

11:11 a.m. Assist with a medical.

6:38 p.m. Female reported being threatened at Rivercrest Drive. Issues between neighbors.

9:55 p.m. Traffic complaint in town. Officer found a vehicle and it was some baseball players that admitted to driving a little goofy with each other.

11:21 p.m. Report of a female yelling derogatory comments at neighbors on Rivercrest Drive.  Tasha Burrow, 39, Frazee cited for disorderly conduct.

Wednesday, June 15

4:16 p.m. Report of two males fighting near downtown. Under investigation.

Thursday, June 16

4:30 p.m. Officer collected unused prescription meds from a former resident.

8:30 p.m. Welfare check on a female. Female was at the hospital.

10:29 p.m. Noise complaint on Rivercrest Drive. Jasmine Roberson, 28, cited for city ordinance noise violation.

11:22 p.m. Welfare check requested on a juvenile female.