Chapter 2: Rico

Another character added to our cast was another DVM. A dark-skinned Cuban/American named Dr. Ricardo (Rico, for short) Cortes. He was some type of Animal Nutritionist. He was highly recommended and hired by Will who said we would need him. I Googled him and when I showed the results to Travis he laughed and tried to explain the ramifications of the death penalty to a college athletic program. All that was beyond me. I never watch American Football. (Read “The Death Penalty” for more background on Rico Cortes).

Rico was nice and kept to himself, he moved into the apartment over the laboratory and worked with Will every day. They laid out a program which they called “Grass fed-Grain Finished”. That phrase would be on every package of meat we sold.

Will---I love my life! A new name, Will not Willard, a beautiful wife and now I am a father! Let’s not forget that my cousin Travis and I share, swap, have orgies, or whatever you want to call it with each other’s wives. Like I said I love my life.

GG and I talked after our son was born. We are both scientists and love to spend long hours working in the lab. Having a house full of kids is not something either of us thought would be fair so we decided to be sterilized. But let’s talk about Rico. Get those thoughts of him being included in our sex games out of your head. Not going to happen, end of conversation.

I told Rico my plans for the feedlot. He was on board from the first day. I brought in a software engineer and a robotics engineer to help us. Maybe I should let Rico explain. I can get a little too technical at times.

Rico---I love it here in South America! This ranch is so big! The potential is unlimited! And Will what can I say? The guy is a genius, a visionary. He amazes me daily.

As I have explained I am a feedlot specialist. I develop feeds that put weight on an animal in the least amount of time. Here in South America I am not burdened with so many federal and state regulations. I can literally do what I want, and I do!

The land here is not suited for corn. Grain sorghum grows better so that’s what I use. To keep it from becoming impacted in the steers’ intestines I developed (with Will’s help) a system of flaking the sorghum. That’s right the steers are going to eat sorghum flakes (think of corn flakes). No, not right! Think of sugar frosted flakes! Remember Tony Tiger says “They’re Great!” They are and the steers love them. The process goes something like this.

The grain is moved into huge stainless steel pressure cookers filled with boiling water. After it is steamed it softens. The water is drained off and the softened grain is then crushed between rollers. It is flat as a pancake. Then placed in ovens to bake. When it comes out it is run through a flaking machine and stored in air-tight containers. We use a first in-first out technique to keep the flakes fresh. As the flakes are needed in the feed lot they pass under a fine spray of my ‘special sauce’ as I call it. The steers love it! So much in fact that we feed 4 times a day! Unheard of in the states!

This entire process is handled by one person. I call him ‘Leonardo’. Not after the actor, after Da Vinci! Leonardo is a computer. He oversees everything. He directs the robots that cook the grain and turn it into flakes. He also monitors each animal on the ranch and he has since they were born. How?

When a calf is born one of the cowboys implants a chip in him, on his back just before his tail. Leonardo starts tracking him that day. Every time that calf is wormed, vaccinated or even handled for any reason it is recorded. Through modern technology Leonardo can even keep track of his weight! The program is a lot like facial recognition programs law enforcement uses. Leonardo compares the calf’s size from the last time he saw him to the new picture of him and can tell how much weight he has gained.

The feed lots hold 100 steers each. Cameras are everywhere. Leonardo keeps track of the daily gains for every steer we are feeding. Along with the flakes and the ‘special sauce, we have exceeded even my projections. Instead of the usual 2 ½ to 3 lbs. a day we are averaging over 5 lbs. a day! I can take an 800 lb. steer and in 60 days he weighs 1100 lbs. and is ready for slaughter.

Okay, no I am not going to tell you what’s in the sauce. But how about I tell you this. The O’Sheas have eliminated one of the biggest costs of finishing a steer. The transportation. These steers are never in a truck being hauled around the country. That alone reduces another problem for the feed lot manager. Stress!

Now that we have eliminated the stress from transportation how about the stress when he arrives and is confined in a lot? He is used to walking around in a pasture. Now he is bunched together with others. Very stressful! It turns out that stress is one of the main reasons some steers do so poorly.

How can we eliminate stress in the feedlot? I posed that question in one of my classes back at the University. I got different answers. Modern man has several ways to relieve stress after a hard day. One student said he liked to kick back and listen to music. Not a bad idea. The steers might like what country, classical, rock and roll? Maybe someone should write a paper on it. Another, a young woman, suggested she likes to relieve her stress with sex! Okay, nice to know but remember these are steers we are talking about. Then a long-haired young man who was close to flunking my class, spoke up.

“Most of my customers ... err friends kick back and smoke a joint. That seems to do the trick for them.” (Read “Connie and Lula”).

That got a laugh from the class while a couple of people asked for his phone number.

But that statement had me thinking. Maybe there was a ‘chemical solution’ to the problem of stress.

Three months later, with help from my long-haired student, my ‘special sauce’ was developed! He received an “A” in my class.

A side effect that I had not counted on was the munchies! The steers also became slightly addicted to the “sauce”, that’s why we feed 4 times a day! But enough about the business of finishing cattle. I have something a lot more interesting to talk about.

It was a Friday afternoon; I was hanging over one of the big corral fences in back of the lab. Why am I here? Because Travis is directing three other cowboys and a couple of dogs as they bring in 250 head of 2-year-old heifers. Will and his crew in the lab will impregnate them over the next few days. Then they go back to the northern pastures to graze and have their babies in about 10 months. A year later those babies will be in my feedlot.

I love watching how the cowboys work with the dogs moving the cattle into the corral. They have them all in except one. There’s always one, right? She just did not want to go with her sisters. One cowboy came forward to handle the problem. The heifer was trying her best not to go into the corral, but that cowboy and horse worked as one unit. I am always amazed at how a man can stay on a cutting horse while it moves so quickly side to side never seemingly taking their eyes off the cow, anticipating her every move. Finally, the heifer relents and turns and joins the others. A whoop went up from the other cowboys for a job well done. This cowboy took off his ... wait HER hat and waved a ‘thank you’ to the others. That cowboy is a cowgirl!