-----Original Message-----
From: Amadeus Schmidt <[log in to unmask]>
>Do you know:
>
>Is this grassland only?
>If it's grassland, is it fertilized (as usual in all Central Europe)?


Yes, poor scrub grassland; huge ranches; not fertilized.  Millions of years
ago, this was an inland sea...people sometimes walk through the desert and
find ancient shark's teeth.  Until the Spanish came 500 years ago, the area
supported huge oak forests and abundant wildlife to feed the nomadic Native
Americans.  The Spanish cut down the forests for fuel and, over time, the
forests became desert.  The Native peoples retreated to the hills, which are
forested and of a different ecological zone, and reside there to this day.
They now forest some of the trees and have built a world renowned ski resort
(Ski Apache).

Anyway, the cattle need a large area to range in because forage is sparce.
Some of the rances near here have cattle drives in the Spring that take six
weeks for the cowboys to ride out and round up the cattle.  They do use
helicopters (often with Vietnam era pilots) to swoop down and "drive"
cattle, but the lone cowboy, who has not been back to the ranch for six
weeks, needs to ride down into the canyons to get the strays.

Every once and a while I see these incredibly dusty cowboys in the grocery
store or gas station (with their horses fully tacked up in the trailer) and
they just stand there gaping at me... A WOMAN !!   If I smile and say,
"hello", they blush under their dust.  Oooooops, I'm offtrack here...
>
>For many years cow-life is this? I mean, are the cows grain fed after some
>time (to really gain weight) ?

Yes, they are fed grain at the feed lots before slaughter.  I don't know
which ranchers feed grain prior to shipping.
>
>Or is it necessary to grow some grain crop on this area which is
>then fed to the cows?

The only crops grown anywhere near here are:  pecans, chilli peppers, cotton
and alfalfa.  For some reason, this very dry Chihuahuan desert land is great
for alfalfa.  Even the working horses often get alfalfa, which is considered
rich.
>
Kath