High Desert Cowboy- How far is it up north?

[Baymule]

I've seen yokes on cattle that were escape artists. It stops them, keeps them in where they are supposed to be. As the article says, you don't want your cow out on the highway, causing a wreck. The article doesn't say, but it is well understood, that any wreck caused by your livestock will land you in court, getting sued for all you've got. Besides, nobody wants their cow, horse, pig or whatever, causing a wreck where people are hurt or killed. Better for your cow to wear a yoke. Sell the horse and eat the pig. LOL

 

[greybeard]

but it is well understood, that any wreck caused by your livestock will land you in court, getting sued for all you've got

But, 'getting sued' isn't the same as having to pay. Way less than 1/2 of the accidents cause by vehicle/livestock collisions ever result in the farmer having to pay the damages because the vehicle owner first has to prove liability..it's nowhere near an automatic thing.
Every Tx County's fence law I have looked at includes the word "knowingly" and that's the only part that = liability.
Texas courts and legislation has always recognized that "Neither God nor man has ever built a fence strong enough or high enough to keep a determined animal in or a determined attorney out".
The animal owner’s liability would likely hinge on whether the owner consciously allowed the animal to traverse the highway.
The law provides that a person who owns or has responsibility for control of a horse, mule, donkey, cow, bull, steer, hog, sheep, or goat, may not knowingly allow the animal to cross or roam at large on the right of way of a highway.

Tex. Ag. Code §143.102

It's the job of the plaintiff's attorney to prove that the farmer KNEW his stock were out or knew they could get out because of poor fences or unsecured gates.
And, if a livestock owner is sued, and loses, the plaintiff leaves himself open for counter suit, in addition to paying defendant's court costs..

 

[Baymule]

We had a longhorn bull that could jump the fence like a deer. I got tired of chasing him down and sold him. At his new home, he nearly caused a range war. He jumped the fence and went down the road, jumped in a pasture and bred a herd of registered Angus.

 

[Rammy]

Oh, wow!

 

[greybeard]

We had a longhorn bull that could jump the fence like a deer. I got tired of chasing him down and sold him. At his new home, he nearly caused a range war. He jumped the fence and went down the road, jumped in a pasture and bred a herd of registered Angus.

Hybrid vigor and Max heterosis!!! For free too...or Did the new owner charge the angus herd owners for improving their herd?
(Chrome is the hot new thing for the cutesy crowd I hear..& that herd will probably be chromed up for the next 30-40 generations)

 

[High Desert Cowboy]

We have a lot of open range around here, so where you’re driving when you hit an animal can change financial outcomes drastically. For example the road in front of my house is a county road but the road that runs a little to the east is on open range, so depending on which one I use to make a Dairy Queen run at night I could hit a black cow and get a new car or buy a new cow. It makes for some interesting arguments sometimes. For example, driving to Cedar once on the highway we passed a bike race, and I had to intervene on behalf of a young lady who had just been bitten by a LGD. She was bleeding and crying and scared, but the highway goes through open range and the race was happening at the same time they were moving sheep from one area to another on the range. Now the dog is doing his job, but that is a public highway. Who’s in the wrong?
As for a bull getting in, that depends on the bull. They might call you next day saying come get your bull or I’m turning it loose in the lanes, or they might keep their mouth shut for a month or two and see what they get out of it. But almost everyone in my area has big black bulls so it’s really not a big deal. If they’re not black, they’re red and white.

 

[High Desert Cowboy]

So I spent the day helping a friend with their cow sale. They have two sales a year, a bull sale in March and a cow sale in November, focusing on genetics and improving your herd. Some people have crazy stupid money I tell you, one heifer sold for 10,000 bucks! That of course is nothing compared to the bull sale, but I feel for a heifer that’s more than a little pricey.

 

[Mike CHS]

I think egos are a major thing in sales like that. We saw a ram go for over $8000 last year who didn't look much better than our $500 ram.

 

[Bruce]

Gotta keep ahead of the "Joneses" you know, they paid $9,500 for their heifer.

 

[Rammy]

Thats a pretty expensive steak.