Thread by @SarahTaber_bww

Are you guys ready for the buck-wildest agriculture story I've ever heard

Let me set the stage: Umnak, the biggest island in the Aleutian chain.

Some guys thought it would be a good idea to ranch cattle there.

At first that sounds like a nuts thing to do.

And then you look at the map and you think, Oh! That's on the same latitude as Ireland. That's not so bad.

Nice long days in the summer, cool rainy maritime climate, lots of green grass. Cows love that!

And you'd be right!

As a result, people have been ranching on Unmak Island on and off since 1930.

There's a whole article on it here.

cowboysindians.com/2018/03/the-ra…

A cool thing about ranching on islands in Alaska is in the winter, when there's less grass, is kelp season. Kelp loves the cold & kelp forests really get going in winter.

Then winter storms pull lots of it off its stalks and pile it onto the beach, where the cows can graze it.

Another cool thing about ranching on islands in Alaska is this quote is technically true!

So, here's the thing.

They're way out in the North Pacific. That "cradle of storms" thing is real.

Those big waves that surfers love on the North Shore of Hawai'i?

This is where they come from! Storms in the North Pacific! They're still huge after they make it to HAWAI'I

That's how all that kelp gets onto shore. Big storms, big waves, tearin' up the kelp forests & dropping them on the beach.

So you'll still get occasional 20, 30' waves even after a local storm is over.

When it's otherwise calm & the cows are out grazing on the beach.

So the thing about cows is they're kinda just a fermentation tank on legs.

Their body is a big hollow barrel with a lot of gas in it (mostly lungs, some CO2 & methane in the gut).

They float GREAT.

So yes, sometimes they get whacked by big waves when they're grazing on the beach. But don't worry, they don't drown! They float! They can swim!*

*Well enough to cross a river. Not well enough to get back to land in the North Pacific.

Cows are not a maritime creature.

So.... someone has figured out that there's a magic island that occasionally drops cows into the ocean.

Turns out orcas love steak.

And this quote is technically true! There are no natural predators ON Umnak Island.

The article doesn't mention the orcas. I got that info from a colleague involved in attempts to acquire the ranch.

Turns out running a ranch in the Aleutian Islands is, like, logistically not recommended- as I understand it's no longer in operation.

This ranch is a great case study in "Just because you can ranch cattle here, doesn't mean you should."

There's also a caribou herd there that AFAIK doesn't wander down into the wave zone to graze, because they eat lichen in the winter. It helps to be adapted to the local area!

In conclusion, Yeehaw

*Umnak

thanks autocorrect?