[metal banging]
[giggles]
♪ country ♪
Good morning guys,
here in Western Nebraska.
A place where I’ve been told by the locals
has the highest amount
of cowgirls per square mile.
So today we’re gonna meet a cowgirl.
Who I’ve been told is ranchy
and as tough as woodpecker lips.
First time hearing that one.
So let’s get out there.
I believe it’s 20 more miles this way
and go learn about what this
cowgirl culture is all about.
Let’s do this.
♪ country ♪
[door opens]
[birds chirping]
PETER: Here we are, Wilson’s…
[door closes]
Flying Diamond Ranch.
PETER: Jaclyn?
JACLYN: Sup?
[both chuckling]
PETER: What are we doing?
PETER: Do some ranching from the pro?
[four wheeler]
Jaclyn’s not one to hang around
so she just threw me on the four wheeler
and said, “Follow me.”
[four wheeler]
All right, I don’t know if Jaclyn
knows I’m shooting a video
but she’s already got me to work.
Saying we gotta herd the cattle.
PETER: Am I doing it right?
[engine revving]
PETER: What’s going on here?
JACLYN: Probably most likely
what he was doing
is he probably was drinking the alkaline.
Alkaline is not the greatest
for them to drink.
I mean they’ve got fresh water
up there at the windmill and stuff
but you know, water is water.
So they go to the water.
So all this is is just electrolytes.
PETER: You have your eyes
on all of these cows?
-Every day.
-You know all their stories?
-Every day.
PETER: How many you got out here…
Oh, actually never ask that.
-Never ask that, enough to eat the grass.
PETER: I learned that back in Texas.
-Enough to eat the grass.
PETER: Don’t ask acreage
and don’t ask how many cows.
-So my grandfather always used to,
when people would ask
“Well, how many cows do you have?”
He goes, “Enough to eat the grass.”
“Well, how much grass do you have.”
He goes, “Enough to feed the cows.”
That was the proper answer. [giggles]
PETER: So for those that don’t know,
it’s basically
“How much money do you have
in your bank account?”
when you ask that question.
-Well, I don’t think ranchers
have money in their bank account.
-You guys don’t?
-It’s like, “How much money do you make?”
That’s what it is.
PETER: So this isn’t the road
to getting super rich?
[laughs]
-I wish, right?
[scoffs]
No, this is the road to
working hard day in and day out
and wondering
why the hell you’re doing this.
‘Cause your body hurts,
you’re tired, you’re sore, you’re cranky
and you’re not making any money.
So typical living
the American dream right there.
[laughs]
PETER: So the mother’s a bit protective
but lets you get in with the calf, huh?
-Sometimes, yeah.
Sometimes they get a little growlie
but I think they know too
that you’re trying to help, you know?
Usually electrolytes work just great
and then you don’t have
to give them any antibiotic
but if you do, we’re really
conscientious of our antibiotic usage.
-Liquid in, liquid out.
-Liquid in, liquid out, right.
[both chuckling]
[four wheeler]
-How many generations?
-Fifth.
-Fifth generation on this land?
-Yep.
-How does that feel to carry that on?
-Stressful. [laughs]
Very stressful.
PETER: Is it harder now
versus generations prior or hard to tell?
Well any time it seems
that things get a little tough
my dad will always be like
“Well you know back in the 70s and 80s
it was like this, and this, and this.”
I think it ebbs and flows like anything.
The difference is now we have a lot more
activists that we’re competing against
compared to probably
what they had in the 80s.
Social media and everything so…
PETER: What’s going on with that?
I think people just don’t understand.
It’s a lack of people being further
and further removed from agriculture
and so they just don’t
understand what we’re doing
and why we’re doing it.
There’s a lot of misinformation out there
about cows influencing the climate
and climate change being focused
off of cows instead of the
millions of people that travel,
or fly, or any of those things.
PETER: Say an elite billionaire
in a private jet
actually has more of a
global footprint than a cow?
-Blames me.
You know, me, the girl who’s crew
planted 2,500 trees in the last two weeks.
You know, but I’m the problem.
So it gets frustrating and it gets old
because you look out and about here
and the land here is better
than it was when it was first homesteaded.
PETER: I called you a cowgirl.
[laughing]
JACLYN: That’s right, you did.
PETER: And… Tell me…
Explain that to me.
-No, I think there’s definitely…
PETER: So if you’re not a cowgirl,
what are you?
-I consider myself a cattle woman.
When I personally think
of like a cowboy, cowgirl type
I kind of think of the
old John Wayne day eras.
Where they’re riding,
and roping, and yeehawing
and herding livestock
long, long distances.
I mean here, we’re focused on genetics,
I’m focused on technology.
I’m focused on…
PETER: Okay, okay.
I called you a cowgirl,
is that all right?
-That’s quite all right,
I’ll live with that.
-In the intro I said cowgirl.
-I’ll carry that badge with honor.
-Okay, but females in this world
is there an increase or a decrease?
-Increase.
Actually and surprisingly.
We’ve got a female intern.
Most of my interns actually are female
and I’ll speak quite a bit around the US
and surprisingly
there’s getting to be a massive…
Females are starting
to outnumber males now in things like
vet science,
and animal science classes, and whatnot.
PETER: Why is that do you think?
-For me personally, how I see it is like
everybody, every little girl
grew up with a compassion for animals
or a lot of ’em did.