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The algae is a toxic Syno bacteria often referred to as Toxic blue green algae. When the Army Corps of Engineers put in the dam on the neighbors property several decades ago, the waters that filled the lake must have been contaminated with runoff from a sewage treatment plant somewhere back up stream. This bacteria grows in human waste lagoons. After Eddie won his lawsuit in the Supreme Court, the US Fish and Wildlife Services works with the local conservation district commission here in the state and the Army Corps of Engineers put in the agitations system. The EPA and DEQ monitor the system and Eddie calls them in when something goes wrong with the system or when he sees evidence of a bloom. The algae messes with the cows liver and they die...he lost 40 head. A man named John Burns has written a book about the algae. It's been found in several other states and has actually killed people. So far, there isn't anything that will kill the algae.
We have most of our calves in the spring (late Feb - mid April) and have about 10 of our herd that calve in the fall. This year, about 15 cows bred back late so we have been having calves in May, June and July. Had a baby born last night...makes 6 this month. We have 8 more to calve. We have sold some older cows and replaced them with nice Angus heifers. About half of those we will hold back for fall calvers. The spring calvers and their calves are on leases in Paden and Prague and on property we own in Prague and at the MIL's in Choctaw. Everything else is here on the farm/ranch.