Pat & Sharon O'Toole: Wind power, pipes and Mike the Headless Chicken

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After the wind
Home Ranch

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Pickup stick pipes
Home Ranch

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Going nowhere
Home Ranch

We had an unusual experience this weekend. A couple of weeks ago, a wind storm came through and tossed our irrigation pipe around like pickup sticks. We use side roll sprinklers to irrigate our alfalfa crop. They spend the winter months staked in the field.

Normally, we don’t get strong winds here in the mountains, and when we do, they just blow straight at us. This freak storm didn’t last long, but when it had passed our pipes lay twisted and bent.

The nearest dealer selling replacement pipe is in Fruita, Colorado, near Grand Junction. Pat and I hooked up our longest flatbed trailer and headed to Fruita. We arrived during the annual “Mike the Headless Chicken” Festival. It seems that some years ago, a farmer beheaded his rooster, who then lived for another year and a half. They seemed a little fuzzy on the details, but it makes a great excuse for a town gathering.

New pipe, all loaded
Fruita, Colorado

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About Pat & Sharon O'Toole

Pat and Sharon O’Toole are ranchers in the Little Snake River Valley near Savery, Wyoming, right on the Colorado-Wyoming border. They raise cattle, sheep, horses, dogs and children. Pat “immigrated” from Florida in 1970. He attended Colorado State University, where he met Sharon when both worked for the campus newspaper. Sharon grew up on their ranch, where they live and work with her father, their daughter, son and granddaughter (soon to be grandchildren!). Pat is a “water buffalo” and has served in the Wyoming House of Representatives (1986-1992), on the President’s Western Water Policy Review Advisory Commission, and is the current President of the Family Farm Alliance, which advocates for farmers, ranchers and irrigators. Sharon is an author, poet and journalist. She writes extensively on Western issues and is a columnist for “The Shepherd” magazine. Pat and Sharon are the parents of three children: Meghan, 27; Bridget, 26; and Eamon, 20.

Pat & Sharon O'Toole

Wind power, pipes and Mike the Headless Chicken

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About Pat & Sharon O'Toole

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