Murray Farm & Ranch

Surprise baby on the farm... Welcome to the world Noah Oak Murray! He was born at 8:18 am on 5/11/21! Noah was born at 33 weeks 6 days. He’s 18.25 and 5 lbs 14 ounces. Leading up to his arrival, circumstances began getting dicey. Momma developed preeclampsia that started to progress to a scary position. Tara was initially admitted to Duncan Regional but the decision was made to transfer to OU children’s. She developed a severe headache with some neurological changes.... Ultimately the treatment for preeclampsia is delivery. Of course we were terrified at the thought of our baby being born so early. Induction was started on Monday. Early Tuesday morning, water was broken and labor progressed rapidly. The gender of Noah was a surprise to both mom and myself. As soon as Noah made his entrance into the world, there was a sense of relief because he was feisty and crying like a little banshee. I immediately made the announcement to Tara that Sam has a little brother! Noah and I were rushed off to the NICU while the rest of the team worked on momma. Noah was originally on 2 liters of oxygen but weaned from both the heater bed and oxygen in the first 24 hours. Both Noah and momma are doing amazing. We are absolutely smitten with the little fella. We are so thankful to God for his hands all over this situation. A bad situation could not have gone any smoother. We have also been so impressed with OU Children’s. The amount of attention, compassion, and competency is second to none. Please keep the now Murray family of 4 in your prayers as we have not quite reached the finish line yet. See more

Beside every good man is woman, not behind, not in front but hand in hand taking on life together. I’ve been blessed with a series of good women in my life. It started with my mother. She is the most selfless person I have ever met. My mother is a smart woman. She’s not afraid to take on tough jobs. She’ll learn how to do anything she needs to and flourish while she’s doing it. I’m sure my mother got it from my grandmother. My ma-ma, as I called her, was an amazing mo...ther and grandmother. She raised 5 children. She had a hand in raising several grandchildren. My grandmother was one of kind. She knew how to run a home. She wasn’t afraid of hard work and managed a farm, garden, and home without the slightest hint of struggle. It may not be fair but my grandmother and mother are the bar that I have measured all other woman against. My luck with strong women carried through with the one that settled this rambling man down. Tara is a dedicated mother. She’s a hard worker, loyal and has the kindest heart that I’ve come across. Mother’s Day may be the day set aside to honor the women in our lives but when you’ve been blessed like I have, honoring them is something I think about daily. Happy Mother’s Day today, tomorrow and the next. I love you all with every ounce of my being. See more

Looks familiar doesn’t it...

Homesteading, farming, ranching, whatever the right descriptive word is that we are doing on our piece of dirt has been a blessing. It’s a lot work. There are disappointments, almost daily it seems, but there are blessings as well. Sometimes the blessings are harder to pick out amidst the hardships but they are there. Growing nutritious food, raising beautiful healthy cattle, and watching young boys growing up in a lifestyle that much of America has forgotten about is enough to keep me going.

Coco the kitty displaying his hunting prowess this morning. This cat has so much personality. I saw the dead mouse when I came back from working out but failed to acknowledge or congratulate Coco on his kill. Coco quickly positioned himself between myself and door and began serenading me with meows demanding that I show more respect for his mousing abilities. I gave him a few rubs, told him he was a good kitty and took his picture and he seemed satisfied.

I’m amazed at how little compassion there is for life. I’m not talking about just human life but all life. Animals in the natural world fight to live, breed, and succeed in a world with the chips stacked against them. Wild animals will go though great lengths to survive but will put their own lives in jeopardy for their young. Humans are supposed to be a higher level critter with more intelligent brains yet you read often of fathers using children as human shields. Mothe...rs abandoning their children to get high. Stories of animal mistreatment and abuse are widespread. We as farmers and ranchers take heat occasionally from the PETA/vegan types for raising animals to eat or for hunting to harvest meat. I can assure you though I care for life. I’m raising my children to care for life. Life of all types. Human, mammal, avian, reptile... This is the picture of boy that is being raised to respect life. See more

My first exposure to kombucha was at a farmer’s market in Kauai, Hawaii. To be honest, I wasn’t that impressed. 5 or so years later, I got interested in fermented foods due to the potential health benefits. I started with kimchi. I followed the rabbit hole and started fermenting just about everything that could be fermented. I made hot sauce, garlic honey, pickled red onion, and fermented pickles to name a few. All were edible but two have consistently found themselves ...in our household. Kimchi and kombucha are now Murray Family staples. Kombucha is super easy to make, delicious, and chalked full of healthy probiotics. My favorite flavor so far is a mix of honey, lemon, and ginger. A close second is blueberry, kiwi, with either strawberry or black berry. Store bought kombucha will cost somewhere between $4-$6. Brewing your own will save you some green and after a little tweaking you can master the flavors you like. We have a tutorial on our YouTube channel detailing the secondary fermentation and flavoring. Check it out and let us know if you are interested in addition information on kombucha! See more

This little lady has the look of a future producer. She was born the weekend before Easter and is filling out nicely. Her mother, Too Beautiful For You, is on lush pasture and producing plenty of milk to keep this little one satisfied. I chose to raise longhorns for several reasons. There are multiple markets for longhorns. They are hardy. But one of the primary reasons we went with longhorns is ease of calving. If you are not a full time rancher calving is stressful an...d you risk losing calves and first time heifers if they struggle to give birth while you are way at work and so forth. Longhorn bulls throw small calves. It’s not unusual for our calves to weigh 35-45 lbs at birth versus 80-90 lbs for some other breeds. The calves pick weight up fast though and will still hit respectable weening weights. In a beef market dominated by black angus and feed lot operations, you have to find your own niche if you want to be successful and are a small operation. Longhorns offer a several niche markets. Structurally sound bull calves can be marketed as low birth weight bulls for first time heifers. Of course there is the tip to tip market. Roper market. Trophy steers. Don’t forget about the original beef animal. Texas longhorns have amazing lean beef rich in omega 3 fatty acids when raised on pasture. They are a unique breed that I am proud to raise. See more

Everyone that follows us knows a couple things about us. We are vocal in support American grass roots production. Oil and gas is included in that support. I support local production. I support the jobs it provides and meals it puts on tables of local families. I support the industry and the tax dollars that gets spent in our communities. I wish the oil and gas industry would support me like I support them. Questions I’m sure... I’ll explain. Our farm is located in dee...ply rural Oklahoma. There are only 4 or 5 families that live in a 2 or 3 square mile area. Pad sites outnumber homes by about 4 to 1. The majority of traffic in front of our farm comes from oilfield traffic. Subsequently the majority of trash left behind is the result of their employees. It is not unusual for us to pick up bags of trash littered along on our fence lines. On Thursday evening, I came home to a bellowing cow. Immediately upon walking in the door, Sam told me that she was missing her baby. Her calf was a six month heifer due to be weaned this week. She was healthy as a horse and built like a tank. I couldn’t imagine what had happened to her. I spent my evening searching for her. I found her right at dark, down, glassy eyed, and past the point of saving. I had to end the life of a beautiful animal that I expected to be a producer for the next 10-15 years. The following morning I paid a vet to perform a necropsy. The cause of death is this dollar general plastic bag that likely found its way onto my farm via the country road fence line. The bag cause an esophageal obstruction and resultant bloat. If I am to continue in my support of local oil then I need some support back. I need my gates closed. I need my fence lines to remain as clean as I left them. I need people that are just as interested in my success as I am theirs. See more

Baby calves have the most vibrant colors. This little one’s coat is snow white. I enjoy taking a few minutes in the evenings while the mothers are grazing to spend a little time with the little ones. They are so curious and seem to be just as interested in me as I am of them. The more time I spend in the pasture the more comfortable the cattle become with me. That translates to easier to handle cattle and it gives me the opportunity to look for problems on a daily basis.