★Now we come into July! There’s still a lot to celebrate here in the good old USA, especially our substantial share of it, down here in Texas. Time for fireworks, an honest effort at a cook out or barbecue way down late in the afternoon, an extra day off for those of us on the payroll. Just a few more lazy days are ahead before some of us really start to think about school and cool weather and show projects, everything being just right around the corner, if you really think about it. The wonderful relationship we have with O’Connor is something we are especially thankful for, and proud to be the real go to for show supplies. And we’re already stocking up, lots of feeds, lots of supplements, and lots of supplies to get everything going as soon as everybody’s ready.

★And while we have plenty of show items available, as the season is just around the corner, many of our items are applicable to the present circumstance here in the big middle of summer as July gets underway. Of special interest for those of you trying to keep some cattle, we’ve got just the thing for keeping body temperature a little lower to enhance the health and comfort of your investment. We’ve stocked up extra on Vita Charge Heat Stress Tubs in the blue container, always good for show prep, but just as handy for regular ranchers here as the temperatures start to climb.

★We can also highly recommend the Durvet 8 ounce packet of electrolytes, which when mixed with water makes many gallons that will vitalize as well as refresh your horses and other livestock to boot. We also have a fine electrolyte product made specifically for horses, produced by Equidex, we’ve used it some ourselves, and had good reports from our friends and neighbors, so we can’t fail to mention it here. Hot weather’s not so great for poultry either, so we keep Durvet electrolytes handy for your laying hens, too, not to mention Backyard Boost, hard to beat.

★But what if your livestock is a little shy of taking on extra water in the heat? Many of you know that adding a little salt to the diet helps to encourage water consumption, so we’ve had a lot of call for Sulfur Salt and Trace Mineral Salt, and as the month moves along and we get hotter and hotter, there will be more demand, so we’re keeping a close watch on our stock of this essential addition to your cattle operation to see to it that you don’t run short.

★And here now we’re coming into quarterly worming, and we just can’t say enough about Safeguard Wormer in the form of 25 pound protein blocks and 50 pound cube style bags of this fine product. Safeguard even has a strategic program for year round worming, as described right here on the site.

We also carry the Safeguard paste wormer, and are always happy to advise if you’d like a second opinion on how to proceed. In addition to a full lineup of safeguard products, we carry the tried and true Ivermectin and Cydectin pour on wormers, pastes and injectables, all things considered, a full range of options for this quarterly chore.

★Comfort is always a consideration for your livestock, as well as internal management. Simplifly is a great way to manage the menace of flies that can stress your livestock very badly, not to mention you and your family. Break the cycle of reproduction of flies with this safe, effective, and money-saving product.

★And while we’re on the topic of flies in general, it’s not just out in the pasture that there’s going to be trouble. There is your house, your porch, your barn, around your picnic table, and any space that you’d like to work or play without having to swat flies all afternoon.

Star Bar products are just about the best at trapping, killing, poisoning, or deterring flies. We keep practically the entire line of these products, and we know how to deploy them, if you need a little advice based on our own field testing. You can always try zip lock bags with water hung around in the barn, but if they’re just too many flies to keep up with, and you want 100% reliability and guaranteed results, come have a look at all the Star Bar products we have every single day a week.

Varmints are likely to be even more on the increase through July and into August, and while we can’t say enough good things about our varmint traps, it might be a little easier chore just putting out some of our first class bait. Dealing with dead or dying varmints in a trap is enough of a chore during the good weather, but here as the heat builds in it’ll make it even worse. The approach we like to recommend during this time is to use well placed bait so that the varmints wander off and dispose of themselves. Then, as the weather gets better, you can save a nickel or two and go back to live traps, and poison bait as needed to fill the gap.

Now we need to talk a little bit about plain water, good old H2O. That lawn that you worked on all through the spring is going to need a little extra help as we really start to hit the dry weather. It may be about time to do something about your old faithful garden hose with all the kinks and drips and beauty marks. For those of you that are a little bit more enterprising and want to save a nickel or two, we have complete hose repair kits available that will work with nearly any garden hose and come in a lot cheaper than a full replacement.

★Our repair kits and parts are reliable, and built to last so you can get the most use out of the watering hoses you have, or if you want to spend a few dollars more and do a full replacement, we’ve got garden hoses stacked up and ready to go for you. We love working with Gilmour, as they have the full range of hoses repair kits, and of course sprinklers to make the most of your water distribution, saving money and yard both as we trek through July.

Your Hastings water troughs may need some attention, too, especially the float valve’s. Hudson is a superb answer to saving money, and providing reliable water for your larger livestock. If you already have Hudson 1″ float valve’s on your troughs, and they just need little work, we stock OEM maintenance kits for quick rebuilds. And of course, if you need to add or replace complete float valves by Hudson, we keep these in stock too, as well as tank brackets to keep everything squared away.

★To top it all off we keep a good supply of washing machine hoses, so you don’t have to feel so obliged to hand-make short links of hose from scratch, and plenty of compatible PVC fittings to get your tank water supply arranged just the way you like it, less apt to have trouble with leaks, or worse, a full on geyser.

But if you’re out in the country, where does all that water come from? Well, the well, of course! We keep the most requested parts and supplies for well house maintenance right here in the store, made by Plumb Ease, saving you having to call a repair man to take care of a little chore or two that’s best done right there on the spot.

Getting the water to the soil into your garden is one thing, but what if it all just disappears under the plants without the roots being able to get any benefit? We learned a long time ago that potting and garden soils work best when they have a good percentage of Pete Moss mixed in, not to mention vermiculite. This allows for a somewhat slow-release of added water in the soil, reducing the need to water to a certain extent. The best way to add these constituents to your soil, unless you’re starting from scratch, is to add a fine top dressing.

★Happy Frog soil conditioner is the hands-down champ for this sort of thing. You don’t need to hardly do anything else except layer it on top of existing plantings and let it do its work as you water and work in your garden. This product also has substantial fortifications in it that will, in addition to helping conserve water, improve the health and productivity of the plants you’ve worked so hard to keep going.

★As food starts to get scarce for squirrels, you’re probably going to see them show up in greater numbers around your birdfeeders looking for a handout and running off all your favorite song birds. Mr. Bird has just the solution for this, humane, all natural, and pretty darn clever, too!

You would think that adding pepper sauce to bird feed would annoy the birds as well as the squirrels, but as luck would have it, birds just don’t have the taste buds for hot pepper, so they can eat to their heart’s content and not have any trouble. The squirrels, on the other hand, do have taste buds, about like us. Everybody likes little hot pepper now and again, but nobody likes five alarm chili, or birdseed for that matter!

★So while you may be conspiring to heat up the squirrels a little bit, we hope that everybody who shops here and their friends and family will stay cool this Fourth of July and take a few easy steps to see to it that the month goes well for man and beast alike. Let us know if we can be of any help, or just drop by and swap stories with us, we’re always good for that, and of course, glad to see you once again.