Working through lunch

John O'Byrne's steers belly up to their feed bunks southwest of Trenton, Nebraska, as Berexco's Rig No. 10 drills for oil in a field to the west in late July. Berexco engineer Dana Wreath said there have been 18 wells and one dry hole in the new "Spring Canyon" field since December 2010. The field's "discovery well," the first well, drilled in December, was the "Faimon 15-12." Two rigs -- one from Berexco and another from Murfin Drilling -- are drilling side-by-side in the field Tuesday, Wreath said. He added, "In this part of Southwest Nebraska, cattle and oil wells both make big contributions to the local economy."