Cowboy Ethics...

I just finished reading Cowboy Ethics, a book focused on showing the financial world how far they have moved away from the values and principles that some of this country's greatest heros lived for. I originally bought the book because I was intrigued by the photography of the American West, but as soon as I opened the book I began reading, and an hour later I finished the book.

It really made me take into consideration the Code of the West that the author presents. True, some of the legendaryness (that may not be a real word, but it sure fits this spot) of the American Cowboy may be stretched or idolized, but the true message of the story comes through loud and clear. The message may be aimed toward the financial leaders of the country, but the story is for all Americans to read and to take into account.

The Code of the West that the author implies is as follows:
Live Each Day with Courage
Take Pride in Your Work
Always Finish What You Start
Do What Has to be Done
Be Tough, But Fair
When You Make a Promise, Keep It
Ride for the Brand
Talk Less and Say More
Remember That Some Things Aren't for Sale
Know Where to Draw the Line


These may sound like a fantisized lyric from some ole worn out country song, but after reading through the story from the author I got to thinking about where my priorities are set and how I treat myself and those around me. So I strongly reccomend this book by author James P. Owen as a good read for those interested in an encouarging read, and not to mention the awe-stirring photos of the American Western Rancher from David R. Stoecklein. I would even consider this as a great gift for those you feel the need to share the message with.

Give a lil elbow room

I saw this story and just had to repost it, because I absolutely agree with the point the author makes.

Daniel Boone had it right, elbow room is pretty dang nice. I know my wife will cringe at this analogy, but Chris LeDoux sings about a rancher who moves into town and longs for the wide open spaces of the ranch. A verse in the song laments how he can no longer relieve himself off his back porch.

It’s a long way from being poetic, but it concisely points up perhaps one of the many things we take for granted living in rural America.

As I drove in to visit a friend/rancher this week, I didn't think twice about the river bottoms I passed, the deer I spooked up along the road, or the fact that when I got out I could have yelled at the top of my lungs without disturbing a neighbor.

I did, however, notice the new roping arena down in this scenic valley. It was a big pen, nearly 300 ft. long and 180 ft. wide. The white continuous fence just glistened and the arena sand had been freshly worked. It was downright pretty.

Roping is more than a hobby, it’s a passion. I didn't think anything when he mentioned how he calves cows a mile south of the headquarters or offered to show me his herd bulls in a pasture just three miles from the house.

Nothing dawned on me until I was driving to a meeting later in Denver and sitting in traffic on a three-lane interstate. Off to my left was a housing development that literally stacked house upon house, while a sign trumpeted starting prices as low as $290,000. Eight houses and a little grassy area they called a park didn't take up as much space as my friend’s roping arena!

While being able to relieve yourself off your back porch without having to worry about neighbors, having the luxury of looking up in a night sky to see millions of stars, or creating a full-size basketball court for your kids in your Quonset might not pay a lot of bills, it sure does make life more agreeable.
-- Troy Marshall

Its beginning to look a lot like....

Well I do not want to say Christmas yet, because I am not near ready for it to be here. But I am excited about the fact that I only have 3 full weeks of class left for the semester. Then there is Thanksgiving break, Dead week, and Finals week. Oh how I dread the two weeks of nothing but reading and studying. But I am so glad that I finished all of my group projects and they went well. Now I am left with only one paper, one speech, and four tests before finals. That is a BIG sigh of relief. I am more than ready to get home for a month of Christmas break and work out in the mud and weather and maybe get a little, scratch that A LOT, of riding time in. Although this will be my last Christmas break ever, barring going back to grad school.

I had a group debate in one of my classes and the topic was Animal Identification; specifically the implementation of the National Animal Identification System. It was really difficult to fully disagree with the implementation of a mandatory animal idenficitation sysyem. There is no appeal to me in the government stepping in and controlling yet another factor of the cattle industry. I really hate to see the cattle industry turn toward streamline production but there really is no way around it. Larger operations will prevail because they have more resources to withstand financial hardships and the lows that come with the markets. The smaller operations naturally cannot withstand those times as easily. But it is my background and anyone would be proud of and standup for their upbringing. There was one guy on the other team that continually harped the fact that smaller operations were just going to have to suffer and shut down at the expense of the industry's well-being and that was just the fact of the matter. It really was a low blow to me because that is where I come from and what I believe makes up a vital part of the industries diversity and success at maintaining heterosis in commercial cattle production. In fact if you think about it almost all of the cattle in the US are maintained on commercial and a large number of those operations are smaller operations.

As I finish up this semester and as I will begin my last semster in college in January, I am desperately looking for the job path that will fit me best. I want to be a part of a cow/calf and/or stocker operation that will allow me to work with the cattle and the producers around the area. And of course it would be great to move close to home to be able to do that, but it just doesn't seem very probable.  Maybe someday I will find that opportunity to get my own herd and have the best cattle in the county. Someday....

My vest smells like a feedyard...

It's kinda funny this morning, I put one of my vests in the dryer to warm it up and when I pulled it out it smelled a lot like the feedyard. It kinda made me laugh because it reminded me of the summer I spent working the Texas feedyards in 2008. No matter how many times I washed some of those clothes, they still smell the same. But that was a pretty awesome summer, only to be triumphed by the next spent in Wyoming.

This week has been no fun at all, nor will the next two be either. I have test after test for the next two weeks, along with two group presentations within two days. I really need to get on the ball and find my motivation to mentally make it to class everyday. I have been slacking, mostly because I can get over confident in where I sit with my grades. I roll over in the morning and its cloudy and wet and say 'It's alright if I miss class because I have a good hold on my grade.' Then, next thing you know, I am slipping down the slope. I am not saying that I am so far down the hill that I am in trouble, I can see it coming if I don't stop sliding now.

I am in the middle of my Senior year and more than ready to get out of this place. Ready to get back to doing what I love on a daily basis; working cattle, being outside, jumping on my horse for a nightly ride. Those are the things that I love. It's what I need to do. It won't be long, just gotta get through these next few months. Until then, it's taking every opportunity to sit back and relax and watch a Clint Eastwood film.

Top 10 BEEF Daily Quick Facts on Cattle and the Planet…

1. American agriculture is sustainable for the future. In the United States, 98 percent of farms are family farms. Today’s American farmer feeds about 144 people worldwide. 2009 versus 1960: 1.8 million less farms are feeding a U.S. population that has increased 61 percent. (Explore Beef)

2. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the entire U.S. agriculture sector accounts for only 6 percent of annual U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Of this, livestock production is estimated to account for 2.8 percent of total U.S. emissions. (EPA Climate Change Report)

3. If livestock production disappeared tomorrow, wouldn’t we just be transporting more tofu around? And wouldn’t we just be plowing and fertilizing the land to supply PETA’s vegetarian utopia? (Center for Consumer Freedom)

4. Grazing animals on land not suitable for producing crops more than doubles the land area that can be used to produce food. If 1955 technology were used to produce the amount of beef raised today, 165 million more acres of land would be needed – that’s about the size of Texas! (Explore Beef)

5. Each year, outstanding ranching families are recognized through a prestigious award, the Environmental Stewardship Award Program. The award is presented each year by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and The National Cattlemen’s Foundation, and is sponsored by Dow AgroSciences and USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service at the annual Cattle Industry Annual Convention. (Read about the regional winners at BEEF)

6. Cattle do more than just provide us with nutritious beef. They also make significant contributions to our lives… and the planet. Cattle convert inedible cellulose (grass) to nutritious beef. When cattle graze, they “aerate” the soil with their hooves, which allows more oxygen and water to enter. They also press grass seed into the soil, so it can start growing. They provide a natural fertilizer in the form of manure. Cattle also reduce the length of grass and brush when they graze, which is helpful in reducing the spread of wildfires since there is less flammable material. In addition, cattle primarily graze on grass, but they also eat waste products from food processing such as potato skins, distillers grains, fruit pits, almond hulls and sugar beet pulp. (Wow That Cow!)

7. Beef by-products enable us to use 99% of every beef animal, and these products are a part of our daily lives. Beef by-products include leather, candles, toothpaste, deodorants, crayons, textiles, cosmetics, rubber tires, insulin, high glass for magazines, asphalt, fertilizers, cement blocks, hydraulic brake fluid, car polishes and waxes, detergents, shaving cream, soaps, shampoo, paint, chewing gum, marshmallows, and the list goes on, and on, and on. Can you go a day without using a cattle by-product? (When is a Cow More Than a Cow?)

8. There are 29 cuts of beef that meet the government labeling guidelines for lean. Each one contains less than 10 grams of total fat, 4.5 grams or less of saturated fat, and less than 95 milligrams of cholesterol per 3.5 oz. serving. Calorie-for-calorie, beef is the most nutrient-dense food including nine essential nutrients, including a good source of zinc, iron and protein. And, did you know, beef has the same heart-healthy fats as olive oil? (Beef, It’s What’s For Dinner)

9. According to a 1993 article in the Journal of Animal Science by J. Beckett and J. Oltjen, total livestock production accounts for just over 11 percent of all U.S. water use in the United States. This includes the water to grow crops fed to livestock, which accounts for 9.7 percent of all water use, and livestock consumption, at 1.2 percent of all water use. (Journal of Animal Science)

10. Rangelands and pastures provide forage and habitat for numerous wildlife species, including 20 million deer, 500,000 pronghorn antelope, 400,000 elk and 55,000 feral horses and burros. Last year, more than 2,000 ranchers and farmers entered into landowner agreements with the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program. About a billion acres, or 55 percent of the total land surface in the United States, is rangeland, pasture and forages. (Beef, From Pasture to Plate)

Ethos, Pathos, Logos....

These are the three things that successful communication appeals to. How in the world are we to ever beat emotion with logic in the discussion about the importance of meat in the diet and livestock agriculture in the U.S.? Larry King hosted a show about e-coli found in ground beef and there were comments from people reccommended by the NCBA. But how can the facts and logics we present ever be heard over the crying mothers explaining the rare occurance that happened to injure or kill their children when they were affected by e-coli? This is rediculous! This conversation and assault against the meat industry has recently involved Time Magazine and the New York Times. I could go on for paragraphs about this, but I just wanted to ask the question, how can we ever use logic and really get the attention of the American public over the appeal to emotion?

Alternative to text messaging on the horizon?

If it’s true that that there’s nothing new under sun, one day in the future we might read the following newspaper account:
The cell phone industry is in a panic today after reports that scores of teenagers have found a way to circumvent paying hundreds of dollars each month for text messaging. If the craze catches on, it could deprive the industry of billions of dollars in revenue.
“It’s diabolical,” said Henry Usurper, president of World Wireless. “The cell phone is as important to today’s American youth as credit cards, fast cars and Clearasil were to our generation. The sight of teenage girls texting each other while sitting in the back seat of an automobile has become an icon of American youth. Our young people have created a whole new shorthand of communication that has changed language as we know it and redefined the laws of grammar.
“For these same young people to devise a dastardly scheme to not pay for that privilege is, frankly, unconscionable. Or should I say, ‘wzup widat?’?”
Nothing at all, says 18-year old Joe Smith, whose father farms 25,000 acres of cotton, a crop which has taken on a tremendous rebirth in profits in recent years. (Pardon me, I couldn’t resist putting some positive news about cotton in a column.)
Smith, one of the first youths to discover this revolutionary means of communication, said, “Text messaging as we know it will soon become obsolete.”
I traveled to Louisiana recently to watch Smith demonstrate this so-called “dis” of the cell phone industry. Be forewarned, hard core cell phone users may have trouble grasping the concept.
“First,” Smith said, “Retrieve your cell phone, open it and push the red telephone icon. Then replace the cell phone in a pocket or purse.
“Locate the person with whom you wish to communicate. Warning, this may require walking or in extreme cases, some forethought and patience. Reach out with the hand usually reserved for holding the cell phone and tap the person with whom you plan to engage in conversation gently on the shoulder.
“When the person turns around, look him or her squarely in the eye. Take a breath. Then speak whatever communications are necessary directly at the person to whom you are speaking. Allow the words to reach the person’s ear, then listen for a response. Assimilate the response in your brain, then if necessary, respond again.”
“What a concept!” I exclaimed.
“If you are a teenage guy, repeat this process over and over until there is no longer a reason to continue talking,” Joe said.
“And if you’re a teenage girl?” I asked.
“You keep talking,” Joe said. “It’s free, you know.”
“Some things never change.”
“Yep,” said Joe as we walked toward his truck.
“Uh, Joe?”
“Yessir?” Joe replied.
“Nice talking to you.”
“Right,” Joe said, a smile creeping across his face. “Enjoyed talking to you, too.”

This was copied from Delta Farm Press