Want to advocate Animal Agriculture locally?

Over the weekend, which included lots of studying for upcoming exams, and interesting idea came to mind. With the increasing accessibility of social media, like Facebook, Twitter, and blogs, why not try to start a dialogue with members of animal rights groups PETA and HSUS to find out what they as individuals think about Livestock Production. We all know that the national organizations have expressed and acted upon their stances against livestock production. These organizations have endless resources at their disposal and use them to lobby against Animal Ag. But what do the supporters in our local areas think on these subjects?

I got to looking around and found that each state chapter of the HSUS has a Facebook group where local supporters communicate and share their ideas. So I decided to join Arkansas' group in hopes of opening up a dialogue with local supporters to find out if they know about HSUS' stance against animal agriculture. How do they stand on the issues? Do they know the stories of livestock producers in their areas? Did they know that agriculture makes up 25% of their states' economy? I want to find out why they support animal rights groups and let them know my story of animal agriculture.

No one likes to be told that they are wrong with the opinions and involvement with groups. I sure don't! And with all of the mud slinging on the issues, many people have lost sight of what the disagreement is all about. So why not use the social media sources that are available to us so start a dialogue with those in our area. Find out what they know about livestock production.

Individual people will not "abolish animal agriculture" like HSUS and PETA preach in their mission statements, but talking with their supporters and members will help you find out what they disagree with and might even help you to inform them about our role in producing the food and byproducts that feed and clothe people all around the world. You never know when you will get in touch with someone that will make a difference, but every person is important.

Despite this weather...

Despite this nasty weather that is setting up in Oklahoma this winter, I am relatively upbeat. I just finished a game of intramural basketball. Stinking mercy rule, we were just figuring out what we were doing. haha, but you can't expect too much from a group that has yet to practice together. I was having fun anyway. Well I have a lot of things on my mind, so here we go!

Tuesday there was a college of Ag career fair on campus. I talked with the recruiters from JBS Five Rivers Cattle Feeders and got an information interview that afternoon. I have worked in the feedyards before; a life time in the stocker industry and retaining ownership of cattle through the feedyard and a summer spent working with Cactus Feeders in their many yards throughout the Panhandle. The feedyard trade is something of a routine that includes daily circles to keep the cattle fed and healthy. Not exactly an overwhelming first choice on my job search list, but Fiver River's professional development programs are what caught my eye.

Five Rivers has a Management Trainee program that focuses a lot on professional and personal development. It says a lot about a company that takes great stock in their employees and works on building the company up from the inside. Leadership and Management training workshops are just the start of what seems to be a focus on building their employees.

The interview went well. Not my best, but well enough. It got around to the management decision questions and that is where I felt like I started slipping a little. But we will have to see if I get a call back. One question that caught me off guard was "What is one of your biggest failures?" I honestly said I couldn't think of one off the top of my head, but to be honest I can't really count anything as a total failure because there is ALWAYS a lesson to learn from each situation. Not an ideal answer, but I thought it was a good honest one.

I am starting the first round of tests for my last semester! I really didn't study hard for my Stocker/Feedlot test, but it isn't really new information to me either. I am learning things, but none of it is foreign to me. I think I did well on it, but we shall see. I have 3 more exams next week, Reproduction, Forage/Grazingland, and Farm/Ag business. I will start working on those tomorrow.

It looks as if we are stuck in a very wet and cold pattern for the winter here in Oklahoma. I believe we are only 4 inches away from a seasonal record for snowfall. Granted that is only 24.5 inches. It is so wet and muddy that I can't even work. Too muddy for fence work and when I think about it, I would prolly just get all the vehicles stuck. I guess I will just have to ride it out on what little money I have saved.

My dad finally closed the deal and purchased his own livestock auction. It's a dirty industry where it's and claws trying to get a hold of cattle and scratch the surface to make a profit. No one really looks on cattle auctions with a high level of respect, but there is a lot of work that goes into recruiting buyers and gathering sufficient cattle to meet their desires. All this following one of the most difficult years in the cattle industry. Everyone has to find a niche in their area, and dad believes it's his spot to make a difference. I am wishing him the best and hoping that things can work out great for him. It's a big investment!

At the career fair on Tuesday I talked with the recruiter from Texas Christian University's Ranch Management program. I have looked into the program before and have heard only great things about the program. This is a one-year certificate program focusing entirely on ranch management. The group travels many miles throughout the year visiting the region's operations. My main apprehension is money. I have no savings left, but would love to continue my education to make my opportunities greater in the area of ranch management. I guess all I can do is apply and see what the response might be. What is your opinion of TCU's Ranch Management program?

Whew! That is a lot, but like I said I have a lot on my mind. It's getting busy here in Stillwater, and so am I while looking for opportunities to launch my career in the cattle industry. Wish my luck!

Animal Care Questions via @agchat

The following note was posted via @agchat for the discussion on 2/2/10. This week's topic is Animal Care in response to the recent events in national media and efforts to eliminate animal agriculture by animal rights groups People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS, *Note: this organization is NOT your local dog/cat shelter. Do not confuse the two). This is a topic that is pressing on the livestock industries and is something that we should all educate ourselves about.

("#AgChat is a fast-paced, thought-provoking chat on Twitter each Tues., 8-10 p.m. Eastern. 800+ people in the business of producing food, feed, fuel & fiber in 6 countries have participated. See http://michelepaynknoper.com/agchat.html for more info.")I encourage each of you to tune into agchat each Tuesday evening, if for nothing else to watch the conversations. It is a very informative source of industry thought and a great place for sharing ideas.

Following are the questions posed for the Feb. 2. Please note these may change and are subject to moderator's discretion.

via @cowartandmore What advances have we made in the last 20 years in terms of animal care?

via @cowartandmore What role does a veterinarian play in helping you with your farm animal care?

via @TruffleMedia: What are core issues consumers believe re: animal care & how is ag addressing those?

via @kmrivard How can we educate consumers on the fact that a farmer's livelihood depends on understanding their animals' needs better than anyone else?

via @TruffleMedia: The language used by HSUS/PETA tends to be "animal welfare" or "animal rights"... how does animal care differ from those terms?

via @CariRincker: Should other states follow in Ohio's footsteps and develop their own livestock board for animal care regulations? Pro's/Con's

via @cowartandmore What pieces of technology help you to take better care of your animals?

via @CariRincker: What should livestock producers do if they find a YouTube video of their farm taken undercover putting their operation in false light?

via @TruffleMedia: When it comes to food animal care, who are the players in shaping opinion? (ag players and non-ag players)

via @TruffleMedia: What market research is available that captures the consumer sentiment on food animal care? Sources, metrics, etc sought.

via @LauriStruve How can state animal welfare laws be updated to meet modern ag standards, and appease animal rights groups?

via @RinckerLaw: What are some changes in farm animal care laws that should take place on the state and/or federal level?

via @MGClausen: What are keys to a successful education practice for introducing urban school children to livestock/food production?

via @NYAgriWomen How should ag groups in states with large urban populations (e.g., NYC) connect with metropolitan consumers on farm animal care?

via @TruffleMedia: What is the one information resource consumers/producers should understand/review/know of, re: animal care?

Any additional questions or suggestions should be DMd to @agchat. Looking forward to a productive and positive discussion. Please make an effort to not respond to antagonists and remember that you are in a fishbowl.

Remember, the animal rights groups may be focused on eliminating animal agriculture, but animal and crop agriculture go hand in hand. You cannot have one without the other and without either we would have no food supply.

My Daily Motivation

I have my daily routine before heading to class. It's a cup of coffee and some food to wake up and catching the news to see what I am not missing out on in the world. I would much rather be at home and waking up to some calves and horses to feed, but that will soon come back to my daily routine, pending graduation in May.

Everyone runs into a tough patch in the road, and it gets hard to make it sometimes. God throws us some hard curve balls; sometimes we catch them and once in a while we get hit. I have my own rough patches and remember what my mom told me in a letter prior to high school graduation, "You CAN do all things through Christ." She believed in me and my ability to do my best at whatever I attempted. She believed I would obtain many great things in life, and there is no reason I should give up that dream.  A youth minister once reminded me that "with great power, comes great responsibility." Everyone should always keep their head up and face every challenge with a strong effort.

Everyone needs a little motivation to start off their day. What's yours? Here's mine:

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that which Christ Jesus took hold of for me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained. – Philippians 3:12-16

But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded. – 2 Chronicles 15:7

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned to secret of being content in and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength. – Philippians 4:12-13

What good is it my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith, I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that – and shudder. As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. – James 2:14-19, 26

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. – Galatians 5:22-26

Wordless Wednesdays?

I saw a posting about Wordless Wednesdays so I though I would look into it to find out more. Turns out every Wednesday many bloggers simply post a photo with no description, because as everyone knows a picture says a thousand words. So, I might just try it out. I really don't know if it's gonna work for me, but I figure I will post some of my favorites and if you really want to know the story behind the picture, shoot me a message and I will more than happy to share to story behind the picture.

So let's give it a try.

Time to sit on the thinking post...

Why can decisions not all just be as easy as deciding whether or not I like peanut M&Ms (by the way that is a definite Yes!)? This is the "final countdown", and yeah that is some lame old phrase that brings an awesome and somewhat annoying tune in my head, but it is stuck there since watching an episode of this season's horrible excuse for Scrubs, anyways, this semester is the final countdown to my college life. Oh what a long 4 years it has been. I am definitely a lot smarter coming out than I was going in, thanks to some mistakes to learn from, a very knowlegeable Equine instructor, all the adjustments that come with moving 6.5 hours away from home, and possibly, the most influencing, summer spent in Wyoming. And this brings me to the reason for difficult decisions.

I have to find a job after graduation in May. The good thing is that I am pretty sure that, scratch that, I know that I want to work on a cow-calf/stocker operation. What I am having problems figuring out is figuring out where exactly. The 'smart' answer to that question is 'anywhere that I can find one'. Duh, that is a give-me. My delima is a few things. First, my family is very important to me, and like many other college graduates, I would love to move back close to home. But after the last 2 years of being home only 7 days minus Christmas break, I have decided that I can stand living long distance. Problem solved, for the time being. Second, being from Arkansas, I like, scratch that, love my warm weather and humidity with the occasional and only rare cold snap and winter weather. I just need to buck up and accept that there are places to live other than the gloriuos South where summer days are long, hot, and humid, followed by even more humid and muggy nights (Yes, I do enjoy the heat and humidity of those summer days and nights).

So, after spending last summer in Wyoming, seeing how far I could bending the lines without actually breaking them, and investigating the mystery of the Big Horn Basin and Mountains, I now realize how much I loved that place. I still sit and spend hours looking back at all of the pictures and blogs from that summer of my activities, just wishing I was back there. So why not go for it, stick my neck out there, and go for another shot at an even more awesome summer? I really want to go and do it again. Spend endless days working irrigation ditches, fighting with the irrigation pipes and pivots, riding horses and four-wheelers up in the mountains pushing cattle, making the treacherous climbs up the mountain sides to fix elk crossings, get up at 3:30 in the morning to stare at the enormity of the stars in the pitch black sky on my way to spend hours driving in circles cutting or baling hay only to miss the plume of smoke on the other end of the field at 3 in the afternoon from a fire that was caused by a lightening strike around noon and spend a while putting the fire out before the BLM fire fighters get there, spending many hours into the night listening to family stories at Hayward's, and cooking up all kinds of awesome food with the fellow interns...yeah that turned into a REALLY long sentence.

Should I just move on and go find another area of the cattle industry to discover? Or should I just ignore the apprehension and have a go at it in Wyoming?

Then there was ONE!

Well it's been a few days hasn't it. A whirlwind of things has happened since I was last on here. Christmas Eve brought 9.5 inches of rain to us at home in Arkansas. That kept us water logged for a few days. Meanwhile, here in Stillwater mother nature delivered a crippling blizzard from which there is still 8 inches of snow back in my backyard, and thanks to the prolonged near zero temperatures that followed there are piles of ice all over town. It's quite a slippery trip anywhere you venture out. Then last week as I was preparing to return to Stillwater, we received a freak 6 inches of snow followed up with a glaze of ice a few days later. It snowed/iced 5 out of 7 days at home last week, not to mention the few mornings starting out at 4 degrees! Talk about a roller coaster ride into winter!

And this brings me to my last, first day of classes as an undergrad here at OSU! It's been 4 years in the making. I can't say that I am not excited to get to this point. These semester brings its challeneges, even though I am slacking at only 15 hours of classes this semester. It should make a difference that all of my classes are directly related to my cattle production goals, so glad to be finished with those dreaded Gen Ed classes. My class list includes Forage and Grazinglands Resource Management, Farm and Agribusiness Management, Animal Reproduction, Cow/calf and Purebred beef cattle management, and Stocker/Feedlot management. Being mostly senior level courses, its not an easy load by any means, but plenty manageable.

I am ready to kick off this new semester, with a renewed enthusiasm after spending a month feeding cows at home in the wind, cold, rain, snow, and ice. Just don't get me wrong because I loved the chance to get back to work for a little bit.

And with this final semester comes the obstacle of finding a job opportunity for May, and internship for the summer, or deciding to go ahead with grad school or return home and work with the family for a while. These are my major challeneges right now, and hopefully that answer will come in time. But until then...Ya'll Take Care!