Opportunity Knocks, I Get Nervous

Amazing opportunities are knocking at my door. This weeked I travel to New Mexico and on Monday I have the opportunity to speak to elementary, middle, and high school youth, FFA members, and their parents about Agriculture. I'm not that nervous about talking. Get me started talking about what I do everyday, and you have to put me on a stopwatch. It's the speaking to so many levels in one day that makes me nervous...

I decided a while back that I would love to start speaking with groups about Agriculture, using my theme "Agriculture Proud" as a starting point. I think it's a message many would soak in with enthusiasm. My theme for the FFA banquet is "Build Your Own Future." So I'm gonna spew some thoughts here. Please leave any thoughts or comments. I'm looking for a sounding board.

There are so many great opportunities to build a future within Agriculture. Those of us within Agriculture realize these opportunties, but what about everyone else?

Having pride in what you do for a living is one thing. There is no doubt I am proud to be a part of Agriculture. But it's more about having a passion for your line of work. How do you find that passion and how can you seek out a job that you will enjoy?

Agriculture is a huge part of this nation's economy. Not only in farming and ranching areas, but also food processing, transport, and marketing. How can we better connect American consumers with origins of their food and recognized those involved in the whole process?

Can you name your state's top five Agriculture commodities? Where do those products end up? Isn't this something we should at least be aware of?

I go to the restaurant to get a burger. How many farmers or ranchers should I thank for this food on my plate?

Please share your thoughts on these topics. It'll help me spur the ideas turning in my mind.

Distracted Driving

The grass may be green and the temperatures getting warmer, but we still have a few herds of cattle eating hay. We kept our 3 year-olds in a smaller pasture because they needed a closer eye during calving and all of our bulls are in smaller traps, so there's still a few bales to feed. It's a good thing the grass is turning green though. We have only 8 bales in one barn and 4 in another.

We're often warned about texting and driving as being a dangerous habit, but what about driving with a round bale of hay blocking the view? Normally I can carry the bale just right where I can see clearly over the top, but thanks to the wrap busting on this bale, my vision was little to none. Thankfully I was only carring this bale on the ranch road. Then it would be my fault if I forgot where I parked my pickup.

With the 2011 growing season not far over the horizon, the amount of farm equipment on public highways is fixin to increase sharply. Watch out for these slow moving vehicles, and be cautious when passing. Pay attention not only to the farm equipment, but also obstacles along the road (bridges, mailboxes, ect) and oncoming traffic. 47% of unintentional deaths in the U.S. are vehicle related. There's no need to cause an accident becuase your too busy to slow down and smell the roses (especially if its a load of chicken litter!).

Trivia: A slow moving vehicle (smv) sign is required for equipment traveling less than ___ mph and must be visible from ___ feet away. (Answer)

I know it's not harvest season, but this song is what comes to mind while I'm driving down the highway in my John Deere!

How do you approach the situation when you come upon Agriculture equipment on the roadway?

I am a Modern Farmer

I found this video on Facebook the other day and reposted it. Many others followed my lead and shared the video that tells about the work of modern farmers.

This comment was posted on the link:

That's the old version. The new version needs to include stuff like;

I need someone willing to go to teabagger rallies and bewail the evils of socialism, but still have the balls to cash his federal crop subsidy checks. So god made the moder...n farmer.

I need someone who looks past the long term issues of using GM seed, Roundup! and chemical fertilizers that turn the local surface water to bitter poison so they can turn a fast buck and make Monsanto proud. So god made the modern farmer.

I need someone to live a million dollars above their means and keep the banksters wealthy buy continuously borrowing large bales of cash to work an industrial farm in the red year after year because he forgot what his daddy taught him about money and greed, and selling your soul to evil men. So god made a modern farmer.

I need someone who can read the warning labels on vials of BGH, See the agony an artificially enhanced udder puts a cow in, turn a blind eye to stuffing egg layers 6 deep in a layer battery pen so tight they cant turn around, put little baby calves in the dark and feed them iron poor liquid diets that give them the shits for their entire short lives in pens so tiny, they can barely lie down in so yuppies can have pretty pink veal cutlets, and confine hogs in cramped hot sheds ankle deep in their own shit where they chew on the pen bars till they break off their teeth while going insane and be able to look up and say "praise jebus" So, God made a modern farmer.

I could go on for a long time but I think I might really piss people off.

I felt it was appropriate to describe a small window of the work I do as a modern farmer in reply:

 As a modern farmer I...

get up before the sun rises to check on my cattle, looking for newborn calves.

trek in the snow, cold, and mud to warm the cold newborn calf.

stand frozen in white out conditions to sew up a prolapsed cow, hoping to save her from pain and infection.

feed my cattle high quality hay (grown on our farm, fertilized with organic materials like chicken litter) come rain, snow, sleet, or hail.

endure long nights in the cold trying to safely deliver a calf when things go wrong.

spend long hot summer days in the heat and humidity to harvest forage so we have something to feed our cattle when the grass burns up from no rain.

wake up in the middle of the night because my neighbors horse has the colic.

lend a hand and warm food when the house down the street is blown away in the storm.

raise cattle for beef so you can have the food on your plate, the shoes on your feet, and a vehicle to drive.

am one of many modern farmers.

This is just a small window of my life on the ranch. There are so many other farmers and ranchers doing work daily to provide food on tables around the world and almost everything we use every day sources from Agriculture Products.

Have you thanked a modern farmer today?

The Super Bowl and Texas Agriculture

Ever make the connection between tomorrow's Super Bowl in snowy Dallas? From the footballs used to your favorite snacks, Texas Agriculture gives a big boost to the gridiron game plan. Thanks to the North Texas E-News for these AgFacts!

• Leather is used to make footballs and Texas leads the nation in cattle with more than 13 million head with an annual production value of about $6 billion.

• Texas produced 8 million bales of cotton in 2010, which is enough to make every person on earth a Super Bowl Championship T-shirt - and still have almost a billion shirts left over.

•  Peanuts are a favorite snack at football games, and in Texas we produce more than 700 million pounds - enough to make 7 billion peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches.

• Hot dogs are a traditional favorite at football games and the Texas pork industry has an annual statewide economic impact of more than $250 million.

• Hot dogs also need hot dog buns. Texas growers produce an average 90 million bushels of wheat annually, enough to make more than 25 billion hot dog buns.

• Texas is a leading dairy state and produces enough milk each year to fill the massive Cowboys Stadium more than six times.

• A football field, including the end zones, is 360 feet long-by-160 feet wide and covers 1.3 acres. The entire Cowboys Stadium site covers 140 acres. By comparison, Texas encompasses 144 million acres of agricultural and rural land, more than any other state in the nation.

• In contrast, the combined areas of the two cities competing in this year’s Super Bowl is about 63,000 acres, and you could fit more than 2,500 of them within Texas’ borders. In fact, you could fit the entire states of Pennsylvania and Wisconsin inside Texas more than two-and-a-half times, and still have 9 million acres left over.

• Cornstarch can be used to make a biodegradable plastic for drink cups, utensils and more. Texas growers produced 302 million bushels of corn in 2010.

• How better to celebrate a Super Bowl Championship than with a good steak dinner? Texas produces about 8 billion pounds of beef each year. That's the equivalent of 16 billion 8-ounce steaks or enough to supply 150 steaks to every person watching the game in the United States (according to Nielson estimates, last year's Super Bowl attracted 106.5 million U.S. viewers).

 So while you are enjoying the game and commercials, remember this is just the start of how Agriculture impacts our lives. Remember to Thank A Farmer and Rancher for all the great things we have

Raising Cattle is My Passion in #RanchLife

I have lived on the ranch all of my life. With the exception of a few college months in an apartment, I have been able to wake up with the sunrise to feed the stock and walk in the door just as the sun sets. There is nothing better in life than being on the ranch and witnessing the peacefulness that comes with these occasions. Some might call me crazy, I call it a passion.

The crowd is waiting on February 15th (hopefully not before) to begin calving

Calving season is one of my favorite times of year. The long days, short nights, and cold weather often make it a tiring season, but watching those young calves run in the pastures of Spring grass just makes it all worth the time and effort. As a kid, I remember begging to go with my dad at night to check on the 1st calf heifers in the snow. One can always count on these inexperienced mothers to need a lil extra TLC. With proper breeding and nutrition management, we can influence the amount of calving troubles, but when that snow hits, these confused heifers really do not know what just happened. It may be a chilled calf left in a muddy creek bank or a snow drift, but we will be there to help. No matter the time or the weather, we cattlemen care for our livestock.

I can remember many days when the office kitchen was filled with straw and yellow manure from the night before, but we did not mind the clean up. The floors and bottles would be cleaned and colostrum restocked as the season wears on and pastures fill with lil black bundles.

This heifer is more than ready. Hopefully she delivers that calf with no problem and knows what to do with it

There were several times in high school when I remember being "Up To My Armpits," as the saying goes, trying to find that turned back leg. I was blessed with long skinny arms, so my dad was more than happy to let me lay flat in the mud to save that calf. There was the time when everyone was gone to my brother's basketball game and I was left at home to watch the herd. One of our cows who had prolapsed and been sown was calving. So I had to cut the stitches and wait. She decided to go ahead and have trouble long after the sun set, just as it started to snow. I was much too young to drive on the highway and the only vehicle I had was a rugged four-wheeler with only one headlight. I pulled it up the chute, pushed the cow up the alley, only to find I had no chains and no sleeves. With the help of some string and lots of effort, the calf was on the ground. The calf later died, but I saved the cow. Life lessons learned on the Ranch.

I've seen 'em twisted and turned, twins or butt-first, but through all the work, sweat, and pain, I do it all again.

If all pastures were this clean and dry when it comes time for calving...

I have missed the last 4 calving seasons while away at college, and let me tell you; I'm like a kid waiting on the Golden Ticket getting ready for this round to start. I can hardly stand it. I hope all the calves deliver safely in good weather, without assistance, but reality is.... some will need a tug or a dry place to warm. We'll be there no matter the time or the weather.

It's times like calving season when I jump out of bed because the jacked up knee gives me fits. I swear it's a change in the weather and I worry about that heifer I saw wondering off by herself. It keeps me up late at night, and I rely on that coffee to keep me wound tight. But it's calving season when we cattlemen work hard, because we'll work hard again come weaning time.

I could go on for days on why the cattle business is my passion, but I think you get the idea. This is just a glimpse of what's on my mind now. Just a piece of the year round cycle of a cattleman.

This post is in response to the weekly #RanchLife topic: What fuels your passion for #RanchLife? Share your thoughts today and join the conversation on Twitter.