This week’s featured profile story comes from the Sandhills of Nebraska. I have communicated with Cora on Facebook for some time now and her photos and posts always catch my eye. Here is a short message from Cora explaining why she and her family are proud to be a part of Agriculture!
My husband and I and our two children are one part of a family cattle ranch in the Sandhills of Nebraska. We have been here 10 years this month. My husband, Coby, and his dad and mom come from Wyoming where they once raised registered Hereford cattle. Before coming to Nebraska, they decided it was time to commercialize and added black angus bulls to the mix and a few black angus cows. This cross produces exceptional black baldy cattle. Myself, I came from the panhandle of Oklahoma where I was raised on a ranch with my family (three brothers, mom, dad, and me). Even though the operations are different, the pride for what goes into a ranch is always there.
There are many reasons I am agriculture proud, but the main reason is that there are few jobs in this world where a family (whether young or old) can live and work together everyday. Where children can learn the value of hard work and simple rewards. And where at the end of the day, you know you have put your blood, sweat, and tears into the future of your family.
Besides working with family, I am proud to be raising the beef that feeds this country and many others. To be able to put a safe, efficient, and delicious product on the market, gives a rancher a great sense of pride. Ranchers are stewards of the land and keepers of God’s animals. We have compassion for all life whether domestic or wild and a responsiblity to take care of all of it.
As for me personally, I know there are many people in the world (even in this country) who have no idea what ranching is all about. They only see what the media decides to show. So my passion for agriculture is capturing the beauty that a rancher sees in their everyday life by taking pictures with my camera and being able to share that glimpse into our world with the rest of the world. I love photography, and I have many perfect subjects here on the ranch. And, hopefully, whoever sees the beauty in those photos will understand a little more about what goes on in a ranching operation, and in turn want to share that with people who would try to portray the negativity that seems to surround the agriculture community in the media today.
So, in short, I share my story of being agriculture proud through my photography.
I hope you take the opportunity to look up Cora on Facebook and take a look at her photography. She is a great person with an awesome story.
Want to share the story of why you are proud to be a part of Agriculture? Send me an email (agricultureproud@hotmail.com).
–Ryan Goodman
