Farmers are often focused on market prices and staying profitable. Getting a good price for your product is the only way to stay afloat in the agriculture business. Decisions are made concerning the best time to plant, the best time to wean, the best practices to stay viable. We are farmers. We are producers. It […]
This blog post is written by cattle veterinarian Kathy Swift (@cowartandmore) I grew up on my parents’ 100 registered Holstein cow dairy farm in Northern Virginia. Cattle have been a part of my life since I can remember and I started showing them when I was eight. I also recall at age 12 deciding I […]
Not as catchy as Skip or Spot, but when I picked her up in Stillwater for my birthday this year, the name just seemed to fit. Now that I have “Pistol”, the next step is to find “Pete.” Maybe my Oklahoma State fans are the only ones who will get it? Since Pistol is bred […]
In a recent conversation on Twitter, an interesting topic arose questioning the value of feeding cattle on grass or grain. So instead of looking around on the internet Answers sites or taking second-hand info off someone’s website, I looked up the information myself, with a little help from Anna. Cattle nutrition is a complex subject […]
I am ag-thankful because it has provided generations of my family with an unprecedented way of life we love dearly, and work hard to preserve for future generations. I am thankful to be a rancher because it’s what I love to do more than anything in the world, and very few people get to do […]
This is a repost from Jent’s Front Porch about why her family is Thankful for Agriculture. After sitting her family down one night, she asked why each member of her family is thankful for their life in Agriculture. It’s a great exercise to go through with your family and reflect on why each is thankful […]
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! This is a great chance for every one to look back and remember our founding fathers that worked so hard to settle this country we now call home. So thankful for that first time to sit around the table with family and friends to give thanks for a bountiful harvest; what we […]
Tough Enough My husband told me I wasn’t tough enough to be a ranch wife. You see when we first met, the closest I’d ever been to moving a cow on horseback, was following one around in an arena. I’d never seen a calf born, never watch a tough winter unfold from the back of […]
I can feel it. I can see it. It surrounds me, especially on those quiet days of work. My sorrel steps through the sagebrush and the wind caresses my cheek. I lift the reins and guide the horse downhill and a whispered “swisssss” sends my English Shepherd further downhill to gather some stray cattle. Black […]
I’m a transplant. I was born in Franklin, Ind., where I was surrounded by corn and soybeans and learned the importance of Sunday service and hard work. By the luck of a spinning globe and a dart, my parents, two siblings and I relocated to Perkins, Okla. where I picked up a cattle halter and […]
