A Different Kind of Wordless Wednesday

In today's world, we as farmers and ranchers are constantly fighting the battle of the media and pop culture's portrayal of our lifestyle.  Whether it is animal abuse or neglect or consumers going "vegan," it is difficult to share our story of the way things really are when we are outnumbered tenfold.

Yesterday, while working cattle in southern Oklahoma, the temperature began to rise rapidly (as it does there this time of year), and though we began running calves through the chute far before sunrise, we were still working them in the heat of the day.  As we noticed the cattle begin to heat stress and become noticeably affected by the sweltering temperature, we knew we had to do what we could to help them manage their body temperatures.

In an effort to cool them as quickly and efficiently as possible, we rigged the sprinklers from the lawn on the posts of the panels in their pens.  The cool water sprayed the cattle and with the combination of their shade structures and the water from the sprinklers, the once "unhappy" calves were "happy" again.

The California Dairy Association really has their act together when it comes to the marketing campaigns of their products.  They target their audience, the American public, and appeal to their emotions by advertising that their cows are "happy cows" - just as the Humane Society of the United States and ASPCA does, only in a negative way.

I am so proud to be part of the agricultural movement sweeping across the U.S. in an effort of farmers and ranchers to share their stories of our lifestyle to the public.  With everything from blogs to Facebook pages, Twitter accounts to YouTube videos dedicated to sharing the story of the life we love.

If you have a picture or two that you love and that helps to tell the story of your life in agriculture, stop by and share it on the 'Because the west wasn't won on salad' Facebook page! I will later put them on here to help share our story of the lifestyle that feeds a nation!

Happy Wednesday!

Checking Cows with Dad

Although I'm in graduate school and don't have cattle of my own in Arkansas, I am fortunate enough to live far enough out of town to have my house surrounded by them and have pastures lining either side of the roads I travel down.  Last night while on my evening walk I spotted my first calf from the fall calving cow herd across the road.  Although he was the only baby in the pasture, that didn't stop him from kicking up the dust and throwing up his feet as he tore circles around the mama cows.  Watching him made me think about one of my favorite things as a child - and even still to this day.  Our cow herd at my home in Maryland is spring-calving, so we're still quite a ways off from our calving season. 

There is absolutely nothing I enjoy more in this world than riding with my dad through the fields to check cows - I remember when I was young that would be our question and answer time... I would ask about 3579 questions, and dad would be patient and answer every one.  It would be so exciting when we found a cow with a new calf - I would get to hold it while dad castrated and tagged it - and I would love to pet it's little head and soft ears and couldn't wait to watch it grow.  I remember the exact place we were the first time I got to tag my first calf.  I was so excited and so proud - I felt like I was really growing up.

Things really haven't changed much since then... I enjoy checking cows with my dad just as much as I did back then and I still love the feeling of soft, curly hair on a newborn calf's head.  Looking back, I now know that most of my knowledge I gained about cattle was learned from the passenger side of my dad's truck.  I wouldn't trade a single thing in this world for the memories of those moments and the lessons learned while checking cows with dad.

Words of Wednesday

Instead of Wordless Wednesday, I think I am occasionally going to throw in some "Words of Wednesday" posts - some things to think about and uplift --- I got this from a friend's Pinterest that I follow. Think about these words and enjoy.

Organically Grown

This morning, I stumbled across a blog post from FARMnWIFE that gets down to the roots of organic produce.  In this post, when talking about how food officials silenced their protests when an E. Coli outbreak resulted from organic cucumbers and bean sprouts, she states,

"Then the news about the outbreak just faded away. The silence to me was deafening. Where were all the food police, the nutrition gurus, public awareness groups who are supposed to be outraged over harmful food systems. The ones who perpetually deride factory farming accusing big ag of poisoning the food supply with all these chemicals. Their lack of press releases and absence of wrath is truly telling. Because informing the general public about what goes into growing organic food doesn’t bring in donations to their cause. They choose to keep quiet about how most organic vegetables growers use manure for fertilizer. Pointing the finger at chemical companies and industrial agriculture that uses them fills the coffers."

I couldn't agree more with FARMnWIFE when she writes, "So I will continue to purchase food from factory farms and big ag."  Living just outside an extremely liberal town, facing the "organic foodies" is a daily occurrance.  We need to step up and help to educate the public on how "factory farming" is going to be the one thing that saves the food crisis in our growing population. 

FARMnWIFE pointed out an excellent article from the Wall Street Journal by Peter A. Coclanis, titled Food Is Safer Than You Think.  After you read it, pass it on.  We need to hear more from folks like Mr. Coclanis on topics just like this one.  If you have other interesting articles or finds, feel free to share them! I'd love to hear your thoughts.