I feel like I’ve had the opportunity to be out and about a lot more lately, and I really enjoy that part of my job. From the registered and commercial cattle herds to the horse, goat and sheep breeders, to the dairymen, I feel like I’ve covered every county and every species at least once since I began working at Ozarks Farm & Neighbor. I’ve started to think that when I get a little bit older, I am going to want to try my hand at all the different kinds of livestock operations, utilizing some of that good, straight-from-the-horse’s-mouth information I get from each of you and your neighbors every month.
Yep, my place will look like Old MacDonald’s farm by the time I’m done collecting all the varied stock; cattle, chickens, guineas to have running in the road, sheep, pigs, horses and goats. Have you ever heard of those fainting goats? I gotta get me some of those just for entertainment! And after I get all those animals my work load will be light because they’ll all be easy keeping with low birth weights, high weaning weights, they’ll all have good dispositions and Lord knows they’ll all be healthy as can be.
Now, I’ve been around this industry long enough to know that my Old MacDonald pie-in-the-sky farm isn’t reality. But I think we’ve all got those same dreams, of a good life on the farm- healthy animals growing nice and fat and selling for good money. Good management will be key in the months and years to come. But it will also be essential that our spirits aren’t low, and that we don’t lose hope as we all fight, on an individual level, to keep America’s most important industry viable.
God Bless,
