Editorial / Opinions

I hope you enjoy our annual building and construction issue. This issue features tips for hiring contractors, a look at selecting and designing hoop barns and ways to obtain funding for storage facility projects on your farm through the Farm Service Agency and much more.

Many years ago, when I was teaching at a university and coaching the livestock judging team, I took my students to a local purebred cattle farm where we were going to practice on several classes of animals the owner had selected for us. As the students quietly evaluated the four heifers in the first class and took notes, I noticed that two of the animals had been clipped by the owner in preparation for an upcoming show. Since this was one of the first workouts of the year for this rookie team, I wondered how many would notice the fresh haircut when we got back to campus.

Just this past week I read an online article posted on a local news channel’s website about an alpaca farmer in Rogersville, Mo., who shot a bear on his property. The article stated that the man’s herd dogs had the bear cornered. When the man heard the commotion he went outside, shotgun in hand, and saw that the bear was angry and pawing at his dogs. That’s when the farmer took matters into his own hands and shot the bear.

The last summer holiday weekend doesn’t always include a trip to the beach or river. Sometimes it doesn’t even include a backyard barbecue or pool party.

My primary vocation these days is writing western novels. When I was in Lubbock, Texas last year at the Cowboy Symposium, I found an interesting historical book for sale.

Hordes of people are still moving to the countryside in search of a better way of life. They love the seclusion and privacy that rural living provides most people. They cherish the quietness that exists on most days.  They appreciate the darkness of the nighttime, with a view of the starry skies unobstructed by the lights of the city. They love everything about that first year in the farmscape, until… tick season arrives.