Editorial / Opinions

A little over a year ago, I traded in my old lawn mower for a state-of-the-art, new mower that I concluded, considering my advanced age, would be the last one I’d ever have to buy. It is a zero-turn machine that has a 60-inch cut and sports a 28HP engine. When it was delivered by the machinery dealer, that I’ve dealt with for years, I reminisced that the new mower’s price tag was more than I paid for my first tractor so many years ago.

Do you like the new look of Ozarks Farm & Neighbor so far? We hope you like our new and improved design. You’ll notice that OFN got a makeover from front to back. It’s been years since our paper was redesigned so we hope you’ll agree it was time for a new look. We strive to bring to you an interesting, informative and aesthetically pleasing publication about livestock production in the Ozarks.

A little over a year ago, I traded in my old lawn mower for a state-of-the-art, new mower that I concluded, considering my advanced age, would be the last one I’d ever have to buy. It is a zero-turn machine that has a 60-inch cut and sports a 28HP engine. When it was delivered by the machinery dealer, that I’ve dealt with for years, I reminisced that the new mower’s price tag was more than I paid for my first tractor so many years ago.

It’s true what they say that you learn something new every day. That really is the case for me every time I leave the office and head out to visit a producer in the Ozarks. No two farms operate exactly the same way and what works for one farm may not work for another. As you may know with my job farm visits are normal and I truly enjoy it each and every time.

A few weeks ago, Pat and I attended the “Music On The Mountain” hosted at a ranch west of Chester, Ark. It was country singer Royal Wade Kimes’ charity event. This event sponsors backpacks for school kids. Royal Wade told me they serve 9 counties in Oklahoma and 11 counties in Arkansas. There are, I would bet, many youngsters going to school who get a new backpack from his organization who are sure pleased.

I was making small talk with a lady whom I had just met in a waiting room last week, when, upon learning I was a farmer, she asked, “Do you eat the animals you raise?”

It’s true what they say that you learn something new every day. That really is the case for me every time I leave the office and head out to visit a producer in the Ozarks. No two farms operate exactly the same way and what works for one farm may not work for another. As you may know with my job farm visits are normal and I truly enjoy it each and every time.

If I have ever met a farmer to whom more bizarre things have happened to than Charlie, I don’t know who it would be. So, when I spotted him at a farm meeting last week, I was pretty sure I’d have my column for this week.

My sister sent me a text message over the weekend asking what my plans for the afternoon were. This isn’t anything unusual, so I just answered honestly explaining I was headed to Springfield, Mo., to the PBR.

A man stopped me in a business in eastern Oklahoma and asked if I was Dusty Richards. That’s not unusual. He said he knew me from all the years he attended the Rodeo of the Ozarks and how he had enjoyed it. He knew I had been on that board for years and he said he never missed a year.