Editorial / Opinions

Have you ever wondered which country the beef you see in the meat counter comes from? It never used to say the country of origin, did it? You couldn’t tell if it was ground or packaged in Mexico or South America. Worry no more; it will soon be on that package you pickup in the meat market. American cattlemen have wanted this for years, but store chains that handle cheap meat from other countries in order to compete with U.S. beef fought such labeling.

With cattle thefts on the rise around the country, more and more cattlemen are returning to the ways of yesteryear by branding their livestock. Branding with either a hot iron or a freeze brand is a permanent way of identifying the animals and serving as proof of ownership in the event the cattle are ever stolen.

I went home over the weekend, something I admit I don’t do often enough, to see my mom for Mother’s Day and to do a little fishing with dad.

I should be finished with spring calving, but I have one farm where there are still about a half-dozen cows that didn’t get the memo. Because there are still expectant mothers at that place, I try to make a quick drive-through each morning before I start with the regular farm work that has to be done this time of year.

I went home over the weekend, something I admit I don’t do often enough, to see my mom for Mother’s Day and to do a little fishing with dad.

It’s the first week in May and you know some guy in your neighborhood tries to beat all the rest by getting a field of hay rolled up. The hay most of us have has gone to seed. Fescue does that about the third week in April. But it sure isn’t going to make many pounds of hay in the fields I’ve seen. Even farmers that fertilize have short forage. Is that due to three years of drought? Did the past dry weather kill lots of the forage?

There are certain words or phrases that, if we hear them come out of one mouth, they seem perfectly normal or expected. But, if we hear those same words spoken by another person in another situation, they seem so oddly out of place that we have to take pause and rerun the statement through our brains just to comprehend what we have heard.

A few weeks back I was asked to help judge the District FFA Speaking Contest. I was honored that the Darr School of Agriculture, in Springfield, Mo., asked me to help and I appreciate the opportunity to help out my alma mater whenever possible.

There are certain words or phrases that, if we hear them come out of one mouth, they seem perfectly normal or expected. But, if we hear those same words spoken by another person in another situation, they seem so oddly out of place that we have to take pause and rerun the statement through our brains just to comprehend what we have heard.

A few weeks back I was asked to help judge the District FFA Speaking Contest. I was honored that the Darr School of Agriculture, in Springfield, Mo., asked me to help and I appreciate the opportunity to help out my alma mater whenever possible.