Editorial / Opinions

Are we advocating for agriculture to the best of our ability? As an industry are we conveying our stories to the consumer so they can make positive buying decisions?

Recently, I went to an Electric Coop Directors Convention in San Francisco, Calif.  Through the years, I have met lots of folks who I renew my acquaintance with at these meetings and talk about agriculture in their country.  The lasting drought has not loosened its grip on the west, many like a director from Wyoming explained they count on winter snow – his report this year was that very little snow has fallen in his area.  

Throughout my lifetime, I’ve never given a lot of thought about my ancestry. I know that both my parents were born in Arkansas and their ancestors had settled to that state from Tennessee. I also know that there were several Native Americans sprinkled throughout my family tree, as well, but I have never researched the specifics. I was content to know that the vast majority of my ancestral relatives, according to oral records from living Crownovers, were farmers – with a few loggers and maybe a horse thief or two thrown in for good measure.

Are there wild horse herds in Missouri? This was a question discussed amongst two friends and me over the weekend.

I’ve always marveled at the fact that so many aspects of farming can be conducted in vastly different ways and yet achieve the same end result:  success for the individual farmer. I guess that is one of the reasons the business has interested me for a lifetime.

Are there wild horse herds in Missouri? This was a question asked amongst two friends and me over the weekend.

I never knew his actual name was Bob. I first met him working on the Bicentennial Ride to Fort Smith, Ark., in 1976. Shorty Parson, former president of the Rodeo of the Ozarks, had asked me to head up the wagon train going to Fort Smith to meet the Bicentennial National Wagon Train coming up from Texas and going to Valley Forge. His name was Cotton Clem or at least that’s what I knew him as for over 40 years. He and the bunch from Harrison, Ark., who had been having wagon trains, were big friends and they wanted to go with us on the ride. So we invited them.

Cattle theft has been a problem for as long as cattle have been domesticated. The severity of the problem comes and goes with the fluctuating prices of livestock. Right now, it’s as bad as I’ve ever seen it and, considering the current high prices of beef cattle, I guess we shouldn’t be surprised.

FFA members across the nation joined together to educate the public about agriculture and FFA during the National FFA Week. As press releases and Facebook updates flood my computer I can’t help but reminisce about my years in FFA.

Cattle theft has been a problem for as long as cattle have been domesticated. The severity of the problem comes and goes with the fluctuating prices of livestock. Right now, it’s as bad as I’ve ever seen it and, considering the current high prices of beef cattle, I guess we shouldn’t be surprised.