Editorial / Opinions

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.

For my wife’s birthday I bought her a game camera. We set it up on our property to catch pictures of the elusive lynx, not a bobcat but a real lynx. On three occasions we have seen her march through our yard in the daylight. She weights 60 to 70 pounds. My brother-in-law discovered her tracks several years ago and told me I had a mountain lion. Then we began getting occasional sightings of her stomping through the yard. She’s raising a litter every year. Last summer, we saw a half grown one. The camera has been up for several months but still no lynx.

When my oldest son returned home after spending the last three years in Ireland, he not only brought the lifetime experience of studying in a foreign land – he brought back a wife as well. He and Agne were both working on doctoral degrees in the same department, started dating, fell in love and got married last month. My wife and I are both thrilled since she is a lovely young lady and has become the daughter we never had.

Recently, I attended the Dallas County Cattlemen’s meeting and was very impressed with the turnout. The group brought in a livestock economist to offer insights on what 2013 will bring.

"What’s her name?” my city friend asked, as we drove by a black cow while giving him a tour of the farm.

Recently, I attended a County Cattlemen’s meeting and was very impressed with the turnout.

I can buy a Farmer’s Almanac or listen to TV weathermen, but either way I am getting concerned about weather patterns. Have you noticed how every time since last spring when they talk about getting a soaking rain, we get two drops and some get nothing? That means all the signs were right for us to get rain in the usual pattern but it has not happened. I am not picking on meteorologist because they have a tough job. I did it for several years on the radio and TV, but weather predictions are like puzzles pieces, except some are not coming out like they should. Rain goes under, west or east of us.

Both of my sons are finished with their collegiate careers – FINALLY! The holidays were a particularly joyous occasion since it was the first time, in three years, we had them both home at the same time and I used it as an opportunity to bring them up to date on what was new around the farm.

I, Byron Wheeler, of Wheeler & Sons Livestock Auction in Osceola, Mo., take offense to the article titled “Ways to Select the Right Bull.” I agree with much of the article until the last paragraph saying, “You should never buy a bull from a sale barn.” We at Wheeler & Sons Livestock Auction semen test and trich test every bull sold to go home for breeding or it is sold to slaughter only and marked with a 'K' for kill.

At the beginning of the New Year, Congress announced that the 2008 farm bill will extend until September 30, 2013, a decision that was made months after the farm bill expired. The nine-month extension measure was attached to the bigger fiscal cliff bill and passed by the Senate on January 1.