Extreme Makeover - Office Edition!

Hello everyone! I am slowly recovering from Nashville this week, I think I am going through withdrawal! I feel like I am missing all my fellow interns after being with them all week! It's always good to get back into the swing of things though. Mom and Dad have been renovating the office, so I wanted to share some pics with you. I will post more when it's completed. The open house is next Tuesday so hopefully I will have some more pictures by then!
One of my favorite things about the office is the canvas prints that are on the walls! These are pictures I have taken in the last year or so of our cattle. I might be a little partial but I think they are pretty neat!

The picture hanging crew: Dad, Nick, and Jordan 

One of the walls when you walk into the office through the front door!

Teaching kids valuable life skills

This weekend I had the privilege of judging the Montgomery Co. Livestock Show in Winona, MS. This was my first show to judge in the South and I had a BLAST! From the moment I arrived I was blown away by the nice families, how welcoming everyone was, and how polite the kids were! Before the show started I was "observing" the families and all of them were working together to get their animals ready and laughing and having a good time! I was very obvious that the kids were excited, happy to be there, and loved every minute of what they were doing! The kids did an awesome job showing and had done really well working with and preparing their animals prior to the show.

After the show I had the opportunity to visit with one of the Moms. She was sharing with me why she felt that 4-H, agriculture, and livestock were so important for her kids and their family. Showing livestock is a great opportunity for families to spend time together. In today's time, as sad as it is, this is becoming a rarity. The kids are responsible for getting up before school every morning to feed their animals and then as one little boy put it, "When I get off the bus from school, I got outside to my lambs so that I can exercise them, work with them to get ready for the shows, and feed them." During showmanship I asked the kids a variety of questions and one of them being, "Tell me about your lamb (or goat, heifer, etc.)". Every one of these kids could tell me in detail what they were doing at home to properly take care of and manage their animals. This teaches kids responsibility and a work ethic at a young age. It also teaches them how to care for livestock.  Most of these kids also had a lot of self confidence and weren't shy while I was asking them questions. They have to think on their feet while in the show ring and this will translate to job interviews many years down the road. These kids are learning life skills as early as 5-7 years of age that are irreplaceable. When they are grown and mature they will know how to work, obtain and hold a job, and how to be professional in business settings.
I was very proud of all these kids. They did an awesome job and should be commended for all their time and effort they have put into their projects!

The kids and I after the show!

"You want me to put my hand where?"

Each semester my lab mate, Katie, and I help teach the livestock reproduction lab.  Our lab is unique from many universities because the students have the opportunity to learn the technique of artificial insemination (A.I.) and practice weekly for a semester.  The process of A.I. includes inserting an A.I. gun or rod into the vagina and through the cervix so the semen can be deposited into the uterine body. The millions of sperm eventually travel up the horns and to the ampulla of the oviduct where the sperm will meet the egg and one lucky little guy will fertilize it. Many of these students are in the pre-veterinary program but many not necessarily have a livestock background.  For the students that have limited to no experience working around livestock, this gives them hours of hands-on experience prior to applying and entering the veterinary program. For students that come from a ranch background, it gives them the opportunity to learn the technique, become proficient at it and apply it in their own herds back home. 

 

The first day starts the same every semester with the students trying to find the cervix in the cow.  As we get further into the semester, they transition from the hesitancy they experience on the first day to successfully artificially inseminating a cow! This is the part I enjoy the most, when you see that lightbulb go off and the student succeeds. For those of you that are familiar with A.I., you know that it is something that requires a lot of patience and practice before being successful. When learning, it can be extremely frustrating so I get to do lots of preaching on patience! 

Here is one of the students on the first day! 

Although Day 1 is a shocker for most of the students, they always have a good time! My favorite quote of the day was, "Man, once you get inside there it's a different story...I didn't know it was going to be like that!". Never a dull moment in repro lab...

Today's Youth = Tomorrow's Producers

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to travel to a livestock show with a friend in Cullman Co., Alabama! While I was there, I met up with an old buddy of mine that I livestock judged with in junior college. It had been about a year and a half since I had seen Ethan so I it was past due time to catch up! He showed me around the fair and I saw everything from gigantic watermelons to cattle and local kids taking in the exhibits.  I noticed that there were many local kids roaming around looking at the gigantic watermelon and pumpkin display and even petting the cattle. The county fair is a great place for kids who aren't familiar with agriculture to learn about crops and livestock.  I always enjoy seeing this and think that it's critical we keep programs like 4-H and FFA up and going.

 Ethan with the giant pumpkin display...I made him take a picture for the blog!

Growing up I was very involved in 4-H. Starting at the age of 5, I began showing sheep and entering cakes in the open class foods contest.  The first year I brought a cake to the fair, I entered my Granny's chocolate cake recipe.  In open class, all the age groups compete against each other. I won grand champion with Granny's cake and I was SO excited...the older ladies weren't very impressed that they got beat by a five year old! Boy was I proud though.  As I got older, I learned how to sew and started showing calves.  At the time it seemed like I worked and worked and when I would get frustrated I didn't understand what I was gaining. Looking back, all those experiences are priceless.  Through  all those experiences, trials, and successes, I learned valuable skills like responsibility, leadership and developed a good work ethic. I also increased my knowledge about agriculture and became eager to share my story with those who may not be in touch with agriculture.

Once I arrived at KSU, I found the Collegiate CattleWomen club. This opened up a whole new world of opportunity. I was able to network with producers from across the country, broadening my horizons about agriculture and for the first time fully understanding how incredibly critical connecting with consumers is. The future of our industry lies in the consumers hands and I firmly believe as producers, it is our responsibility to help educate others by sharing out stories.

Now that I have rambled for a few paragraphs, what does all this have to do with visiting the Cullman Co. Fair? Those youngsters in the show ring are the next generation that will be responsible for telling their story. It's important that we set a good example and do our part bridging the gap between production agriculture and the consumer.  How do we do this? We can do this through mentoring those young 4-H and FFA members.  Encourage them to give presentations about their experiences to groups, write guest blog posts for producers, share what they are doing with their classrooms at school.
It made me really happy to see the kids walking around the fair that were maybe petting a calf, seeing a giant watermelon, or a soybean plant for the first time. This is a good start!

Some local kiddos taking in the watermelons...

Eggplant

Soybeans

Cotton

Peppers! My favorite....I love all the bright colors!

A modern day cattle drive…

Yesterday we moved all the cows and calves home from the stalk field.  We move them home about this time every year so we can vaccinate the calves to protect them from disease and illness and breed the cows. The stalk field is only about 3 miles from the house so instead of hauling them by trailer, we have a good ole modern day cattle drive. Since we feed the cows using the cake truck every day, they will follow it because they have associated it with feed!  This is how we lead them home; they follow the cake truck.  We use a 4 wheeler and ranger to keep the cattle moving and to be sure they don’t wander off the road!

There are several people involved to make sure that everything goes right and there aren’t any major disasters! Moving cattle is a family affair for us.  It takes mom, dad, and I to get the job done. Mom drives the cake truck and dad and I push the cattle. We always call the police department an hour or so before we move them because there is a highway that we have to cross.  When we get close to the crossing, the policeman turn on their flashing lights to block the traffic.  It is important to make sure that the drivers on the road and the cattle stay safe! 

Here are a few pictures…I wish I could have taken more but I was trying to push the slower cattle to keep them moving.

Feel free to comment and ask any questions if you have any!