Left glove, please!

October 20, 2011

We all know about disappearing socks; the “missing mate,” if you will.  Even though all (well, nearly all) my socks are white and made by Hanes, each time I buy a new pack, they have different markings on them and I can’t conscientiously match them unless they’re perfect mates (yes, I’m anal about my socks). However, I would offer I suffer from the same malady with work gloves!

I had the day all set to build fence (can you believe I take days of vacation to do this?):  Post hole digger, wire, posts, clips, staples, tamping bar,fencing tool,level (yes, I’m anal about posts being 90 degrees to the ground), and measuring tape.  Leather gloves…….let see, sorting, sorting, sorting through my basket of leather gloves in the mud room…….right hand, right hand, right hand, right hand, right hand……..not a “leftie” in sight.  OK, this reminds me of when I was a kid sorting through the closet……..you see things really haven’t changed all that much!

Now, I may be slow-witted, but I’m not totally stupid, so I take a “rightie” and put it on my left hand, just as I grudgingly put on one white sock that’s slightly different than the other.  Uncomfortable, yes, but it beats getting a barb stuck in the fleshy part of your thumb!

So we all do have to do some things that are uncomfortable, but they are done out of necessity, because you work with what you have; that is the way we were taught as kids (at least in my generation; and more so in my father’s).

Those old hedge posts, after being pulled out of an old fence, can be turned upside down and used again.  We continue to “make-do” with the things we have and that’s not all bad.  As a matter of fact, maybe if more Americans did that very thing, we’d all be better off.  But that’s a story for another day.

However, at some point, you’re going to need to replace what you have; BEGIN ANEW!  As you look at the cowherd this fall and find out which cows are open, and which cows had sorry calves, or which bulls didn’t perform up to expectations, maybe it’s time to re-evaluate where you are. 

I would argue that in today’s beef industry, there is ABSOLUTELY no reason to carry over an open cow for another year.  Annual costs to keep a cow are unbelievably high in today’s world; and if you’re still figuring a dollar a day, you’d better take another look.  It’s closer to $ 1.25 to $ 1.50 per day or $ 450 to $ 550 per year.  Saying that, some of you may be lower than that and some may be higher, but overall, it’s in that range.

Same way with bulls……and maybe it’s time you take a serious look at artificial insemination if you’ve not considered that option before.  Yes, it’s a lot of work.  Yes, you’ll have to be trained to do it or spend time learning how with a neighbor or friend.  You need facilities (but you are in the cow business, no?). You’ll probably end up buying a semen tank.  You have to fill it with liquid nitrogen every now and then.  But you will have access to the top of the line genetics of whatever breed you’ve chosen to use (we hope it’s Angus) and it’s one less mouth to feed, as well as being easier on fences and equipment.  It’s uncomfortable to do so, but in this particular case, it will be well worth the “uncomfortableness” (that’s my new word).

Until next time, I’m on the road……..to Kansas City, to Lockhart, Texas, and College Station, Texas over the course of the next few weeks.

Now, dadgumit, where’d that left-handed glove go?

Adios!

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