Self reliance

Some people have nightmares about the cows getting out on the highway in the middle of the night prior to them leaving on a little vacation the next morning.

Some people worry that they won’t have enough money to see them through until the end of the month.

My fear is that my kids will not be self reliant!

Don’t get me wrong, there are people in this world that need help, and we all need help from friends, neighbors, and families now and then.  Some need more help than others.  But let’s face it, speaking in terms of today’s society, there are lots of helpless people out there.  Can you imagine what our pioneer forefathers would think of most people’s inability to take care of themselves?  Those folks drove oxen and mule teams across parched deserts, killing their own food, making their own campfires, making their own clothes, repairing their own wagons; dealing with rattlesnakes, living in crude log cabins and shelters, crossing deep streams with loads of their personal possessions in hopes of making their lives better someday.  Not to mention fighting off attacks from natives who didn’t think they should be there.

We fuss if they don’t have the right olives on the olive bar at the local supermarket.  We moan when our favorite football team loses.  We go totally out of our minds if we are without electricity for a couple of hours.  Our favorite TV show was on tonight!  Darn it!  My son complained the other day when we made him ride his bike 2.5 miles one way to school for weight training and conditioning……but it was that, or not go at all, so he did it.  No big deal, but he thought it was.  We are trying to teach them to do without some things; Lord knows we have more than enough!  Last weekend we worked our few head of calves: vaccines, de-wormer, fly tags, and put a tattoo in each ear.  They help me change oil and change flat tires.  They feed calves and run the tractor and loader.  They check cows for heat, and run the mowers to keep the place looking decent, and yes, they clean out the barn, too!  They water new trees and shrubs, and weed the garden.  Sometimes, just for fun, I have them pick rocks up out of the yard (they really like that one!).  Some kids do a lot more than that on their home farms or ranches; ours is more of a lifestyle or hobby farm.  But I do hope they are learning a few things along the way about making their own way!  I love my kids, but they need to learn to work, at least a little bit!

One thing I really admire about most people in agriculture is that they can do so many things for themselves.  They are self-reliant. They are “doers” and don’t sit on the sideline watching others do all the work.  They grew up with that mindset and we need more people like that.

That’s why I think so many commercial producers are using the tools that they have available to make sound genetic decisions in their cowherds.  With the vast database that exists out there in “World Angus”, the cow-calf sector can grab ahold of a tool and use it as a means to a better end, and ultimately, a better product for the consumer.  With the use of Expected Progeny Differences and the latest DNA test being offered by Certified Angus Beef in “GeneMax”, rapid progress can be made in their herds.  They can move it all forward, just as their ancestors did, (albeit more slowly!) when they moved across the country in search of a new and better life.

You see, with the drought forcing many ranchers to cull their herds (supposedly the bottom end), and all the technology we have (DNA, ultrasound, use of EPD’s updated daily now in the Angus breed), the average cow in this country will be much better than she was four or five years prior.  And, that’s good for everybody!

For more information on how GeneMax can move your herd forward, check out the link on our website at www.cabpartners.com.

~Gary

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