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No bull shootin'If you read these columns often, you must have figured out that I spend as much time on the road as I do at home ranching. Since the beginning of 2008, I have spoken to audiences in 28 states and one Canadian province. I am telling you this because the mental struggle I have every day that I have to leave was only worsened by my two weeks at home. Yes, I did actually spend 14 consecutive days at home and it felt awesome. It made it tougher than ever to leave for Florida but I did it anyway. Interestingly, I met up with an old friend I have not seen for four years and suddenly everything seemed to make sense. Derrell Peel, Professor and Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist at Oklahoma State University, was one of the first people I ran into at the American Agriculture Economics Association meeting in Orlando. On the morning my flight was scheduled to leave, I needed to get some old hay moved before the new stacks could be moved home. The tractor I use with the bale fork on the 3-point hitch fork was still hooked up to the windrower. Wouldn't you know it, as usual, on a morning when I was short on time, the PTO shaft was stuck on the tractor and it seemed nothing else in the world mattered if I couldn't get this PTO unhooked. The great irony is that every day, through my radio, television and print avenues, I attempt to convince you that, no matter what is happening at your farm or ranch, we must all see the big picture and get more involved off the ranch by educating consumers and lawmakers. Well, on that day, to me, none of that seemed to matter. My point is quite simple: If we choose to stay in our comfort zone, the impact we will have on the future will be quite limited. I would love to stay home and tend to the critters and spend every moment of time possible with what matters most to me, my family. But, in a round about way, it was Derrell Peel who told me how important it is to not get too comfortable on my ranch. The bottom line is that when the fence is down, the hay is blooming and the threat of rain is approaching, nothing that is happening in Washington, D.C., Chicago or even in your local town seems to matter. But by traveling the country, it is much easier to keep all the challenges in perspective, whether they be day-to-day or long-term. For example, on those winter days when the sub-zero temperatures are hardly bearable, we need to remember that the beef industry is performing the absolute most amazing task a human being can be a part of. Derrell Peel reminded me that in the beef industry, we deal with the hottest swamps imaginable in south Florida, the driest deserts in Arizona and the coldest, blizzarding 40-below-zero days in the Northern Plains. Yet, at the end of the day, through the most amazingly efficient food system in the world, consumers can walk into any grocery store in 50 states and healthy, wholesome, safe, reasonably priced, fresh beef is available for them and their families. High feed prices have set in and, yet, the beef industry continues to move forward. The ruminant animal is one that can spend three or four extra months consuming cellulosic material and it doesn't affect the eating quality one bit. The beef animal is consuming a product whose only other use is fueling raging wildfires. Grass that, thanks to a beef animal, is converted not only into human consumable nutrients but also an endless list of other items including shaving cream, sports equipment, detergents, gelatin, biodiesel, tires, crayons, insulation and textiles that the consuming person has no idea was made thanks to some cow munching on black sage in the Nevada desert. The most amazing thing to me about the beef industry is the number of people in agriculture who are involved in some form or fashion. The United States Department of Agriculture indicates that 1.7 million people are involved in farming. Did you know that recent statistics suggest that over 850,000 of those in farming own a beef animal? In the era of consolidation and people exiting the farming communities, the beef industry seems to be the one place that most of us have common ground. And I have not even begun to address the economic impact of the beef industry, as my Oklahoma State Ag Economist would tell me that I should do. I simply wanted to remind you that the next time you complain about a breakdown or a setback in the day-to-day operations, try to take a step back and look at how important it is that all of us in the beef industry continue to do the best job possible; because, both the environment and the consumer are depending on our animal husbandry and stewardship to continue this great complex industry. And that is no bull. Editor's note: Trent Loos is a sixth generation United States farmer, host of the daily radio show, Loos Tales, and founder of Faces of Agriculture, a non-profit organization putting the human element back into the production of food. Get more information at www.FacesOfAg.com, or e-mail Trent at trent@loostales.com. 8/4/08 Date: 7/31/08
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