How many times have you heard the uninformed animal rights activists make such statements?  They claim that greed is the only motivator for those in production agriculture.  Those in the “KNOW” find this rather humorous when we think of all the extra work and care that we put into our livestock and seldom are appreciated for it.  This week we have had a little “cold front” and I have several clients that are practically living with their first calf heifers.  With the weather like this a little calf had better get up and nurse quickly or it will never get going so producers have to be pretty vigilant to keep everyone healthy.

Who in their right mind would subject themselves to the elements if they didn’t enjoy what they did and enjoy caring for their animals.  This week I have experienced first hand the hardships that producers endure to care for their livestock. I had a client (and friend) who was out of town and had a cow calving.  She was on the South side of a wheat field with no windbreak whatsoever.  I strategically parked my pickup on the north side of her although it helped very little.  After getting a rope on her and examining her I found a breach calf that could not be fixed.  Time for plan B.  So went and hooked up trailer and backed up to her along the fence.  Miracles do happen, we let her up and she stepped right into the trailer!  By this time I was starting to lose feeling in my arms- it was cold!  Finally we got her back to the clinic and the heat, ended up doing a C-section and removing twins.  Unfortunately the calves didn’t survive but the cow did (this is her in the picture).  I guess we livestock producers do care about our animals after all!

The letter that my dad wrote inside the cover to me contains much of his love and wisdom that he has shared with me which is priceless.  I was fortunate growing up in having parents that followed the Cowboy Code of Ethics.  No the book by Mr. Owen had not been written yet, but they subscribed to that code of the west and lived it day to day.

I grew up watching John Wayne movies like True Grit and The Cowboys, reading Louis L’amour books with my late grandpa, and watching all the other cowboy heros on film and in real life.  These influences helped to shape me and make me the person I am today.  I guess that is why I left my home and traveled west to make my way in the world.  If everyone would live by the “Code of the West” we might be able to do away with this monster we call government.  Now wouldn’t that be refreshing?

 “Principles like honor, loyalty and courage are at the heart of the Cowboy Way”

Introducing your South Central Kansas cattle call!  I am a rural, mixed animal, veterinary practitioner residing in Pratt, KS.  Approximately 65% of my practice income comes directly from the cattle industry.  Our area is a unique area where farming country meets range country which makes this a pretty good area to raise cattle.  My cattle clients range from multi-generation producers to hobby farmers with herd sizes from 4(he raises Dexters) to 1000 plus.  The great thing about our area is that most of the people here are at most only one generation removed from the family farm; I know that that is the exception and generally not the rule in America.  I recently listened to Trent Loos at our county Farm Bureau meeting and felt that I had done a rather poor job at being an Ambassador for Agriculture and I felt challenged to do more.  Interestingly enough got the call to join the Cattle Call almost the very next day!  Where I live it is easy to forget that the general public has no idea what we do.  Check out Trent Loos at www.loostales.com and www.facesofag.com .  Very worth the effort! More...