Jumping in head first… I guess you can say it’s a bad habit of mine. I wanted to get involved and be a part of NCBA. I was directed to the path of YPC and the Cattle Call Blog. What do you write a blog about? I decided to go with what I know.

After graduating from college a little over a year ago, I realize every day just how much I don’t know. As far as the beef industry is concerned, I know even less. I didn’t grow up on a ranch. I did get my nose broken by a 4H steer, but that is another story.

So what do I know that might be of interest... that is the question.

Got it…disclaimer: be prepared to laugh and not take this too seriously.

How to date a kid from a ranch…or rather, what to expect when dating a rancher.

By Meghan Wooldridge

I didn’t say anything about the “m-word” that usually involves a diamond in some form, which for the record, is not something happening in the foreseeable future. If someone feels so inspired, they can tackle that subject in another blog.

My rancher lives about three hours away from me.  Living apart does provide its share of challenges. My birthday falls at a less than conducive time of the year: March 2. I have learned to accept that the chances of him coming to take me to a nice dinner at this time are slim to none. However, there is a great chance that he will spend my birthday with a bunch of other females, many he probably even knocked up. By the way, they also weigh 1,000 pounds and chew their cud.

 Former Heifer with AI calf at side.

I have to say I feel a genuine connection to the Verizon commercials… can you hear me now? Living on the plains of Eastern Colorado means phone service is comparable to Christina Aguilera’s national anthem rendition at the Superbowl. Some of the words don’t come out right and the quality is at best, questionable. I have realized he is not ignoring my calls (at least he better not be), but he probably is on the wrong side of the hill or isn’t holding his tongue just right to get a signal. If I avoid leaving a rude voicemail and have a little bit of patience, he will call me back when he can.

Another aspect of our dating life that requires patience and down right diligence is waiting for an answer to a question or confirmation of plans. Let me explain how this usually plays out:

 “What are you up to this weekend? Would you like to come visit?”

Response: “Not sure.”

Friday night about 3pm text message: “Hey, I think I will come up this weekend.”

We have both learned to compromise on this issue and after three years have made a great deal of progress in this department. I make about a hundred decisions a second and if I can get him to make one a day, we get along fine.

When he does finally make it to town, it can be a bit treacherous driving with him. I do have to remind him that red does mean stop and there are not many “slow down and look both ways” intersections where I live.

The next point really has nothing to do with the actual rancher himself, but how I am viewed as a woman dating a rancher.

We were out looking at some bulls one weekend and ended up going to lunch with the older couple. After a nice visit about college and cattle, the woman asked me if I was enjoying pursuing my MRS degree. At first I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about.  Then it hit me and it kind of felt like someone had popped my self-assured, semi-feminist bubble. She meant how did it feel to find someone that would be what she considered a “good match” to marry (become a Mrs. Rancher). I reverted back to my default reaction, smile and nod. I never went to college with the intention of finding a husband. I wanted to take over the world by myself. I realize now that she really meant no harm, just merely made a comment that stems from her belief that women should go to college to find a husband. Next time I hope to be better prepared.

At the end of most days, no really, every day, I love my ranch kid.  This is not a task for the faint hearted, but I plan to stick around as long as he will tolerate me.

“With one in six people going hungry, one child dying every six seconds and 80% of sub-Saharan African countries facing higher food prices than a year ago, the poor and the hungry are facing one of the biggest crises in our lifetimes.  It is critical for the world to remember  that hunger will have a permanent impact  on children and we may lose a generation unless they have adequate access to nutrition during this crisis”.

That is a pretty powerful statement from Josette  Sheeran, director of the United Nations’ World Food Programme, at a meeting of G8 nations last June.    Not too often do I read an article in any magazine that I think is worth a hoot, but Wes Ishmael’s article “Running On Empty” in the Angus Journal, was pretty good stuff.  It covered the upcoming population boom and possible food shortage, and the challenges it will present to agriculture.  I will share some of the highlights.

Alex Avery, Center for Global Food Issues at the Hudson Institute, says “Over the next forty years world food demand will at least double, and we have little new farmlands with which to meet that demand.  We really have only more productive farming methods to use on our existing farm ground”.

The global population is expected to peak at 9 billion people by 2050.  The current population is 6.8 billion.  Much of the explosion in food demand will come from expanding global wealth, giving more people access to food and richer diets.  The current global recession not withstanding, Chinese meat consumption has doubled in the last 15 years.  All projections show that Chinese meat consumption will double again.  And that’s just China.  Nations such as India are expected to have a larger population than China in several years and the story of consumption is much the same.

Avery points out “There are only two ways to meet this growing demand. Take more land from nature or produce more food per acre on existing farmland.”  One thing I think I should point out is that we lose farm ground every year in the U.S.  After traveling to China a couple years ago I learned they lose way more farm ground per year than we do.

I think that trend gives us the option of getting more production per acre.  In 1950 we grew 39 bushels of corn per acre, in 2000 that average was 153 bushels per acre.  Each farmer in 2000 produced 12 times as much farm output per hour worked as compared to 1950.  Development of technology is a primary factor in this progress. More...

Growing up my sister and I loved Barbie. We had tons of dolls, the house, a couple cars, a Barbie horse, the clothes, a popcorn machine, a swimming pool, etc. And yes our Barbie's had bank accounts; money was usually exchanged in the form of Light Bright pegs (LiteBrites were used for many things, keep reading). Our Barbie's also were very involved in agriculture. The occupation of vet was quite often played.

That was the great thing about Barbie she could be whoever we wanted her to be. So while our friends were playing Rockstar Barbie, ours were discussing treatment options or reproduction strategies for our cattle. Which leads me to my next story.

My parents didn't hide much from my sister and I as we were growing up. We knew the circle of life was a part of the farm. We also were pretty familiar with how it began. I remember we used to have this slide that looked  kind of like a chute. And we had these stuffed animal dogs and horses that their bellies would Velcro open and shut, revealing bean bag babies inside. It was always a surprise how many you would get the first time.

And this brings me back to the LiteBrites. Yup, those were the straws of semen for A.I. (artificial insemination). See where I am going - chute, stuffed animals that reproduce, semen. Yeah, that's right at the ages of six and eight my sister and I were A.I.ing our stuff animals, just like we had seen dad do it.

Guess we were destined to be farm girls.

To read more about Crystal telling the story of her agriculture life visit her blog www.crystalcattle.com