Editor's Note:  As I stated on this blog, YPC Cattle Call has been accepting guest blogs for Thank A Farmer week.  Cattle Call will continue thanking farmers through Thanksgiving.  One of my favorite "ag tweeps" -- Janice Person (a.k.a @JPLovesCotton) -- is today's guest blogger.  For those of you who are relunctant to get involved with social media like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and blogs, Janice's post demonstrates just how powerful social media can be by educating those who are not familiar with the agriculture industry and connecting them with the producer.  Kay Johnson Smith from the Animal Agriculture Alliance also agrees that young cattle producers should be involved in social media.  You can read my blog about her comments here.  The Ohio Farm Bureau Federation has a great guide to social media here that I recommend.  If you would like to post your thanks to a farmer this week, please email your blog to me at cari.rincker@gmail.com.  

 *  *  *

I grew up a city girl.  And although I have worked in agriculture a long-time and spent a decade in a rural region, there are plenty of things I haven’t gotten around to doing.  Not sure seeing a livestock show & sale really ranked up there on my “bucket list” but it was something I certainly had wondered about before.  I’d been around plenty of cowboys and cowgirls, even out on some ranches now and then, and had even gone to the National Rodeo Finals, but beef production was something I just had no experience in.  And while I know some folks who have cattle, somehow the conversation just hadn’t come up.  Since I’m writing this as a guest blog for a beef group, the story takes a turn now.

In the last 8 or 9 months, I started connecting with more people in agriculture through twitter.  It’s a great place to make connections with people, especially through a forum like #agchat.  In that time, I also saw things in the mainstream media about our beef supply and some of the people who produce it.  It became easy to ask a few tweeps (on twitter everything can be merged – this is twitter people) questions now and then – get the farm perspective on what was being said.

One of the tweeps I started trading messages with was Mike Haley, of Haley Farms in Ohio.  One day I noticed a lot of discussion about how beef cattle were being bred for this and that… I had no clue what this and that were or what difference they made. I sent him a couple of messages asking a few questions.  Slowly he helped this city girl understand some of the things that are desirable traits in Simmentals and some of the progress that’s been made.  Luckily I have a lot of background in cotton breeding so I was able to put that into the same framework (and maybe help Mike understand a thing or two).

Somewhere along the way, he mentioned he & his wife Pam would be showing several Simmental during the North American International Livestock Expo in Louisville and I ought to just come up.  It sounded crazy (probably to both of us) but over time, I decided why not?  I put in for a couple of vacation days and made travel plans.  Over the following weeks, I really wondered what I was going to get into so I asked a few more questions.  I checked in with a few other friends too. 

Mike & Pam Haley meeting with prospective buyers before the auction at NAILE. 

While people tried to help me understand what I was going to see, it seemed to hit me hard.  There is a lot of specialized vocabulary, etc.  I even met a guy in the airport that was helpful in making sure I could pronounce the name of the breed right and do a little reading on the way – later found out that was Marty Ropp and that he ought to know a bit about Simmentals!  Once I was on the ground, I met up with Mike, Pam and their friends from the Missing Rail who were also showing cattle.  I caught up with Nate Jaeger and Dustin Dean during the Simmental auction too.  Everyone I came across was so helpful! 

They helped me understand what showing cattle is about and where things connect to or do not connect to the beef that I enjoy on the plate.  People talked to me about how long they’ve been doing this, where they had seen success and failure.  They answered what had to seem like incredibly stupid questions without cracking a smile.  And they all told me about those prized heifers and bulls.  Which before I would have simply called cows. 

Catching Up With YPC Chair Dustin Dean and Nate Jaeger at the Simmental Sale

Mike, Pam and the folks from Missing Rail let me hang out around the stalls and ask questions about all the cattle, all the preparations, how they cared for the cattle here versus at home, etc.  I was amazed to see how hard it could be to have 3 heifers and a bull at NAILE.  I was able to celebrate when they took the ring looking so incredible and bringing home some nice second place ribbons!  And later the importance of the grand championship as the prize winning heifer is traced back to a cow “Kiss This” on Haley Farms!  How fun to see the impact of work done years ago & how exciting does that make future efforts!

Andy Vance, who I know as a farm broadcaster, helped me learn a bit about the breed he raises… Shorthorns.  Colleen Parr and her sister gave me a few insights on Simmentals and showing.  Fitters, show hands, people in the stands, everyone was willing to help me start picking up some information about the show that connects to one of their passions.  I started sharing what I learned with my non-ag friends the first night I was in Louisville!  And I’m sending it out through Twitter & Facebook.  So what started as a passing conversation with a farmer has turned me into a bit of an advocate for the dedicated farmers and ranchers I met this week.  I’d encourage you to do the same – you have no idea how much impact you can have!

Pam Haley in the ring with "Midnight Dreams" taking second place in class

And believe me, the next time I enjoy a steak, I will have the names and faces of the farmers who took time to share a part of the beef world with me.  In fact, I think I’m getting hungry just thinking about that…  hmmm… wonder what I should have for dinner?

If you want to learn a bit more about what I found of interest at NAILE, I’m posting some things to my blog and my twitter account.  You can also reach me by email.